Location Box Description Insertion Point

[Scottishduthie]

when I was using autocad electrical 2018 I could insert a location box and maneuver the description tag just like any other attribute and I could change the size of the box to suit after insertion. Now that I am using autocad electrical 2019, I can no longer do this? there is just one point in middle of box to drag box around and I can only change description location in edit command and that's only from top, left bottom or right of box. this seems very backwards as I can now no long fit descriptions in to suit circuit and in this case the description literaly covers my wiring. any ideas on getting around this? thanks

[rhesusminus · Accepted solution]

Type PICKSTYLE on the command line, and set it to 2.
Rinse and repeat.

[Scottishduthie]

excellent, thanks for that

[james_moore]

Thanks for this answer.  Do you know if there's a way to adjust the text placement in whatever template is used for the location box?  I would like it to be placed closer to the box lines by default, if possible.

[rhesusminus]

I don't think so. The distances are hardcoded by some formula, based on text height it seems.

[jseefdrumr]

AFAIK, there is no template involved for the location box. The text on a location box isn't an attribute, and it is attributes that use templates. All this command does is draw a rectangle and place some text on the side of the box where you tell it to go.

I have to bump location box text all the time to get it closer to the box, I also wish there were a way to adjust this. My bet is that it's part of the command's code.

Wish I had better news...

[james_moore]

Thanks guys.  That's what I thought, but I hoped someone had found a way by now.  It's not a big deal to have to move the ID afterward, could be worse.

[rhesusminus]

I did a small macro for a customer, that moved the text to a location defined by their standards. By the press of a button, all location boxes in a drawing was fixed. If you do it alot, you should consider making such a macro.

[james_moore]

One thing I just now noticed is a difference between "Center" and "Bottom Center" justification.  If whatever code controls this used the simpler reference, it puts the top text closer to the box.  At least that's how it's working in my system, ACE-2018 on Win10.  My text height is 0.078125.  It looks good by default on left, right, and bottom placement, but top placement is almost double the space from the box as the other options.

(SEE ATTACHED SCREENSHOT)

[jseefdrumr]

James,

I just learned that if you choose to draw an orthogonal shape for a location box, it lets you insert the text via selecting a point.

To do this, start the location box command, and then enter 9 at the command line. This will shift you from drawing a rectangle, to drawing a shape. After you've drawn it, the location box text will appear on your crosshairs for placement.

Of course, the trick here is that now you're making more clicks (while drawing the box) in order to get manual text insertion. But, that may not be a deal-breaker for you. Just thought I'd throw that option out there.

[userlevel6]

Thanks for the tip Jim, it's a good option to have.

[rhesusminus]

Nice one. I learned something new today also. What version did that appear in?

[jseefdrumr]

I don't know when it appeared because I literally used the 'orthogonal' option for the first time the other day. I'm currently using ACADE 2017 though.