Sheet set fields in blocks publish as hash marks

[jpCADconsulting]

Hi,

I've got an issue where sheet set fields in blocks look fine on screen, plot fine to PDF using the plot command to plot individual sheets, but when publishing to PDF, the fields are all hash marks.

I'm using "plot using page setup overrides" so it's the exact same page setup as is current in the sheet.

Furthermore, if I disable background publishing, they all plot fine.

Even weirder, there is one user for whom this is not an issue at all (same sheet set, same sheets).

Am I going bonkers?

Thanks in advance for any help,

-JP

[coffeejeanpaul]

I got this once, but because I did not have a certain text format installed onto my pc.

So it showed fine but soon as I plot or even just edit text it would jump to these signs.

Not sure if this is useful or solve the problem.

Good luck sir.

[jpCADconsulting]

Thanks CoffeeJeanPaul,

I checked, the problem fields use thier standard text style which uses Arial, so it shoud be availbale to all users.  I think that's a standard windows font.

[ParishSouthBdx]

not sure if this applies directly, but when using sheet sets, when you place a text field in your drawing and this text field refers an empty value, e.g. a not filled-in record in the drawing properties, it is displayed as 4 dashes "----".

This display method cannot be changed but you can pre-fill a different value than the empty string "" into the referred property - e.g. a space or - if spaces are ignored - the "non-breaking space" character (defined in Unicode as the code 160). You can enter this special character e.g. with the key combination ALT+0160 (on your numpad); the used font must contain the definition of this glyph (otherwise it shows as "?").

If you want to specify a field code which is not displayed as "----" (e.g. in sheet set properties), use just two percent signs: %%.

[jpCADconsulting]

Here is another clue...

• Fields in the blocks in Paperspace do not have this issue (I placed a test tag there).
• Fields in the same blocks in Modelspace do have this issue (even newly placed test tags).

0 and DEFPOINTS are on, thawed and unlocked in Paperspace and in the viewport, as is the layer the tags are on.

[coffeejeanpaul]

Sounds like an interesting problem to solve .

Possible to share a similar tag with same problem in a blank drawing here ?

[tim_crouse]

Just edit the attribute to   %%

That will clear it up

Best Regards

-Tim C.

[JTBWorld]

Do you all have same version of AutoCAD? I've seen this sometimes with background publishing too. 

[coffeejeanpaul]

All the tips , what would cause this to happen, what to do to avoid this and to fix ?

[jpCADconsulting]

Hiya Jimmy,

All AutoCAD installations are the same (they are all version 2018).  One or two may need an update but everyone has the issue.  Would one install that is behind on updates mess it up for everyone?

[JTBWorld]

The one that it works for, check what update that this user have that others don't.  

[jpCADconsulting]

As it turns out, all users have the issue regardless of services pack level.

I was not receiving accurate info from the users.

[sfuller]

We are having the same issue here with a couple of projects.  Has anyone figured this out?  

Civil 3D 2020

[jpCADconsulting]

Hi folks,

I still have no idea what causes this (although I suspect it has to do with how long AutoCAD is taking to parse these fields now that we're all working form home on less than ideal internet connections), however...

I have a workaround that is rock solid at least for my clients

Disable "Background Publishing"

• Pros: You can plot successfully.
• Cons: when publishing AutoCAD will open each file and plot it before removing it the next instead of doing it all in the background, so you can't continue to use AutoCAD while the publish is in progress.

1. In AutoCAD type CONFIG and press ENTER
2. Select the "Plot and Publish" tab
3. Uncheck "Publishing"

Hope this helps!

[JTBWorld]

Looks like this has been fixed in newer versions of AutoCAD. 

[jpCADconsulting]

Not in my experience (2023). 😉

[mhallbauer]

I can also confirm, LT 2023 still has this issue for background plotting (but only sometimes!)

I use a target elevation calculator that takes an input value + stretch actions to determine new target el. The block plots fine when scale is 1.0 and everything worked in model space correctly, but the scaled-down blocks in the detail sheets were returning errors in the calculated fields when plotting. Toggling background plotting off fixed it for me.