Table: decimal points auto change with data updates

[Anonymous]

Per the example table below when cells are linked by using "insert" with the right mouse button.

Insert > Formula > Cell or other options

The decimals are shown by 8 zeros.  I even preselected the cells to insert data by using "Data format" and setting decimal the place to none but even with that set up once it is linked I still get 8 zeros and need to go and reformat all the cells to the appropriate decimals.  Is there a global way to lock this?  Thank you.

[leothebuilder]

Did you format the cells to 2 decimal point before you inserted the field?

[Anonymous]

Yes I did.  I wanted to try all my options and vet the table before I introduced it to the company.

[scot-65]

One of the issues with tables is when the default cell format
is "General", entering a number will cause the cell to change
both in type and in justification. 😞

Go into the template and change the data type to "Text"
will help and if you plan on using excel type formulas in
a cell, the data type will have to be changed before declaring
the formula.

Once the formulas are in place, highlight the uppermost cell,
click-and-hold while dragging to the bottom most cell, then
release will highlight all the cells. from there format the
precision, text height, style, color, etc. all as one.

Table templates do not have provisions for mixed cell types.

I have found in earlier AutoCAD releases that hen-pecking one
at a time to format cells will cause random cells to loose their
formatting with successive opening of the file. Formatting all at
once seems to help along with table improvement. This includes
borders as well.

Speaking of borders, apply default colors in the template and if
a unique color is required, apply the color BEFORE adding data
to the cells. For me, being through, color the border from both
sides if internal line. Per your example, color the line between
the table title and cells from each side.

???

[Anonymous]

The text suggestion worked as long as I didn't add .## numbers after it.  Once I did that the long line of zeros came back.  This is still good because I could minimize having to go back and reformatting however I'm beginning to wonder if the full native matrix without importing excel is possible.  Thank you for sharing your knowledge.  I always wondered if there were enough good and knowledgeable people out there.

[leothebuilder]

You should look into DATALINK command which allows you to link an Excel data range to autocad table cells.

Do your edits in Excel and update your datalinks to refresh the autocad table.