You have the gist of it.
Just keep in mind that Annotative Text doesn't work the same way as C3D labels. Unlike C3D labels, Annotative Text uses the Annotative Scale. And you can set the Annotative Scale independently in modelspace and in each viewport.
There are multiple ways to change the Drawing Scale, viewport scale, and Annotative Scale. But with C3D, at least v2009 and later, the easiest thing to do is to change scales using the combo box in the status bar at the bottom of the screen. When you are in modelspace, this changes both the Drawing Scale and the modelspace Annotation Scale to the same value, so your C3D labels and Annotative Text change in sync. In a paperspace viewport, the combo box in the status bar will change both the viewport scale (zoom factor) and the viewport Annotation Scale.
Now, if you select any Annotative Object and right-click -> Annotative Object Scales -> Add/Delete Scales..., you'll see the list of scales for that object. The Annotative Object will only be visible in viewports where the viewport Annotation Scale is in the object's list of scales. This is one of the tricky things about Annotative objects that takes some getting used to.
Also, if you change the Annotation Scale in modelspace, you'll see Annotative Objects change in response. However, they will only change if you set the modelspace Annotation Scale to a value that's in the object's list. If you set the modelspace Annotation Scale to a value that is not in the object's list, it will display using its initial scale.
For example, say you have a piece of Annotative Text using your "L100" text style - i.e., your text is 0.10" high on paper. Let's assume that this text object has 1" = 40' and 1" = 20' in its list of Annotation Scales. If you create a paperspace viewport and set the viewport's Annotation Scale to 1" = 40', you will see your text, scaled appropriately to print with letters 0.10" high on the final plot. The scaling happens automatically - you don't have to do any math. If you now change the viewport's Annotation Scale to 1" = 30', the object will disappear. Now, if you change the viewport's Annotation Scale to 1" = 20', the object will reappear, again scaled correctly to print with letters 0.10" high on the final plot, even though the viewport is now 1" = 20' instead of 1" = 40'.
Now switch to modelspace, and set the modelspace Annotation Scale to 1" = 40'. Your text will be scaled appropriately. If you measure it, it will measure 4 units high (as expected - L100 text at a 1" = 40' scale should be 4 drawing units high). Now change the modelspace Annotation Scale to 1" = 30'. The text will not change size, because 1" = 30' is not in its list. Now change modelspace Annotation Scale to 1" = 20'. The text will scale appropriately. However, now it will only be 2 units high, just the way it should be.
Mess around with that for a while, and you should see how it works. Now the next neat part is that you can drag the label to different locations (not MOVE, but DRAG), and you'll only change its location for the scale you are dragging. For example, in a 1" = 40' viewport, you can drag the text to a new location without affecting its display in the 1" = 20' viewport.
With Annotative Objects, we don't need multiple layers as much. With C3D labels, we still might have to use old-style techniques, like have a layer for 20-scale labels and another layer for 100-scale labels. With Annotative Text, we can label most things once, and adjust the display as-needed for different scales.
There are also Annotative MLeaders. MLeaders let you have multiple leaders from one object, which is a feature that C3D General Note labels sorely need. Another advantage of Annotative Text, MLeaders, and Dimensions is that they can be overridden, unlike C3D labels, where you need to create child styles or new styles to change anything. And of course, there's more to them, such as the ANNOAUTOSCALE feature. As you start figuring out Annotation Scales work, consult the help on that feature. It's handy to understand what it does, so you know when it's advantageous to change it. (Note that you can also change ANNOAUTOSCALE on the status bar at the bottom of the screen.)
-- Sinc
http://www.ejsurveying.com
http://www.quuxsoft.com
Sinc