Block Properties Table Regens Attributes Automatically

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know why Autocad treats the block properties table differently than a normal lookup table when it comes to populating attributes? When you tie an attribute to the block properties table, the attribute will automatically regenerate to populate its contents. However when you tie an attribute to a normal lookup table you have to type "regen" after every list selection for it to update. Some of my blocks are going to have a lot attributes to be filled in using a lookup table. This works fine however I've noticed that once there are several of those blocks in a drawing the regen takes longer and longer with each new block added. The block properties table is a good solution to that problem but it's annoying that I can't use parameters to move the icon around. So there are pros/cons to each method I guess. 

If we could figure out how to regen the attributes that are populated from a lookup table the same way that they are when they're tied to a block properties table, that would solve all the problems. 

In the attached block, the attributes above the circle are populated using the block properties table, the ones below the circle are populated using a lookup table.

Thanks!

[Libbya]

The block properties table changes the value of the attribute directly.  A lookup cannot do that.  Instead, for a lookup to display a value, a field is required.  A field requires regen for update.  That's just the way it is.  There are advantages to both ways and thank goodness they don't both work the same. 

The block properties grip will always remain in its position relative to the block base point.  If you move the base point parameter, the block properties grip will move also by the same amount.

[Anonymous]

Yep that's the same conclusion that I've come to. I like using the lookup table more than block property table method, I just wish that it didn't require a regen to update. I also wish that a field placed inside of a text string could pull from the lookup table but only a field placed inside of an attribute can do that. That way the user wouldn't be able to mess up or overwrite a field. So I guess there's not really a perfect solution to what I'm trying to do. 

I have used an outside the box method for populating text with a lookup table. I figured out that I could scale text up and down. So what I would do is place a very tiny piece of text (.00001) tall so that it's not visible. Then Scale that text up when it's turned "on" using a lookup table. It works really well but can be very tedious to set up in a block, especially if there are a lot of text options.  It is nice for the fact that the user can't break it and the change is instantaneous, it's just a headache to create. I'll attach an example to show what I mean.

[Emmsleys]

Following up on your thread,

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Thanks for your time.