LISP FOR TITLE PAGE

[Kyle.para]

I have a title page that we fill out at the start of every project.

I have multiple layout pages on the same drawing all pointing back to the model in various locations.

What I would like is to update the name of the project, city and state, and drawing number & titles based on the what's written on the title page.

Maybe this isn't a lisp question, but I would like to automate the process somehow.

I have attached a test block for reference.

Thanks,

[Shneuph]

I've been meaning to look into this myself for about 8 years, and I still don't use them, but it sounds like a task for sheet sets.  You can find tutorials on youtube.  If this doesn't work for you maybe someone can help you accomplish with LISP.

[SeeMSixty7]

There are a number of ways to do what you want. Several will get the job done, each has pros and cons. In the end it is what works best for you. I will describe my process.

I setup a database entry for a project in my engineering database. Then I setup any rules for that project, discipline specific and such.

I then set the title block up correctly for the project. I create a record in my database for that title block and associate it to the project. This combination allows me to handle plotting configurations and such as well as titleblock attribute mapping.

Each time a drawing is created with that titleblock and project number a record is generated in my database that stores all of the title block information. When the Title (Index) sheet is opened the User can process a command to update the index sheet from the data in the database. The data in the Titleblocks drive the index sheet not the other way around. The manual launch of the automated update is to allows the users to compensate for revisions when needed and not automatically done behind the scenes to avoid issue conflicts.

I have seen others handle things like this with Sheet Sets and Fields as well. I prefer all of my data in a database though and more flexibility on control of titleblocks and the ever so frequent "oh we need to change that".

Hope that helps,

[Kyle.para]

That sort of sounds like what I would like to set up.  Do you have any templates or know any where that I can get more information on setting something like this up?

Thanks,

[SeeMSixty7]

I wish I could say it is just a mater of a template, but it does require an infrastructure to implement. A pretty significant discussion and lots of concepts to learn or apply.

I have started developing a blog site and this is actually one of the systems I will be discussing, but probably a little down the line. I'm currently trying to write mostly about improving Drafting quality.

In the mean time. You could look at the sheet set option and start looking ahead to the more advanced system.

Figure these things out.

How many drafters would utilize the system?

Do you have a company Database server (SQL Server, Oracle, MSAccess, MySQL, Postgres) you can get access to?

Are you familiar with Databases and SQL Language?

Are you proficient in AutoLISP?

If you are interested, my Blog site is in my signature below.

[hencoop]

As @SeeMSixty7 said, there are multiple was to get the job done. We use the Sheet Set Manager to do the job.

Our "TITLE PAGE" contains only those graphic elements that never change from project to project.  We use a separate block that contains only attributes for all of the "fill out" that is required.  Some of the attributes are pre-filled with field data that are "place holder" fields, i.e. SheetNumber and SheetTitle.  These automatically take on the appropriate value as soon as the sheet is included in a sheet set.  The other attribute values may contain specific fields from the project Sheet Set or static entries made by the user or input from custom lisp routines.

Our "TITLE PAGE" drawing is essentially a digital version of the pre-printed border sheets of the old days in which a technician would pull a sheet of mylar out of the drawer to start a new ink on mylar drawing.  It has everything that is always included on sheets produced by the company and nothing that may vary from project to project or from sheet to sheet.

Its companion title fill-in block contains all of the potentially varying content. It is overlaid (inserted) on the border sheet in the sheet layout.

We have one master original border sheet of each format (sheet size) we use.  It is copied to project folders via custom lisp routine and then xreferenced to every sheet in the project sheet set.  This isolates the version used with each project from any subsequent changes to the standard. If those changes are intended for the project then it is simply replaced with the updated version.

All of the data management for the project is accomplished using Sheet Set fields including custom properties wherever necessary.  A single edit in the Sheet Set is instantly incorporated on every sheet that the data is shown on.