Retrieving data from text entity
(defun textval ( / e ent)
(setq e (car (entsel "\nSelect text >")))
(setq ent (entget e))
(cond
((wcmatch (cdr (assoc 0 ent)) "*TEXT")
(setq val (cdr (assoc 1 ent)))
)
)
val
)You can select TEXT or MTEXT entity. Function stores text string into global variable named val.
To call function you can use
(textval) ;Stores text string to variable val
(setq a (textval)) ; stores text string to variables a and val
To call function directly from console you can create c: function
(defun c:textval nil (textval)); now you can simply type textval to console
Miljenko Hatlak
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Accepted solution
@Anonymous wrote:
.... to select a text entity and set the value typed in that entity as a variable. ....
There are several ways you can do that. Two ways that work the same for either Text or Mtext:
(setq textcontent (cdr (assoc 1 (entget (car (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: "))))))
or:
(vl-load-com); if needed
(setq textcontent (vla-get-TextString (vlax-ename->vla-object (car (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: ")))))
or [with the distadvantage that you can't use exactly the same code for either Text or Mtext]:
for plain Text:
(getpropertyvalue (car (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: ")) "TextString")
but for Mtext:
(getpropertyvalue (car (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: ")) "Text")
All of those rely on your selecting the right kind of thing, but can be enhanced to verify that, as @hak_vz's suggestion does [it uses the approach in my first one for the pulling of the content].
Kent Cooper, AIA 
@Kent1CooperHere we have beginner in autolisp world. Let he starts with vanilla autolisp and learn vl-functions later, when he grasp the basics. For a start functions like various CAR CDR combinations, ASSOC, MEMBER, ENTGET, ENTSEL and similar are a must to have. This is my opinion, someone may disagree.
Miljenko Hatlak
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@Anonymous wrote:all of these seem to work for what I'm trying to build but @Kent1Cooper first sol'n seems very elegant:
(setq textcontent (cdr (assoc 1 (entget (car (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: "))))))
Execution of commands is from right to left, so you can take parts of this expression and run it in console, just copy, past and hit enter. So with text entity we have
Command: (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: ")
Select DWG Number: (<Entity name: 25147bf3440> (1024.89 433.124 0.0))
Here is a list that contains two entries, entity name and pickpoint where we clicked on entity.
Functions car, cadr adn varios combination access diferent entity in a list. Car fetches first, cadr second. Or you can use command (NTH num list) starting from 0.
Command: (car (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: "))
Select DWG Number: <Entity name: 25147bf3440>
To read definition of this entity we use command entget
(entget(car (entsel "\nSelect DWG Number: ")))
Select DWG Number: ((-1 . <Entity name: 25147bf3440>) (0 . "TEXT") (330 . <Entity name: 25147bf81f0>) (5 . "274") (100 . "AcDbEntity") (67 . 0) (410 . "Model") (8 . "0") (100 . "AcDbText") (10 1019.87 433.069 0.0) (40 . 2.5) (1 . "aaa") (50 . 0.0) (41 . 1.0) (51 . 0.0) (7 . "Standard") (71 . 0) (72 . 0) (11 0.0 0.0 0.0) (210 0.0 0.0 1.0) (100 . "AcDbText") (73 . 0))
Text value is stored in association list (1 . "aaa"). To fetch it we use (cdr (assoc keyvalue list))
And at last this value is stored in variable textcontent using command setq.
For a key values for some entity you can look in autocad help - search for DXF ENTITIES Section
Under -> Developer Documentation -> Reference guide you have almost everything you need to start learning autolisp. Google will help you a lot. There is a lot of code in this forum. Check AFRALISP
Miljenko Hatlak
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@Anonymous wrote:
.... walk me through the logic of this declaration? ....
I suggest you explore the AutoLisp Reference. In that code line, every word that immediately follows a left parenthesis is an AutoLisp function name. You can look them up, and it will tell you what they do, what arguments they require, whether some arguments are optional, what they return, and often some things about their relationships to certain other functions, with examples.
Kent Cooper, AIA
Yes, vl-functions are more readable and versatile, but you have to know how to apply them, how to handle errors, check if property or method is available and so on. They often require creating an array or value of particular data type. Luckily for vl objects you can always use vlax-dump-object. For reading key values one can create helper function. There is large group of common key values, entity type is always 0, layer 8 .... Learning autlisp / visualisp is not easy, but is definitively rewarding.
Miljenko Hatlak
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@Anonymous wrote:how did u find out 1 . "aaa" is where the text value is stored? would other information like text color and size be in this association list?
Yes. There are common group entities codes, 0 entitiy type, 8 layer, 62 color number (indexed colors) 0...256, 5 linetype .....
And there are entity specific codes. For text entity 1 is string value, 10 insertions point, 40 text height, 50 rotation....
Yeu have it all explained in developers guide. There is also pdf documentation you can install or read online.
Miljenko Hatlak
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