Expert: Shauna Anderson - 5/1/2009

Question
How do you create a block with definable attributes.Ex....if i insert a pushbutton E-stop I'd like to be able to input device name, wire #'s etc............we are using ACAD electrical 2004

Thank you

Answer
Hi Larry,

Thanks for the question. I have not worked with ACAD Electrical, but I have to think that the method to doing this is the same as ACAD.

When you create your block you want to use the command ATTDEF which is attribute definition. You can add as many attributes to a block as you choose.

You will have options on the left side of the dialog box for MODE. These give you some options with how the attributes will work. I would suggest unchecking them all to start.

You create a tag which needs to be unique for each block, but another block could have attributes with the same tag, such as ^1. Then you will write a prompt. This prompt should read like ACAD but making it clear what you want. "Enter the Device Name:" is a better prompt than "Dev Name".  Then enter a default value. We often use our tag so that it is obvious when we go to check. Your designers can also choose to enter a space and have the value be nil.  

You determine your text settings for what the text will look like and where it will go. I suggest using the insertion point as "Specify on screen" and picking the location in the block. If you want the text to not be movable at all then choose lock position in the mode settings.

Then block the whole block, selecting the attributes in the order you want them to be asked for. Example, in our title block we want it to say: First line of title THEN Second line of title. So that does matter.

A couple of other pieces in this: ATTREQ controls whether the insert command uses the default attribute settings. If it is set to 0 it gives all defaults. If it is set to 1 it will go through a dialog box asking for the correct values.

Hope that helps get you on your way to attributed blocks.

-Shauna