AutoCAD 2007 and higher versions

Hello Daily AutoCAD readers,

Today, I would like to present you a tool that you can use during architectural project preparation. You have to give all of the major elevations for floor levels in all of the plan and section views. While doing this job, it is wiser to work with a “self-updating elevation” block that is appropriate according to standard elevation representations.

In this article, you will learn how to add automatically text (FIELD) property to a dynamic block that has multi view property and attribute. You can add FIELD property very easily by using an AutoLISP program.

In architectural discipline, elevation of sidewalk that is at the entrance of the building is accepted as 0.00 level. However, in AutoCAD, all of the elevations are calculated according to ground coordinate system! (wcs = world coordinate system).

Fig. 1 - Determining the value of point that is selected by using ID command.

Fig. 1 - (A): You can see the position where UCS icon is located as 0,0,0 as origin point. If you cannot see it, then you can set the UCSICON system variable to 1 or 3.

Fig. 1 - (B): It is possible to learn the value of any coordinate inside the drawing space by using ID command. For example, you can learn the insertion point of block by using this method.

Command: _ID (select the insertion point of block that is shown by letter (B))
Specify point: X = 1700.0000 Y = 2690.0000 Z = 0.0000

Dynamic block that is named as “Dyn-LEVEL-TR” has attribute property (variable text). This block that is prepared according to DIN 1356 (07.1974) norm has multiple view property.

Fig. 2 - Properties of dynamic block

Filled triangles (hatched with SOLID) is used in draft floor slab, whereas empty triangles are used in completed floor slabs. If you would like to dimension ceilings, then you have to mirror the block by using FLIP option.

If the elevation is pointing a position that is above the 0,0,0 reference point, (+) mark is placed in front of the value; whereas if it is below the reference point 0,0,0, then a (-) sign is placed in front of the value.

If the elevation is 0 (zero), then the value is written as ±0.000. The prefix ± (plus minus) is written by entering %%P.

You can change the value of attribute by using ATTEDIT or DDATTE commands. You can also do this by making double-clicking. If double-clicking is not working, then you can activate by using DBLCLKEDIT.

Fig. 3 - Changing attribute value of the block

It is possible to change the other values of blocks that has attribute property as you like (Fig. 4).

Another thing that I really like is that you can change the insertion point of attribute text to another position by using GRIP.

Fig. 4 - Editing the variable text properties of block.

Dynamic block that has multiple view property (Parameter = VISIBILITY).

View mode: Y1 FLIP mode: Not flipped		View mode: Y1 FLIP mode: Flipped		View Mode: Z1
View Mode: Y3 FLIP mode: Not flipped		View Mode: Y3 FLIP mode: Flipped		View Mode: Z2
View Mode: Y5 FLIP mode: Not flipped		View Mode: Y5 FLIP mode: Flipped		View Mode: Z3
View Mode: Y7 FLIP mode: Not flipped		View Mode: Y7 FLIP mode: Flipped		View Mode: Z4

For view and sections, you can use options that start with “Yx” letter (From Y1 to Y8). There are also some other symbols that are named from Z1 to Z4 which you can use for your plan drawings. AutoLISP program that is shown as list below filters the visibility parameter of the block and selects the Y- or Z- value that belongs to insertion point of the block.

Using the attached AutoLISP program that is given. Unit mode (%lu = linear units):

Unit mode settings that is very similar to system variable LUNITS are used by using these information.

\f “%.30q0″It shows according to unit system that is currently set.
\f “%lu1″ Unit system according to scientific operations.
\f “%lu2″ Decimal unit system.
\f “%lu3″ Engineering unit system.
\f “%lu4″ Architectural unit system.
\f “%lu5″ Raitonal unit system.

Number of decimals (%pr = precision):

It determines the number of decimal digits after comma. It is similar to system variable LUPREC and determines the precision of decimal digits. You can use the number of digits between 0 (zero) and 8.

\f “%pr0″ Numbers are shown as rounded without any commas.
\f “%pr8″ Number of digits after comma is shown as 8 (AutoCAD does not accept more then this).

Symbol that separates the directories (%ls = line separator): You can change the look of symbol that separates the directories from each other. It is possible to use another symbol instead of comma [,] which is designated by 44 as its Ascii value.

\f “%ls59″ [;] ASCII value 59
\f “%ls47″ [/] ASCII value 47

Symbol that separates the decimal part (%ds = decimal separator): It changes the look of symbol that separates decimal part of numbers. It is possible to use another symbol instead of comma [,] which is designated by 44 as its Ascii value.

\f “%ds44″ [\f “%ds32″ [] Space character ASCII value of which is 32.

Prefix of suffixes (%lu = prefix / suffix):

\f “%ps[Grid spacing = ,]” Then, “Grid spacing” will be used as prefix.
\f “%ps[Circle diameter = , mm]” “Circle diameter =” will be used as prefix, and “mm” will be used as suffix.

It is an easy way to get rid of zeros: (%zs = zero space)

\f “%zs1″ Feet settings
\f “%zs2″ Inch settings
\f “%zs4″ Removes the zeros before decimal separator
\f “%zs8″ Removes the unnecessary zeros after decimal separator
\f “%zs12″ Removes the zeros before and after decimal separator

Important notes:

All drawings that are made in model space must be made by M=1:1 scale and elevations must be equal to Y-value of coordinates. Print-outs (where the details are shown) are made in layout part (paper space). While editing the variable texts by using ATTEDIT command, you can edit the automatic texts by using the short-cut menu that appears by pressing right mouse button.

Attached files : Level.lsp, Level.dwg, Level-Sample.dwg

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Last read: 25 July 2008, 21:36

Annotation, AutoLISP, Autocad, Blocks, Dimensioning