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After 7+ hours including several reading posts here I've reached the conclusion that either there is a defect in ACAD (very, very unlikely), or, there is some secret, undocumented way to create a usable template file that ATTEXT can use to extract attribute information from blocks. The goal is to construct a small building within ACAD (before the first piece of material is cut or even bought) exclusively from blocks with attribute information for each block and then to extract what will end up being a bill of materials and cost sheet. (in lieu of my normal approach of hand sketching, trial and error cutting and fitting as I go along). I have read the manual 4 - 5 times, followed instructions exactly (or at least think I have), reviewed postings here (and then trying different ways as suggested in this forum). Nothing works. I have even created a single block in single file with one attribute to simplify it. Once I can figure out what's wrong, I can get back to it. Anyway, same error comes back every time. The current, extremely simplified, PracticeExtractAttributes.txt (template file) file reads: BL:MYBLOCK C01500 STICKNAME C01500 with MYBLOCK being the block name and STICKNAME being the tag name for one attribute from the drawing. Same error. Note: although I use ACAD very infrequently I have been using it since (if I recall correctly) 2.56 back in the 80s and currently use 2000. I am missing something but have no idea what. What's the secret? JEH PS the ATTEXT will create a DXX file with the information in it (hence my conclusion the problem is in the template file), but that would require me to spend hours and hours writing code to parse the DXX file (once I had the format figured out) to get the info out.

I have been fighting with this for some time now: In a drawing that containes blocks with attributes, blocks with blocks with attributes AND xrefs with blocks with attributes. I need to extract some attributetags AND the X, Y and Z-coordinate. With ATTEXT and a filterfile I have got it working, BUT... Sometimes the ATTEXT-file that is created displays some strange values in the coordinates. Sometimes numbers are very small or very large, but the XREF-drawing shows no entities on that coordinates. For example 3.277566e-99 of 4.19987e125. These numbers cannot be transferred and used for the rest of the program. How can I fix this so it reads the real coordinates from the XREF/block and not some strange 'mutant'-code???