Global Attribute Editor & Extractor

[Lee Mac]

Have a Spectacular day!

 

Thanks Martin, you too

[sinnerboy]

Sorry to gravedig Lee - but once attributes have been extracted to Excell - can they be editted in Excell and imported back to AutoCAD ( 2009 )

[Lee Mac]

Sorry to gravedig Lee - but once attributes have been extracted to Excell - can they be editted in Excell and imported back to AutoCAD ( 2009 )

 

Hi SinnerBoy,

 

Quick answer: No - not at present. Its been discussed a bit earlier in the thread, but the main issue is that in order to 'know' which attributes within which blocks are linked with which cells, the block or attribute handle needs to be extracted to the Excel sheet also (as performed in ATTOUT/IN command), this of course can be done. But, my program deals in multiple drawings, so we face another issue of knowing from which drawing the attribute handle is contained... and from there we have endless headaches...

 

Lee

[MotoGirl]

I always stay hopeful that it can happen tho. lol. More of what we need is just a way to edit all the attributes in one drawing, not multiple drawings, we will have some 20 layout tabs and it would be freaking awesome to open a dialog window that lets you look at all of them at once... kinda like the properties window but showing all the title blocks..... *sigh*:wink:

[Lee Mac]

I always stay hopeful that it can happen tho. lol. More of what we need is just a way to edit all the attributes in one drawing, not multiple drawings, we will have some 20 layout tabs and it would be freaking awesome to open a dialog window that lets you look at all of them at once... kinda like the properties window but showing all the title blocks..... *sigh*:wink:

 

If its for just one drawing, why not use ATTOUT/IN ? I think it would do what you want

[AQucsaiJr]

Hey Lee,

I am having trouble with the extractor.

 

This is what I get after opening this drawing, loading the program, calling up the program, setting it up, and then running it.

 

Command: macatt

[Editor/eXtractor] <eXtractor> : X

Select objects: 1 found

Select objects:

** Error Opening File: N69-03A.dwg **Loading AEC Base...
Loading AEC Base Extended...
Loading AEC Project Base...
Loading AEC Schedule Data...
Loading AEC Architectural Base...
Loading AEC Base UI...

** Error: bad argument type: stringp nil **

 

I have tried it on other drawings but I get the same error.

I am running AutoCAD 2010.

[Lee Mac]

Sorry, I'm up to Version 3.0 with this - I updated it a while back as the revision date shows, but forgot to upload it.

[AQucsaiJr]

No problem. This program is working great! Thanks Lee.

[sinnerboy]

If its for just one drawing, why not use ATTOUT/IN ? I think it would do what you want

 

Lee - it did exactly what I wanted . Thanks .

 

PS after 12 years of LT I am recently graduated to "full" AutoCAD and seeing what more it can do .

 

 

I like it

[monk]

Im guessing your updating the code? Just wondering when i can try this out?

[Lee Mac]

Lee - it did exactly what I wanted . Thanks .

 

PS after 12 years of LT I am recently graduated to "full" AutoCAD and seeing what more it can do .

 

 

I like it

 

You're very welcome

[peterw]

Hi Lee

 

This attribute extractor sounds like a very useful tool. I am trying to extract drawing information using the autocad data extraction but with find it time consuming and not reliable.

I would appreciate it if you could make the code available for the Global Attribute Editor.

Thanks Peter

[stenna]

Hi Lee,

 

Like Peterw I'm trying to extract drawing info and finding it very long winded and frustrating so I'm very interested in your code.

 

When will it be available?

 

Thanks Stenna

[Lee Mac]

Hi Guys,

 

I shall update the code shortly.

[Lee Mac]

Code added.

[peterw]

Hi Lee

 

Thanks for the code. The Global Attribute Editor is very powerful.

Is it possible to use the package in the background with set blocks tags. I am thinking of updating the spreadsheet as part of the save command.

I notice that where there are multiple blocks with the same name in a drawing like lines for bills of materials the editor appears to write the same sequence of tag values for all blocks within the selection set rather than the particular tag that is selected for change. Is there a way around this?

I like the functions to add new tags and values to blocks.

I am looking for a way to use bill of material block information to access sub assesemblies and detail drawing title block information. Do you know if the Global Attribute Editor or the functions within it could be used to do this.

 

Thanks again for adding the code.

 

Cheers Peter

[Lee Mac]

Thanks for the code. The Global Attribute Editor is very powerful.

 

Hi Peter,

 

I'm glad you like it, but, judging by your post, you seem to be getting a lot more functionality out of it than I put in...

 

Is it possible to use the package in the background with set blocks tags. I am thinking of updating the spreadsheet as part of the save command.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by 'set block tags'? The Extractor will extract those tags as listed for each block listed in the program to a spreadsheet.

 

I notice that where there are multiple blocks with the same name in a drawing like lines for bills of materials the editor appears to write the same sequence of tag values for all blocks within the selection set rather than the particular tag that is selected for change. Is there a way around this?

 

When using the selection tool on the editor, you can quickly list a set of tags for a block, as opposed to typing each block/tags individually. The program will perform a blanket attribute change for all instances of the block entered, not varying changes for each instance of the block. The Tag Selection button is to make it quicker to enter a tag to change, again, as opposed to typing it manually.

 

I like the functions to add new tags and values to blocks.

 

I'm not sure where you are seeing this function? I certainly didn't code it into the program...

 

I am looking for a way to use bill of material block information to access sub assesemblies and detail drawing title block information. Do you know if the Global Attribute Editor or the functions within it could be used to do this.

 

If you enter what needs to be changed into the editor, it can update your attributes, but I have not designed it to draw information from one set of attributes to populate another.

 

Lee

[monk]

I cant seem to get this to work

 

Im on 2011 vanilla, with office 07

 

I run the program select the block, choose a drawing directory get the following when i hit ok

 

** Error: Automation Error. Problem in loading application **

Command:

[Lee Mac]

Hi Monk,

 

I haven't had that reported before, could you please identify using the VLIDE at which line the program crashes please?

 

(If you haven't done this before, type VLIDE at the command line, then go to Debug > Break on Error. Run the routine, and, when it crashes, go to Debug > Last Break Source (Ctrl+F9) )

[monk]

:ERROR-BREAK Automation Error. Problem in loading application

 

Hope this helps!