Extracting data from a table, for creating labels

[leemjrich]

Hello there :-)

 

I am wondering whether anyone may be able to provide a relative newbie with some assistance. I have been trawling the pages here and elsewhere to try and find an answer that I can comprehend or use, but had no luck so far :-(

 

What I am trying to achieve, is to import an excel spreadsheet to AutoCad 2010, and use cells from this table to automatically populate text fields. What I am trying to generate are some 19" patch bay labels (that can only be printed on A3 at an angle, hence the use of cad). We have to create these types of labels a lot, and Excel is a far more friendly place to be able to do this (plus the data already exists from wiring schedules).

 

I have not tried any form of automation like this before, so am not really sure where to start. The searches I have made are probably failing, as I don't know what to call the thing I am looking for.

 

I have managed to copy and "paste special" as an object the table that I wish to use - however I cannot seem to find a way to replicate the data from the table to the areas on the drawing where the text needs to appear. I did try the insert field/formula/cell - but I of course only get #### as the fields are text rather than numerical (well a mix of both).

 

Does anyone know if there is a solution to being able to complete this task please? It takes a long time to go through and manually change all of the separate mtext blocks as there are 2 off rows of 48 per patch bay, and each pair of patches uses 3 separate text inputs. Todays job has a total of 13 patch bays, so any form of automation from the existing excel sheets would make me a very happy man...

 

Any assistance very much appreciated,

Kind Regards,

 

 

Lee Rich

[Jwilson]

You can try data link, it will allow you to export entire spreadsheets, Rows, Columns, or anything thing in between that. Ensure you have excel running on your unit though, or else it won't pick it up (I have Excel 2010, but its on a virtual machine, so I cannot use the function.)