Adding customs properties to properties rollover menu

[koudougou]

Hi,

 

my question is more about feasibility than doing it. I read forums threads but I can't really manage to find the right answer, because Autocad is a new

field to me and I can't really manage to ask the good question to Google.

Employees in my company are working with Autocad 2013, with payed licenses. When right-clicking on a figure, you chose the "Properties" menu and then a rollover menu appears on the side of the screen, containing some properties.

 

I want to know if it is possible to add some custom properties to geometric figures and see those properties in the rollover menu. I want those properties to be editable. For example, for all polylines, I want the rollover menu to display two custom properties named "MyOwnProperty1" and "MyOwnProperty2", and being able to edit those values.

 

I don't really care if I should use AutoLisp or other technologies, right now I just want to know if there is a way to accomplish that.

If you find that I don't use the good terms, words, please give me some links regarding the subject so I can improve my knowledge.

 

Thank you for your answers.

[guran]

I do not know what it is you call "rollover menu" but I think it's Dynamic Blocks you should look for.

[steven-g]

If you mean the properties as shown in the second image.

 

 

You can choose the options in the CUI (first image) but I don't know if you can add custom properties.

EDIT(inserting images is not intuitive)

[koudougou]

guran : what I call the rollover menu is the menu you obtains by right-clicking on a element and clicking on "Properties" in the box. It displays a Properties menu on the side of the screen. You say I have to look for in Dynamic Blocks. Do you know for sure if I can create custom properties with those things ?

 

steven-g : I don't mean the menu shown in the second image exactly, which is the "Quick Properties" menu and only a part of what you see in the "Properties" menu. Both can be configured as you said by using the CUI and choosing only a set of pre-existing properties, but what I want to know is if there is a way to create custom properties and display them in those menu ?

[guran]

Here is a screenshot of the properties of a dynamic block where the last three lines are custom properties.

 

 

[guran]

Sorry, but it seems I can not attach a picture but yes, you can create custom properties with dynamic blocks.

[koudougou]

Thanks a lot for this information. Now, I have two new questions for you. Those informations (the custom properties and their values), are they only present when working with Autocad or are they also present in the final dxf file, so scripts using the dxf files can see them ? Please tell me if I'm not clear.

Also, I read that Extended Data (xdata) are some marvellous things, and when you managed to use them you are kind of a king and can do whatever please you. Does Extended Data worth spending the time to learn them, as I read in some threads ?

[steven-g]

The image I gave is the "rollover tooltip" which is different to the Quick properties, which is again different to the Properties toolpalette. I think the simple answer is no you can't just add custom properties, you can change the object into a block and use attributes to hold further information, or another possible option would be to Hyperlink a document to objects and store any other data that way. It depends on what you are wanting to do.

[koudougou]

Thank you also for your answer, and the clarification about the name of the differents boxes.

 

What the employees are asking is to fill some custom fields on their drawings and that those custom attributes and values can later be found in the dxf file, so other tools processing the dxf file can find the regular attributes and their values but also the custom ones.

 

So, conclusion : we can't add custom properties to an object with Autocad 2013. I have to turn objects into blocks and then use attributes to add custom information. Am I right ?

[steven-g]

A quick search would suggest that XDATA will do it, but it isn't available for me in LT to check.

[koudougou]

Ok tanks guys, I will look for dynamic blocks and xdata and come back in an other thread if I have questions.

[guran]

I think there has been a lot of misunderstanding here. You must go to the AutoCAD help and study the difference between the properties, dynamic blocks, attributes, xdata and fields.

[koudougou]

I will go to the Autocad help and study the differences between those things.

Can you clarify the misunderstandings ? What am I understanding wrongly ?

[guran]

I just have a feeling that we are talking past each other and not really talking about the same thing.

[koudougou]

Hum, ok. What I understood of that thread is that adding custom properties to an object is impossible. I have to either convert the object into a dynamic block, or use xdata.

[RobDraw]

As suggested before, a regular block with attributes can hold that data for you. AutoCAD's help can be very confusing, please feel free to continue to ask your questions here.

[tombu]

Thank you also for your answer, and the clarification about the name of the differents boxes.

 

What the employees are asking is to fill some custom fields on their drawings and that those custom attributes and values can later be found in the dxf file, so other tools processing the dxf file can find the regular attributes and their values but also the custom ones.

 

So, conclusion : we can't add custom properties to an object with Autocad 2013. I have to turn objects into blocks and then use attributes to add custom information. Am I right ?

 

Yes and no. It can be done with AutoCAD Map as this it typical for GIS data. While they show up in the Properties Palette they are not output by the list command and can only be accessed by AutoCAD Map which I doubt would help you.