Use Case

AutoCAD users producing drawings requiring revision control generally are populating Revision Tables within them.  However, it is very time-consuming because most have to open drawings and use the various attribute edit interfaces like the edit attribute dialog or properties palette.

Commonly, these tables are prepopulated with Attributes with different TAG values like R_LEVEL_1, R_LEVEL_2, R_LEVEL_3, etc., as shown here.

In this ATTEWorx use case, we will demonstrate using the same 'Revision Information' block on each table row.

Setting up Revision Table blocks with this invisible row makes managing them easy.

Setup & Configuration

The first step is to create a 'Revision Row' block with an attribute for each revision table column and add another dedicated to identifying the table row.

In this example, 'R_ROW' has been added for this purpose.  Set this Attribute to Invisible so it does not show on the drawing.  Alternatively, the Attribute could be set to visible and then set to be on a 'no-plot' layer.  This way, designers see the row value, but it will not be visible on deliverables or published drawings.

Insert the Revision Row block on each row and populate the R_ROW with its table position.  

ProTip: if blocks are inserted without entities and only Attributes, set at least one Attribute with a character so designers can click on them to edit.  Here, the R_LEVEL is set with hyphens for this purpose.

Bulk update using ATTEWorx

Close all drawings that will be modified using ATTEWorx because it can not update open drawings.

Select a directory full of production drawings, and ATTEWorx will populate the grid with all blocks found in every drawing.

In this example,  the WorxProjects directory is being used.

C:\ProgramData\ECE Design\WorxProjects\ATTEWorx\ProductionDrawingSamples

Once loaded, use the Block Filter located in the Control ribbon section.
Select those blocks that start with 'D_TITLEBLK' because this will return 1) the border 'INFO' and 2) the 'REV' blocks only.

Using the same REV block for each Revision Table row, users see the entire table within ATTEWorx just like they would see it within drawings.  This setup method makes it super easy to edit and manage drawing border Attribute values.

All INFO and REV Attribute values can be edited and saved using ATTEWorx in bulk without having to open drawings.

Once values are 1) changed, the row is identified as edited, and 2) the Save button becomes purposeful.

ProTip: use the built-in 'drag' feature to populate like values up, down, or across.  This feature is initiated by positioning the cursor in the lower right-hand corner of the source cell and then using the left mouse button to hold and drag. 

After saving all bulk edits, use the built-in drawing viewer to confirm updates were made.

Save lots of time and improve drawing border content consistency with ATTEWorx before releasing drawing revisions!