Creating and Modifying BUBBLEWorx Tag Bubble Styles (Tags.dwg)

Issue:

The Styles list on the TAG palette only offers the bubble shapes that ship with BUBBLEWorx, and none of them match your company standard. You want a different shape, a different number of text lines, coordinates beside the bubble, or your own set of bubbles shared across the team.

Tag bubble styles are not built into the plugin. They are ordinary AutoCAD blocks stored in a support drawing called Tags.dwg, so you can edit the ones we ship and add your own.

Looking to customise the bubbles on the BOM, MML, or WELD palette instead? Those come from a different drawing — see the companion article, Creating and Modifying BUBBLEWorx Mark Bubble Styles.

Causes:

• The Styles list is rebuilt every time the palette loads by reading the block definitions out of Tags.dwg. Nothing is hard-coded in BUBBLEWorx.
• Only blocks whose names follow a specific convention appear in the list. A block named any other way is skipped silently, which is why a newly drawn bubble often does not show up.
• BUBBLEWorx will not function without a valid style drawing to select blocks from.

Solution:

The file is installed to:

C:\ProgramData\ECE Design\BUBBLEWorx\Support\Tags.dwg

A metric version, TagsMetric.dwg, is installed alongside it. It is not selected automatically — point the setting at it if you want to use it.

The drawing also contains a NOTES block in model space listing these rules, and a grid of sample bubbles with their block names captioned underneath. That is the quickest reference while you work.

Before you start

Work on a copy. Editing the installed file directly means a Worx Plugins reinstall or upgrade can overwrite your work.

1. Copy Tags.dwg to a folder of your own. A network folder is a good choice, so everyone on the team draws from the same set of bubbles.
2. In CAD, open Worx Settings and go to the BUBBLEWorx section.
3. Under Style Drawings, set the Tag Drawing Location to your copy.

Step 1 — Name the block correctly

This is what decides whether your bubble appears in the Styles list at all.

A tag style block name is made of four parts separated by a lowercase xx:

TAGxx<LINES>xx<POSITION>xx<NAME>

The shipped drawing covers seven shapes — Bubble, Square, Triangle, Hexagon, HexagonUp, Rectangle and Oval — in these combinations:

Rules to follow exactly:

• The separator is lowercase xx. XX will not work.
• There must be exactly four parts. Three or five parts will not appear in the list.
• Do not use xx anywhere else in the name — it will be read as another separator.
• The block name must be unique across all blocks in the drawing.
• POSITION controls the sort order of the list. Give each block its own number, and pick an unused one for anything you add so it lands where you want it.

The palette shows each entry as POSITION : LINES : NAME, under a header row reading ITEM : LINES : DESCRIPTION. So TAGxx02xx08xxBubble is listed as 08 : 02 : Bubble.

Step 2 — Draw the bubble geometry

Draw the outline centred on the block origin (0,0). The leader attaches to the block's base point, so the geometry's position relative to the origin decides where the leader lands.

The safest approach is to copy a shipped block and modify it rather than build one from scratch:

1. Open Tags.dwg.
2. Pick the sample bubble closest to what you want.
3. Copy it, rename the copy following Step 1, then edit the geometry.

All shipped geometry sits on layer 0 so it inherits the layer and colour you set on the palette. Keep new geometry on layer 0 too.

Step 3 — Add the attributes

The text inside the bubble comes from block attributes. Add one attribute per line of text, numbered from the top line down:

The number of attributes should match the LINES part of the block name — a TAGxx03xx... block gets attributes 1, 2 and 3.

The tag text is split on hyphens, spaces, and $ characters, and each piece goes into the next attribute. A tag of LG-101-1 in a three-line bubble puts LG on line 1, 101 on line 2, and 1 on line 3.

Requirements for every attribute:

• It must be a Multiple line attribute. A Single line attribute causes bubble insertion to fail with an "Attribute must be a Multiple Line Attribute" message.
• Justify the numbered attributes Middle Center, so text stays centred in the shape.
• Turn on Lock position in block.
• The shipped bubbles use the Verdana text style at height 0.12. Match that for a consistent look.

Step 4 (optional) — Show Northing, Easting and Elevation

To display coordinates beside the tag, add these attributes as well:

Set each one's Prompt and Default to match its tag, and justify them Middle Left so they sit neatly to the right of the bubble.

When a block uses these, put a single x in front of the whole block name — for example xTAGxx03xx22xxBubbleENEL. The shipped drawing follows this convention for every coordinate variant.

The prefixes, precision, and units shown for each value are controlled by the Northing/Easting/Elevation Setup section of the Tag settings, not by the block.

Step 5 (optional) — Add a 3D variant for model space

Tag bubbles placed in model space can use a separate 3D version of the block, which is useful for 3D model reviews.

To provide one, create a second block with exactly the same name plus 3d on the end — for example TAGxx02xx08xxBubble3d alongside TAGxx02xx08xxBubble.

BUBBLEWorx picks the 3d block automatically when you tag in model space and the plain block in paper space. Blocks whose names end in 3d are deliberately hidden from the Styles list, because they are paired to their 2D counterpart rather than chosen directly.

The Scale 2d and Scale 3d settings on the Tag palette size the paper space and model space bubbles independently.

Step 6 — Create the preview image

The palette shows a thumbnail of each bubble taken from the block's stored preview icon. A block with no preview icon shows a placeholder image and a message asking you to run BLOCKICON.

With Tags.dwg open, run:

BLOCKICON

Press Enter to accept all blocks. This generates preview icons for every block in the drawing.

Step 7 — Save and refresh

1. Save and close Tags.dwg. BUBBLEWorx reads the file directly and cannot read it reliably while it is open for editing.
2. Back in your working drawing, click Refresh above the Styles list on the TAG palette.
3. Your new bubble should now appear in the list.

Notes:

• Your change will not show up in a drawing you have already tagged. Once a bubble block of a given name exists in a drawing, that drawing keeps its own copy and Tags.dwg is not read again. To see a changed block, test in a new drawing, redefine the block in the existing drawing, or give the modified bubble a new name.
• Keep Tags.dwg closed while working in CAD. If it is open for editing, the Styles list can come back empty with an "MLEADER Block Styles are Unavailable" message.
• Do not delete the Standard multileader style from Tags.dwg. Every bubble style is cloned from it, and bubble creation fails without it.
• Do not rename or move Tags.dwg without updating the setting. BUBBLEWorx will not function without a valid drawing to select blocks from.
• If you add a coordinate or 3D variant, create it for every shape you use. These are matched by name, so a missing variant simply falls back to the plain bubble.
• Share the drawing on the network if more than one designer needs the same bubbles. Everyone simply points the Tag Drawing Location setting at the same file.
• Back up your copy before a Worx Plugins upgrade if you kept it in the ProgramData folder.

Versions: 

Applies to BUBBLEWorx for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Plant 3D, CADWorx Plant, and BricsCAD.