Topic: Fields in AutoCAD

[Mark]

Just curious. Fields have been around now for a couple of years but I rarely here or see anyone using them.

A field is text that contains instructions to display data that you expect to change during the life cycle of the drawing.

When a field is updated, the latest data is displayed. For example, the value of the FileName field is the name of the file. If the file name changes, the new file name is displayed when the field is updated.

Fields can be inserted in any kind of text (except tolerances), including text in table cells, attributes, and attribute definitions. When any text command is active, Insert Field is available on the shortcut menu.

Some sheet set fields can be inserted as placeholders. For example, you can insert SheetNumberAndTitle as a placeholder. Later, when the layout is added to a sheet set, the placeholder field displays the correct sheet number and title.

Block placeholder fields can be used in block attribute definitions while you're working in the Block Editor.

A field for which no value is available displays hyphens (----). For example, the Author field, which is set in the Drawing Properties dialog box, may be blank. An invalid field displays pound signs (####). For example, the CurrentSheetName field, which is valid only in paper space, displays pound signs if it is placed in model space.

[Josh Nieman]

I've recently started using them in our Title Blocks.  I'm in the process of setting up a fresh "company standard" and so revamping and updating the company title block is part of my goal... so that we can xref a title block instead of have a copy of a block in every drawing/layout... and Fields are used for that purpose.

I could have lived without fields, but now that I use them... hoooo wheeee they're sweeeeet.

[Birdy]

We use 'em mainly in the title block. 
sheet number linked to the layout tab,
job info linked to the drawing properties custom tab.
View title (scale:) linked to the viewport scale.

goodbye rtext!!
 "Very, very, very rewarding" 

[Dinosaur]

We don't have a need to reference most of the data that fields can provide.  If I could convince them to start using sheet sets they would become more useful for title blocks, but for us they are currently no more than a novelty.

[CADaver]

We don't have a need to reference most of the data that fields can provide.  If I could convince them to start using sheet sets they would become more useful for title blocks, but for us they are currently no more than a novelty.

You may wish to investigate their use a little more.  Title blocks are just one application.

[whdjr]

We don't have a need to reference most of the data that fields can provide.  If I could convince them to start using sheet sets they would become more useful for title blocks, but for us they are currently no more than a novelty.

You may wish to investigate their use a little more.  Title blocks are just one application.

Randys right!   We name our layout tabs the same as the sheet name, etc. A1.01,A1.02,A1.03... so that in our titleblock we have a field that reads the sysvar 'ctab' and displays.  We also have reference bubbles on our sheets that do the same thing that way we don't have change them when we put them on a sheet or move them to another sheet.

Fields are KOOL!!!

[Ken]

Fields by themselves aren’t much to shout about, but when used with Sheet Set Manager, they are huge time savers. We have our title block set up with fields, which makes adding a new sheet #3 in a 50 sheet set, adding a revision date and updating the total number of sheets, easy and quick.

We also use them anywhere we have a note such as (See Sheet XX). Using a field linked to the Sheet Number property of that sheet, will automatically update whenever the sheet number changes in Sheet set manager, so you never have to go back and check for every reference like that to manually update them. We have also used them a lot when we start a project without knowing all the actual street names. We set up a Sheet Set property called “STREET A”, with an initial value of “STREET A” and use a field to reference that Sheet Set property anywhere that the street name will need to be shown. After that it’s just a simple thing to later update the Sheet Set Property value to “THOMAS STREET’ and it will be update that field everywhere it is on every sheet in the entire Sheet Set. And when it changes again to “JONES DRIVE” at the last minute, no problem, change the Property value and have Sheet Set Manager do the plotting in the background and they all get updated again without having to even open a drawing. That saves hours of time with every project we do.

Fields won’t do everything, but once you start using them with Sheet Set Manager, you’ll HATE having to work with a set of drawings that don’t have them set up. And the bigger the set of drawings, the more time saved.

Ken

[Guest]

We use them the same way Will does as well as a date stamp along the edge with the date/time each sheet was plotted.  Good for tracking; I've thought about adding the username field to the date stamp, but that seems a little too big-brotherish.

[David Hall]

but that seems a little too big-brotherish.

True , but when you start getting a big pile of paper no one claims, adding that username to the plot helps figure out what project to charge paper $$ to.

[David Hall]

It also helps keep plot happy engineers in check.  Seems like the ones here look through the folder - I need 1 of those, and 2 of those, and 1 of those - and never pick up their prints.  They either get distracted, or forget, or just decide they dont need it.

[Dinosaur]

I just checked the available data again just for grins and there still is almost nothing there that we reference even infrequently except for a bit of the titleblock stuff and I have less chance of reworking out titleblocks than I have getting them to embrace sheet sets.  I am not rejecting them for cause - I would actually like to be able to use them or at least attempt to, but we don't reference details from our plan work, our structure and part labeling is generated automatically by the program and our established workflow just has no application for them.

[Krushert]

I am using one application of a field that is to set the pass the scale of a viewport to text entity on Con-Doc Grid.  Very sweet and thanks to you guy that help me create it.

Some questions about other uses.

First.  Passing of the layout tab name to the title block drawing number.  Why in this direction.  To me it seems backwards.  It should be pass from the title block to the Layout Tab.  Is this possible?

Second.  We xref our title blocks.  We do the file-save from the TB template file and adjust the project info for each job.  This is all done by editing text.  The next time the drawings are open the Title blocks are updated.  What is the advantage of fields with the title blocks that are xref?  Now if the title blocks were blocks then I can see the need of Fields.

Third. Can Fields jump across Drawings  Our Reference bubbles & whatnot reference a detail# on Sheet in the back of the set.  So I don't see a advantage of using fields.  Am I wrong?

Fourth.  Very Very seldom do we have a drawing change which cause the set to be reorganized.   I can only think of once in the 5 years I have been here.  Why would there be a need for fields?

[whdjr]

...
Third. Can Fields jump across Drawings  Our Reference bubbles & whatnot reference a detail# on Sheet in the back of the set.  So I don't see a advantage of using fields.  Am I wrong?
...

Are the details in the back of the set numbered like 1/A22, 2/A22, 3/A22, and so on.  Well in our sheets they are.  So we have a standard attributed block that we use for this reference.  When we put it on a sheet it pulls the name of the current layout tab (which is our sheet name) and we don't have to input that data.  This works for all our sheets not just on the sheets with details.

[whdjr]

...
First.  Passing of the layout tab name to the title block drawing number.  Why in this direction.  To me it seems backwards.  It should be pass from the title block to the Layout Tab.  Is this possible?
...

It is easier to change a layout name from any other layout is the reason we do it that.  Plus it is easy to read the layout name as a field.  You could probably have the layout tab read the title block but it would be much harder.  You would have to use lisp or vba probably.

[whdjr]

...
Second.  We xref our title blocks.  We do the file-save from the TB template file and adjust the project info for each job.  This is all done by editing text.  The next time the drawings are open the Title blocks are updated.  What is the advantage of fields with the title blocks that are xref?  Now if the title blocks were blocks then I can see the need of Fields.
...

Does the information in your title block change?  We insert our sheet border with some information that doesn't change.  It also includes attributes for text that need to be sheet specific.  Then we xref other information into the border that may only change a few times during a project but will be the same on every sheet ( like date or # of drawings).  We have different submittals due in our work so these values will change during a job.