• AutoCAD

Create and use attributes

Create an attribute and turn it into a block.


Tutorial resources

These downloadable resources will be used to complete this tutorial:


00:04

Using attributes can add content to any AUTOCAD block.

00:08

But exactly what are they?

00:11

Attributes are labels or tags that can be visible or not.

00:16

That essentially add data

00:18

to the block

00:20

examples where you could see attributes in a drawing

00:23

could be on title blocks

00:26

or section call outs,

00:28

maybe even room tags or phone blocks

00:32

and they can help produce things such as bill of materials,

00:36

door schedules

00:37

or even facility management documents.

00:41

We're gonna start off looking at how to create attributes.

00:46

Let's go ahead and look at the

00:48

attribute definition dialog box.

00:52

You can see that we have different modes,

00:56

invisible is so that it doesn't show up but it's contained there,

00:60

which sometimes you would use that for data extraction exercises.

01:06

The constant mode means it cannot be changed,

01:10

verify,

01:12

preset lock position

01:14

and the last one is multiple lines so that

01:17

you can have multiple lines of attributed text.

01:22

Then you have the insertion point.

01:25

Now let's talk about the three elements of the attribute. First is the tag.

01:32

This is what your attribute

01:34

will actually read as when you first see it,

01:39

the prompt is what a user could be prompted for for example,

01:43

what is the room number or simply room number could be a prompt

01:49

default is if you want a default value to show up and then that value could be edited.

01:55

And then of course, we have the tech settings

01:58

at the bottom.

02:01

For this example, I'm going to create an attribute,

02:04

place it in a rectangle

02:06

and then create a block out of it.

02:09

This example will be for a department designation.

02:14

First thing I'm gonna do is

02:17

make

02:17

the department layer current.

02:21

Then I'm gonna get this started by typing in att

02:26

de for attribute definition and that opens the attribute definition dialog box.

02:33

I'm gonna leave

02:34

the mode as the default.

02:38

I'm going to have specify on screen for the insertion point

02:44

and for the tag,

02:47

this one, I'm gonna put as DPT for department.

02:51

Then for the prompt,

02:53

what

02:54

is

02:58

the department

03:00

with a question mark

03:03

in the default?

03:04

I will type in

03:07

admin. Now maybe they

03:09

have different codes

03:11

in whatever facility this is going to belong to

03:14

and the most common one is admin. So

03:17

that's why I'm putting that as a default.

03:20

Then I'm going to put middle for the justification.

03:24

I'll keep the text as standard

03:28

and I'll put

03:30

eight inch, we'll go ahead and leave that

03:33

and I'll click. OK?

03:36

Now, as the attribute asks to be

03:40

placed in, I'll just place it

03:44

and then I'm gonna move it

03:46

using the M two P the mid to point

03:50

command.

03:51

So notice I have the grip

03:55

as

03:56

chosen in the center of the attribute.

03:59

Once I have the grip selected, I'm going to type in M two P

04:06

and I'm going to grab each

04:08

corner endpoint.

04:10

And now

04:12

the attribute is placed in the middle of that rectangle.

04:16

Now that I have my attribute inside of the rectangle, I'll use the

04:21

bake command

04:23

to turn this into a block

04:25

which I will call

04:27

department

04:30

for the

04:31

base point.

04:33

I can use this endpoint.

04:37

I'll select

04:39

the objects.

04:40

Notice I'm selecting the

04:43

attribute and the rectangle

04:46

and then I will click.

04:49

OK.

04:50

Notice

04:52

the edit attributes comes up and this is what a user would be prompted with.

04:57

Notice we have our question of what is department.

05:01

I click. OK?

05:02

And now that block definition

05:05

has been created. So if I want to use the insert command

05:10

and look for the block

05:12

department,

05:15

I can place it.

05:16

And then as I'm placing it, I get prompted

05:20

for what is the department?

05:22

Maybe this code of ENG would be for engineering

05:27

and notice how that updates

05:29

and it stays in the middle of the rectangle because of the justification

05:35

that was chosen for me.

Video transcript

00:04

Using attributes can add content to any AUTOCAD block.

00:08

But exactly what are they?

00:11

Attributes are labels or tags that can be visible or not.

00:16

That essentially add data

00:18

to the block

00:20

examples where you could see attributes in a drawing

00:23

could be on title blocks

00:26

or section call outs,

00:28

maybe even room tags or phone blocks

00:32

and they can help produce things such as bill of materials,

00:36

door schedules

00:37

or even facility management documents.

00:41

We're gonna start off looking at how to create attributes.

00:46

Let's go ahead and look at the

00:48

attribute definition dialog box.

00:52

You can see that we have different modes,

00:56

invisible is so that it doesn't show up but it's contained there,

00:60

which sometimes you would use that for data extraction exercises.

01:06

The constant mode means it cannot be changed,

01:10

verify,

01:12

preset lock position

01:14

and the last one is multiple lines so that

01:17

you can have multiple lines of attributed text.

01:22

Then you have the insertion point.

01:25

Now let's talk about the three elements of the attribute. First is the tag.

01:32

This is what your attribute

01:34

will actually read as when you first see it,

01:39

the prompt is what a user could be prompted for for example,

01:43

what is the room number or simply room number could be a prompt

01:49

default is if you want a default value to show up and then that value could be edited.

01:55

And then of course, we have the tech settings

01:58

at the bottom.

02:01

For this example, I'm going to create an attribute,

02:04

place it in a rectangle

02:06

and then create a block out of it.

02:09

This example will be for a department designation.

02:14

First thing I'm gonna do is

02:17

make

02:17

the department layer current.

02:21

Then I'm gonna get this started by typing in att

02:26

de for attribute definition and that opens the attribute definition dialog box.

02:33

I'm gonna leave

02:34

the mode as the default.

02:38

I'm going to have specify on screen for the insertion point

02:44

and for the tag,

02:47

this one, I'm gonna put as DPT for department.

02:51

Then for the prompt,

02:53

what

02:54

is

02:58

the department

03:00

with a question mark

03:03

in the default?

03:04

I will type in

03:07

admin. Now maybe they

03:09

have different codes

03:11

in whatever facility this is going to belong to

03:14

and the most common one is admin. So

03:17

that's why I'm putting that as a default.

03:20

Then I'm going to put middle for the justification.

03:24

I'll keep the text as standard

03:28

and I'll put

03:30

eight inch, we'll go ahead and leave that

03:33

and I'll click. OK?

03:36

Now, as the attribute asks to be

03:40

placed in, I'll just place it

03:44

and then I'm gonna move it

03:46

using the M two P the mid to point

03:50

command.

03:51

So notice I have the grip

03:55

as

03:56

chosen in the center of the attribute.

03:59

Once I have the grip selected, I'm going to type in M two P

04:06

and I'm going to grab each

04:08

corner endpoint.

04:10

And now

04:12

the attribute is placed in the middle of that rectangle.

04:16

Now that I have my attribute inside of the rectangle, I'll use the

04:21

bake command

04:23

to turn this into a block

04:25

which I will call

04:27

department

04:30

for the

04:31

base point.

04:33

I can use this endpoint.

04:37

I'll select

04:39

the objects.

04:40

Notice I'm selecting the

04:43

attribute and the rectangle

04:46

and then I will click.

04:49

OK.

04:50

Notice

04:52

the edit attributes comes up and this is what a user would be prompted with.

04:57

Notice we have our question of what is department.

05:01

I click. OK?

05:02

And now that block definition

05:05

has been created. So if I want to use the insert command

05:10

and look for the block

05:12

department,

05:15

I can place it.

05:16

And then as I'm placing it, I get prompted

05:20

for what is the department?

05:22

Maybe this code of ENG would be for engineering

05:27

and notice how that updates

05:29

and it stays in the middle of the rectangle because of the justification

05:35

that was chosen for me.

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