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ptc-43399821-Visitor
1-Visitor
November 25, 2011
Question

Several questions. Parameters, Templates & Tables

For the last few days I have been setting up templates for title blocks and parts using parameters with a little help from the forums. I now have quite a nice looking title block which works well however whilst carrying out this work I now have several further questions.

1. I have setup a series of parameters in a drawing template &ISSUE_1, &DRAWN_BY etc, however when I start a new drawing I am prompted to fill out all these boxes. What I would like to do I fill out just a couple to start with and then go back and fill the rest in later when the drawing is issued or modified how do i get back to edit that information?

I presumed that I could create a list of parameters in my drawing as i did with a part and these would populate my title block however this does not seem to be the case.

2. I have system parameters which report scale and sheet number however I have to manually type these in when the new drawing starts rather than the system reporting them, how do I change this? My parameters are &scale, &current_sheet and &total_sheets

3. I also want to create a set of tables similar to how you can in AutoCAD. Basically in AutoCAD we have a table which we can add several lines of materials for example

a) 150X150 RSA

b) 200X200 RSA

c) etc

d) etc

Would and how would I create this to be editable in the drawing? I dont want the same issue as I have in question 1.


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10 replies

James621-Visitor
1-Visitor
November 27, 2011

hi,

Try to make the drawing first (views, dimensions, etc) and then load the format (*.frm) with your title block and tables you want in your drawing.

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KshetrabasiMaha1-Visitor
1-Visitor
November 28, 2011

Hi Steve,

I would like to know few things about the problem you face in Question 1

1.While creating new drawing you use the drawing template or empty with format ?

2.Have you added all the parametrs used in title block ;in drawing parameters ?

I am not sure but,one of the reasons might be the the following

If you have not added parameters used in title block, in the drawing template's parameters then it will ask to fill the value of the parameters at the beginning of the drawing

Another reason might be

If you will create drawing using empty with format; then it will not add parameters to the drawing; and will ask you to fill the value.

In either of the cases; no parameters will be added in the drawing parameters

Regards

K.Mahanta

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ptc-43399821-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
November 28, 2011

Thanks for your input.

My solution seems to have been to create a format rather than a template. When I create a format and use this as my title block information it populates the cells with the correct data pulled both from the model and also the system parameters. It did not seem to do this with a template.

I also discovered that the &functions need to be lower case and not upper otherwise again they will not work.

I still require help on question 3. as I am not sure how to even begin to create this or where it would need to sit in order to work correctly.

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KshetrabasiMaha1-Visitor
1-Visitor
November 28, 2011

Hi

you can create tables as per your requirement.

save tables and use these tables later in any drawings.

you can add rows and coluns as per your need.

Regards

K. Mahanta

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BrianMartin13-Aquamarine
13-Aquamarine
November 28, 2011

Hi Steve...

I'll try to merge the answers to these questions with the other thread about parameters and formats. I need to revisit that other question and work up a separate answer. For now, here are a few thoughts...

Drawings can be quite complex to set up for the first time. There's definitely a difference between FORMATS and TEMPLATES. Formats will contain all of the parameter symbols (model, system, and drawing). Templates will contain the VALUES of the drawing parameters as well as standard view definitions (if you want them). In addition, templates can have things like standard notes and symbols pre-loaded for convenience.

I'm still a bit confused about the materials question. I'm not familiar with AutoCAD's "material tables" that you're referring to. Are you trying to allow the user to choose from a pre-defined list of materials? For example, are you trying to pre-define 4 or 5 different materials (or more) and have the user pick one from a drop-down list in the drawing? Or am I missing the point?

I'll re-read the other thread and try to combine the answers into something coherent. Good work so far... I know it probably hasn't been easy!

Thanks!

-Brian

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ptc-43399821-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
November 30, 2011

Thats not quite what I was looking at doing but a nice idea if its possible?

I presume it would be quite simple to do what I origianlly intended; having done a little more with formats and tables and from the answer above you can save tables to use again later.

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ptc-43399821-VisitorAuthor
1-Visitor
December 9, 2011

Is it possible to re-use an already created format table and resize it to fit a smaller drawing blank? For example I have created a title block to fit A0; can I resize this to fit an A1/A2 drawing blank?

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