Using Attributes

Attributes

Attributes are the great hidden treasures for CAD drafters who are seeking productivity gains. They've been around in the IntelliCAD environment for a long time, but are often overlooked as a productivity tool. Attributes let you tie graphic and non-graphic information to block. They can be used to define specific information to (say) a door about material, model number, cost, etc., depending what the block is used for.

These text attributes can be displayed on the screen or made invisible. Once defined and used, it is possible to use the ATTEXT command (or an AutoLISP routine) to extract attribute information and write it out to a file. This file can if required, be massaged in a tool such as Microsoft Excel to sort and total information. If required, the sorted information can be posted back into the drawing to create material lists.

Click on the link below to play a small movie showing how attributes can be used.

 www.icad.net.au/movies/TreeProtectionZones.wmv