By Dennis Collin
AutoCAD has for many years has had Multi-Leader Objects which are invaluable for annotating drawings which have limited space. However AutoCAD users can be slow to embrace newer features even though they are substantially better and tend to stick with what they know..
Ie. Stick with leader commands and features like the legacy 'Quick Leader' command.
This command is a subset of the dimension commands where the user can draw an annotation arrow, and then place some accompanying text. (after pressing enter a few times!)
Multi-Leaders extend on that functionality. They have additional attachment options, including text, attributed blocks and various arrow placement options. It is also quicker to use and quicker to place annotation in a drawing.
Unlike lines or text which can be converted into a more complex objects like Polylines and Multi Line Text, there was in the past no option to convert classic leaders to the newer Multi Leader elements.
Not anymore, for a very cheap price $1.00 you get a lisp routine that will convert R14 style legacy elements into a more modern format.The function will delete the old Leader and text and place the new Mleader of your current Mleader style and size into the drawing where the old Leader and text was.
It will be on the same layer as the old Leader. Note, if original Leader contains multiple lines of text and it is not Mtext, you will need to first use AutoCAD's txt2mtxt routine (found in the Express tools) to convert the lines of text to one Mtext object.
This routine is available on the AutoCAD Exchange Apps site.