by Dennis Collin
Layout tabs have been in AutoCAD for many years and typically represent a real-world output preview environment to what would be produced as a paper or PDF document. A common convention is to name the layout tab so that it corresponds to the drawing number displayed on the title sheet. For many users this is a manual process, but it is possible to link the layout tab name to a text entity and have the layout name automatically update when either a text entity or block attribute is changed.
Fig 1. Fields can be accessed from text, attribute, or table cell entities.
The connecting tool is via use of fields. A field can be set either from an Mtext or single line text entity or an attribute value.
Fig 2. Linking a ‘text’ element to the current layout tab.
Once the field dialogue is accessed, choose the ALL filter, and the ‘CTAB’ (Current Tab) System Variable and then click ok. This will mean when the text or attribute is altered, and the file saved (or REGENALL is typed) the layout name will synchronise.
Fig 3. Current layout tab name linked to its Drawing Number attribute.
Blocks, attributes, templates and fields are just some of the topics that we can cover on our more advanced or intermediate courses. For more information on the courses that we offer visit https://training.cadline.co.uk/ or ask a question on the sites’ chat facility where a member of the team will be able to help.