by Dennis Collin
When working in construction there is sometimes a need to show the position of markers for site construction plans, either for boundaries or setting out for buildings and other structures.
This can easily be achieved with the use of an attributed block with field elements to capture Eastings and Northings values from the current AutoCAD coordinate system. Draw up a symbol and use the attribute definition command to define a few fields. The example below includes a point reference, easting value and northing value.
The Easting and Northing will be applied automatically with the use of a field as opposed to a normal manual entry attribute value.
Within the field command select object, block reference, position and X to access the ‘Easting’ value. Sections highlighted in the image below:
Repeat this process for the Northing value but select the Y coordinate instead. Arrange the attributes as desired and create a block, using the annotative option if desired.
The block can then be placed within a library and accessed via a suitable environment like Designcentre or Tool Palettes. Onced placed the block will display the Easting and Northing values with the Point number reference set to be edited manually. To change the point reference simply double click on the block.
NB. If a point is moved or manually copied the Easting and Northing values will not immediately show the correct values, but by saving the drawing or applying the Regen command will show the values as expected.
Field objects have been a feature in AutoCAD for many years and as well as showing information as coordinates can also be used to show viewport plot scales, file modification dates or even the username of the person who last edited the drawing.
Blocks, attributes, fields dimensions, symbol libraries and templates are just some of the topics that are covered on an AutoCAD Intermediate course. For more details on both scheduled and custom AutoCAD courses please visit https://training.cadline.co.uk/ or talk to one of the team on 01784 419922 or via the site’s live chat facility.