AutoCAD 2005: Fields

March 10, 2004

AutoCAD 2005 offers many interesting features such as Sheet Set Manager, enhanced Tool Palettes, enhanced drafting tools, Tables, and Fields. Fields are specialized text objects set up to display data that may change during the life cycle of the drawing. When a field is updated the latest value is shown on the screen. In this tutorial you will learn how to use fields in your drawings.

Notes:

► This tutorial is designed for AutoCAD 2005.
► In this tutorial user entries are in boldface.
► The 8 symbol represents pressing Enter.

1. Download and then open 2005_fields.dwg. The file contains the plan of a house [Figure 1].

Figure 1 - Click on image to enlarge

2. Set the default text height to 2.5:

Command: textsize 8
Enter new value for TEXTSIZE <20.0000>: 2.5 8

3. Zoom in on the title bar [Figure 2].

Figure 2 - Click on image to enlarge

4. To define some drawing properties invoke the DWGPROPS command (select File > Drawing Properties).

5. In the "2005_fields.dwg Properties" dialog box select the Summary tab. Type your name in the Author box [Figure 3].

Figure 3

6. Click the Custom tab. Click the Add button. In "Add Custom Property" dialog box type Approved by for the custom property name and John for the value [Figure 4].

Figure 4

7. Click OK. The new property appears on the list [Figure 5]. Click OK to save the changes and close the dialog box.

Figure 5

8. Invoke the FIELD command (select Insert > Field).

9. In Field dialog box from Field Category list select Document [Figure 6].

Figure 6

10. In the Field Names list select Author. In the Format list select Uppercase. Click OK and place the field in the Designed by box [Figure 7]. You may need to disable the Ortho mode.

Figure 7 - Click on image to enlarge

11. Insert the Checked by and Approved by fields with a similar method [Figure 8].

Figure 8 - Click on image to enlarge

12. Invoke the FIELD command again. From the Field Names list select Filename. On the right side of the dialog box select the Filename only option and deselect Display file extension [Figure 9]. Click Ok. Place the new field in Filename box [Figure 10].

Figure 9

Figure 10 - Click on image to enlarge

13. Repeat the FIELD command. From the Field Category list, select Date & Time. Do the rest of settings as shown in figure 11.

Figure 11

14. Click OK. Place the field in the Date box [Figure 12].

Figure 12 - Click on image to enlarge

15. Zoom out and then zoom in on the list of furniture box [Figure 13].

Figure 13

16. Double-click the text to make it available for editing [Figure 14].

Figure 14 - Click on image to enlarge

17. Place the cursor at the end of the last line. Press Enter to create a new line.

18. In the Formatting toolbar change the text height to 2.5.

19. Press Ctrl+F to view the Field dialog box.

20. Select the following options in the dialog box [Figure 15]:

Field Category: Objects
Field Names: NamedObjects
Named Object Type: Block
Name: Bath Tub – 26 × 60 in.
Format: None

Figure 15

21. Click OK to place the field. In the Formatting toolbar click OK. The field is added to the list [Figure 16].

Figure 16

22. Invoke the RENAME command (select Format > Rename). The Rename dialog box appears [Figure 17].

Figure 17

23. In the Named Object list select Blocks. From the list of Items select "Sink – Oval top". The name appears in the Old Name box. In the Rename To box type Sink – Oval. Click the Rename To button. Click OK. The block is renamed now.

24. Invoke the `REGEN command (View > Regen). The field value is updated in accordance to the later changes [Figure 18].

Figure 18

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