Rtext
and Drawing Setup
(This may even work
with AutoCAD LT)
Note: You must have
Express Tools installed within AutoCAD for the examples
in this tutorial to function correctly or to even make
sense. Express Tools are installed by default in AutoCAD
2000, 2000i and 2004 but not in 2002. If you would like
Express Tools for AutoCAD 2002, you can install them from here.
Personally, I believe that Rtext is
one of the best functions within the Express Tools Suite.
In this tutorial, we are going to have a look at how Rtext
can help us with our drawing setups along with a few other
little things.
Firstly, you need to
download this zip file that contains a drawing named
"Rtext_Setup.dwg", three sample Xref drawing
files, as well as a text file
entitled "Notes.txt".
Place them all in a directory within your AutoCAD support
path and then open the drawing "Rtext_Setup.dwg.
Let's have a look at the
Title Block Data. Open up the "Drawing
Properties" dialog. (File -> Drawing Properties).
Choose the "Summary" tab. It should look like
this :

Change the
value of the "Title" edit box. Now choose the
"Custom" tab.

Change a few of the entries
in the "Value" edit boxes.
DO NOT change the values in the "Name"
edit boxes.
Now, close
the "Drawing Properties Dialog, zoom into the title
block and Regen the drawing.
Did you see
the values in the title block update to suit the changes
you made?
Zoom into
the lower right of the drawing. You should see this,
although I've rotated it for clarity :

Hey thanks
Kenny!!! A lovely little plot stamp. Regen the drawing
after a minute or so and watch the time update
automatically.
Now zoom
into the lower left corner of the drawing :
This is a
list of all the Xrefs that are attached to this drawing.
To test it, Detach one of the Xrefs from the drawing and
Regen the drawing. The list will update.
Now open up
the text file "Notes.txt" within Notepad and
make a few changes to the notes. Save the file and return
to the drawing. Again Regen your drawing, and again watch
the notes automatically update.
All of
these magic tricks were achieved by using the Rtext
function along with a few Diesel expressions.
Let's now have a wee bit of a closer look!!
Reactive text (RText)
objects are displayed the same way normal Text or MText
objects are displayed, but the source for the text is either
an external text file or the value of a DIESEL expression.
You can edit an RText object with the RTEDIT command.
Command: RTEXT
Current text style: STANDARD Text height: 0.2000 Text rotation: 0
Enter an option [Style/Height/Rotation/File/Diesel] <Diesel>: Specify an option
Options
Style |
Select
a text style. |
Height |
Specify
a text height. |
Rotation |
Specify
a rotation value. |
File |
Use
an external text file. |
Diesel |
Use
DIESEL code. |
Tip:
Once you have created an RText object with the File option,
you can identify the associated text file with the LIST
command.
Note:
If a drawing with an RText object is opened on a computer
that does not have RTEXT installed, the proxy object that
results displays the bounding box of the RText object. If
you plan to send your drawing to someone who does not have
RTEXT, you can explode the RText objects to MText objects
with the EXPLODE command.
You can use an RText
object as a file reference to display text, such as a sheet
note or a legal disclaimer, that is common to several
drawings. You can also use it to display larger bodies of
text such as specifications or assembly instructions.
Here are some examples of
how RText objects with DIESEL expressions can be used in
your drawings.
To display the drawing
name:
Drawing file: $(getvar, "dwgname")
Output: Drawing file: 102-fp12.dwg
To include the directory path with the file name: Drawing name: $(getvar, "dwgprefix")$(getvar, "dwgname")
Output: Drawing file: C:\Projects\97-102\Arch\102-fp12.dwg
Note:
If you reference the drawing path or name in a standard
title block, it will always display the file name of the
drawing, even if the title block appears in an Xref file.
When you plot a drawing,
you may want the hard copy to show the date and the time
that the plot was created. The following DIESEL expression
displays this information in your drawing:
$(edtime, 0, MON DD"," YYYY - H:MMam/pm)
Output:
Mar 22, 2000 - 11:12pm
The $(getprop)
DIESEL function
RText supports Drawing
Properties through a locally defined $(getprop) DIESEL
function. With $(getprop), values from Drawing
Properties dialog box tabs can be extracted and displayed in
RText objects.
The syntax for the $(getprop)
DIESEL function is:
$(getprop, property name)
where property name; can be any of the following fields from the DWGPROPS command: Title
Subject
Author
Comments
Keywords
LastSavedBy
Revno
Custom Property the name of a custom property
For example, if the Drawing Properties for a drawing contains the text "Excavated Site"
is the Subject, the DIESEL expression: Subject: $(getprop, subject)
in an RText object will display as: Subject: Excavated Site
Note:
The $(getprop) DIESEL function is supported only in
RText objects. Unlike arguments supplied to other DIESEL
functions, arguments to $(getprop) cannot be quoted.
Arguments are not case sensitive.
If you have a custom
property named "Project Name", the following
DIESEL expression will display the value:
Project: $(getprop, %PROJECT NAME)
Note:
Errors in using $(getprop), such as improper syntax
or bad arguments, will display (GETPROP ERROR). If a
nonexistent custom property name is used, $(getprop)
will display an empty string.
The $(xrefs) DIESEL
function
RText supports listing Xref
files attached to a drawing through the $(xrefs)
DIESEL function.
The syntax for the $(xrefs)
DIESEL function is:
$(xrefs [, flags [, leader [, trailer]]])
flags |
A
collection of bitflags with the following meanings:
1 = (default) include Xref file name (not exclusive
with flag 2)
2 = include Xref block name (not exclusive with flag
1)
4 = don't display file name extension
8 = don't display path
16 = show nesting with additional spacing |
leader |
A
text string inserted before each Xref entry. |
trailer |
A
text string appended to each Xref entry except the
last. |
Example:
The RText DIESEL expression:
$(xrefs,3)
displays a list of Xrefs in the following format: B-ELEC [c:\proj-14\b-elec.dwg]
M-ELEC [c:\proj-14\m-elec.dwg]
R-ELEC [c:\proj-14\r-elec.dwg]
F-ELEC [c:\proj-14\f-elec.dwg]
while the expression:
$(xrefs,2,Includes: )
will list the Xrefs as: Includes: B-ELEC
Includes: M-ELEC
Includes: R-ELEC
Includes: F-ELEC
The $(images) DIESEL
function
RText supports listing images
attached to the drawing through the $(images) DIESEL
function.
The syntax for the
$(images) DIESEL function is:
$(images [, flags [,
leader [, trailer]]])
flags |
A
collection of bitflags with the following meanings:
4 = don't display file name extension
8 = don't display path |
leader |
A
text string inserted before each Image entry. |
trailer |
A
text string added each Image entry except the last
one. |
Behavior is similar to the $(xrefs)
function.
The $(getrec) DIESEL
function
RText supports displaying
Xrecord data through the $(getrec) DIESEL function.
The syntax for the $(getrec)
DIESEL function is:
$(getrec, key, code)
key |
Entry
name in the Named Object Dictionary. |
code |
Group
code to extract. |
The $(getrec) function extracts a value from an Xrecord by
looking in the Named Object Dictionary for key, then for a
data value associated with code. Currently, only group codes
in the ranges 1-9 (string), 40-59 (real), 60-79 (integer)
and 300-309 (string) are supported. |