Using Attributes - Mastering AutoCAD for Mac - page 373

Once you've created the block, you can place it anywhere in the drawing using the Insert
command or the Insert tool on the Tool Sets palette. You'll insert this block in another location
in the drawing. If you want to use the block in other drawings, you can use the Wblock com-
mand to save the block as a drawing file.
Inserting Blocks Containing Attributes
Earlier in this chapter, you created a door-type symbol at the desired size for the printed symbol.
This size is known as the paper size . Because you turned on the Annotative option for the attribute
and block, you can use the Annotation Scale setting to have the block insert at the appropriate size
for the scale of the drawing. The following steps demonstrate the process of inserting a block that
contains attributes. First, set up your view and annotation scale in preparation to insert the blocks:
1. Turn on Attribute Dialog mode by entering ATTDIA ↵ 1 ↵ at the Command prompt. This
enables you to enter attribute values through a dialog box in the next exercise. Otherwise,
you'd be prompted for the attribute values in the Command Line palette.
2. Select 1⁄8˝=1´-0˝ (1:100 for metric users) from the Annotation Scale pop-up list in the sta-
tus bar. This ensures that the block appears at the proper size for the drawing scale.
3. Type V ↵ R ↵ FIRST ↵. This is a view that has been saved in this drawing. (See “Taking
Control of the AutoCAD Display” in Chapter 7 for more on saving views.)
4. Be sure the Ceiling and Flr-pat layers are off. Normally, in a floor plan, the door headers
aren't visible anyway and their appearance will interfere with the placement of the door-
reference symbol.
5. Finally, you can begin to place the blocks in the drawing. Click the Insert tool on the Tool
Sets palette or type I ↵ to open the Insert Block dialog box.
6. Select S-DOOR from the Blocks pop-up list.
7. Click the Show Insertion Options disclosure triangle. In the Insertion Point group, and
make sure the Specify On-Screen option is turned on.
8. In the Rotation group, make sure the Input angle option is selected and the angle is 0 (zero).
9. In the Scale group, make sure the Uniform Scale check box is selected; then click Insert.
Now you're ready to place the block in your drawing in the appropriate locations and
enter the attribute values.
10. AutoCAD is waiting for you to select a location for the symbol. To place the symbol, click
in the doorway of the lower-left unit, near coordinate 41´-3˝,72´-4˝. Metric users should use
coordinate 1256,2202. When you click the location, the Edit Attributes dialog box opens
(Figure 12.4).
11. In the Door Type input box, enter A and press the Tab key. Note that this is the prompt
you created. Note also that the default value is the hyphen you specified. Attribute data is
case sensitive, so any text you enter in all capital letters is stored in all capital letters.
12. In the Door Number input box, change the hyphen to 116 . Continue to change the values
for each input box as shown in Table 12.2.