Attributes - why use them?

Never knew an architect who was interested in learning something new.

 

Or just double click on the attribute, that works too if you're using
Acad2004 (not sure about earlier versions)
<< I use ED, click on text, and modify as req'd -pretty simple. >>

Add the following to your PGP
at, *attedit
eat, *eatedit
Then when you keyin AT you can edit the attributes - pretty simple.

<<If I had an attribute with multiple fields I can see the efficiency - but
if not then i dont see the use of this window and extra step>>

Attributes ARE fields, you can add as many as you like to a block. And I
don't an "extra" step here, I see a "different" step, but not "extra"


<<Attributes have to be used for a reason - i just dont know what the reason
is. thanks for your knowledge! >>

There are several. I like the consistency aspect of set attributes. Our
entire organizations uses the same attributed blocks, so there is a
consistent look to all the drawings,where your text maybe be a little
different than the next guy's.

Attributes are associated with the block, if the block moves, so do all the
attributes. With separate elements, something can be left behind.

-ATTEDIT can globally select and edit al attributes that match certain given
parameters like block name, tag name or value, or any combination of these.
A powerful tool often overlooked.

With a little programming you can have a hyperlink attached to a block that
read the value in an attribute for the link.

Attributes can be extracted from the drawing into a separate database for
further manipulation. We use attributed blocks for all steel, concrete,
pipe and electrical elements. We can then use EATTEXT to create material
take-off databases.

 

I'm guessing you haven't met many.
Attributes aren't exactly new however.

 

Met more than you could have in 40 years and I stand by my statement.
Learn and you will live a better life.

 

Thank you, oh wise guru. It is comforting to know that the more I learn about CAD, the better my life will be. Are you in some kind of CAD cult?

 

JMT5 -
So, it really sounds like they have a use when associated with a database - same idea as GIS, a way to store data associated to a map, plan, etc. I am familar with this and I agree attributes are imperative to your set up.

I am no architect so I dont do door schedules, etc. I only draw framing plans, sections, and details. We do small jobs (example: replacement 4ft rear retaining wall) and have no need for any informational database.

If there is no need for a database then the only use for attributes is to enter multiple fields in one window. This means entering 1, S1, Section, Scale all in one swoop or modifying the titleblock when you start a drawing. I can see how this may be useful to save a few strokes.

For an architect or somebody trying to plot/show multiple points and levels of date - I see attributes as very important for use with a database.

Is there anybody out there who love/ use attributes who do NOT use them for their database capabilities?

 

We use them for cherries too, or balloons if you prefer. :O) That makes it
easy to move the balloon and text all at once without losing alignment.
Cherries are probably the way I've seen them used most, other than
titleblocks.

It seems odd to me that automation and special machine manufacturers (I do
special machines) are probably the least automated in their cad work, of
anyone I've come in contact with. They just don't see the need for all that
fancy stuff because all thier equipment is "one off" stuff.

Have fun,
Dave

for their database capabilities?

 

can I prove you wrong?

Jack Talsky
Architect

 

The database aspect is relatively new. Attributes go back a long way before the
database became something more than an export to an Excel file.

To me it is just very easy to insert a block, type in the appropriate attributes in
the dialog box, or leave them blank, and click enter. The text is in its desired
location every time. It is on the correct layer every time. It is the correct size
and style every time.

The attribute can be edited as easily as regular text, but it is part of the graphic
object attached to it. They are useful for detail numbers and titles, drawing titles
such as "FRAMING PLAN", and so on.

The purpose of blocks is to provide consistency in your drawings, save time, provide
efficiency, and a company wide uniform appearance to all drawings produced by that
firm.

Using attributes in a database is just one more reason. In fact, I would guess that
most people using attributes today are not using them in a database.

Jack Talsky

 

Oh oh oh... me too! Is this guy kidding? I sure hope so. <shaking head in
disbelief>

 

Walt: Call me sometime.....

teiarch

 

Well I don't know how to respond. Either you don't
know architects as well as you think you do or you have
a perception impairment. I, for example, am an architect
and am always looking for new ways to improve how
I can do my job. I go to conventions full of architects and
they are all looking for a better way to create architecture.

 

....I have read that you teach AutoCAD at the college level? Is this true? I
hope you are kidding...

As a former ATC instructor and private CAD consultant, I have to say your
statement is a bit warped. Individuals may or may not poses the will to
learn, may not be interested in learning, but I have (in all my years of
use/instruction) never met someone who I couldn't teach something new to.

If you seriously believe your statement then you either have a very limited
view on people or have a serious problem generalizing or catagorizing.
Learn to help others learn and show them how to help themselves. And I
always try and treat people as if I might have to potentially work for them
someday, as I feel I already am and quite possibly might.

And just so you know, I have been doing this (helping online) and using the
product(s) near 20 years, teaching, helping and consulting for most of that
and every single student/client of mine have always thanked me for my help
AND ALWAYS learned something.

 

And I bet some of them were even architects.

Jack

 

Many Architects...

Although one thing I learned quickly in a mixed environment (mainly at the
ATC) was to put the Civils on one side of the room and the Archs on the
other side and the Mechanicals in between them. <g> It (the argument) all
starts with what is a unit (feet or inches) or where 0,0,0 should be and
then goes downhill from there. <lol>

Actually I have had the pleasure of teaching (as well as learning from) many
people over the years, all with very diversified backgrounds... and at least
for me, it is always interesting and very gratifying to be able to help
them.

 

Yeah, it's called making your living out of it :-|


DJE

about CAD, the better my life will be. Are you in some kind of CAD cult?

 

Yeah, it's called making your living out of it :-|

DJ

about CAD, the better my life will be. Are you in some kind of CAD cult?

 

Thank god I live in Britain!! All we have to deal with is the occasional
surveyor who works in meters.


DJ

 

double-click was enabled beginning with 2002. . .

 

I began using attributes in my titleblock as a way to help ensure that my
draftsmen remembered to change the date on their drawings (if someone
actually invokes the ddatte command to change some of the data, they are
really silly for not checking the date in the nifty dialogue box.)
Since then I try to dream up all sorts of ways to use them. Although the
use of the database capability is seldom required, I appreciate the
don't-forget-to-change-this-data aspect as well as the graphical uniformity.
My favorite attributes are clustered around the light switch symbol. One
block can be used to show a waterproof, a 3-way (or 4-way), and indicate
height AFF. (similar for the electrical outlet recepticle symbol including
a GFCI field.)

I am an architect, and I taught myself something.
Adam