Find & Replace vss. \X Dimension Text Modifier

[David Kozina]

Has anyone/everyone run across this?

Generally I've found Find and Replace to work on dimension text - but not when I've had to use the \X text modifier to force the text below the dimension line. Bug?

Is there perhaps a programmatical way to address this?
Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[Tony Tanzillo]

It's possible that the find/replace engine doesn't
recognize the \X modifer in MTEXT. Are you trying
to replace text that spans multiple displayed lines?

 

[David Kozina]

I've been trying to use dimension objects as framing elements on plan.

Here's a simple example:

To keep things 'clean looking', sometimes I find it better to label a 'beam' dimension normally as in, say "W8x10", whereas at other times "\XW8x10", so that the text falls 'below' the 'beam' line.

BUT, if I later need to change, say, all the W8x10's to W10x12's and so use Find [W8x10] & Replace [W10x12], all the 'normal' W8x10 text IS changed as desired, but not the ones prefixed with \X

Hope that clarifies a bit more what I've been trying to do.

 

[Tony Tanzillo]

Do you have "Find whole words only" checked in the Options dialog?

 

[David Kozina]

I just tried that (both checked and unchecked) and found that it made no difference. (Currently using ADT 2004) 'Normal' text was modified, '\XText' remained unchanged.

Typically I'm 99% certain I would have that 'Find whole words only' option unchecked, anyway.

I could probably post a small drawing if it would help any.

 

[Fred Wilson]

This is a bug. I have been reporting it to Autodesk for several releases now and it does not get fixed with each new release. I did win a T-shirt from CADalyst once though. See article at:

http://www.cadalyst.com/cadalyst/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=80461

Please pay attention to the part about Find and Replace. You can lose data for anything after the \X. And the bug is not limited to 2004. It applies to 2000, 2000i and 2002 as well.

-Fred.

 

[David Kozina]

Thanks for the informative reply, Fred.

 

[Aubrie Gibbs]

David,
In your case, since you are using the dim text as a label, why not use the "Over dimension line, without a leader" option under Fit->Text Placement (dimtmove = 2). That way you can move the text anywhere and not use the \X format code.

The find command seems to have a problem interpreting backslashes since it can't search passed \X but can \\X, not sure why though...

Aubrie

 

[ECCAD]

Just a suggestion:
For 'old' text enter: "\\XW8x10"
For 'new' text enter: "\\W10x12"

To 'find' the \X would require delimiter "\" for the \ ?

Bob

 

[David Kozina]

Thanks for replying, Aubrie.

I tried your suggestion, but the results seemed unsatisfactory to me. Perhaps there are other dimension variables that I need to take into consideration.

I would actually prefer not to move the text at all since I'm using aligned dimensions - and from what I've seen so far, once I make any manual adjustments to the text position, grip edit control of the dimension afterwards seems to be a lost cause. I don't know of any other way to get the text below the line *without manually moving it there*, other than \X.

DIMTEDIT provides limited Left/Right/Center/Home control for aligned dimensions, but that's about all I've found so far that permits any semblance of rational grip editing afterwards.

As for Find & Replace, looks like I'll just have to be extra careful with that, in view of other comments. At any rate, it's more of an annoyance rather than a 'severe' problem.

Again, thanks for the comments - at least they're helpful in shedding some light on some of the more obscure/uncommon dimension controls.

Regards,
David Kozina

 

[Aubrie Gibbs]

Moving the dim text manually does cause the position to be treated as "absolute", so it will no longer automatically move in relation to changes to the dimension line. You can use "shift" grip editing to move both at the same time though. What's really needed is a "below" option for the vertical justification variable for this situation since the \X option is really more for stacked situations, i.e. primary/alternate units.

It's probably best just to use an alternative find/replace command per your other thread...

Aubrie

 

[Vladimir Michl]

the "srxText" commandline search/replace utility can work with the \X modifier -- if you still need a workaround see www.xanadu.cz/download

Vladimir Michl, www.xanadu.cz