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Manage title block text with fields on construction drawings.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
2 min.
Transcript
00:03
In this session, we'll learn about the importance of fields and how they're used to manage the title block text found on construction drawings.
00:11
On my screen is a sample cover sheet for a small roadway project.
00:15
When I zoom in, notice that several of the text items on this sheet have a gray background.
00:20
The gray color represents that this text is a field.
00:23
A field is essentially smart text.
00:25
It's text that gets its value from an external source.
00:29
Fields allow us to edit text in one place and have those edits apply to all affected drawings.
00:34
For example, at the bottom of this sheet is a field representing a contract number.
00:39
Notice that this contract number also displays in the title block area.
00:43
Currently, this text is set to a generic value.
00:46
Let's change it.
00:47
Since this text is a field, I'm going to edit it using the Sheet Set Manager.
00:52
In the palette, I'll select the sheet set name and then in the properties below I'll drag down and find the contract property.
00:60
For now, I'll change this to D2025 and I'll press Enter.
01:05
And at the command line, I'll type REA and press Enter to regenerate the drawing and update the fields.
01:11
Notice the contract number has changed in both places.
01:14
In fact, if I pan up, you can see the contract number was also taken care of here at the top of the sheet.
01:19
Not only was this value populated on this sheet, I'm going to double-click to open the general notes,
01:25
and when I do, you'll see the contract number has been assigned on every sheet.
01:30
This is what makes fields so powerful.
01:32
A single text edit to a sheet set property can apply to potentially hundreds of sheets at one time.
01:38
So whenever you see text with a gray background, know that this text is special.
01:43
It's a field whose value is coming from an external source.
01:46
Please don't try to edit this text here on the page,
01:49
or you'll break its connection to the source and remove the intelligence from the object.
01:54
To edit text like this, you'll need to visit the source, likely the sheet set.
01:58
Change the value here and when you regenerate the sheet, that change will apply to all affected drawings in the sheet set.
Video transcript
00:03
In this session, we'll learn about the importance of fields and how they're used to manage the title block text found on construction drawings.
00:11
On my screen is a sample cover sheet for a small roadway project.
00:15
When I zoom in, notice that several of the text items on this sheet have a gray background.
00:20
The gray color represents that this text is a field.
00:23
A field is essentially smart text.
00:25
It's text that gets its value from an external source.
00:29
Fields allow us to edit text in one place and have those edits apply to all affected drawings.
00:34
For example, at the bottom of this sheet is a field representing a contract number.
00:39
Notice that this contract number also displays in the title block area.
00:43
Currently, this text is set to a generic value.
00:46
Let's change it.
00:47
Since this text is a field, I'm going to edit it using the Sheet Set Manager.
00:52
In the palette, I'll select the sheet set name and then in the properties below I'll drag down and find the contract property.
00:60
For now, I'll change this to D2025 and I'll press Enter.
01:05
And at the command line, I'll type REA and press Enter to regenerate the drawing and update the fields.
01:11
Notice the contract number has changed in both places.
01:14
In fact, if I pan up, you can see the contract number was also taken care of here at the top of the sheet.
01:19
Not only was this value populated on this sheet, I'm going to double-click to open the general notes,
01:25
and when I do, you'll see the contract number has been assigned on every sheet.
01:30
This is what makes fields so powerful.
01:32
A single text edit to a sheet set property can apply to potentially hundreds of sheets at one time.
01:38
So whenever you see text with a gray background, know that this text is special.
01:43
It's a field whose value is coming from an external source.
01:46
Please don't try to edit this text here on the page,
01:49
or you'll break its connection to the source and remove the intelligence from the object.
01:54
To edit text like this, you'll need to visit the source, likely the sheet set.
01:58
Change the value here and when you regenerate the sheet, that change will apply to all affected drawings in the sheet set.
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