Records associated with title blocks

[Keith W]

I wonder if anyone could give me a hand. I'm having problems with title blocks. There's clearly something I don't understand about records.

I have a sheet layer with a drawing border and (custom) title block that are working fine, with the fields filled in. It is linked (in the data tab of the OIP) to ESES_TitleRecord, which I created when I created the title block.

Now if I add that title block symbol to a new sheet layer (let's say I add a drawing border and pick that titleblock in its' OIP), and make sure I link it to the same record, none of the fields are filled in. I don't seem to have created a new symbol, and it appears to be linked to the same record (though, even in the OIP, the fields of the record are not filled with the proper values).

I've gone over the manual repeatedly. I posted here once before. I'm pretty sure it's something simple, but I don't see it. Anyone? thanks

Keith

[Ray Libby]

Possibly a class issue? Edit the symbol for the title block and check the classes of the text blocks. Could you post the title block here?

[islandmon]

In the OIP Data Tab is the correct Record box checked... and do the Fields have default values ?

[Miguel Barrera]

Now if I add that title block symbol to a new sheet layer (let's say I add a drawing border and pick that titleblock in its' OIP), and make sure I link it to the same record

The steps to add the title block to a new sheet layer do not seem right. If the record was linked to the symbol with text corresponding to record parameters/fields, you should not have to link it again. Every time you add the symbol, the linked record should be already checked in the data tab.

When you create records, you can also enter default values for the parameters/fields. If you add a symbol, the record will be populated with the default values.

The easiest way to do this is to add the symbol on sheet 1, edit the record accordingly, copy and paste the symbol to other sheets, and finally, edit the records of the pasted symbols.

I would also suggest that you have the drawing border and title block in the same symbol instead of two separate objects.

[Keith W]

Thanks both of you! Yes, the fields have default values, and I'd edited them in the one sheet, and everything was fine. I thought that somehow further iterations of the same title block would link to the same record (which is what I thought was the point of the P_ project fields vs. the S_sheet fields). But the cut and paste worked fine, so maybe I'll just always do it that way? Is that how title block info is typically "copied" from one sheet to another? For some reason I thought there was a different mechanism.

I'm attaching a totally stripped version of the file (which is still 2.5M!). There is still some kind of problem: when I go to edit the fields by clicking on the title block, they come up blank even though I can see they're filled in. I notice I've got it linked to two different records, but unlinking either doesn't seem to help... maybe it's obvious to someone else.

Keith

[Guest Wes Gardner]

Hi Keith,

Here's what I did - first I Purged then I deleted the record format "TitleBlock Record-Arch" and left the ESES TitleRecord...

That seems to solve the issue...

Here's your file back.

Sometimes I've found that when you add a new sheet, once added, you have to go to another sheet that's already been created, click on the title block, get the dialog box and then just exit out of it - this seems to make the info "take" in the title block of the new sheet

In this file, when you add a new sheet using the drawing boarder, the tb will be there - you'll need to use the above method to get the data...

Wes

Edited June 2, 2009 by Wes Gardner

[HOUCAD]

When I need to add a new sheet and title block I just duplicate a layer with a working title block. Saves having to tinker with it.

[Keith W]

I thought I had it working once such that, when I added the title block, it filled in all the project fields, and none of the sheet fields. Copy and paste won't do that. Now, that's really not a big deal, in fact it doesn't really change the workload at all. I'm just worried that if I'm missing some subtlety, there'll be a price to pay down the line, like the Issue Manager won't work or something (though I'm not using it yet).

Keith

[Keith W]

One problem I can see is that the field linkages are incorrect: the address field is not showing up properly (this is on a different file, same title block).

What I can't figure out wrt that, is how to edit the field links of a PIO, I guess. That is, if I click on the title block, there is never an opportunity to edit the 2D component: edit just gets me to the field contents. Having made a symbol, with field links, how does one go back and change/fix those?

Keith

[Pat Stanford]

As I understand it, the Project information will not be transfered to the other Title Blocks in the drawing unless you edit the Project Information for one and make sure the Apply these values to all title blocks is checked.

So, if you set up one title block and then use the Drawing Border tool to add more title blocks, they will not contain any information until you update the first one.

If you want to change the title block symbol, you need to use the Resource Browser. All of the Title Block symbols in the drawing are located in a Symbol Folder named Drawing Border Components. Right Click and Edit the 2D Components.

If you need to change linked text, you can either reformat the existing text block, or delete it, place a new text block and then do Link Text to Record (Text menu).

I thought that if you edited the symbol that you needed to go back and tell the Drawing Border what title block to use again, but I just tested it and that does not seem to be true in VW2009.

Remember if you edit the title block, you are only editing it in that one file. If you want it accessible in every file you need to get it into the correct place in your User Folder. The path to the user folder depends on what operating system you are using. Once you are there, go to Libraries:Defaults: Drawing Border - Title Blocks. Create a VWX file there with the symbol at the root level of the Resource Browser. It will be visible to every file as long as you have the Use Default Content preference selected.

[Keith W]

Thanks everyone. Yes, Wes, I ended up doing the same thing in another file: I deleted all instances of the symbol, recreated it, relinked it to the record, re-saved it to the custom title blocks file along with the record, and that seems like it might have fixed it. I think that's more or less what you did. Thanks for everyone's support.

k