It will create the block properties I selected as well as a total count per block with the default option for count to display. Select the option to create a table from the data. After saving a extraction template, select the option to display blocks with attributes only.įilter in on the attribute in common I want, in this case “PART”. Now I start the Data Extraction wizard and have it automatically select all content. The blocks were inserted multiple times throughout the design. I setup 2 blocks one for a specific HVAC return and one for diffusers with a attribute of PART in the block editor. I have a drawing in AutoCAD 2010 with a HVAC design for a building. Note in order for the TABLE count to update frequently when you save the file and in turn update the fields you need to have your system variable DXEVAL set to 32 so that the value updates when the drawing is saved. Now if I deleted one of the instances of the BLOCKs, the counts would magically be updated to reflect the true count of BLOCKs, I could then have the table as my BLOCK counts and reference the cell in the table in a field elsewhere in the drawing. With the BLOCK definitions I could then use the Data Extraction wizard to export the BLOCK ATTRIBUTES and block counts to an AutoCAD TABLE. This way I could get both the BLOCK name as well as the part name.

I used BLOCK ATTRIBUTES in the BLOCK definitions, in this case an ATTRIBUTE named “PART”. There could be other ways, but this was the method I used and came natural to me. I created this tutorial showing how I accomplished this challenge. The question was about having a FIELD read a BLOCK quantity in the drawing.

I thought it would be a great lunchtime challenge to break free of all the other things I was doing, and have some CAD fun. I received a question from a Between the Lines blog reader John Reid this week in response to a previous post “ StarBacks BBQ Floor Space Planning with AutoCAD FIELDS”.

Block count autocad lisp