326 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

10.	In your drawing, pick an insertion point anywhere in the lower-right area of the draw-
	ing. The Multiline Text Editor opens. You need to zoom in first, so click anywhere out-
	side the editor and do a ZOOM Window around the table. Then double-click the table to
	open the Multiline Text Editor again with the cursor in the title cell.
Tip	To zoom in without exiting the Multiline Text Editor, you can use the wheel of your mouse (if
	you have one). I explain how to zoom using the mouse wheel in “The ZOOM Command” in
	Chapter 8.
11.	Complete the table as shown in Figure 13-25, pressing Tab to go from cell to cell.

Figure 13-25: The plat acreage table.

12. Save your drawing.

Inserting Fields

Most drawings contain information about the drawing, such as the last date it was revised, the person who saved the drawing, or the sheet number in a sheet set. Draft plots often contain additional information such as the time and drawing name. You may also want to insert information about drawing objects, such as the area or circumference of a circle. Fields are a way to insert information about drawings and objects into the drawing. You can also place fields in block attributes, which I discuss fully in Chapter 18.

New	Fields are a new feature of AutoCAD 2005, offering a way to utilize the information con-
Feature	tained in your drawing. When your drawing changes, you can update the fields to keep them
	current.

Fields are not available in AutoCAD LT.

You can insert fields as multiline text or attributes. (I cover attributes in Chapter 18.) As you start using fields, you’ll think of many uses for them. You can format the text of a field in the same way that you format any multiline text.

Chapter 13 Creating Text 327

Creating fields

To create a new field as a multiline text object, you can use two methods:

Choose Insert Field

Open the Multiline Text Editor, right-click in the editor, and choose Insert Field from the shortcut menu.

Whichever method you use, the Field dialog box (see Figure 13-26) opens.

Figure 13-26: Use the Field dialog box to choose, format, and insert a field into your drawing. Here you see the options for the Date field.

To insert the field, follow these steps:

1.Choose a field category from the Field Category drop-down list. You can use the All category to display all the fields. The other categories help you filter the fields, so that you can more easily find the field you want.

2.From the Field Names list, choose the field you want to use.

3.Depending on the field that you choose, you can usually select a format or example for the field. For example, you can choose a date format (such as m/d/yyyy) or a text format (such as Title case).

4.Click OK.

•If you opened the Field dialog box by choosing Insert Field, the MTEXT command starts and you see the Specify start point or [Height/Justify]: prompt. Pick a start point or use one of the options.

•If you started the MTEXT command yourself first, the value of the field appears in the Multiline Text Editor. Click OK on the editor’s Text Formatting toolbar to place the text.

328 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

By default, fields appear in your drawing with a gray background. This background doesn’t plot. If you want, you can remove the background by choosing Tools Options and clicking the User Preferences tab. In the Fields section, uncheck the Display Background of Fields check box. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

Note that there are two date-related fields. The CreateDate field creates a date based on the current date. This field does not change if you open the drawing on a future date. Use this field to show the last time a drawing was updated, for example. The Date field always shows the current date.

The Document category of fields relates to data that you complete in the Drawing Properties dialog box. To complete this data, choose File Drawing Properties. The SheetSet category of fields is used with sheet sets.

Cross-	I cover the Drawing Properties dialog box and sheet sets in Chapter 26.
Reference

You can add a hyperlink to a field. For example, if your field refers to another sheet in a sheet set, the field can be a hyperlink that opens that other sheet.

Cross-	For more information about hyperlinks, see Chapter 28.
Reference

Figure 13-27 shows an example of a title block that uses fields.

Figure 13-27: Filling in a title block is easier when you use fields.

Editing and updating fields

To edit a field, double-click the field’s text to open the Multiline Text Editor. Select the text, right-click, and choose Edit field. The Field dialog box opens. You edit a field in the same way that you define the field originally. When you’re done, click OK. The field is reevaluated immediately. Close the Multiline Text Editor to place the edited field.

By default, a field is evaluated and updated, if necessary, whenever you open, save, plot, eTransmit, or regenerate a drawing. (See Chapter 28 for information on eTransmitting a drawing.) You can change when AutoCAD updates a field by choosing Tools Options and clicking the User Preferences tab. In the Fields section, click Field Update Settings. Check or unchecked the items you want and then click Apply & Close. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

Chapter 13 Creating Text 329

You can manually update a field if you want. For example, let’s say that you have an object field that displays the radius of a circle. If you resize the circle, you probably want to update the field.

To update a field, double-click the field to open the Multiline Text Editor. Select the text, rightclick, and choose Update Field. Close the Multiline Text Editor to return to your drawing. Another method is to select the field and choose Tools Update Fields. You can select as many fields as you want.

Tip	To update all the fields in a drawing, press Ctrl+A to select all the objects in your drawing and
	choose Tools Update Fields.

You can convert a field to text. Double-click the field to open the Multiline Text Editor. Select the text in the field, right-click and choose Convert Field to Text.

What happens to fields when you open a 2005 drawing in a previous release of AutoCAD? The fields display at their last value in the 2005 drawing but are not updated. If you open an AutoCAD drawing with fields in AutoCAD LT, the fields display and update properly, unless you have changed the value of the FIELDEVAL system variable to disable updating in certain situations.

On the	The drawing used in the following Step-by-Step exercise on using fields, ab13-d.dwg, is in
CD-ROM	the Drawing folder on the CD-ROM.

STEP-BY-STEP: Using Fields

1.Open ab13-d.dwg from your CD-ROM. Save the file as ab13-07.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder. This drawing is zoomed in on the title block.

2.To set some of the drawing properties, choose File Drawing Properties. On the Summary tab, type the following in the Title field: 6" thru 12" 2727 EPV Valves.

3.On the Custom tab, click Add. Enter the following two fields and values:

Drafter	Enter your initials
Dwg No	SK-1972

4.Click OK to return to your drawing.

5.Choose Multiline Text from the Draw toolbar. Pick two boundary points within the Title box of the title block. The Multiline Text Editor opens. Right-click and choose Insert Field to open the Field dialog box.

6.From the Field Category drop-down list, choose Document. From the Field Names list, choose Title. From the Format list, choose Title Case. Click OK. Click anywhere outside the Multiline Text Editor to place the field.

7.Again choose Multiline Text from the Draw toolbar. Pick two boundary points within the Dwg No box of the title block. In the Multiline Text Editor, right-click and choose Insert Field to open the Field dialog box.

8.From the Field Names list, choose Dwg No. Click OK. Click anywhere outside the Multiline Text Editor to place the field.