Draw Label Properties

This tool quickly draws field based properties of multiple object types. While the CAD FIELD command is a very useful tool for building the field expression string, it is very slow at placement for multiple instances. This tool uses the FIELD dialog to build the expressions, then applies them rapidly with a pick object, pick point repetition.

Keyboard Command: DrwLabPrp

While it does take a minute or two to create an elaborate field with additional formatting, this tool remembers the expression and all secondary uses are as simple as choosing the property.

Use Procedure:

1. Open the drawing containing the objects to label.
2. Initiate the command using the menus, ribbon, or command above.
3. Enter the number associated with the property you wish to label.

   If the property is not listed, see the setup procedure information below.

4. Select the object you wish to label.
5. Pick a point for the field based label.
6. Repeat steps 4 & 5 as many times as desired, press enter to end the process.

Use Notes:

• The picked point is the center of the resulting label. The tool uses the current style along with the current text size.

Setup Procedure:

Before adding a new property or editing an existing one, you need to visit the FIELD dialog to build the expression and copy it to the clipboard.

1. Begin a new empty drawing.
2. Draw one object that would contain the property you want to capture.
   For example draw a rectangle if you want area, a circle if you want radius, etc.
3. Issue the FIELD command at the command prompt.
4. In the Field Category dropdown, choose Objects.
5. In the Field Names, choose the Object item.
6. In the Object Type, click the adjacent Select Object button.
7. Select the object drawn in step 2 above.
8. Choose the Property desired in the (middle) list.
9. In the Format list (right) select the desired format.
   Note that 'Current Units' is recommended.
10. If a format other than 'Current Units' was chosen, select a desired precision.
11. Click the Additional Format button.
12. Enter and/or choose any additional formatting options desired.
13. Click OK to close the additional formatting dialog.
14. In the 'Field Expression' area at bottom, swipe across the entire displayed string.
15. Right click the highlighted expression, choose Copy.
16. Click the Cancel button to dismiss the Field dialog.
17. Initiate the command using the menus, ribbon, or command above.
18. Enter 0 for the Add/Edit operation.
19. Right click the edit box at bottom, choose Paste, then click OK.

Setup Notes:

• Important: Do not do any clipboard based operations between the Field dialog and pasting it into our add/edit dialog.
• To enter a factor such as inches to square feet, use a calculator and divide 1.0 by the appropriate number, like 1.0/144.0 for square feet.
• When an expression string is pasted into this tools add/edit, the property is extracted automatically from the string.
• You can use the command prompt for precision calculations. For example entering (rtos (/ 1.0 43560.0) 2 16) and pressing enter will return "0.0000229568411387"
• We could not justify the time spent reproducing all the options available in the FIELD dialog. It would have taken a significant amount of time and provided no additional benefits.