Create New Table

This tool is used to place a new table in the drawing.

Keyboard Command: XL2CADCN

Note: For XL2CAD Versions 8.2 and earlier, attempting to open documents from a cloud-based file location may cause instability. Instead, make sure the document can be opened without a connection to the Internet (store the file locally).

ActiveX (Connected Mode):

This mode requires MicroSoft Excel to be installed, running and having your spreadsheet open with the area selected.

1. Open your target drawing (if not already open).
2. Set the appropriate space (model or desired layout).
3. Set the desired layer. Even if you use layer overrides the insertion of the block will be on the current layer.
4. Set the current text style if you don't plan to use the truetype fonts as shown in the spreadsheet.
5. Launch Microsoft Excel.
6. Open your existing named spreadsheet.
7. Select the tab containing the range you wish to transfer.
8. Highlight the area you want to transfer.
9. Set additional parameters as desired.
10. Click the Start button to begin processing.

Notes:

• To provide a link back to the area you selected in the spreadsheet, it is necessary for this tool to create a Named Range in the spreadsheet as described in Other Information. Since the spreadsheet is modified with this information, it needs to be saved for any updates to occur. The amount of time you take to save the spreadsheet can also affect updating. See the Save Delay section of the defaults dialog.

  Note: Failure to save the spreadsheet after placing the table will prevent XL2CAD from being able to update it later. If you turn on the Save Excel Spreadsheet toggle, XL2CAD will save your spreadsheet for you as the instance is being placed. This toggle is turned off by default because we feel it is best that the user saves the spreadsheet themselves. There may be multiple ranges to be placed making this inefficient and there may be times when the user does not want the spreadsheet saved.

• You do not need to choose Copy. This tool reads the spreadsheet through the ActiveX channel, it does not use the Windows clipboard.
• If you start the dialog with a single cell selected, the range will automatically be expanded to what Excel considers the Used Range.

Additional Field Details:

• Insertion Parameters:
  • ✓: Use this button to update the Named Range timestamp expression.
  • Pick <: Use this button to pick a location in the drawing. The picked point will be the upper left corner of the results. The coordinates of the picked point will be displayed in the adjacent fields.
  • X: If you didn't pick a point, type in the X coordinate of the upper left corner.
  • Y: If you didn't pick a point, type in the Y coordinate of the upper left corner.
  • Scale: Determine the appropriate scale factor using these guidelines. Keep in mind that the units in the spreadsheet are font point sizes and the unit in CAD can be inches, feet, meters, etc.

    Given a scale factor of 1.0 (the default), then (1 point) = (1 unit) in CAD. That means that if you have grid lines on a spreadsheet at the Excel default of 12.75, then it will be 12.75 units inside the drawing (again with a scale factor of one). While this is exact on gridlines, you can't judge text heights the same way because the distance is from top of the highest character ascender (like "t") to lowest descender (like "g").

    So here are a couple of target sizes, you may like smaller or larger depending on your situation. Most of which are CAD supplied samples.

    • Default CAD prototype = 0.025
    • 1st floor architectural.dwg = 0.100
    • City base map.dwg = 20.000
    • Wilhome.dwg = 1.000
    • Topographic Mapping = 10.000
    • Paper Space in General = 0.010

    So it depends on the type of drawings you do. If in doubt, before insertion draw a vertical line (in your CAD app) that is 12.75 units high. This represents the height of one typical row at a scale factor of 1.0.

• Options:
  • Style: Select the style named as desired.

    Note: Styles are managed within the Table Style Manager command.

  • Zoom Area: If this toggle is on, the CAD viewport is zoomed to the extent of the newly created table.
  • Relative Path: Turn on this toggle if you wish to use a relative path. This is useful when the drawing and spreadsheet are moved/shared in conjunction with each other. When toggled, the displayed file will change.

    Notes:

    • If there is no relative path, such as the drawing and spreadsheet being on different drives, no relative path can be derived.
    • If the current drawing has not been saved to a file, the relative path option will be grayed out.
  • Close Dialog: If this toggle is turned on, the dialog will close after the insertion. Otherwise, it remains open to create another instance.
• Buttons: The buttons at the bottom perform the following functions.
  • Start: Begins communicating with Excel and generating the table. Another dialog will appear that displays the progress as well as the type of activity (reading, optimizing, drawing, etc).
  • Exit: When you are done creating tables, choose this button to return to the drawing editor.