tblnext (AutoLISP)

Finds the next item in a symbol table

Supported Platforms: Windows and Mac OS

Signature

(tblnext table-name [rewind])

table-name

Type: String

Symbol table name.

Valid table-name values are:

• "APPID"
• "BLOCK"
• "DIMSTYLE"
• "LAYER"
• "LTYPE"
• "STYLE"
• "UCS"
• "VIEW"
• "VPORT"

The argument is not case sensitive.

rewind

Type: T or nil

If this argument is present and is not nil, the symbol table is rewound and the first entry in it is retrieved.

Return Values

Type: List or nil

If a symbol table entry is found, the entry is returned as a list of dotted pairs of DXF-type codes and values. If there are no more entries in the table, nil is returned. Deleted table entries are never returned.

Remarks

When tblnext is used repeatedly, it normally returns the next entry in the specified table each time. The tblsearch function can set the next entry to be retrieved. If the rewind argument is present and is not nil, the symbol table is rewound and the first entry in it is retrieved.

Examples

Retrieve the first layer in the symbol table:

(tblnext "layer" T)
((0 . "LAYER") (2 . "0") (70 . 0) (62 . 7) (6 . "CONTINUOUS"))

The return values represent the following:

(0 . "LAYER")               Symbol type
(2 . "0")                   Symbol name
(70 . 0)                    Flags
(62 . 7)                    Color number, negative if off
(6 . "CONTINUOUS")          Linetype name

Note that there is no -1 group. The last entry returned from each table is stored, and the next one is returned each time tblnext is called for that table. When you begin scanning a table, be sure to supply a non-nil second argument to rewind the table and to return the first entry.

Entries retrieved from the block table include a -2 group with the entity name of the first entity in the block definition (if any). For example, the following command obtains information about a block called BOX:

(tblnext "block")
((0 . "BLOCK") (2 . "BOX") (70 . 0) (10 9.0 2.0 0.0) (-2 . <Entity name: 1dca370>))

The return values represent the following:

(0 . "BLOCK")                    Symbol type
(2 . "BOX")                      Symbol name
(70 . 0)                         Flags
(10 9.0 2.0 0.0)                 Origin X,Y,Z
(-2 . <Entity name: 1dca370>)    First entity

The entity name in the -2 group is accepted by entget and entnext, but not by other entity access functions. For example, you cannot use ssadd to put it in a selection set. By providing the -2 group entity name to entnext, you can scan the entities comprising a block definition; entnext returns nil after the last entity in the block definition.

If a block contains no entities, the -2 group returned by tblnext is the entity name of its endblk entity.

Note: The vports function returns current VPORT table information; therefore, it may be easier to use vports as opposed to tblnext to retrieve this information.