About the Title Block Setup and Update

AutoCAD Electrical toolset can update your drawing title block if it consists of an AutoCAD block with attributes.

The title block utility:

• Automates project-wide title block updates.
• Supports multiple title blocks per drawing.
• Maps AutoCAD Electrical toolset project description lines to specific attributes.
• Maps AutoCAD Electrical toolset per-drawing values to specific attributes.
• Maps AutoLISP values, system variables, or environment variables to specific attributes.

There are two title block linking methods:

• WD_TB attribute method - mapping information embedded on the title block.
• WDT file method - external attribute mapping file.

During a title block update, AutoCAD Electrical toolset follows this sequence to determine which method to use.

AutoCAD Electrical Toolset Values

Use Title Block Setup to map the following project and drawing specific values to attributes on the title block.

Mapping Code	Description
LINEx	Project description line, where “x” is the project description line number
SHEET	Sheet number value (the %S value) assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
SHEETMAX	Number of drawings in the active project
DWGNAM	Drawing name value (the %D value) assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
DD1 (or DWGDESC), DD2, DD3	Drawing descriptions assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
DWGSEC	Section code assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
DWGSUB	Subsection code assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
FILENAME	Drawing file name without path or extension
FULLFILENAME	Drawing file name with path and extension
FILENAMEEXT	Drawing file name with .dwg extension only
IEC_P	Project value assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
IEC_I	Installation value assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
IEC_L	Location value assigned in the Drawing Properties dialog box
PLOTTIME	Current time (24-hr military format)
PLOTTIME12	Current time (12 hr am/pm format)
PLOTDATE	Current date (MM:DD:YYYY format)
PLOTDATEMMDDYY	Current date (MM:DD:YY format)
PLOTDATEYYMMDD	Current date (YY:MM:DD format)
PLOTDATEYYYYMMDD	Current date (YYYY:MM:DD format)

You can also map user-defined values such as:

• Fixed text
• Environment variables
• System variables
• AutoLISP values

Map AutoLISP Values to Title Block Attributes

You can map system variable values, or values extracted by AutoLISP programs, to attributes on the title block.

• Assign a variable to one of the project description lines which then maps to an attribute on the title block.
• Map a variable directly to an attribute on the title block

Note: If the expression is a full AutoLISP function, it must return a string value (not an integer, real, list, or nil value). The program must be encoded into the project description data as "(load 'filename.lsp')." It must be self-starting upon load.

Set Up Multiple Descriptions

AutoCAD Electrical toolset allows three description lines per drawing. If more description lines are needed, each description line can be broken into multiple pieces by the “|” character. Each piece is then mapped to a different attribute on the title block.

For example, to map the first description line to three attributes, use this format:

attrname1|attrname2|attrname3=DD1

Then, in the Description 1 value in the Drawing properties: drawing settings tab dialog box, delimit the value with “|” at the break points. For example, “Main cabinet|120VAC|PLC I/O”. The Update Title Block command splits this string of text across the three title block attributes.

Note: The Title Block Setup command does not support this method. Use a text editor, such as Notepad, to edit your WDT file manually. Use the DDEDIT command to edit the WD_TB attribute definition manually.

Plotting

If the title block setup maps any of the AutoCAD Electrical toolset PLOT* values to attributes, these attributes update when using the AutoCAD Electrical toolset plotting utility. If the attribute carries a prompt value, this value is used as a prefix.

For example:

• The title block maps PLOTDATE (MM:DD:YYYY format) to the DATE attribute.
• The DATE attribute has a prompt value of "Date: ".
• For a plot created on January 1, 2014 the attribute updates to "Date: 01/01/2014".