Multiple Line Tags

By Simon Jones, Autodesk UK

You may have noticed that with some schedule tags, long properties values can be grip edited to wrap across more than one line. For example, take a space object with the standard tag (M_Aec8_Room_Tag) from the UK AutoCAD Architecture template, where the width of the room name exceeds the size of the space:

To edit the tag, so that “LIVING ROOM” wraps across two lines, first select the tag then select the Edit Attributes grip:

This exposes some more attribute related grips, and the triangular Width of attribute grip can be used to define a width box:

After stretching out the width, the space name can now span two lines, as illustrated below:

However, not all tags have this grip functionality. It will only be there if the attribute in the underlying block definition has the Multiple Line property enabled. Unfortunately, if you create a tag from scratch, this property doesn’t get set. Good news is that it is a simple procedure to edit an existing tag definition to enable this option if it isn’t set. Let’s walk through the process of creating a new tag and how to edit the tag to enable the multiple line option.

Start by placing a simple line of text. The value of the text isn’t important, in this example we use “Name” with a non-associative text style (e.g. Romans) so that it doesn’t get re-sized according to the current drawing scale. In order to centre it around the label insertion point, we will use Middle justification around the origin (0,0) and for the height of the text, use 1mm:

From the Format menu, Define Schedule Tag and pick the text string. Within the Define Schedule Tag dialog, set a name for the tag (e.g. “MySpaceName”) and set the Label type to be “Property”, Property Set to be “SpaceObjects” and Property Definition to be “Name”:

Then select OK, to create the tag and use 0,0 as the insertion point. Do not be alarmed if the tag appears to disappear – it is simply re-sizing in relation to the current drawing scale. Zoom out so that we can see the space object and the tag and delete the original tag anchored to the space. To insert the new tag, select the tag and choose Add Selected from the right-click menu:

Then assign the tag to the space and once again, use the Edit attributes grip to attempt to set the width of the tag:

Unlike, the default tag, there is not a Width of attribute grip and we are unable to get the room name to wrap across two lines. This can be resolved with the following steps:

First, insert a copy of the underlying block definition of the tag. In our example, this is “MySpaceTag”, but if you’re not sure, you can look at the MultiviewBlock Definition. To do this, select the tag, and choose Edit Multi-View Block Definition option from the right-click menu:

In the Multi-View Block Definition dialog, switch to the View Tabs page and the block name will be listed in the View Blocks list.

As we can see, in this example, the block name is “MySpaceName”.

Use the AutoCAD Insert command, insert this block into the drawing at 0,0 then select it and choose the Edit Block in-place option:

Then, OK the Reference Edit dialog:

You can now edit the attribute definitions within the block and you will see the tag attributes displayed in the format “PropertySetName:PropertyName”. For this example, select the “SpaceObjects:Name” attribute, right-click and choose “Properties” to open the Properties Palette. Change the Multiple lines option to “Yes”:

You might notice that the attribute jumps out of alignment. So next, reset the insertion point of the attribute to “Middle Centre” and the X & Y Alignment points to 0,0:

Then save the changes to the block definition with the Save back changes to reference button on the RefEdit toolbar:

In-order for the tag to recognize the change to the block definition, it is necessary to re-insert the tag onto the space. You can then grip edit the width of the attribute: