Michael Poggemann, a senior engineering technician, shares some advice about using AutoCAD's GATTE command to change attributed block values.
"This command will change all the values of a selected attribute (tag) in a drawing. If you have multiples of the same block inserted in a drawing and need to change the value of an attribute in that block, you can change them all to the same value, or to the same value only in selected blocks.
"Type GATTE
At the 'Select block or attribute [Block name]:' prompt, select the attribute value that you want to change.
At the 'Enter new text:' prompt, enter the new value that you want.
'Number of inserts in drawing =' (this indicates the number of changes) 'all of them? [Yes/No] :' Entering 'Yes' will process all the new values; entering 'No' will let you select the values in the blocks you want to change.
"There is one con to this command: If the value that you picked uses the attribute tag as another value in the same block, it will change the value at all locations that use the same attribute tag. For example, say you insert a block six times into a drawing that has four attributes in it. Two use the same tag. If you were to use the GATTE command to change a value that is one of the double tags in all six blocks, it will change twelve values, not six."
Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: Attributed blocks are a great tool in AutoCAD. They include text that can be entered during block insertion or after the block has been inserted, and they can be altered at any time after that. Editing one attribute block is not a big deal, but editing many blocks can be time-consuming. Typically the block you want to change has to be selected. If the file is large and there are many blocks it can take a lot of time to edit them. The GATTE command can help expedite your efforts. It will cycle through each block instance, or allow you to make a global change with one value. |