330 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

9.Again choose Multiline Text from the Draw toolbar. Pick two boundary points within the Date box of the title block. In the Multiline Text Editor, right-click and choose Insert Field.

10.From the Field Category drop-down list, choose Date & Time. From the Field Names list, choose CreateDate. From the Format list, choose M/d/yy. Click OK. Click anywhere outside the Multiline Text Editor to place the field.

11.Save your drawing. The title block should look like Figure 13-28.

Figure 13-28: The title block after adding some fields.

Managing Text

Text is a complex object type. Text greatly increases drawing size and adds redraw and regeneration time. The more-complex fonts, such as the TrueType fonts, can have a huge impact on how long it takes to open and save a file. The techniques described in this section help you manage text and improve performance while editing your drawing.

Using Quicktext

The QTEXT command replaces all text with rectangles that approximate the placement of the original text, as shown in Figure 13-29. All text objects, including dimensions, attributes, and tolerances, are affected. To use QTEXT, type qtext on the command line. Type on to get the rectangles; type off to return to regular text. Then type regen at the command line. Quicktext takes effect only after a regeneration; it does not apply to OLE objects that you have pasted into a drawing from the Windows Clipboard (see Chapter 27).

Using AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT fonts

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT fonts are simpler than TrueType fonts, and some fonts are simpler than others. The simplest font is txt.shx, the font used by the default Standard text style. You can easily define a text style using an AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT font and then change the font to something nicer just before plotting. Be aware that the text may take up more or less space than before.

When your drawing cannot find the specified font, it uses an alternate font. This may happen if you receive a drawing done by someone else that uses a custom or third-party font that you don’t have. You can specify the alternate font by choosing Tools Options and clicking the plus sign next to Text Editor, Dictionary, and Font File Names on the Files tab. Choose Alternate Font File to specify the alternate font, which is simplex.shx by default.

Chapter 13 Creating Text 331

Figure 13-29: A drawing with QTEXT on. Rectangles have replaced all the text.

Thanks to Rod Greer of R. G. Greer Design, Inc., Fergus, Ontario, for this drawing.

You can further control the fonts used in your drawing by customizing the Font Mapping File,

\acad.fmp. The format is current_font; font_to_substitute. (You need to use the actual filenames of the fonts.) To substitute a simpler font for the Arial Black font, you could add the following line:

Ariblk.ttf;simplex.shx

To find the Windows TrueType fonts, look in the Fonts subfolder of your Windows folder.

Freezing text layers

Freezing text layers can help regeneration time dramatically — a good reason to give text its own layer. Don’t forget to freeze dimension text, too. Dimensions are usually placed on a separate layer (see Chapter 14).

Using MIRRTEXT

When you mirror sections of your drawing that include text, you usually don’t want any backward text (unless you’re Alice going through the looking glass). The MIRRTEXT system variable controls whether text is mirrored or retains its normal orientation. The default value for MIRRTEXT is off, so that mirrored text is not backward. The text is copied to the mirrored location, but reads from left to right (if that’s the direction of the language you’re using).

332 Part II Drawing in Two Dimensions

If you do want to mirror the text, type mirrtext . At the New value for MIRRTEXT <0>: prompt, type 1 to turn MIRRTEXT on. This system variable is saved with the drawing, so you may still need to change it when you open older drawings.

STEP-BY-STEP: Managing Text

1.Open ab13-e.dwg from your CD-ROM.

2.Save the file as ab13-08.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder. This is a small section of an electrical schematic, as shown in Figure 13-30. Make sure ORTHO and OSNAP are on, and set running snaps for endpoint, midpoint, and intersection.

1

Figure 13-30: A section of an electrical schematic.

3

2

3.Type qtext . At the Enter mode [ON/OFF] <OFF>: prompt, type on_ . Type regen . The command replaces the text with rectangles.

4.Type qtext . At the Enter mode [ON/OFF] <ON>: prompt, type off . Type regen . Your original text reappears.

5.Start the MIRROR command. Follow the prompts:

Select objects: Start a window by picking 2 in Figure 13-21. Specify opposite corner: Pick 1. Press Enter to end object selection.

Specify first point of mirror line: Use the Midpoint running object snap to pick the midpoint at 3.

Specify second point of mirror line: Pick any point vertical to the

first point.

Delete source objects? [Yes/No] <N>:

The command mirrors the objects and the text, because the MIRRTEXT system variable was set to 1. The text is backward.

Chapter 13 Creating Text 333

6.Choose Undo from the Standard toolbar.

7.Type mirrtext . At the Enter new value for MIRRTEXT <1>: prompt, type 0 .

8.Repeat the mirror operation using the same instructions as in Step 5. This time the command mirrors the objects, but the text reads properly, as shown in Figure 13-31.

Figure 13-31: The text on the right was mirrored with MIRRTEXT set to 0.

9. Save your drawing.

Express Tools has a number of text routines that you may find very helpful. Table 13-3 lists these tools. See Appendix A for information on installing Express Tools.

Table 13-3: Express Tools for Text

Continued