block definition attribute tagstring

need to change the tagstring for Block Definition attribute(s). how do i get the tagstring?

have successfully used .GetAttributes, attribute array, & attribute array looping to access Block Reference tagstring & revised it.

now i want to revise Block Definition tagstring & getting to that tagstring is eluding me.

thanx for help.
marklewis

 

You would iterate thru the Block object's items, looking for Attribute
objects.

--
R. Robert Bell


need to change the tagstring for Block Definition attribute(s). how do i get
the tagstring?

have successfully used .GetAttributes, attribute array, & attribute array
looping to access Block Reference tagstring & revised it.

now i want to revise Block Definition tagstring & getting to that tagstring
is eluding me.

thanx for help.
marklewis

 

OK. makes sense.
can iterate thru block definitions & locate blockdef i need.

now my next stupid question:
now how do i get the [24] attribute items into an array to iterate them?

that's the trick i'm looking to solve.

marklewis

 

You don't.

Dim anObject As AcadEntity
For Each anObject in myBlockObject
If TypeOf anObject Is AcadAttribute Then
...
End If
Next anObject

(typed w/o test)

--
R. Robert Bell


OK. makes sense.
can iterate thru block definitions & locate blockdef i need.

now my next stupid question:
now how do i get the [24] attribute items into an array to iterate them?

that's the trick i'm looking to solve.

marklewis

 

It's not a stupid question, but you may want to re-read Robert's answer
again.
That's exactly what he told you how to do.
You don't need them in an array to modify them, you will get each in turn
when you...
<quote from roberts' answer>
"You would iterate thru the Block object's items, looking for Attribute
objects."
<end quote>

ps.
you don't need to iterate through the block collection to get your block,
just use the item method
Dim oMyBlock as acadblock
''error trap here incase block doesn't exist
Set oMyBlock = ThisDrawing.Blocks.Item("MyBlockName")
Dim oEnt as AcadEntity
for each oEnt in oMyBlock
If TypeOf oEnt Is AcadAttribute then
oEnt.TagString = "MyNewTag"
end if
Next
etc

hth
Mark Propst

 

Mark:
thank you, and Robert, for very good answers. it's your example that broke thru my frustration of being unable to access that attribute. everything i'd tried got REJECTED.

bad vibes, bad vibes.

thankyou, again
marklewis

 

finally, i think, understand your code example and put thru testing. will modify to suit [as you expected], but think i've got the .Item concept and iterating to find what i'm looking for.

as usual, it was simple, but this simpleton....

now, some further advice, please: during testing .item iteration, execution produced "Run-time error. Automation error."

i suspected what in myBlock caused Run-time, so i exploded myBlock in acad, removed some RText used to display filename, redefined myBlock, saved, and ran VB code [yours] without Run-time error.

any suggestions for avoiding Run-time error when .item iteration comes to this RText [diesel code]? any suggestions on detecting/excluding this item?

really need to automatically display .dwg filename. some other method other than embedding diesel code as RText?

hopefully this will be my last irritation as restof applicationcode written/passed test. changing these myBlock.Tagstring is last item for application.

thanx again for pushing my onward.

marklewis

 

since i've run into problem with RText included in oMyBlock, ive decided a different approach based on some previously proven code.

knowing blockdef/blockref to revise, insteadof manipulating it, will record tagstring/textstring in Array, delete blockRef, purge blockDef, insert fresh block. then populate block attrib's from array data.

that RText was a deal breaker and really fried the code when execution hit it.

thanx for your patience. i've learned alot about getting at blockref & blockdef details. very enlightening.

thank you again.
marklewis

 

Hi Mark,
I'm glad you got it to work for your needs.
I'm curious what your code is that bombed on rtext.
Do you mind posting that portion?
I'm not aware of any reason that should cause a problem.
Thanks
Mark

different approach based on some previously proven code.

record tagstring/textstring in Array, delete blockRef, purge blockDef,
insert fresh block. then populate block attrib's from array data.

blockdef details. very enlightening.

 

Same here. I'm very curious about that, as well.

 

OK... i'm back from T'giving off-days & a "bad" Monday.

here's the code inserted using rtext:
$(getvar, "dwgname")

this is placed in the titleblock.dwg & titleblock inserted as block into an Acad .dwg.

my experimenting showed that if rtext string was deleted from titleblock.dwg, titleblock.dwg insert into Acad .dwg and then code iterated thru block attributes[titleblock.dwg inserted as the block], no problem.

however, if rtext code remained in titleblock.dwg, titleblock.dwg inserted as block, that produced the code failure in Acad .dwg.

hope that's clear, if not, ask and i'll try to explain differently.

i would like to find solution using iteration suggested rather than my "less than elegant" solution that would get the job done.

thanx for your interest/curiousity.

marklewis

 

titleblock.dwg, titleblock.dwg insert into Acad .dwg and then code iterated
thru block attributes[titleblock.dwg inserted as the block], no problem.

as block, that produced the code failure in Acad .dwg.

"less than elegant" solution that would get the job done.

I guess our (at least my) confusion stems from your assumption: Something
in what you're saying doesn't add up. If I'm not mistaken, the sample of
code posted iterated through each entity and performed something if the
object was an attribute. That being the case, what you're saying shouldn't
be possible.

Can you post your code?

FWIW: I've found that in cases like this, more often that not I find that I
jumped to an illogical conclusion and based on what seemed to be causing the
problem, even though I knew it wasn't possible. Point being: I think there
is some other oddity in your code. It could well be the RTEXT causing the
grief, but I don't think the problem is occuring where you think it is.
(All speculation from a novice, of course.)

 

OK>>>>
well, here's the Sub written to find a specific blockdef "ELEM" & process each attribute tagname:

Public Sub Stdz_Malform_Tagnames()
Dim oMyBlock As AcadBlock
Dim ThisDrawing as AcadDocument
Dim oEnt As AcadEntity

On Error GoTo ERR_HAND
Set oMyBlock = ThisDrawing.Blocks.Item("ELEM")
For Each oEnt In oMyBlock
If TypeOf oEnt Is AcadAttribute Then
oEnt.TagString = "MyNewTag"
End If
Next
Exit Sub

ERR_HAND:
Resume
End Sub

the system failure appears to occur on line:
" If TypeOf oEnt Is AcadAttribute Then"

it appears that rtext code is being tested by "TypeOf" & that testing causes failure

obviously i don't want all Tagstrings to be same; this code is just to prove the con, ceptthen will be revised todo what i really am after. just trying to prove a "simple" case before creating a "complex" case.

"one step at a time in time."

marklewis