extract dim text...

i tried to do this (see below)... but all i keep getting is the same
information as (entget (car (entsel))) or a blank list... how do i extract
the text from a dimension without exploding the dim...

(defun GET:ATT (EN / EL RES)
(setq EN (entnext EN)
EL (entget EN))
(while (= (cdr (assoc 0 EL)) "ATTRIB")
(setq RES
(cons
(cons
(cdr (assoc 2 EL))
(cdr (assoc 1 EL))) RES)
EN (entnext EN)
EL (entget EN)))
(reverse RES)
)
(setq ssl (get:att (car (entsel))))

 

What's wrong with
(cdr (assoc 42 (entget (car (entsel)))))
?

 

to be honest i work in arch. units and did not know that 42 was the
dimension value... thats great, much easier... thanks...

 

Well, I see some others have beat me to it a little, but since I go this
far, I'll send it -- this might alert you to some more possibilities.

You don't need to treat it like an attribute. You can get it directly from
the dimension entity. Get the association list:
(setq diment (entget (car (entsel "Select Dimension Entity: "))))

If it uses the actual measurement (or even if it doesn't), dxf/assoc code 42
contains the measurement (in decimal drawing units). If you want it that
way to use numerically, it's pretty easy:
(setq dimcontent (assoc 42 diment))

If you want it as a text string, (rtos) [for "real-to-string"] will convert
a real number to a text string, with modifiers for the type of units you
want it to give you:
(setq dimcontent (rtos (assoc 42 diment) <mode> <precision>))

If there's override text, it's in dxf/assoc 1, which often would already be
a text string:
(setq dimcontent (assoc 1 diment))

If there's no override text, assoc 1 is still there, with a content of "".
If you want to use the override text if there is any, but use the actual
measurement as a text string if there isn't, you'd need to check for
override:
(if (= (cdr (assoc 1 diment)) "")
(setq dimcontent (assoc 1 diment))
(setq dimcontent (rtos (assoc 42 diment) <mode> <precision>))

But if the override text is, for example, the actual measurement plus a
plus-or-minus sign, it should look like "<>%%P" even though the dimension
displays on-screen with measurement characters and a real plus-or-minus
sign, so you'd have trouble extracting that in a meaningful way. That's
probably possible but could be complicated, since the <> representing the
actual measurement could come anywhere in an override text string, and you'd
have other possible special character codes to figure for. Too much for me
to think about right now.

Kent Cooper, AIA


...

 

Whoops -- forgot a bunch of "cdr's" before the assoc calls here; corrected
below.