Advanced annotation: fields, tables and callouts

A field is text that fills itself in: the drawing name, sheet number, plot date, an object's area. Insert one with FIELD or right-click in MTEXT › Insert Field. Examples:

• Object › Area of a room polyline, formatted in m² with a conversion factor of 0.000001 — the area label updates when the room changes.

• Filename and PlotDate in the title block.

• SheetSet fields for sheet numbers and titles (see Sheet organisation).

Fields show a grey background on screen (not when plotted). UPDATEFIELD refreshes them; FIELDEVAL controls when they update automatically.

TB (TABLE) creates spreadsheet-like tables with styles for titles, headers and data. Cells can contain formulas (=Sum(B2:B8)) and fields. For schedules, Data Extraction (DX) reads block attributes — door numbers, sizes, room names and areas — into a table that can be refreshed when the drawing changes. You can also link a table to an Excel range (DATALINK).

Every view on a sheet needs a title with number, name and scale, and every section or detail cut in a plan needs a callout referring to where it is drawn — e.g. section 2 on sheet A-301. Use consistent blocks for view titles and section/elevation markers with attributes (or sheet set callout blocks, which fill in automatically).

Use keynotes: a numbered multileader balloon on the drawing, with the full text in one legend or the specification. Changing the wording in one place avoids ten slightly different notes. Multileader styles with a block content (a circle or hexagon with an attribute) make this fast.

The Annotation Monitor (status bar) flags dimensions and leaders that have lost their association with geometry — common after heavy editing. Click the badge to re-associate or delete them before issuing.