Commands

The AVC_Palette plugin includes the following commands:

• AvcPalette - Open / Close A>V>C> Properties Palette

• NamePalette - Open / Close the object name input palette

• KindPalette - Open / Close the palette for entering the type of objects

• InfoPalette - Open / Close the palette for entering information about objects

• UserPalette - Open/Close individual palettes for entering custom (user) object properties. Opens all palettes at once (but no more than 20)

• SolSize and SweepSize - measurement of solids. Measures selected solids irrespective of a turn in space. The measurement results are displayed in the console and are recorded in the solid metric.

• AvcUpdate - updating the metrics of those solids that were modified after measurement. Even solid content inside blocks and external links is updated.  Colorizes solids and faces according to the color of the material.

• AvcOptions - Options dialog

The panel (Palette) opens and closes with the AvcPalette command. In order to avoid pauses when selecting objects, it is recommended to close the palette when it is not needed. Data is loaded into the palette as soon as you select something in the drawing (before calling the commands). If you select many objects at once, then the A>V>C> properties palette does not work like a regular property panel. A separate tab opens for each type of object. And objects whose editing is not provided are ignored. Tabs available:

• Reference - block insertion = block reference. To edit block attributes and block parameters. As you know, a block can be inserted into a drawing many times. Each time a reference is created that describes where to show the block and how to rotate it. And each reference has its own set of mutable attributes. I preferred to place the properties of the block reference  separately from the properties of the block, on different tabs.

• Solid - for all solids. Allows you to edit additional properties of the solid: Mirror, Sweep and Texture.

• Metric - for measured solid only. There are most of all properties and you can change the materials of edges and covers. Use SolSize command for measure solids.

• Selected Face - selected solid surface. The drop-down list of cover materials will contain only materials suitable for covering and edge bangings.

• Polyline - for polylines and legacy 2d polylines. Allows you to close the polyline, view and change the direction of the loop around the closed polyline.

• Circle - The radius and diameter can be changed.

• Curve - for all other 2d shapes - line, arcs, splines, ellipses.

• Leader - shows a Multy-Leader properties and Smart Leader template.

• Table - drawing table properties.

• Text - single-line test (DBText) or multi-lite text (MText) properties.

• Dimension - any type of dimensions properties.

• Attribute - for Attribute Difinition in Block Editor

• Viewport - for Viewports (not for ModelDoc views)

• Other - all other visible objects in the drawing.

• Entity - a separate tab that shows the properties of all selected objects at once. For layer and color editing.

• Block - for convenient editing of the name and description of blocks, editing of constant attributes. In the standard properties panel, block properties are not available at all - only block reference properties.

• Group - properties of groups. This refers to a group of joint selection of model objects. You can give names to nameless groups.

• Material - properties of the material from which the part is made, density, price.

• Cover - properties of the coating material on the faces of parts. Paint, film, laminate, banding. 

• Layer - all layer properties, including material.

• Drawing - properties of the DWG drawing file. Standard and custom. You can add new properties to the drawing.

Tabs (buttons) for invisible objects (block, material, coating, layer and drawing) are shown on a separate panel.

You can reduce the number of property tabs by turning off the ones you don't need in the settings.

The tab title shows the object ID or the number of selected objects.

Double clicking on the title of a tab drop the selection of all objects, excluding the objects of this tab. This way you can select only solids or only polylines. 

Use Enter for saves the changes and brings the focus to the drawing. In a multi-line fields (Info, Description, Content...) use Ctrl+Enter.

Use Esc to discard changes to the current field. If you have not changed anything, then Esc will move the input focus to the drawing. Pressing Esc again will work already in the drawing field and will cause the deselection of objects.

There are three different bookmarks with solids: Solid, Metric and Selected surface. But you will never see them at the same time. Only one of them is visible. Usually this is the Solid tab. To see the Metrics tab, you need to measure ALL selected solids. To see the bookmark with the selected surface, you must select surfaces on ALL solids.

When the A>V>C> palette is enabled in AutoCAD, the PROPERTYPREVIEW system variable (preview of properties during color / layer selection) is set to 0. This fixes an AutoCAD bug when the color / layer is reset to the original one. Without this setting, you will not be able to assign color and layer in the normal property panel.

Measurement of solid, regardless of position in space. Dimensions of the box into which the solid can get. The algorithm is used inside Lay, Saw, Smart Leader. But here the size is simply displayed in the console. As a result of measurement, the dimensions will be written in xData solid and will be visible in the properties panel in the Metrics section.

SweepSize

Measurement of twisted solid is similar to SolSize. One of the dimensions of the solid is measured along the length of its curved edge.

A>V>C> Palette Settings

• Calculate Expressions - Attempt to evaluate mathematical expressions in all drawing attributes and custom properties. The result of the calculation is formatted as a length. Calculation error messages are displayed on the command line. Regardless of this setting, expressions in the Density, Price, Dimensions and block parameters properties are evaluated.

• Hide extra buttons - Remove pictures from unused buttons for switching palette tabs. Extra tab buttons are never removed so that all buttons are always in their place. You can either discolor the picture on them, or hide the picture completely (replace it with a dot)

• Highlight objects - Highlight solid surfaces and edges when moving the mouse over their properties on the Solid Metrics tab.

• Zoom model - Show found objects in full screen. Zooming is triggered by double clicking on the tab title and when searching for objects using one of the properties.

• Create index - Automatically create unique indexes for materials and replace duplicate indexes.

• Color by material - Replace the color of an object when assigning a new material. An indexed color similar to the "diffuse" RGB color of the material will be used. If the color of a material is “inherited” from a solid (Inherited = ByObject), then the color of the solids will not be noted for such a material. If the color of the material is By Layer or By Block (ByLayer, ByBlock), then the color will be assigned ByLayer/ByBlock. Please note that this setting also affects the behavior of the AvcUpdate command - it will also change the colors of the solids to match the color of the material. When this option is enabled, a button for updating the color of solids appears in the header of the Material panel.

• Texture by Material - Replace Texture and Sweep property of a solid when assigning a new material. If a material is marked as Grain|Texture, then the solid is assigned Texture = Along. And if the material does not have a Grain|Texture, then the solid is assigned Texture = No. If the material is marked as Sweep, the same check mark will appear on the parts. Please note that this setting also affects the behavior of the AvcUpdate command and the color change button on the Material tab. They will also change the solid properties Texture and Sweep.

• Use tab history - Save the history of switching palette tabs to show the user the most recently used tab. If the option is disabled, the first available tab will be opened. That is, if you want one of the last tabs (for example, Layer) to always open when selecting an object, then history must be turned on.

• Keep focus - When you move the mouse pointer from a panel to a drawing, keyboard input will continue to go to the field on the panel rather than to the command line. Enabling this setting allows you to more comfortably edit texts in the palette, regardless of the position of the mouse cursor. However, this prevents the panel from being automatically hidden. Only for AutoCAD.

• Read the entire drawing - Read all drawing objects immediately after opening the file and with each modification, in order to quickly display values in the palette. The same list of objects is used as in the Drawing Tree. In the settings of the Drawing Tree, you can enable background measurement of solids. Reading occurs in small portions when the program is idle, but slight delays are possible. Measuring many complex solids sometimes causes AutoCAD to crash.

• Router-CIM Part Names - Read and write to XData part names used by the Router-CIM plugin.

• New material - when you create a new material or assign a solid that is not configured, the Sheet will be assigned by default by type of use. But if you often work with pipes and rolled products, you can change the default to Rod. 

• Edge order - the option configures the order of displaying the ends of the solid on 4-angle parts (Edge Bandings). The edges are indexed in order from the left and then clockwise. These indexes cannot be changed in any way. But you can force the palette to show, for example, the second edge first, that is, the top one. Just list the four numbers separated by commas.

• User properties - pay for the modification of the properties you need and you will have this field to set their default values.

Virtual attributes of blocks

The palette will show "virtual" attributes in the block properties, even if the block does not have them. It makes sense to create virtual attributes if most of your blocks should have the same attribute. For example, all products need "Article" and "Price". A virtual attribute will help save time. You will not need to create an attribute for each block separately. And after extracting data to the table, you will never see N/A - the Data Table program will assume that all blocks have the attribute and will substitute the default value you need. In most cases, constant attributes are more suitable for storing information about products, because the same chairs have the same article, the same lamps have the same price. But if you need to give the lamps individual numbers in the layout, then create a changeable (not constant) virtual attribute "Number". 

• Virtual block attributes - Write a list of one attribute per line, without commas. You can also write the default attribute value. Write it after the equal sign =. Do not make spaces. Virtual attributes are not shown for annotative blocks. Virtual attributes can be extracted to tables and callouts for all blocks. And if the attribute does not actually exist, then the default value or an empty string (but not "n/a") will be substituted. 

• Virtual constant block attributes - are also virtual attributes, but they are stored in the Block Definition, not in the Block Reference. For constant attributes, only one value is stored and there is no possibility to enter different values ​​for different references to this block.

Features of use

• Almost all input fields in the palette contain drop-down lists. In most cases, these are just the last 20 field values ​​that fall into the palette. This way you can repeat the entry of attribute values ​​or drawing properties. You can always enter other text, even if it is not in the list. When saving changes, the program will try to assign this new value to the field. For example, it will try to recognize the name of the color. But if you entered an invalid value, the program will return the old value. And no warnings will pop up.

• If several objects of the same type with different property values are selected at once, you will see the word *Varies* in the palette field. In this case, all variants of the property value will be visible in the field drop-down list. This does not work in the list of layers and other drop-down lists, where all valid values are always present at once.

• As soon as you started typing in any field, the program will intercept Esc and instead of resetting the selection of objects, editing of one field will be canceled. If you need to reset the selection of objects, but don’t have to cancel the input, first press Enter or click on the empty field of the drawing or click the save button in the header of the palette. And only after that press Esc, Esc.

• Most of the changes made in the palette are saved only when changing selected objects or when deselecting objects. To be sure that the changes are applied in the drawing, click the save button in the palette header. The button appears only when there is a change. However, the properties Layer, Color and Material are saved immediately after selecting a value from the list or when leaving the field. This slows down the work a bit, but you immediately see the changes in the model.

• Unlike the regular properties panel, the A>V>C> palette never shows the color ByLayer (index 256). Instead, the actual color of the layer will be shown. To assign a color ByLayer, you just select the same color as the layer.

• Similarly with ByLayer material - the palette will show the material assigned to the layer. Note: in AutoCAD, material assignment to a layer is hidden from users in a secret window called by the _MATERIALATTACH command. But you can use the Layer tab in the palette to set all layer properties, including the material.

• The Layer and Material fields allow you to create new layers and materials. Just enter a new name that is not yet in the drawing. The program will try to find such a name in your template. And if program doesn’t find it, program will create a new one. For the new layer / material, the settings of the old layer / material will be copied.

• Text fields, leader texts, attributes, you will see in the palette along with all the special AutoCAD symbols, formatting symbols, font replacement, and along with the source code of the fields. This is how the texts are stored in the dwg file. Be careful when editing. Do not change anything inside the field code, otherwise they will stop working.

• If the selected any object, then you will see a tab with drawing properties. These properties are available in Windows Explorer. And it’s also convenient to insert them as fields into the attributes of blocks in stamps and main inscriptions on sheets. You can create new drawing properties.

• When editing numerical properties (such as size, density, price), you can use the built-in calculator. No need to open the calculator. Do not write the = sign. Just write 2 + 2 and the property will be assigned the value 4. In expressions, you cannot write lengths in fractions, write decimal digits through a dot. You can use pi, euler constants and functions in the expression: ^, +, -, /, *, cos, sin, exp, ln, tan, acos, asin, atan, cosh, sinh, tanh, sqrt, cotan, fpart, acotan, round, ceil, floor, fac, sfac, abs, log, %.

• On the Block tab, you can add new attributes to the block. The attribute will be constant and invisible. And without a description. Attributes are created in the Annotations layer and placed under all the objects in the block. You can make other attribute settings in the block editor.

• On the Reference tab, you can similarly add mutable (non-constant) attributes. The attribute is created invisibly. The attribute will be added to all links to this block.

• Also on the Reference tab you will see all the parameters of dynamic blocks and BricsCAD Mechanical 3d-Constraints.. They can even be edited. But I do not recommend editing the parameters through the A>V>C> palette. It is much more convenient to do this through the grips in the drawing.

Known Issues

• In versions of AutoCAD from 2013 to 2020, the Names plugin worked, which displayed part of the new properties in the standard AutoCAD properties panel. ARX ​​files for these versions come with the A>V>C> palette. But it can’t work either in new versions of AutoCAD or in BricsCAD.

• To save changes to some properties, you must reset the selection of objects. To do this, you have to click on the drawing field and only then press Esc, Esc. You can use the Save button in the header of the palette. You can also press Enter (Ctrl + Enter) in the text fields.

• The length of texts in properties can be thousands of characters and this will be preserved normally. But if you call the Audit command, it will cut the text length to 256 characters.

• All A>V>C> palettes (Drawing Tree, Properties Palette, Settings, Name, Type, Info), like all other AutoCAD palettes, cannot restore their size if you dock several palettes one below the other to the left or right edge of the window . Each time you switch to the start page and back, the bottom palette will decrease its height. In addition, two palettes placed on the same side of the screen will not be located side by side, but one below the other the next time you open AutoCAD. This is an AutoCAD glitch, not a plugin.

• Text palettes (Name, Kind, Info) cannot be compressed in height to one or two lines. AutoCAD for some reason limits the minimum size of free (not docked) panels.

• AutoCAD palettes can be configured to automatically hide. But if you configured to "keep focus," then the palette will no longer collapse. Or one or the other.

• So far, I have not managed to force the palette to correctly display lists of parameter values ​​of dynamic blocks, display values ​​of parameter tables and synchronously change table parameters along with the index in the table. Therefore, I recommend using grips in the drawing, rather than changing the parameters in the palette.

• The BricsCAD API cannot extract field code from texts. And it does not know how to write fields back to text. You will not see in the palette that the text contains a field. Be extremely careful. Do not edit texts containing fields in the palette. You can inadvertently erase all fields in attributes and texts.

• The A>V>C> Properties Palette was created for working with solid-state models. Therefore, it does not and will not have such 2D properties as Linetype, Lineweight and pseudo-3D properties as Thickness, Elevation. Use layers and assign linetypes/weight to layers.

• The palette is not compatible with any AutoCAD industry solutions (verticals), with any BIM, or with any third-party plug-ins. Only objects of pure AutoCAD and BricsCAD will be correctly displayed in the palette. However, the block properties display the BricsCAD Mechanical component settings.

• The palette conflicts with AutoCAD Mechanical: the multiline text editor does not work on sheets. After trying to edit an MText object, it stops displaying or movements are blocked. This can only be fixed by reloading the drawing. Do not open the AVC Properties Palette when editing texts in Mechanical. Or better yet, do not use Mechanical at all.

• You will not be able to assign color and layer in the normal property panel if the property preview is enabled during color / layer selection. This is an unrecoverable AutoCAD bug and all I could do was turn off the PROPERTYPREVIEW system variable = 0. Turning off the A>V>C> Palette will set the PROPERTYPREVIEW system variable back to its original value.

• When you turn on the highlighting of the faces of solids, when you move the cursor over the coatings and edges, the highlighting of the entire selected solid disappears and you do not see that the solid is selected in the drawing. In addition, the highlight of the selected solids often "sticks" and the solid is constantly displayed as selected. These are features of AutoCAD and cannot be fixed.

• Edge highlighting only works with one solid. If you have selected several solids at once, then only one of the faces will be highlighted. Perhaps in the future it will be possible to fix this.

• The Group tab shows the properties of only one of the object's groups. AutoCAD allows you to include one object in many groups, but the Properties Palette ignores this and only shows the first one in alphabetical order.