Paste To Table

This plugin contains two commands useful for working with AutoCAD tables. As you know, you cannot just copy cells from Excel and paste them into AutoCAD using the clipboard. This problem is partially compensated by the command "Paste To Table" (PTT). With its help, you can insert in the AutoCAD table any texts separated by tabs and line breaks. Including data copied to the clipboard by commands Sawing Table (Saw) or PageNo (PNo). 

Another problem with AutoCAD tables is that they cannot be printed on multiple layouts. If the table becomes too long, users are forced to create a new layout and start a new table on it. Command “TableSplit” can do it all in one click. The same command will allow you to update the partitions of the table if you deleted or added new rows to it.

Read about downloading and installing the program here.

To run the plugin, you will have to register account and top up your account balance or receiving bonuses.

Then you can activate one of the licenses:

• • Annual license - 10 EUR.

  • Unlimited license - 50 EUR. Free updates for 1 year.

  • The trial period is 20 days.

First step copy any text to windows clipboard. It may by several Excel cells or SAW results or any other text with TAB symbol like column separator and “new line” symbol like rows separator. In the text there can be lines from one column - they will be perceived as the titles of the table or sections.

Next step select table in AutoCAD. Table may be in MODEL or PAPER space. 

Call PTT command. If before call selected nothing the program query to select table. The table selection dialog is usually displayed:

In the window you will see up to four options for selecting a table:

• • Find - this option appears when the table title from the buffer (just first line) is found in one of the tables in the current drawing. Then the program will prompt you to use this found table. Note that the first table with this title will be used.

  • Choice - choice one of the available tables of the current drawing. All tables are in the drop-down list. The list contains the name of the layout, the title of the table and the size of the table. If you have configured the template file in the general settings of the A>V>C> plug-ins or in the AutoCAD options (DWT template for the _QNew command) you can select the table from there and the program inserts a new layout in the current drawing.

  • Select - select the layout from list and click on one of the tables on it. You can also select a layout from the template. In the list there will be only those sheets on which there are already tables. To select a table from the current layout just click on the icon 

  • New – create a new table based on the style of the tables. You can select any layout or model to insert the new table. You can select from the list of copies of existing layouts and layouts from the template. You cannot create new tables on sheets where there is already a splited table. To create a table on the current layout just click the icon 

  • Options – in same dialog you can tune options of paste command. For a description of the options see below.

You can block the call the table selection window. Then the program will try to find the table in the drawing by its title (first line). If the table is not found, the program will offer to click on the table on the current space. During the selection of the table, you will see the options in the console: SwitchSetOfOptions, Tune and New. 

• • SwitchSetOfOptions: Quickly switch between SAW and PTT options-set by number of set. 

  • TUNE: This option open dialog window.

  • New: Create a new table.

Thus you can control the behavior of the program from the console without dialog boxes.

AutoCAD does not allow you to select one cell from the table. Therefore, the program is forced to overwrite all data in the table starting with the first row and column. But if your table has the TITLE or HEADER style rows and you did not configure the program to record the headers, the program will skip them and start inserting the data below. 

The program does not format cells in any way. To adjust the font, text height, alignment, borders you must use the table style. Call _TableStyle command beforehand.

If extra columns remain in the specified table (and they are not blocked) - they can be cleared (depending on the settings). If there are extra lines left - they can be deleted. If there are not enough rows or columns - they will be added. The height and width of the new cells will be the same as the last one, and the remaining settings will be taken from the table style.

Follow the messages in the console. There may be error messages.

Options

The program settings are associated with the current set of settings for the "Sawing Table" command (SAW). In a separate plug-in "Paste To Table" you cannot switch sets of settings and cannot create new sets. To do this you need a plugin AVC_Saw or plugin Avc_Pro

• • Title – The first line of the pasted table should contain a title. The program merges the columns and assigns the "Title" style to the first row. If it is off, the paste command will skip the first line if it already has the Title style.

  • Headers – The second line of the pasted table should contain the column headers. The row will be labeled with the Header style. If disabled, the program will assume that only data is in the clipboard, skip the row with the "Header" style and start writing data from the next row.

  • Clear Style – All cell settings will be reset (font, text height, borders). The cell of the table will look like it was set by the _TableStyle command.

  • Adapt Width – Change the width of the columns of the table so that the text is inserted without hyphenation.

  • Group Titles – Data can contain rows with one column. They will be perceived as group titles. These rows are also assigned the Title style.

  • Merge Titles – In the one column rows all cells will be merged. So is usually done with group titles.

  • Show Dialog – Call “Select Table” dialog window. If you turn off - the program will silently look for the table by title (even if there is Title unchecked) or require selecting a table on the current layout. The "Sawing Table" command will hide its configuration dialog too and offer a console version.

  • Split Table – Call TableSplit command after data paste.

  • Clear Columns – If the pasted data is not enough to fill all the columns of the table then the extra columns should be cleared.

  • Delete Rows – If the data is less than the rows in the table the program will delete the extra lines at the end.

  • Style - The style of the tables for inserting new tables. Only the styles of the tables of the current document present in the list. When you call the command this style must be in the drawing, otherwise the current style will be used. It is recommended to leave the field blank - then the current table style will be used. The configuration does not affect the filling of old tables - they will have the style as it was.

To set up fonts, borders and other use the table style. Editing table styles is done with the _TableStyle command. You can try calling it with the "Edit Style" button, but the insertion command will be interrupted.

Options Title, Headers, Group Titles and Show Dialog affect the work of command preparing data for tables: Sawing Table, PageNO ...

First fill in the table with all the data. Let the rows of the table go far beyond the printed area of the layout. 

Then select the table and call TableSplit command. You can select the table after the command is called.

The program will search for lines below the first row of the table. It can be a layout frame polyline or a block or any drawing. The topmost of these obstacles will be considered the end of the free space for the table. If nothing is found on the layout then the program uses the whole printed field of layout. 

Next, the program starts creating full copies of the layout with all the drawings and objects. The extra rows of the table will be moved to the new layout. A digital index will be added to the name of the source layout.

The program looks for rows in the table with the "Title" style and considers them to be the beginning of a string group. The groups will be moved to the new sheet as a whole If possible.

If at the beginning of the table there is a line with the style "Header" then this line will be repeated at the beginning of each sheet.

If the whole table gets into one sheet then the program will not swear, just write about it in the console.

The command does not work in model space. It is intended only for splitting tables on layout sheets. 

An additional bonus is that the program looks for the main title block on the sheets and if there is an attribute of the sheet name in it, then the table name will be written in it. For this to work, the attribute must be named "TITLE" or "SHEETNAME" or "SHEETTITLE" or "PAGENAME" or "DRAWINGNAME" or "NAME". If you have the "Page Number" plug-in (AVC_PageNo) installed, you can configure the attribute search.

Split Updating

You can apply a TableSplit command to a previously divided table. Then the program will collect all data from all layouts to the first sheet and then split the table anew. This way you can easily update the partition after inserting new rows or after deleting the rows on any part of table. You can select a table for this command on any of the layout - the program will still find the first one and will work with it.

Attention!

• • Keep in mind that when you update a partition, all but the first sheet is destroyed! And copies of the first sheet are created. Therefore, never edit anything on layouts with a divided table - all this will die at the first update. Also, never insert other tables on a layout together with a divided one. The program cannot adequately work with such layouts and you will inevitably lose data.

  • Not recommended to break a table on a layout with drawings. Drawings will be repeated on all sheets. This will not only clutter documentation, but also increase the chance that you will begin to edit the drawings on the second sheet and lose all the corrections after a new split of the table. Select a separate sheet for long tables.

  • Do not make copies of a divided table. The program writes a special label in the xData of each part of the table to further know that these are parts of the same table. The label will be saved when you copy the tables and this can lead to confusion. The dialog for selecting the tables in the Paste to Table command displays only the first layout of such labeled tables and does not allow inserting new tables on these layouts.