Four tips to speed up your drawing

In nanoCAD there are small tweaks to reduce the time for table and leader design. Autocomplete will speed up entering numeric data into the table. The use of pre-configured styles will allow you to arrange the borders of tables in accordance with GOST in a matter of seconds. Geometry embedding will ensure that the table, sketches, and diagrams work consistently, and the callout context menu will automate the entry of text into its lines.


Autocomplete in nanoCAD tables

In nanoCAD tables, you can automate the input of a number series. using the auto-fill data function. This functionality allows you to avoid manually typing a sequence of numbers.

Fig.  1. Examples of autocomplete in the nanoCAD table
Fig. 1. Examples of autocomplete in the nanoCAD table

The full nanoCAD table editor is similar to the Excel table editor: it also contains the functionality of autocomplete cells (Fig. 1), allowing you to significantly reduce the time for entering data of the same type. The autocomplete marker in the nanoCAD table editor looks like an arrow “left-right” (Fig. 2).

Fig.  2. Autocomplete marker - left-right arrow
Fig. 2. Autocomplete marker – left-right arrow

Autocomplete in nanoCAD tables is applicable to numeric series or to text that ends with a number.

To fill cells with, say, the sequence 20, 20, 20 … you need to enter the number 20 in the first cell and drag the auto-fill marker.

For the sequence 20, 21, 22, 23 … in the first two cells, you must enter the numbers 20 and 21, respectively.

The utility can trace a simple logical pattern in numbers and reproduce it.

Let us summarize briefly. The functional proximity of the nanoCAD spreadsheet editor to a similar Excel editor will make it easy to learn how to work in it, and the autocomplete capabilities will greatly speed up the filling of table cells.

Cell styles in nanoCAD tables

By default, nanoCAD tables have four pre-configured styles. A style combines font, fit, and cell border settings. The name of the preset style coincides with the functional role of the cell in the table.

Preset Styles

Style Heading designed to design a cell with the name of the table. The top and sides of the cell have no borders, the lower border is drawn with a thick main line.

Style Ordinary strings gives the cell borders a look that meets the requirements of the Russian standard. Rows are separated by a thin solid line, columns are separated by a thick main line.

Style Table header – all cell boundaries are indicated by a solid thick baseline.

Style Table summary forms the bottom border of a cell with a solid thick baseline.

Style creation

The process of creating a custom style is to fill in the dialog box tabs one by one Cell properties

Cell context menu -> button Properties → customize tabs Font, Fit, Boundaries → switch to tab Styles and call the context menu -> button Create a (fig. 3).

Fig.  3. Styles of cells in nanoCAD tables
Fig. 3. Styles of cells in nanoCAD tables

The name is assigned to the style automatically; the style will be available not only in the dialog box Cell properties, but also in the team Apply style (fig. 4)

Fig.  4. Available cell styles in the Apply style command
Fig. 4. Available cell styles in the Apply style command

Styles allow you to quickly style table cells. The process of creating custom styles is simple and close to the way to create styles in Excel, which allows the user to easily navigate the nanoCAD table.

Embedding geometry in nanoCAD tables

Some tables of design documentation should contain diagrams, sketches, symbols, etc. NanoCAD tables allow you to include graphics in them (Fig. 5), manage this graphics inside the table and ensure its joint movement with the table.

Fig.  5. NanoCAD table with embedded geometry
Fig. 5. NanoCAD table with embedded geometry

Create graphics

Schemes, sketches and other graphics are embedded in nanoCAD tables as blocks. Therefore, before placing graphics, it must not only be drawn, but also combined into a block.

Insert a table

Insert a nanoCAD table and adjust the height of the cells where you want to place the graphics (Fig. 6).

Fig.  6. Changing the line height
Fig. 6. Changing the line height

Block injection

Cell context menu → PropertiesBlock → Select a block for implementation → OK (fig. 7).

Fig.  7. Embedding a block into a table
Fig. 7. Embedding a block into a table

Removing a block from a table

Cell context menu → PropertiesBlockDisconnect the unitOK (fig. 8).

Fig.  8. Removing a block from a table cell
Fig. 8. Removing a block from a table cell

Note. Blocks remain independent and can be edited in the block editor.

So, in the cells of the nanoCAD tables, you can embed diagrams, sketches and other graphics made in the form of blocks. Cell properties affect the scale of the image. Embedded graphics move with the table, allowing you to comfortably perform the layout of the sheet.

Callout. Context menu to automate text entry into a line

The context menu of nanoCAD callouts contains a very extensive list of commands (Fig. 9). Let’s take a closer look at the commands that automate text entry into leader lines.

Fig.  9. Context menu of the nanoCAD callout
Fig. 9. Context menu of the nanoCAD callout

Context menu commands

Take from the drawing

The command calls the panel Selecting a value, where buttons are located that regulate interaction with objects in the drawing. We are interested in the team Take from property (Figure 10), which allows you to establish a dynamic link (cross-reference) between the object parameter and the leader line. When you change an object parameter, the text in the leader line is updated automatically.

Fig.  10. Choice of values
Fig. 10. Choice of values

Example of work

The plan of the foundation blocks (FB) is made using the parametric objects of the SPDS (Base of elementsFB blocks), you must specify the brand of the used blocks in the comb leader. To automate the process, we will use the callout context menu: Take from the drawing Selecting values Take from property (indicate the FB block in the drawing) → Brand (we will select this parameter from the block properties) – fig. 11. The block mark will appear in the leader line (Fig. 12).

Fig.  12. Automatic filling of the leader line with the selected property of the parametric object
Fig. 12. Automatic filling of the leader line with the selected property of the parametric object

Template

To understand the team faster and better Template, let’s continue working with our example.

After the designation of the block mark appears in the leader line, we call the context menu and indicate TemplatesAdd to (fig. 13).

Fig.  13. Creating a template
Fig. 13. Creating a template

The next time you run the tool Comb callout and the need to take a property from the object Brand you can use the template (Fig. 14). Specify any object in the drawing and, if it has a property Brand, it will automatically appear in the leader line. If the object does not have this property, several octotorp (“lattice”) symbols will appear in the line (Fig. 15).

Fig.  14. List of created templates
Fig. 14. List of created templates
Fig.  15. Leader line with pound signs
Fig. 15. Leader line with pound signs

History

In chapter History a list of the last text values ​​entered by the user is displayed (Fig. 16). When you select values ​​from this item, the link between the object parameter and the leader is not dynamically reproduced.

Often used

The user can create a list of text string values ​​that he most often uses in his work, and thereby reduce the time for typing.

Leaders are one of the main elements of drawing design; the automation of entering the information contained in them significantly increases the speed and quality of work. nanoCAD provides its users with callouts pre-configured in accordance with Russian standards, and in terms of convenience and functionality, they are much superior to multileaders implemented in foreign CAD systems.

Tatiana Vaskina,
Technical Specialist
LLC “Nanosoft Development”
E-mail: vaskina@nanocad.ru

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