Overview

An attribute is a special type of AutoCAD object made up of text that resides inside a block. Many architectural firms use the attribute feature for setting up title blocks, grids, and symbols. Because the content of attributes can be data, people involved in facilities management and interior design often use attributes when generating specifications for office partitions and furniture.

Attributes are different from text in several ways, including these:

• The text content of attribute text can be extracted from an AutoCAD drawing and manipulated as data in a database, spreadsheet, or word processor.

• Attributes must be part of a block definition in order to function.

• Regular text that is part of a block has the same content for all instances of the block, whereas attribute text can be different in content for each instance of the block.

Attributes attach information in text form to blocks. Each time you insert a block containing attributes, you're prompted to enter data in the categories that have been set up with attributes in the block definition. In the AutoCAD drawing, each instance of the inserted block can contain data specific to that block.

Because attributes exist as part of a block, they have several applications in CAD drawings. They're frequently used to attach information to geometric objects that are blocked. Information that you would normally find in a door or window schedule can be stored with the individual doors or windows or with their symbols in the floor plan.