AutoCAD Platform Customization. Ambrosius Lee

Continue making changes on each tab in the dialog box.

      8. Click OK to return to the Dimension Style Manager.

      9. Right-click the dimension style you want to make current and click Set Current. When no objects are selected in AutoCAD on Windows, you can also set a dimension style as current from the Dimension Style drop-down list on the Annotate tab ➢ Dimensions panel on the ribbon. When no objects are selected in AutoCAD for Mac, you can set a dimension style as current from the Dimensions Style drop-down list in the Annotation section of the Properties Inspector.

      10. Click Close.

Figure 2.12 Creating and defining dimension styles

      You can edit a dimension style by doing one of the following when the Dimension Style Manager is displayed:

      • Select a dimension style from the Styles list box and click Modify (Windows).

      • Select a dimension style from the Styles list box, click the Action button (the gear icon), and then click Modify (Mac OS).

      Dimension overrides, which allow you to apply a temporary change to a style, can also be created. The changes based on the overrides are added to new objects that are created when the dimension style is current; existing dimensions are not affected by the override. You create an override to a dimension style much like you would modify a dimension style, except that instead of clicking the Modify button/option you click Override. You can also override the properties of individual dimension objects by using the Properties palette (Windows) or Properties Inspector (Mac OS).

      Table Styles

      Table styles are used to control the direction in which content flows for a table, as well as the appearance of the grid border lines and textual content that appears in table cells that are assigned a given style. A table style can also contain cell styles that are used to group general formatting, text, and border settings for use in a table.

AutoCAD on both Windows and Mac supports the creation of tables and the use of table styles, but only AutoCAD on Windows allows you to create and modify table styles using the Table Style dialog box (shown in Figure 2.13). The Table Style dialog box is displayed with the tablestyle command. Once a table is created, you can override the properties of a table and its cells using the Properties palette (Windows) or Properties Inspector (Mac OS).

Figure 2.13 Updating the properties of a table style

      You can create a table style with these steps:

      1. On the Annotate tab, Tables panel, click the panel-launcher button located to the right of the Tables panel's title (or at the command prompt, enter tablestyle and press Enter).

      2. In the Table Style dialog box (see Figure 2.13), click New. Enter a name for the new table style and, optionally, select a style to start with. Click Continue.

      3. In the New Table Style dialog box, select a table direction in the General section.

      4. Optionally, click Create A New Cell Style in the Cell Styles section. In the Create New Cell Style dialog box, enter a name for the new cell style and, optionally, select a style to start with. Click Continue.

      5. Select a cell style to edit from the Cell Styles drop-down list in the Cell Styles section.

      6. Edit the properties for the cell style on the General, Text, and Borders tabs.

      7. Click OK to return to the Table Style dialog box.

      8. Select the table style you want to make current and click Set Current.

      9. Click Close.

      You can update a table style with the Table Style dialog box by selecting the style you want to edit from the Table Styles list and clicking Modify. Edit the properties of the style as needed, and then click OK to save the changes and exit the dialog box.

      Multileader Styles

      Multileaders allow you to place text, blocks, or tolerances with leader lines that point to features in your drawing. You use multileader styles to control the creation and appearance of multileader objects. A multileader style specifies the formatting of the leader line (segment types, colors, and arrowhead style), leader structure (constraints, landing, and scale), and the content that should be displayed at the end of the leader landing. Multileader styles are created and modified using the Multileader Style Manager, which is displayed with the mleaderstyle command.

      You can create a multileader style on Windows or Mac OS by taking these steps:

1. Do one of the following to display the Multileader Style Manager (see Figure 2.14):

      • On the ribbon's Annotate tab ➢ Leaders panel, click the panel-launcher button located to the right of the Leaders panel's title (Windows).

      • Click Format menu ➢ Multileader Style (Mac OS).

      • At the command prompt, enter mleaderstyle and press Enter (Windows and Mac OS).

      2. In the Multileader Style Manager, click New (Windows) or the + (plus) button (Mac OS).

      3. In the Create New Multileader Style dialog box, enter a name for the new style.

      4. Optionally, select an existing style to start with and check Annotative if you want to create an annotative style. I discuss annotative styles in the next section, “Annotative Styles and Annotation Scaling.”

      5. Click Continue. The Modify Multileader Style dialog box is displayed.

      6. In the Modify Multileader Style dialog box, start on the Leader Format tab and change the settings as needed.

      7. Continue making changes on each tab in the dialog box.

      8. Click OK to return to the Multileader Style Manager.

      9. Right-click the dimension style you want to make current and click Set Current. When no objects are selected in AutoCAD on Windows, you can also set a multileader style as current from the Multileader Style drop-down list on the Annotate tab ➢ Leaders panel on the ribbon. When no objects are selected in AutoCAD for Mac, you can use the Multileader Style drop-down list in the Annotation section of the Properties Inspector.

      10. Click Close.

Figure 2.14 Modifying a multileader style

      You can edit a multileader style by doing one of the following when the Multileader Style Manager is displayed:

      • Select a multileader style from the Styles list box and click Modify (Windows).

      • Select a multileader style from the Styles list box, click the Action button (the gear icon), and then click Modify (Mac OS).

      Annotative Styles and Annotation Scaling

      As I mentioned earlier, in the “Text Heights” section, calculating and displaying text at the correct height in a drawing can be a bit of a challenge when working with one or even several drawing scales. It can even be more time-consuming if you decide to change the scale at which your drawing should be plotted.

      These problems can be solved through the use of annotative styles and annotation scaling. When you use annotative styles and annotation scaling, you specify the final height for your text objects and AutoCAD does the calculations for you based on the scale assigned to a viewport or when a drawing is plotted. For example, you set a text style to be annotative and then specify a paper height (the size the text should appear on the drawing when plotted). Specifying a text height of 1/8″ means that the text will appear as 1/8″ on the sheet of paper as long as you have assigned the correct annotation scales to the text