Working with Symbols and Labels

Creating a user-defined Symbol block

  1. Open a new drawing.
  2. Create the Symbol block with the BricsCAD® Draw group of commands.
    Note: Place the block base point to coordinates (0,0,0) or define the base point with the command WBLOCK.
  3. Save the drawing or write block to file with the command WBLOCK.

Creating a user-defined Label block

Note: All the existing attributes can be displayed on points in the drawing. New attributes are added with the CIVILPOINTATTRIBUTES command. The procedure for adding a new attribute is described in the Creating user-defined attributes for Civil points article.

  1. Open a new drawing.

  2. Insert Texts and Attribute Definitions to display attributes for the selected Civil points. The following attributes are used for this example: Point Name, Point Number, Easting, Northing and Elevation.

    • Insert a new Attribute Definition (1). Type <Name> (2) in the Value field in the Attribute Definition properties, to display the point name in a drawing.

    • Insert a new Text with the content <Number> (3), to display the points numbers in a drawing.

    • Insert a new Text with the content x=<Easting> (4), to display the points X coordinates. To add a prefix, type the text: x = before the < character.

    • Insert a new Text with the content y=<Northing> (5), to display the points Y coordinates. To add a prefix, type the text: y = before the < character.

    • Insert a new Text with the content z=<Elevation>m (6), to display the points elevations. To add a prefix, type the z = before the < character. To add a suffix, type m after the > character.

      User-defined point attributes assigned to the selected Civil Points in a drawing

  3. Edit the Text and/or Attribute definition parameters, such as Color, Text Style, Height, Rotation, etc. in the Properties panel.

  4. Change the attribute position by moving the desired Text/Attribute definition using the MOVE command, or edit its position in the Properties panel.

    Note: The position of attributes in a Label block determines their offset from the Symbol block insertion point, which is located at the coordinates (0,0,0).

  5. Save the drawing.

  6. Launch the INSERT command and insert the block saved in the previous step into the drawing.

  7. Select the desired Civil points in the drawing and choose the appropriate Label block from the Label block drop-down list in the Civil Point Properties panel.

    Assign Label block to the selected Civil point

Editing Civil point Symbol block

This section describes the procedure for editing a pre-defined Symbol block. It can also be used to edit user-defined Symbol blocks.

  1. Launch the BEDIT command.

  2. Select the pre-defined Symbol block Bsys_civilpoint_symbol and click OK.

    List of available blocks in a drawing

  3. Edit the Symbol block in the Block editor.

    Symbol block defined in the Block editor (left) and assigned to a Civil point in a drawing (right)

  4. Save the block In the Block editor.

    Note: Civil Point Symbol block is automatically refreshed in the drawing.

Editing Civil point Label block

This section describes the procedure for editing a pre-defined Label block. It can also be used to edit user-defined Label blocks.

The pre-defined Label block contains only a few attributes that are visible on Civil points in the drawing. Other attributes that Civil points contain but are not visible in a drawing, must be added to the Symbol block.

  1. Launch the BEDIT command.

  2. Select the pre-defined Label block Bsys_civilpoint_label and click OK.

    List of available blocks in a drawing

    Note: Texts containing <Number>, <Elevation> and <FullDescription> are inserted in a pre-defined Label block to display the default attributes when inserting Civil points in a drawing.

  3. Insert a Text containing <Name> (7), or similar, type the<Name> in the Value field in the Attribute Definition properties, to display the point name (8) in a drawing.

    Additional attribute added to a Label block

    An attribute prefix can be added before the < character and a suffix after the > character.

    Other Civil point attributes, such us Easting, Northing, User-defined attributes etc., can be added to a Label block by the same principle.

  4. Edit the Text and/or Attribute definition parameters, such as Color, Text Style, Height, Rotation etc. in the Properties panel.

  5. Change the attribute position by moving the desired Text/Attribute definition using the MOVE command, or edit its position (9) in the Properties panel.

    Edit the Text position in the Properties panel

    Note: The position of attributes in a Label block determines their offset from the Symbol block insertion point, which is located at the coordinates (0,0,0).

  6. Save the block In the Block editor.

  7. Launch the REGEN command to refresh the Civil point labels.