I was happy to learn about the new dynamic text functions in v8. So here’s what I would like to do with it:
- Assign different attributes to block instances (“type”, “context”, “serial#”)
- Dynamically display these attributes next to the block instance (and even being able to edit them there)
- Export a csv of all blocks+their instances, with all the attributes assigned to them – like a parts list.
But for a couple of reasons this proves to be quite some pain, because
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Only a single data source can be selected at a time. For a table of three attributes, you have to pick the respective object multiple times (to manually edit the lingo is not much faster). Why can’t you pick multiple values in the text field dialog to combine them to one text string?
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When I copy a block and edit the copy’s attributes user text, this is not reflected in the display – because it is still sourced from the parent object that I had copied. That means you need not only to update the instance’s attributes, but also all text links, eg. by editing the (massive) guid in the code.
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Rhino crashes in *export selected…/object properties (csv)" (win; works on mac)
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Some attributes (“Object Name”) can’t be easily typed in because the input focus changes to the command line after each keystroke; to paste it in the name field doesn’t work either, because that field does not accept pasted text (win, works on mac).
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Why can’t you change the order of the attributes user text?
Is there a lean way to do a parts list like this? Thank you!