Automate batch changes to title blocks!

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA — Axiom recently announced the release of its latest MicroStation V7 utility. Easy to use and install, Title Block Manager automates batch changes on title blocks placed in design files, helps maintain consistency of title block information and provides full reporting capabilities. In this first release, Title Block Manager uses Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to update title block information in MicroStation files and to display reports on that title block information.

Axiom’s new Title Block Manager utility automates batch changes on title block information. Read this article to find out how.

Automatically updating information in all title blocks
Ease of implementation is a keynote of Title Block Manager. Once created, title blocks are easy to place and modify, but difficult to corrupt. Title blocks are saved as cells in a cell library, either 2D or 3D (cell libraries are defined by a configuration variable automatically created when installing Title Block Manager). An administrator can select design files with title blocks placed in them and create or update an Excel spreadsheet at the click of a button, populating it with the information found in the title blocks; this information can include creation date, sheet numbers, project number, etc. Conversely, users can easily modify the newly created Excel spreadsheet (for example, they can easily re-sequence the spreadsheet column holding the sheet number information if a sheet needs to be inserted in the middle of the project), and then use Title Block Manager to automatically re-populate the title blocks in the design files with the new information.

Commenting on the release, Axiom’s Senior Technology Officer Rick DeWitt, stated, “Axiom’s new Title Block Manager application fits a need that MicroStation users have wanted for years. Among other tasks, this utility allows MicroStation operators and project managers to automatically update title block information in design files from data contained in an Excel spreadsheet or to automatically generate an Excel spreadsheet from the title block information contained in their projects’ design files. This means that when a drawing has to be added in the middle of a project, there is no longer a need to manually go through and re-sequence all of the sheet numbers in all the project’s title blocks. This process can be easily automated by making very minor updates to the sheet number information in the Excel spreadsheet and then using Title Block Manager to automatically repopulate the title block fields, with the new information in the spreadsheet, in all the MicroStation files that contain the title blocks.”

Consistency across title blocks
Per a market research survey done by Axiom, consistency of title blocks was one of the biggest benefits MicroStation users would expect from a title block management utility. Catering to the needs and wants of the MicroStation community, Title Block Manager boasts a system administrator interface wherein only project or CAD managers can create the title block templates that will be placed by users of the application. Title Block Manager saves these title block templates as cells in a cell library ensuring that these are the only title blocks available to their MicroStation team. The result is a consistent look and format throughout the title blocks placed in a project’s design files.

After the title blocks are created and stored as cells in a cell library (all done from within Title Block Manager), they are ready for placement in MicroStation files.

Using Title Block Manager — a user’s perspective
After the title blocks are created and stored as cells in a cell library (all done from within Title Block Manager), they are ready for placement in MicroStation files. Using Title Block Manager’s wizard-like interface to place a title block in a design file, users simply need to 1) start Title Block, 2) select the appropriate title block cell from a list, 3) place the title block cell in the MicroStation file, 4) populate the title block text areas that need to be filled in with the appropriate information (Title Block Manager prompts the user for this information according to how the project or CAD manager set up the title block cell), 5) and click on <Finish>. The title block will be immediately placed in the MicroStation file with all its pertinent information.

Automatic insertion of file path, file names and more
Another feature requested by MicroStation users was the ability to automatically insert MicroStation file path, file name and other information into title blocks. Using Title Block Manager, administrators can define title block cell fields that will be automatically populated with the file name, the full file path or any other data collected from any configuration variable at the time the title block cell is placed in the design file.

Key features of Title Block Manager
Axiom’s new MicroStation utility Title Block Manager:

• Helps ensure company-wide consistency of the appearance of each title block and the data contained within it,
• Places file name, full file path or other data from configuration variables automatically into title blocks,
• Allows for bi-directional synchronization of title block information between title blocks and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets,
• Automatically updates and populates information in multiple title blocks,
• Processes batch changes to the information placed in title blocks in seconds and
• Reports on all title block information (such as file path, file name, name of title block cell and any other user-defined information) in MicroStation files.