Configuring standard title block synchronization

By configuring title block attribute synchronization, you specify the attribute tag values within your title blocks (static or dynamic) that you want to synchronize with Meridian document properties. Standard title block synchronization supports one title block per drawing. For a more advanced configuration, see Synchronizing multiple blocks per drawing.

Before you begin

Compile a list of the block names used by your organization as title blocks in the past and present. For each block, list the attribute names that should be synchronized and their corresponding Meridian property names (and property set name). For each attribute, note whether it should be read or written, or both. In effect, determine which application will control the value of that attribute, Meridian or AutoCAD. When doing so, consider where the drawings will originate from, imported from outside the vault (title block attributes should be read) or created inside the vault with the aid of a wizard that prompts the user for title block properties (title block attributes should be written). Identify those blocks for which Meridian should synchronize the same attributes in the same way.

Note    Title block attributes that are inserted with their Justification option set to values other than Left might not be aligned properly after synchronization. This is caused by the Autodesk RealDWG library that is used by the AutoCAD link. To correct misalignment, insert the attributes with left justification or move the attributes manually in AutoCAD.

To configure standard title block synchronization:

1. In Configurator, expand Environment in the configuration tree and select Application Link Settings. The settings for each application link appear in property pages in the right pane.
2. Click the AutoCAD tab. The AutoCAD link’s settings page appears in the right pane.
3. Click the Edit button to modify the settings.

Tip    To export the settings file to your computer, click the Export button. This can be useful if you would rather edit the file in your favorite text editor. You can then copy your changes to the Clipboard and paste them into Configurator.

4. Locate the section of the file that begins with [Settings] and locate the TitleBlocks setting. The value of this setting contains the names of all blocks that the AutoCAD link will search for attributes to synchronize.
5. Edit the value of TitleBlocks to include the names of all blocks that you want to synchronize. You can delete all unused block names to simplify editing and increase synchronization performance.
6. For each block name in TitleBlocks, create a section in the file that begins with the block name surrounded by square brackets, for example, [MyTitleBlock]. You can type comments in the file by beginning each line with a semicolon (;). Use the default sections in the file as examples. You can delete all unused sections to simplify viewing and editing the file.
7. If the title block contains date attributes that will be synchronized, configure the TitleBlockDateFormat setting as described in Formatting attribute date values .
8. If your organization uses multiple title blocks composed of the same attribute names, insert an Aliases setting in the first line after the section name. The value of this setting is a list of block names separated by commas that will use the same synchronization settings in that section. NEW Wildcard characters are allowed to make this setting more convenient to specify, for example, TBlock* instead of TBlock1, TBlock2, TBlock3.

Note    This is useful if your organization uses a different title block for each sheet size but the attribute names are the same in all title blocks. You can then specify just one set of synchronization settings for all of the title blocks. You can also take advantage of this if the names of your title blocks have changed over time but the attribute names have stayed the same. The same title block settings can be used for all of the title blocks.

8. On consecutive lines in each section, list the attribute names that you want to synchronize, one line per attribute. For each attribute, specify the Meridian property set name (except for multiple title blocks [per drawing as described in Synchronizing using configuration settings) and property name (for single or multiple title blocks per drawing) to which you want it synchronized.

Tip    You can find the names of property sets and properties on the Properties page of each document type, as described in Creating and editing document types.

Also specify a flag if the attribute (not Meridian property) should be read-only (RO) or write-only (WO). Use the default lines in the file as examples. By default, attributes are read/write (RW). Use the following format for each line.

For a single title block per drawing:

<TagName>=<PropertySetName.PropertyName>,<Flag>

For a multiple title blocks per drawing:

<TagName>=<PropertyName>,<Flag>

Note    Although Meridian internal properties can be synchronized to title block attributes, you should never attempt to update internal properties or else Access denied errors can occur. Flag all attributes linked to Meridian internal properties as write-only (WO). Only write to Meridian properties (the RO, RW, or no flags) in the Custom property set.

If you want to synchronize a property to a parent project (routed) property, you must specify the folder type name from which to get the folder property as in the following example.

<TagName>=<FolderTypeName:PropertySetName.PropertyName>,<Flag>

And if you want to synchronize one property to one of several possible routed properties, you must specify a unique identifier for each of the property on the left side of the setting as in the following example.

<TagName,ID>=<FolderTypeName:PropertySetName.PropertyName>,<Flag>

The value of ID is insignificant but must be unique among all of the lines in the same block section. Using this syntax, you can map the same attribute to multiple project folder types and the value will depend on the document’s parent folder. The following example uses three different folder types NewProject, UpgradeProject, and RepairProject.

PROJECTNUM,new = NewProject:PSProject.ProjectNum,WO            
PROJECTNUM,upgrade = UpgradeProject:PSProject.ProjectNum,WO            
PROJECTNUM,repair = RepairProject:PSProject.ProjectNum,WO      

9. NEW  By default, the AutoCAD link synchronizes properties automatically from the vault to the files when the files are opened. The properties are synchronized from the files to the vault when the files are closed. You can configure when these synchronizations occur by adding AutoUpdate settings to the title block sections as appropriate for your needs. The possible values of AutoUpdate are as follows:

   0 - Updates are disabled on OPEN on SAVE
   1 - Updates are enabled on OPEN, but disabled on SAVE
   2 - Updates are enabled on SAVE, but disabled on OPEN
   3 - Updates are always enabled (the default)

   Note    To control the updates to all title blocks, instead of adding AutoUpdate settings to every title block section, you can set the DisableTitleBlockUpdate value in the following registry key as described in the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise Administrator's Guide:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Cyco\AutoManager Meridian\CurrentVersion\AutocadLink

10. Click OK to save your changes.
11. Test the link thoroughly by synchronizing each attribute and block. You can do this by changing the Meridian property values for a drawing in the vault and title block attribute values in the same drawing and confirming that the synchronization occurs the way that you expect. You can manually synchronize properties with the Meridian client applications as described in the BlueCielo Meridian Enterprise User’s Guide.