Command Description

The Annotate Objects command allows you to write text to screen for selected objects using multiple options to extract information. There is a Basic option for one off work and a Batch option that uses rule sets for repeatable work on large data sets.

Basic Tab

  1. Click in the Entity selection field and then in a graphic view select the objects which you want to annotate with text. Click Options for additional selection options.
  2. In Text, input the text to display on screen for the object and/or use the place holders to add text based on the object’s properties. Note: for the attribute place holder {attribute x} input the attribute name in place of the x e.g. {attribute Diameter}. To place text on a new line use $$ before the text to be placed.
  3. Enter a Text height value.
  4. Enter a Text Rotation value.
  5. Select a Text style from the list or create a new one.
  6. Select a Text color.
  7. Set the Text Gap to be used. This is the distance in metres that the insertion point of the text will be in the direction of rotation from the node it is created from. If you are using this to create 12d Vertex text, we recommend “0” offset.
  8. Check the Draw leader line with gap box to add a leader line when a gap has been used.
  9. Position on lines, sets the location for any text associated to lines being annotated. Note, that if you use the middle setting the text will be orientated to the line.
  10. Input a new Layer group name where you can use the place holders to populate the name based on the object’s properties.
  11. Check the Place on layer option to place all the text created on an existing layer.
  12. Or check Create new layers and input a new layer name where you can use the place holders to populate the name based on the object’s properties.
  13. Click Apply to annotate the objects.

Batch Tab

  1. Click in the Entity selection field and then in a graphic view select all the points and CAD objects you want to map. Click Options for additional selection options.
  2. Tick the Allow multiple annotations per entity if you need the same object to be read multiple times within the rule set. If this is not selected, then once an object has been selected in the rule set it will not be selected again even if the mask matches. Therefore, the order of the rule set is important.
  3. To import previous rule sets into your project from a .annotationrules file and populate the Annotations table, click the  button at the top of the command pane and select the file you want to import.
  4. To add Annotations to the bottom of the table, click the Add button to display the Edit Mapping dialog and do the following:

Filter:

  • In the Code/Name mask field, enter all or part (using the wildcard asterisk "*") of the name/ID or feature code of the object you want to select.
    • Name/Id – works on the name of a line or ID of a point.
    • Feature code – works on the feature code of a point.

For example, if you enter *Fence* (preceded and followed by an asterisk), all objects with Fence in their name will be selected. This would include, for example, FrontFence1, FrontFence2, and RearFence1.

  • Filter attributes can be applied to the above mask as a secondary filter option. These can be Feature attributes or 12d attributes.
    • Select the attribute type and enter the attribute name and value you wish to search, then leave the second and third attribute options empty or add another to refine further. Once the mask is found true it then checks the attributes and if they are found true will apply the annotations. Note these are decimal point sensitive.

Annotation:

  • In Text, input the text to display on screen for the object and/or use the place holders to add text based on the object’s properties. Note: for the attribute place holder {attribute x} input the attribute name in place of the x e.g. {attribute Diameter}. To place text on a new line use $$ before the text to be placed.
  • Enter a Text height.
  • Enter a Text rotation.
  • Select a Text style from the list or create a new one.
  • Select a Text color.
  • Set the Text Gap to be used. This is the distance in metres that the insertion point of the text will be in the direction of rotation from the node it is created from. If you are using this to create 12d Vertex text, we recommend “0” offset.
  • Check the Draw leader line with gap box to add a leader line when a gap has been used.
  • Position on lines, sets the location for any text associated to lines being annotated. Note, that if you use the middle setting the text will be orientated to the line.
  • Input a new Layer group name where you can use the place holders to populate the name based on the object’s properties.
  • Check the Place on layer option to place all the text created on an existing layer.
  • Or check Create new layers and input a new layer name where you can use the place holders to populate the name based on the object’s properties.
  • Click OK to save the rule.

Your selections are displayed in a new row in the Annotations table in the Annotate Objects command pane.

  1. To delete a row from the Annotations table, select the row and click Delete. To delete multiple rows, select the top row and hold shift and select the bottom row, then delete.
  2. To move the row order, use the Up and Down arrows and to edit a previously entered row use the Edit button or double click on the row in the table. Note that the order of the mapping file matters as the command looks at the Name Mask from top to bottom. To reorder the file to alphabetical click on the “Search Mask” header.
  3. To insert a row above an existing one click on the row location and press the Insert button. To copy an existing row, highlight the row and press the Copy button and this will be added directly below.
  4. To export the contents of the Annotations table as rule sets into a “.annotationrules” file that can be shared with others, click the  button at the top of the command pane and select a location for the new file.
  5. Click Apply to apply the changes and keep the Annotate Objects command pane open.

The text annotations are applied to the selected objects and the number that were annotated is displayed.

Note: If the same object mask is selected in more than one row in the Annotate table, the mapping rules specified first will apply.

Place holders:

To add a place holder in the text you must use one of the options as shown below and they need to be contained within {}. You can use as many of these as you like. Note: these are all lower case.

{name} – This will use the name of the line selected or the point ID of a point.
{layer} – This will use the layer name of the object selected.
{group} – Layer group name of the object.
{code} – This will use the feature code of the point selected.
{attribute x} – This will use the valve from the feature attribute of the object selected when you type it after the word “attribute” where the letter “x” is.
{12dattribute x} – This will use the valve from the 12d attribute of the object selected when you type it after the word “12dattribute” where the letter “x” is. Note, if there are multiple attributes with the same name on an object then the first one in the list will be selected.
{easting} – This will use the easting of a point and the first node of a line/polygon.
{northing} – This will use the northing of a point and the first node of a line/polygon.
{elevation} – This will use the elevation of a point and the first node of a line/polygon. 
{length} - This will use the length of a line or polygon.
$$ - This will place any text written after it on a new line.

Example: Text for the object could be:

Current selected object:

  • Name - “ITS Cable”, Layer – “E COMM”, Attribute – “Diameter = 100”

Annotate object:

  • Text “{name}$$Pipe Size {attribute Diameter}$$Unused”
  • Results          ITS Cable
                         Pipe Size 100
                         Unused

Note: Does not work on CAD points, blocks or 3d objects.

Example:

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