Enhanced block info to/from worksheet
Win64, EnglishGeneral Usage Instructions
For the Active drawing processing option ONLY: Start by opening an Excel worksheet (Active drawing processing option only: remember to reserve 1 blank column at the active cell (values will be written downward)).
Press Alt+Tab to return to Autodesk® AutoCAD® or its vertical products, and invoke the NTCL_BlockToExcel command. The user form will appear.
For the Active drawing processing option, on the user form, open a drawing.
For the Multi files processing option, load the drawing list from folder/ from files/ from Excel files .... to the table.
Select macro mode: 1 (Cad Block info => Excel worksheet) or 2 (Excel info => Cad Block update). Select additional options (Single worksheet, Uni Header, select block name(s), where to get block refs from, which information to export, and import). Mode 1 (Export) should run before Mode 2 (Import) unless you saved and re-use the results of Mode 1 before.
If you select mode 1, the block information will be exported to Excel. For the Active drawing processing option: Data are written to the active worksheet; For the files processing option: New worksheet(s) of the active workbook will be created.
If you select mode 2, the block information will be imported from Excel. For the Active drawing processing option: Be sure to pre-select the data range in Excel first. The selected range must include a header row & a handle column. For Multi files processing option: Be sure you have to write permission for drawings in List.
Be aware that, this app CAN NOT create new block references, so the workflow is often: Export block data - Edit data in Excel - Import block data to update AutoCAD drawing.
For the Multiple Visibility States dynamic block, only Attributes that are set visible in active visibility state are exported/ imported.
If you have multiple Excel instances already open, this App may tie to the last activated Excel instance but sometimes it does not. In such case, please close all opening Excel instances; close (end task) any invisible Excel.exe process by Task Manager, and re-open only one Excel instance.
Screenshots
Commands
| Ribbon/Toolbar Icon | Command | Command Description |
|---|---|---|
|
NTCL_BlockToExcel |
Info of block references can be quickly batch exported to/re-imported from the Excel worksheet. Info including insertion point (X, Y, Z), rotation, attributes, and dynamic properties. Multi files processing supported. Multi visibility states dynamic blocks supported. |
Installation/Uninstallation
The installer that ran when you downloaded this app/plug-in from the Autodesk App Store will start installing the app/plug-in. OR, simply double-click the downloaded installer to install the app/plugin. You may need to restart the Autodesk product to activate the app/plug-in. To uninstall this plug-in, exit the Autodesk product if you are currently running it, simply rerun the installer, and select the "Uninstall" button. OR, click Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features (Windows 7/8.1/10/11) and uninstall as you would any other application from your system.
Additional Information
- Be aware that unsaved values that are overwritten in the Excel worksheet by this app cannot be undone in Excel. It is recommended to save an Excel worksheet & reserve enough blank columns/ or check the "Auto insert blank columns before exporting" before running this app.
- If no results are returned to Excel, please check: (a) Input values are correct, sometimes a block is defined but no block reference is placed in the drawing (b) the App is being tied to an invisible running Excel.exe process. In such cases, please close all Excel instances, including those invisible Excel.exe processes.
- Constant attributes will be ignored. Those attributes' tags & values do not appear in Excel when exporting.
- If no Excel worksheet is opened before, this app will try to open a blank worksheet.
- Press ESC during processing to terminate the App.
- In Multi-file processing mode, when successfully importing data from Excel, drawing files will be auto-saved. The previous version is backed up in the same folder.BAK2 extension.
- This app only works with desktop versions of Excel. In case multiple Excel versions are installed, this app may work with the default version.
Known Issues
In some cases, this App cannot connect Excel® in Microsoft® 365 (Office® 365). The NTCL Error message: "Cannot open Microsoft® Excel®" appears right after the App is called.
This error can be fixed by running "Quick Repair" on Microsoft® 365 (Office® 365). For more information, please refer to: https://www.NTCLSoft.com/home/troubleshooting
Contact
Author/Company Information
Support Information
For questions/comments/suggestions/bug reports etc please send an email to NTCLApp1@gmail.com
Version History
| Version Number | Version Description |
|---|---|
|
2.0.25 |
Improvements: - Add support for 2025 version |
|
2.0.20.0 |
Bugs fixed: - Prevent App command to be called during another CAD command is running; - Fix a bug when a block's custom properties have internal relationships, the latter property value assignment may change the former value which has been assigned by App. In that case, the new option "Assign custom props twice" should be selected. Improvements: - App interface reworked; - A new command to add opening drawings in current CAD session to Drawing table. |
|
2.0.18.0 |
Bugs fixed: - Fix a bug where Multiline attribute text is incorrectly exported/ imported; - Fix a bug when a block has both multi visibility state & Lookup table, new visibility state value may not be applied; - Fix a bug when block instances of different drawing have same Handle and same name, new dynamic properties' values may be wrongly set from second block instance; - Dynamic Block instances that have constraint geometry may display incorrectly after importing new values from Excel Improvements: - Drawing table column widths, check box status, block source are saved on exit and restored on the next App open - Export mode: Add an option to hide attributes of which "Invisible" property is set to False. This option does not apply to multi-visibility-state dynamic block. - Export mode: Add an option to hide dynamic block's custom (dynamic) properties of which "Show" property is set to No. This option does not apply to multi-visibility-state dynamic block. - Export mode: Dynamic property with a list of allowed values will show its list in the column header cell's comment; - Import mode: Support Block properties table (optional) - Import mode: Support Lookup table (optional) |
|
2.0.10.0 |
Bugs fixed: - Multi file processing option cannot export data to Excel if Excel is in edit mode - Unexpected exporting result in single sheet mode if 3 or more different blocks with different field (attribute, dynamic property) names are exported - Unexpected exporting result when first block has more fields than the second block - App won't work if Excel is closed after App is opened - Wrong number of Block refs. processed when importing - "Load Active Workbook" button discards unsaved content of opening workbook which saved to disk before - Esc key cannot terminate export/ import action, user click yes then the action still continue - When import from Excel, dynamic block references of the second drawing onwards are reset or got wrong dynamic properties - Reload last state button does not work properly - Single file processing mode does not filter block references properly - Attribute values are sometime changed accidentally because of Excel auto-format. - Confused license status report when signing-in to parent application & running App without an offline license file. Improvements: - Add an option "Uni Header": Combine all fields of all blocks from all drawings into a unique header row (nearly the same as Data Extraction command result) - Allow user to export data from multi block per one drawing - Better support Multi visibility state dynamic block: invisible attributes in a specific state won't be exported or imported. - Mtext attribute now export value without format code - Add 2 commands: Load and Save configuration to the context menu which appears when right click inside tables - Allow user to set value for some selected cells in Block name or Source column (Ctrl+Click to select cells, Right click in the last selected cell) - App starts with Multi file processing mode |
|
2.0.1.0 |
Bugs fixed: - Parent application crashes when run in Multi-file processing mode without an opening draw. - Attributes do not move/ rotate properly together with block references; - Dynamic properties do not export in some cases; Improvements: - Add an option "Single worksheet" for Multi-file processing mode to combine all drawing files and export results in one worksheet. Best fit for single sheet drawings title block; |
|
2.0.0.0 |
Major improvements from the free version (version 1.0). - Increase processing speed by 10-20 times. - Add a Multi-file processing option. - Allow the user to terminate the app during processing by pressing the Esc key. - Add a reload last state button to return the last form parameters. - Add the select All option for selecting all block references in drawings. - Add a button for Select block name on the screen. - App can now run from any Autodesk® AutoCAD®/ AutoCAD verticals instance. No need to keep track of the first active instance of AutoCAD/ AutoCAD verticals. |
