2004

Create and Insert Symbols (Blocks) | 347
Create an Attribute Extraction File
After creating a template file, you can extract the attribute information using
one of the following formats:
■ Comma-delimited format (CDF)
■ Space-delimited format (SDF)
■ Drawing interchange format (DXF)
The CDF format produces a file containing one record for each block refer-
ence in a drawing. A comma separates the fields of each record, and single
quotation marks enclose the character fields. Some database applications can
read this format directly.
The SDF format also produces a file containing one record for each block
reference in a drawing. The fields of each record have a fixed width and
employ neither field separators nor character-string delimiters. The dBASE III
Copy . . . SDF operation also produces SDI-format files. The Append From . . .
SDF operation can read a file in dBASE IV format, which user programs
written in FORTRAN can easily process.
DXF produces a subset of the drawing interchange format containing only
block reference, attribute, and end-of-sequence objects. This option requires
no attribute extraction template. The file extension .dxx distinguishes an
extraction file in DXF format from normal DXF files.
Use the Attribute Extraction File
The attribute extraction file lists values and other information for the
attribute tags you specified in the template file.
If you specified a CDF format using the sample template, the output might
appear as follows:
'DESK', 120.0, 49.5, 'ACME INDUST.', '51-793W', 379.95
'CHAIR', 122.0, 47.0, 'ACME INDUST.', '34-902A', 199.95
'DESK', -77.2, 40.0, 'TOP DRAWER INC.', 'X-52-44',249.95
By default, character fields are enclosed with single quotes (apostrophes). The
default field delimeter is a comma. The following two template records can
be used to override these defaults:
C:QUOTE c (Character string delimeter)
C:DELIM c (Field delimeter)