Summary

In this chapter, you learned how to quickly query for object data from the Object Properties toolbar, and how to query properly for 2D distances and areas in blocks and xrefs.

Quickly querying objects for data that AutoCAD automatically creates, such as layer, color, and linetype, increases your productivity by providing information you frequently need during an editing session. By querying data that users assign, such as attribute data, you can increase your productivity by automatically extracting large amounts of information you need to complete your work, such as when you need to create a bill of materials.

You also learned about how to handle additional data that is associated with AutoCAD objects, whether that data is block attributes or general data such as the color or linetype of an object. You learned about using new AutoCAD 2002 commands for block and attribute extraction, and about the different extraction formats. By understanding how blocks and attributes work, and how to properly manage blocks and extract their data, you have learned how to make AutoCAD do tedious, repetitious drafting work automatically, and increase your productivity.