Create a table from blocks

Block geometry must be displayed on the drawing sheet, on the 2D Model sheet, or in a 2D view before you can create a block table.

  1. Choose Home tab (or Tables tab)→Tables group→Block Table.

  2. On the Block Table command bar, from the Block Table Selection Method list, choose the block source and selection method.

    • To select all of the blocks in a block diagram on a working sheet or on the 2D Model sheet:

      1. Click the corresponding sheet tab to display the sheet.

      2. Choose the By Active Sheet option from the list.

    • To select all of the blocks in a drawing view:

      1. Choose the By Drawing View option from the list.

      2. Click the 2D view or the part view containing block geometry.

      3. To limit the selection to just the blocks that are visible in the drawing view, select the Blocks in View button on the command bar.

        Note:

        If this button is cleared, then all of the blocks on the sheet that the drawing view references are included in the selection.

    • To manually select one or more blocks from the displayed blocks on the sheet:

      1. Choose the By User Selection option from the list.

      2. Click one or more individual blocks, or drag a box around a group of blocks to select them. You can remove a block from the selection set using Shift+click.

  3. On the command bar, click Accept.

  4. Click Properties to open the Block Table Properties dialog box.

  5. Click the Options tab, and then specify the block table list type and the table structure.

    1. Choose the type of block table:

      • To list the quantities of every master block that is referenced by the table, select the option, Block only list.

      • To list all block views by name and assign item numbers to them, select the option, Block view list.

    2. To create a nested block table structure similar to a nested parts list for an assembly, also select the following options:

      • List by block occurrence

        • List block or block view on separate row

      • List nested blocks

        • List with nested structure

        • Use level based numbers.

  6. To place balloons on the drawing that reference the items in the block table, do all of the following:

    1. On the command bar, select Auto-Balloon .

    2. In the Block Table Properties dialog box, click the Balloon tab, and then specify how you want the balloons to appear.

      Example:

      • Select the balloon shape from the Shape list.

        If you select Oblong or Rectangle, the balloon stretches to fit the contents.

      • Define the default balloon text.

        You can type text in the Upper and Lower text boxes, and you can set or clear the corresponding check boxes to display the Item Number and Item Count in the balloon.

      • Limit the number of duplicate balloons that are created on block occurrences by selecting the option, One occurrence of each block.

  7. On the drawing sheet, click to place the table.

Tip:

  • You can add blocks and remove blocks from a table created with the By User Selection option. Select the table and then select the Add/Remove button on the command bar. The table updates automatically when you click Accept.

  • The primary columns displayed in the table (Item, Block Name, Block View, and Quantity) are derived from the block geometry data. If the block diagram contains other block information, you can add columns to report that information by selecting and adding them from the Properties list on the Columns tab. For more information, see Using the Columns tab.

    Example:

    To reference this block information

    Derived from

    Enter this Column Data property text

    Block member data

    Blocks on the drawing

    (block name, block view name, item number, quantity)

    %{Block Name|GBLM}

    Block properties

    Block Properties dialog box

    %{Prop 1|GBLK}

    Block label names and values

    Block Label Properties dialog box

    %{Label 1 |GBLL}

  • To learn how you can change the appearance of individual elements of a table--titles, columns, headers, and data cells--without changing the table style, see the Help topic, Editing a table directly.

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