ATTRIB

Type: Basic DXF R12 entity.

Create a new attribute, attach this attribute to a block-reference that you made previously.

Attributes are fill-in-the-blank text fields that you can add to your blocks. When you create a block definition and then insert it several times in a drawing, all the ordinary geometry (lines, circles, regular text strings, and so on) in all the instances are exactly identical. Attributes provide a little more flexibility in the form of text strings that can be different in each block insert.

  1. First you have to create the ATTDEF.
  2. Next you will create the block and add the ATTDEF with the block.add(attdef) method.
  3. Create a block-reference blockref=DXFEngine.insert(blockname, insert) by INSERT.
  4. Create an attrib = attdef.new_attrib(kwargs)
  5. Add attrib to block-reference by blockref.add(attrib)
  6. Add blockref to the dxf-drawing, drawing.add(blockref)

When you create attributes you can put them on their own layer. This makes it easy to hide them or display them by turning the layer they are on off. This is handy when you are using attributes to hold information like phone numbers on a desk floor plan. Sometimes you will want to see, and plot, the desks without the text.

Probably the most interesting application for attributes is that you can use them to create tables and reports that accurately reflect the information you have stored in your blocks, but this works only in CAD Applications, not with dxfwrite. The process for doing this is somewhat complex and depends on the used CAD-Application.

DXFEngine.attrib(text, insert=(0., 0.), **kwargs)

Create a new attribute, used in the entities section.

Parameters:
  • text (str) – attribute text
  • insert – insert point (xy- or xyz-tuple), z-axis is 0 by default
  • tag (str) – attribute tag string
  • flags (int) – attribute flags, bit-coded, default=0
  • length (int) – field length ??? see dxf-documentation
  • height (float) – textheight in drawing units (default=1)
  • rotation (float) – text rotation (default=0) (all DXF angles in degrees)
  • oblique (float) – text oblique angle in degree, default=0
  • xscale (float) – width factor (default=1)
  • style (str) – textstyle (default=STANDARD)
  • mirror (int) – bit coded flags
  • halign (int) – horizontal justification type, LEFT, CENTER, RIGHT, ALIGN, FIT, BASELINE_MIDDLE (default LEFT)
  • valign (int) – vertical justification type, TOP, MIDDLE, BOTTOM, BASELINE (default BASELINE)
  • alignpoint – align point (xy- or xyz-tuple), z-axis is 0 by default, if the justification is anything other than BASELINE/LEFT, alignpoint specify the alignment point (or the second alignment point for ALIGN or FIT).

Flags

flag description
dxfwrite.ATTRIB_IS_INVISIBLE Attribute is invisible (does not display)
dxfwrite.ATTRIB_IS_CONST This is a constant Attribute
dxfwrite.ATTRIB_REQUIRE_VERIFICATION Verification is required on input of this Attribute
dxfwrite.ATTRIB_IS_PRESET Verification is required on input of this Attribute

Mirror Flags

flag description
dxfwrite.MIRROR_X Text is backward (mirrored in X)
dxfwrite.MIRROR_Y Text is upside down (mirrored in Y)

Common Keyword Arguments for all Basic DXF R12 Entities

keyword description
layer Layer name as string
linetype Linetype name as string, if not defined = BYLAYER
color as integer in range [1..255], 0 = BYBLOCK, 256 = BYLAYER
thickness Thickness as float
paper_space 0 = entity is in model_space, 1 = entity is in paper_space
extrusion_direction 3D Point as tuple(x, y, z) if extrusion direction is not parallel to the World Z axis

usage:

from dxfwrite import DXFEngine as dxf

drawing = dxf.drawing('test.dxf')
block = dxf.block(name='BLOCK1')
attdef = dxf.attdef(insert=(.2, .2),
    rotation=30,
    height=0.25,
    text='test',  # default text
    prompt='input text:', # only important for interactive CAD systems
    tag='BLK')
block.add(attdef)
drawing.block.add(block) # add block definition to drawing

# create a block reference
blockref = dxf.insert(blockname='BLOCK1', insert=(10, 10))

# create a new attribute, given keywords override the default values from
# the attrib definition
attrib = attdef.new_attrib(height=0.18, text='TEST')

# add the attrib to the block reference, insert has the default value (.2, .2),
# and insert is relative to block insert point
blockref.add(attrib, relative=True)
drawing.add(blockref) # add block reference to drawing
drawing.save()