ASR is focused exclusively on Blocks and their Attributes.
The ASR menu is the most complex of all the PET menus, with 19 Search choices and 21 Replace choices. Two special purpose options allow you to Scale and/or Rotate Block Graphics independently or their Attributes – Here’s an example .
Search & Replace using Object Data
Of course ASR allows Searching using Object Data (AutoCAD Map only), the same as all PET functions. When you pick the Search Using Object Data Button , A dialog box is displayed allowing you to select the Search Object Data Table . Any Object Data Table in the current drawing is available. Once the Object Data Table is selected, All Fields in that Table are available.
In this example notice that the Search Object Data uses Wildcards to Search For any object with a Field name of SEG_ID that begins with RC_12. And Replaces the data in the INSP_DATE field with 11/12/13
Working with PET Menu’s
All PET menus work in a similar manner to create an Action List made up of any combination of Search actions and Replace Actions. The menu will initially have no Action items and the default action of all Criteria is to Find Everything and Change Nothing, so if you pick OK in the ASR menu with no Action Items, all blocks will be found and selected (they are also stored in a named selection set).
Here’s an example of creating an Action: First you choose which Criteria you want to set – in this example we will set the Search Block Layer criteria in the ASR menu. When you pick it from the pulldown, it will be entered into the Action Entry area. You will see the Criteria name and a Help string to remind you of the setting choices. Next you make your entry in the Value field and click the Add Button. This will Add your entry to the Action List and you are ready to enter the next item.
Search choices include 6 Search Block Criteria and 13 Search Attribute Criteria . The Search Attribute choices include a Qualifier Tag / Text and a Search Tag / Text. This add a lot of flexibility, for instance you could search for Survey Point Blocks that have a description of CURB and set the Search Attribute Tag to ELEV so all Replace Actions will be applied to the Elevation Tags but only to those associated with CURB shots.
Ranging – Some Search Criteria can specify a range of values. These include Search Block Rotation and Scale and Search Attribute Height, Rotation, Width and Obliquing Angle. So if you specify a Search Block Scale of 2R5, PET will find blocks with scales between 2 & 5.
Replace choices include 7 Replace Block Criteria and 12 Replace Attribute Criteria. Some of the special replace features include: Replace Attribute Case – you can choose Lower, Upper or Capitalize. Both the Replace Block Position and Replace Attribute Position allow move instructions with our special Angle Option. If you enter “@10<A90” this will move the Block or Attribute 10 units at an angle equal to the Current angle PLUS 90 degrees. So if your attributes have been rotated to follow a linework feature such as a street edge, you can move all of them relative to their rotation, into the street (A270) or out of the street (A90).
Absolute or Relative Some Replace Criteria allow either Absolute or Relative settings. These include Replace Block Rotation and Scale and Replace Attribute Rotation, Scale, Width and Obliquing Angle. An entry of 90 for Replace Attribute Rotation will rotate attributes by 90 degrees (from their existing angle) but an entry of @90 will change the rotation angle to be 90 no matter what its current angle is.
An Example: Here’s a real world example using a drawing with some survey point blocks. Our goal is to modify the Elevation label of all Curb shot blocks. Here’s the ASR Action List we use to select only the blocks with a REM attribute of CURB and modify the ELEV attribute to change the color, height, rotation and position. After we run ASR, the changes are all made to all qualified blocks in the drawing.
