Often it is desired to know how many of what parts are used in a given AutoCAD drawing. Such widgets are usually defined as Blocks in AutoCAD and each usage of a Block is called a Block Reference or Block Instance. Each Block Reference can have its own set of data attached to it called Attributes.
Tailor Made Software’s LinkList is a command line driven program available on both Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) and Linux (64-bit). It is designed to output information about what is in an AutoCAD DWG/DXF file and can do some data mining processing on AutoCAD files.
The Count function in LinkList can provide the counts of how many of each Block is used in a drawing. The Count is the overall count in the ModelSpace drawing. The output can be to a text, CSV, XML, or JSON file.
Example
Count Processing is controlled with a single parameter, -count. The parameter call is:
-i="d:\drawings\hq17_w_attr.dwg" -csv -count
This produces a CSV (Comma Separated Value, which can be used in Excel) file with the layer, block name and counts defined (abbreviated):
"WN","WNH",26
"FN$","SC",20
"FN$","FILE",31
"FN$","WKSRF",10
"FN$","PART",26
"FN$","UNIT",21
"FN$","CHAIR",14
"FN$","WSURF",30
"FN$","CWSURF",16
"EM$","PERSON",26
"FP$","OUTLETW",28
"A-FURN-SEAT-E","SZT-ARM-2D",21
"A-FURN-FREE-E","405_FURN$0$SDTASK",12
And the table of those values:
| LAYER | BLOCK Name | COUNT |
|---|---|---|
| FN$ | FILE | 31 |
| FN$ | WSURF | 30 |
| FP$ | OUTLETW | 28 |
| EM$ | PERSON | 26 |
| FN$ | PART | 26 |
| WN | WNH | 26 |
| A-FURN-SEAT-E | SZT-ARM-2D | 21 |
| FN$ | UNIT | 21 |
| FN$ | SC | 20 |
| FN$ | CWSURF | 16 |
| FN$ | CHAIR | 14 |
| A-FURN-FREE-E | 405_FURN$0$SDTASK | 12 |
| FN$ | WKSRF | 10 |
Do Download the Article and the test drawing!