Besides being able to add fixed text to drawing elements, you can also add variable text, called text references. A text reference is text that has a text reference type assigned to it. Creo Elements/Direct Annotation will automatically find and display correct values where you have indicated a text reference.
For example, you could type a sheet number directly on your drawing using fixed text. But you could alternatively use the reference text DRAWING_NO and Creo Elements/Direct Annotation will figure out your sheet number and automatically display the correct text for you.
Creo Elements/Direct Annotation provides the following predefined text references used in the default drawing title block:
• The active sheet number.
• The highest existing sheet number.
• The drawing number.
• The default sheet scale factor.
A text reference is assigned to existing text belonging to a view, sketch, frame, or sheet. The value of the reference is displayed in the drawing. You can update the value at any time in the Text Reference dialog box.
Text reference types are organized into groups of related references. An update of references acts on all text references in the active group. Note that the text reference type replaces the original text.
To create a text reference,
1. Click Annotation and then, in the Annotate group, click More.
2. Click Text Reference in the Text section. The Text Reference dialog box opens.
3. In the Text Reference dialog box, click Act Group. The Groups table opens.
4. Select a group name from the Groups table to specify the group containing the text reference type to assign. Click Apply.
5. Click Assign. The Text Reference Types table opens.
6. Click the desired text reference type in the table to highlight it.
7. Click the existing text at which to position the reference.
8. Continue selecting new text reference types and positions, or click to complete the operation.
Text references are considered the same as text in terms of default settings, positioning, and reference lines. You can move and change the appearance of text reference values as you would normal text.
To change the active group,
1. Click Annotation and then, in the Annotate group, click More.
2. Click Text Reference in the Text section. The Text Reference dialog box opens.
3. In the Text Reference dialog box, click Act Group. The Groups table opens.
4. Specify the desired group in one of the following ways:
◦ Enter the group name in the Act Group data entry field.
◦ Click the group name in the Groups table and click Apply (or double-click the entry in the table).
The group name appears in the Act Group box, and it remains the active group until you change it.
To filter the Groups table
The Groups table lists the defined groups of common text reference types. Before you can assign a particular text reference, or act on existing ones, you must activate the owning group.
You access the Groups table by clicking Act Group in the Text Reference dialog box. The table includes the two default groups provided by Creo Elements/Direct Annotation, Sheet_local and Sheet_global. An entry in the table displays the Group name and the Scope of its application. For example, the scopes of the default groups are LOCAL (the active sheet only) and GLOBAL (all sheets in the drawing).
Groups are listed in the Groups table in the order they were loaded into Creo Elements/Direct Annotation. However, you can control what is displayed in the table by applying a filter over the column data.
1. Right-click the column header, for Group or Scope, that you want to filter.
The Column Filter dialog box appears.
2. Set filters as required.
The Groups table displays the filtered list of groups.
To clear filters, follow the instructions above, but click Reset or Reset all filters of table in the Column Filter dialog box.
To update text references,
Updating a text reference causes it to display its current value on the screen. An update operation acts on all the text reference types of the active group.
1. In the Text Reference dialog box and Groups table, specify the active group of the text references to update.
2. Click Update.
All text references of the active group are updated to show their current values.
To show the text reference types/values
Normally the values of references are displayed, but you can show all text reference types belonging to the active group, in the positions they were defined. The types are displayed on the screen as Group: Type.
1. In the Text Reference dialog box, specify the active group of the text reference types to show.
2. Click Show Types.
The types of all text references of the active group are shown. You can again display their values with Show Values or by closing the Text Reference dialog box.
The figure shows an example of text reference types.
The figure shows an example of text reference values.
The text reference types table
All text references for the active group are displayed in the Text Reference Types table. You display the table by clicking Assign in the Text Reference dialog box. The three columns of the table indicate the following:
Type
The names of the types of text references.
Value
The values of the text reference types at the last update. The displayed values are not necessarily current.
Function
The functions that determine the update values.
The Type name and Function derive from the original definition of the text reference group.
The Type column in the table lists the text reference types in the order they were originally defined. However, you can filter the column data to restrict the display of entries in the table.
To filter the Text Reference Types table:
1. Right-click the Type column header.
The Column Filter dialog box appears.
2. Set filters as required.
The Text Reference Types table displays the filtered list of types.
To clear filters, follow the instructions above, but click Reset or Reset all filters of table in the Column Filter dialog box.
To remove text references
You can remove (unassign) an existing text reference type from your drawing. The reference is then replaced by its value at its most recent update.
1. Click Unassign in the Text Reference dialog box.
The text reference types of the active group are shown on the drawing.
2. Click text on the screen to remove its assigned reference.
3. Continue clicking text references to remove, or click to complete the operation.
To reassign a removed reference, you must use the Assign command in the Text Reference dialog box.
Text Reference in the Text section. The Text Reference dialog box opens.
to complete the operation.
