AutoCAD 2011
Linking Dimensions and Parametric values into Excel
Being able to link measurement values to Microsoft Excel has always been a challenge for
AutoCAD users. Earlier versions of AutoCAD (2005, 2006, and 2007) require users to import the
excel file as an OLE object. Those OLE objects were nothing more than an Image with a link that
opens the xls file with Microsoft Excel by double clicking the image.
AutoCAD 2008 was the first release to include Data Links, a linking mechanism which relies on
AutoCAD's table feature. AutoCAD tables favors Excel in many ways, and like excel, these tables
can leverage just about any object and/or file geometry into its cells while minimizing manual
input from the users.
In the following example, we are going to create a Data Link using an existing excel file; Create a
AutoCAD Table using the Data Link; Extract dimension values into the AutoCAD Table; and have
AutoCAD write the values to the excel file.
1) On the Insert tab, choose Data Link from the Linking & Extraction panel.