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Drawing Properties

Manage document metadata including title, author, custom properties, and more.

Overview

The Drawing Properties feature provides a complete Python interface for managing AutoCAD drawing metadata. This is equivalent to the VBA ThisDrawing.SummaryInfo object.

Tip

Access drawing properties via cad.properties after initializing AutoCAD.

General Properties

Set and retrieve basic document information:

cad.properties.set_title("My Drawing")
cad.properties.set_subject("Manufacturing Floor Plan")
cad.properties.set_author("Engineering Team")
cad.properties.set_keywords("factory, design, equipment")
cad.properties.set_comments("Updated for Q1 2026")

title = cad.properties.get_title()
subject = cad.properties.get_subject()
author = cad.properties.get_author()
keywords = cad.properties.get_keywords()
comments = cad.properties.get_comments()

Summary Properties

Additional document metadata:

# Set
cad.properties.set_manager("John Smith")
cad.properties.set_company("Manufacturing Corp")
cad.properties.set_category("Facility Design")

# Get
manager = cad.properties.get_manager()
company = cad.properties.get_company()
category = cad.properties.get_category()

Statistics (Read-Only)

Access document information:

# Creation information
created = cad.properties.get_created_date()
modified = cad.properties.get_modified_date()
saved_by = cad.properties.get_last_saved_by()

# Editing information
edit_time = cad.properties.get_edit_time()  # in seconds
revision = cad.properties.get_revision_number()

Custom Properties

Store user-defined metadata in your drawings:

Adding Custom Properties

cad.properties.add_custom_property("ProjectID", "PROJ-2026-001")
cad.properties.add_custom_property("Budget", "$500,000")
cad.properties.add_custom_property("StartDate", "2026-01-15")

Getting Custom Properties

# Get specific property
project_id = cad.properties.get_custom_property("ProjectID")

# Get count (Python equivalent of VBA NumCustomInfo)
count = cad.properties.get_num_custom_info()

# Get all as dictionary
all_props = cad.properties.get_all_custom_properties()
for name, value in all_props.items():
    print(f"{name}: {value}")

Updating Custom Properties

cad.properties.update_custom_property("ProjectID", "PROJ-2026-002")

Removing Custom Properties

# Remove one
cad.properties.remove_custom_property("Budget")

# Remove all
cad.properties.clear_all_custom_properties()

Complete Example

from AutoCAD import AutoCAD

def setup_drawing_metadata():
    """Setup complete drawing metadata"""

    cad = AutoCAD()

    # General properties
    cad.properties.set_title("Warehouse Layout - Phase 2")
    cad.properties.set_author("Design Team")
    cad.properties.set_subject("Warehouse Redesign")
    cad.properties.set_keywords("warehouse, logistics, layout")
    cad.properties.set_comments("Updated for 2026")

    # Summary properties
    cad.properties.set_manager("Operations Manager")
    cad.properties.set_company("Logistics Inc.")
    cad.properties.set_category("Facility Design")

    # Custom properties
    custom_props = {
        "ProjectID": "WH-2026-REDESIGN",
        "Location": "Austin, TX",
        "Budget": "$500,000",
        "StartDate": "2026-01-15",
        "Deadline": "2026-06-30",
        "Status": "In Progress"
    }

    for name, value in custom_props.items():
        cad.properties.add_custom_property(name, value)

    # Display results
    print(f"Title: {cad.properties.get_title()}")
    print(f"Custom properties count: {cad.properties.get_num_custom_info()}")

    all_custom = cad.properties.get_all_custom_properties()
    print("All custom properties:")
    for name, value in all_custom.items():
        print(f"  {name}: {value}")

    # Save
    cad.save()

setup_drawing_metadata()

VBA to Python Mapping

VBA Python
NumCustomInfo get_num_custom_info()
GetCustomByIndex(i) get_all_custom_properties()
GetCustomValue(name) get_custom_property(name)
SetCustomByKey(name, val) add_custom_property(name, val)
RemoveCustomByKey(name) remove_custom_property(name)

API Methods

General Properties

  • get_title() → str
  • set_title(value: str)
  • get_subject() → str
  • set_subject(value: str)
  • get_author() → str
  • set_author(value: str)
  • get_keywords() → str
  • set_keywords(value: str)
  • get_comments() → str
  • set_comments(value: str)

Summary Properties

  • get_manager() → str
  • set_manager(value: str)
  • get_company() → str
  • set_company(value: str)
  • get_category() → str
  • set_category(value: str)

Statistics (Read-Only)

  • get_created_date() → str
  • get_modified_date() → str
  • get_last_saved_by() → str
  • get_edit_time() → int
  • get_revision_number() → str

Custom Properties

  • get_num_custom_info() → int
  • get_all_custom_properties() → dict
  • add_custom_property(name: str, value: str)
  • get_custom_property(name: str) → str
  • update_custom_property(name: str, value: str)
  • remove_custom_property(name: str)
  • clear_all_custom_properties()

Tips & Tricks

Project Tracking

Use custom properties to track project metadata: 

cad.properties.add_custom_property("ProjectID", "PROJ-001")
cad.properties.add_custom_property("ClientID", "CLIENT-A")
cad.properties.add_custom_property("Version", "1.0")

Batch Updates

Update multiple properties efficiently: 

props = {
    "Status": "Approved",
    "ApprovedDate": "2026-01-03",
    "ApprovedBy": "John Smith"
}
for name, value in props.items():
    cad.properties.add_custom_property(name, value)

Save After Changes

Always save your document after modifying properties: 

cad.properties.set_title("New Title")
cad.save()  # Important!

See Also