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How do I put a bill of materials table in an AutoCAD drawing?

Type "Put a bill of materials on this sheet: block name, count, PART_NO and DESCRIPTION, next to the title block". cadssistant counts the block references by name, reads their PART_NO and DESCRIPTION attributes and draws a real AutoCAD table in the current table style: a title row, a header row and one row per block. It is a table object, not lines and text, so it edits like any other table. The same rows come back as a table in the chat, where Copy and Excel export them. For the chat table alone, see Make a bill of materials from blocks. By hand, it's DATAEXTRACTION with the output set to a table.

Checked 2026-10-30 · one of the tasks cadssistant's models are benchmarked on

What you typeCommand: CADSSISTANT

Put a bill of materials on this sheet: block name, count, PART_NO and DESCRIPTION, next to the title block

Paste it into the palette, or pick it from the recipes inside the chat.

What cadssistant does

  1. Counts the block references by block name, the way the drawing's block list reports them, and reads each one's PART_NO and DESCRIPTION.
  2. Draws one AutoCAD table in the current table style: a title row, a header row, then a row per block with name, count, part number and description. Column widths follow the longest text in each column.
  3. Puts the table's top-left corner where you asked. On a layout tab it goes on the sheet, in sheet units, so it plots at the size you see.
  4. Replies with the same rows as a table in the chat, with Copy and Excel buttons.

The same task in AutoLISP

(progn
  (vl-load-com)
  (setq ss (ssget "_X" '((0 . "INSERT"))) i 0 tally nil)
  (if ss
    (repeat (sslength ss)
      (setq nm (cdr (assoc 2 (entget (ssname ss i)))) i (1+ i))
      (setq tally
        (if (assoc nm tally)
          (subst (cons nm (1+ (cdr (assoc nm tally)))) (assoc nm tally) tally)
          (cons (cons nm 1) tally)))))
  (setq sp (vla-get-Block (vla-get-ActiveLayout (vla-get-ActiveDocument (vlax-get-acad-object))))
        tb (vla-AddTable sp (vlax-3d-point (getpoint "\nTop-left corner: ")) (+ 2 (length tally)) 2 8.0 40.0)
        r 2)
  (vla-SetText tb 0 0 "BILL OF MATERIALS")
  (vla-SetText tb 1 0 "Block")
  (vla-SetText tb 1 1 "Qty")
  (foreach p tally
    (vla-SetText tb r 0 (car p))
    (vla-SetText tb r 1 (itoa (cdr p)))
    (setq r (1+ r)))
  (length tally))

Counts the blocks by name and builds a two-column table at the point you pick, on the current layout or in model space. Read attribute columns the way the routine in Make a bill of materials from blocks does.

Good to know

  • The table is a snapshot, not a data link: after the drawing changes, send the sentence again for a fresh one.
  • It uses the current table style, so set your office style current first if the sheet has one.

More in draw and lay out

Command: CADSSISTANT

Works in AutoCAD 2024 and newer on Windows. Free trial, no card, no API key.

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