How to link information from tables in AutoCAD

You probably already know how to link between cells in one table. Just use formulas like in Excel: =B2+B3

Did you know it is possible to link cells between tables in AutoCAD?

Here is how you can do it.

Right click on a cell and select Insert>Formula>Cell

Select a cell in another table and you will notice a formula like this.

The formula can be changes to your needs. For example to:
=Table(2127834720).B2*A2

The formula options Sum, Average and Count can also be used like this.

2127834720 or whatever shows up is the Object ID for the table. If you save the drawing, close it and open it again you will notice that this value has changed. This is because the Object ID is just a file session valid value.

Notice that only numeric values can be cross linked like this. If you select a cell with text in it you will only see ####.

But if you have ADT (Architectural Desktop) or ACA (AutoCAD Architecture) you will notice that you cannot link to a cell in a Schedule object (AEC_SCHEDULE_TABLE). You can convert a Schedule to a table if you right click on the schedule and select convert to table.

How about text object (TEXT or MTEXT)?

You can Insert a Field (CTRL+F) and in the Field Category select Objects and then select the field name Formula. Now you will see the buttons for Average, Sum, Count and Cell.

If the number of rows in the table changes to let’s say from 3 to 2 the formula doesn’t change and the value that shows up after running Tools>Update Fields (command UPPDATEFIELD) shows #. The formula has to be changed to have a valid range to show the correct value. If you add a new row above the source row you will also notice that this needs to be handled manually.

You might also need to run REGEN to have the tables updated.