I tried to create an attribute in the text menu but it explodes it automatically. Is there any way to get around this?
Can you explain a little more. I just created one in v18, appears to be fine. If you ID it, does it show as text or SYMATR?
Have you put it in a symbol? Is the Explode @ S6 (Template) or F7 (Symbol Browser) turned on when placing the symbol?