AutoDWG Attribute Extractor Description:

AutoDWG Attribute Extractor Help you batch extract attribute data from AutoCAD attribute blocks without need of AutoCAD. It supports most DWG formats including AutoCAD Release 9 through to the present AutoCAD 2002.
Extracting attributes has always been one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish in AutoCAD. How many of you have actually figured out how to create the archaic, cryptic template files needed to extract your data? This painful process has become a piece of cake with the AutoDWG Attribute Extractor. Just follows the program's wizard, with several mouse clicks, you will get the result you expected.

Why extract attribute information? Creating a bill of materials immediately comes to mind. Taking attribute information into a spreadsheet program such as Excel allows you to calculate valuable attribute data, sort, and so on.