setting up a CAD block library.I have been collecting blocks of furniture and plants for CAD projects into a single dwg file - my library. I then copy & paste the blocks as needed into my project file. Usually I have to BEDIT them to change layer & then scale to size. I have tried adding blocks to the Tool Palette with no success.
We have three divisions in my company. Each division uses a different set of drawing templates.
With all of that said, in my division we are trying to setup a certain said standard that was copied from the out of the box standard ANSI one as a starting point. We were hoping to have this standard reside only in our drawing templates, but the way the styles is handling it, it would appear that this standard has to be updated/added to the global styles library.
Is this a true statement that this has to be a global styles update or is there a way to have a said standard be the default setting within just certain drawing templates without being seen or affecting other drawing templates?
We have, as our standard library default dimension style, a 1/32 fractional style, called "1/32-FRACTION". Various Object Types, like Linear Dimension are set to this Object Style. When I create a drawing, then these Object Defaults are in effect.
This means that, doing nothing while executing a dimension command, I get fractional dimensions by default. This works good.
However, sometimes I want to create a drawing where the default dimension style is "X.XXX-DECIMAL" without changing the Object Defaults found in the style library. I've tried to make the changes from within the style library and then save this as a template. However, when I try to make a drawing based on this template, Inventor states that the styles in the template differ from the styles in the library" and then busily goes about undoing what I careful did.
So I'm hoping there is something in the API I can call on to do this with a macro. Is it possible to write a macro that after you start a drawing, flips all the various Object Styles from "1/32-FRACTION" to "X.XXX-DECIMAL"?
When defining a block it is possible to choose wether the block can be exploded or not. Is there a way of undoing this. I can edit the block in full version with refedit but in LT there is no way of editing this block. I can see advantages of this setting but I imagine someone accidentilly unpicking this box and creating unexplodable blocks without noticing.
I am brand new to AutoCAD and AC development. I have an issue in setting attributes of a block. I would like for the user to select a block in a drawing, pop-up my dialog box (interfaces to a remote database of components) and after selecting the component from a grid, have a context menu (or something) submit the selected component to my loaded .NET application which stuffs some attributes of the block with data retrieved from the remote database.
This action does not change global attributes but only the values for that one block in the drawing. How do I do this? So far, I have successfully loaded my .NET application that fetches the info from the remote database. I just cannot figure out how to detect the selected block and submit it to the .NET app. I don't want to prompt the user for anything via the command line. The action should be 1) select block, 2) popup-context menu, 3) stuff attributes with data. That simple.
On LR 3.6 I cannot view my photos on the film strip in the LIBRARY setting. On DEVELOP I can view on photo at a time on the film strip (the rest of the photos are not viewable). This is a new problem which has only occured on the last two imports.
I'm a landscape architecture student that is looking for ways to speed up productivity but I want to make sure that I'm doing things the right way. I'm working on creating a library of blocks of different categories(trees, shrubs, cars, people, etc) that I can setup in a separate autocad file. From there, I want to be able to use the Design Center or create tool palettes to easily insert my symbols.
I mostly work in Decimal Feet. I want to create my tree/plant blocks where the diameter=1 unit, so I can scale my plants based on the actual diameter of the trees.
I'm collecting different blocks from around the internet and organizing them into a single file. The problem is that they are all different units. When I try to insert symbols from the Design Center, I cannot get them to scale correctly. Most are already scaled to equal 1 unit but some are "radius=1 unit" and others are "diameter=1unit". Of course, I want to make everything consistent to "diameter=1 unit".
In my library base file, what do I need to set my units to?When creating a block, what do I need to set my block units to?Any other tips for creating a plant block library?
I am using AutoCAD 2012 and have made lots of different files with individual drawings in them. I am planning to go into each drawing file and create a block for the drawing. After that I want to make all the blocks available in one drawing.
I am trying to create a dynamic block library but can't quite seem to get it right.
The only dynamic feature I need to use right now is visibility states so i'm sure it's something simple that i'm just not seeing, but I thought I would ask everyone's opinion on the best way to do it.
What I am trying to do is set up a full common library on our network that our whole team uses. At the moment we all have our own block library which can sometimes cause problems. The file location / folder set up etc is sorted out but it's the actual blocks which are making life hard for me as until now we haven't really used dynamic blocks.
The only way i've been able to get the blocks where I want them so far ends up in a 'double block' meaning the block itself becomes a block again once I write it to the desired folder. This works but is not ideal as I can't get the vis state drop down menu by clicking on the block and have to edit the parent block to change the vis state.
Basically I have no problem creating the exact dynamic block I need, and no problem with a location to store them, it's more storing them that's giving me a headache.
I used to be able to hold the ctrl button down and double click a block attribute to directly change the text (_attipedit) but when I shared this drawing with another AutoCAD user who returned the drawing that double click to edit is missing.
how (if) I can set up my dynamic blocks so that I can set the parameter values as I insert the block, rather than with the grips afterwards?
To take a simple example; I have a block consisting of a rectangle, with 2 linear stretch parameters - length, width. Can I set it up so that when I insert the block, it asks for the length and breadth,just as it would for attributes.
Attached is a lisp that reads an attribute block value and uses that value to set a named view. The attribute block is a diesel expression field which reads the drawing number, so it changes as the drawing is saved to a new number. I use it when I am preparing road alignment drawings. I prepare the first drawing in the set, saving views for all drawings and when I'm done I copy that drawing 001 as many time as I need, rename them drawing 002, drawing 003 etc. and use the attached lisp with scriptpro to set all my saved views.
I also have a dynamic block called "key" in the drawing with visibility states matching the named views.
either expand this lisp or create a new lisp to set the visibility using the "VN" variable.
Best practices for setting up systems in a lab environment. We have a lab enviroment of about 200 systems that access AutoCad, Inventor, Mechanical and others.
We need to have a customized interface come up when Autocad is opened by students.I have read that you can do this with profiles and workspaces and also with loading a acad.lsp file.
In the past we have just copied the Windows admin profile used to customize AutoCad to the default profile. In AutoCad 2013 that does not seem to grab everything. It doesn't seem to be the best way to do what we need.
We will also be moving to Windows 7 soon which will also cause an issue.I want to find the best way to do this with out having to deal with the Windows profile.
We use a number of blocks with block tables for data extraction here, and whenever one of the blocks is modified and updated, all of the block tables reset to the default value. This happens for any block reference change, not just changes to the block table (which makes sense that it would reset).
How can we update these blocks without having to manually change all of the block tables afterwards?
I am in the process of fixing one of our dynamic blocks. It's a fairly simple fix where there was a typo in one of the names of our items in the lookup that needed to be fixed.
I changed the name of the item in the lookup table. I went and did the test block and it seemed to work fine, but when I bring the block into a drawing, it reverts back to the old lookup as if I did nothing at all.
I made sure that the path was correct and I even just dragged and dropped straight from Windows Explorer to no avail.Does AutoCAD keep referring to the old block? Did I forget to change something else?
I have a block containing several parts blocks. When I explode the main block all of the parts are exploded back to lines. I have used both "explode" and "xplode" and have the same results. How can I explode so I have my components as blocks?
We're using C3D 2013 SP2. The survey company we use uses point styles to show the blocks. Say they shoot a catchbasin. Instead of inserting the block, the point shows up as the block.
I did a field check & needed to insert a missed CB. When I inserted the block, the other points that were CBs disappeared. I had to insert the block, copy it the clipboard, undo the insertion & then paste the block in. It did this on other drawings & other blocks.
Is it possible, via whatever methods (lisp?) to be able to have a premade block with an attribute and insert it into a drawing then assign a value to it by selecting another existing block in the drawing and using one of its own attribute’s values?
For example, say I have a block representing a telephone and it had an attribute called "PhoneNo" and I inserted it into a drawing showing an office floor plan that had blocks in each office space that are telephone junction boxes with attributes "PhoneExtension". I would like to be able to autocomplete the entering of the “PhoneNo” data by selecting one of the telephone junction boxes in the drawing and using its attribute’s value.
I have created a dynamic block with a stretch, flip and rotate. Everything works great in its file. When I insert it in another file, the grips move but the block does not change.
I get an AutoCAD drawing from my conveyor manufacturer who have buried a block (tagname) in all of their conveyor blocks.
The only way to remove them is to manually use BEDIT and erase the tagname block.
Is there a way through Autolisp to search all blocks in a drawings and if the tagname block is part of the definition of the conveyor block, erase the tagname block or redefine the conveyor block without the tagname block.
We have a title block and border which is used in MS. If this is referenced using AMTITLE then it acts as expected. We issue these to some external people to create our drawings but they have been using CTRL-C and V to place them in a new drawing. ACAD does now not see them as a Title block or border but as blocks. We have a process to bring DWG's into SAP and this will check for a title block and border.
The issue is we need to fix these drawings and currently this means removing the borders and title blocks and placing new ones then adding all the attributes again. Is there a way to convert the blocks back to how they should be?
When dynamic blocks are inserted they're assigned an anonymous block name. I'd like to be able to retrieve the name of the parent block after selecting the block on screen using AutoLisp.
my problem is whenever i make a new block a stretch point appears even if its not a dynamic block . also its not a stretch point, because when i click on it, it just move the block , and it always appear on the coordinates 0,0 it cause me a problem when I insert the block , autocad use this point as a base point , and its very far from the real block .
I have created a bock in ACAD 2011 LT. I then save the block using the command line or ribbon button then immediately try to close the block editor without moving or changing anything. A dialog appears saying the changes have not been saved to the block and would I like to save? If I say no don't save my changes and reopen the block the changes have in fact been saved.
My question is there a way to get around this dialog box -Suppress it like FILEDIA = 0 for block editor or an option so it doesn't ask me to save.
The goal is to do this all from the command line w/ out dialog boxes.
I have an existing title block a few text attributes, to which I wish to add a watermark. I have added it in the block editor as a normal attribute, with the same details as the other attributes that work, only a different tag name. It has a default value, "DRAFT" and is tagged "WMARK". It works fine in the Block Editor, and If I test the block I can edit it to display whatever I want, but if I save the block and open it from Autocad proper, the attribute is not in existence, either as a default value, or editable from block properties, attribute editor or title block editor, whereas all of the other attributes are there. I have used BattMan to verify the settings of the attribute, and the only difference is that the others all have "L" in the "Modes" column, but I think that means that their position is "locked" whereas my new attribute is justified "aligned" therefore cannot be "locked" (This is some assumption on my part, as the documentation on the "Modes" column is almost non-existent). I cannot afford to waste much more time on this issue, as the boss is breathing down my neck, but editing watermarks on every drawing after every revision is frustrating, when it could be an attribute that is editable from the title block editor.