Self-adjusting Blocks

[moliver000]

I work with retail stores - mainly doing renovations. So on our drawings we often show information (lighting, electrical, plumbing, etc) that is new, relocated, removed and unchanged. For example if a fixture is new we show it in green (dark) with an N above it, removed fixtures are red (lighter) and unchanged fixtures are magenta (lightest) with en EX (existing) subscript, etc.

With this in mind, does anyone know if / how the following is possible...

What we're thinking is a block with the information for all possible states of a fixture, that will automatically display the appropriate information based on which layer it is on. This way, if I have a store which has been previously renovated when I open the drawing and I have fixtures currently called up as existing, removed, relocated, etc I can select all the fixtures, and change them to the existing layer and they'll all update to look as they should, without having to change every block.

I hope this made sense... if you have any questions please let me know.
Better yet if you have a solution... :D

[Bridget]

have you tried applying an attribute to the block, this would make it possible to change the text contents as you need them. You want the text to change according the the placed you have the block on? I've never tried that.

[rustysilo]

By creating a dynamic block and using different visibility states for each different instance you can select the blocks and change the visibility state using the properties palette.

[Seann]

Like this block, just imagine that every block is on your layer all you have to do is pick the state you want and it and it will change to that block.

[rustysilo]

Can we have an update moliver000? Did you give it a shot or find another solution?

[Strix]

not logged in since 8th Aug :glare:

[T9PMK]

Hi Seann

Can you tell me how did you puts the "Lights" block together?

Cheers

Paul

[Seann]

To make this easy keep 2 sessions of AutoCAD open or if you don't mind switching drawings a lot then you can stay with one.

-First I drew all the blocks I needed and put them in order of the way I wanted them to show up.
-Then I put them all on) so they could take the properties of any layer, but we all knew that trick anyway.
-Next I converted the first light to a block with the generic name of lights, or plugs, or fans. Selected a base point for that block (which is important because it will be the (0,0) point in your Dynamic block editor) and hit save.
-Save the drawing and open it read only in your second version of cad or in the same version if you only want to use one and switch drawings a lot.
-Go back to your original drawing and click the block you made them right click and go to block editor.
-Turn on the authoring Palette and go to the Parameter Sets tab (should be the very last tab by default) and scroll down to the bottom and click the visibility sets icon.
-Place the icon anywhere (we can move it later) then double click on it.
-Rename the default VisibilityState0 to the specific name of the block you put in.
-Click new and give the name of the next block AND MAKE SURE THAT HIDE ALL EXISTING OBJECT IN NEW STATE IS CHECKED. This will turn off one block and make the next show up.
-Repeat this step for as many blocks as you need to add, copying from the other session of cad and pasting into the block editor or switching windows and pasting into the block editor.
-When all blocks have been added at the top right of the screen there is a drop down box (this is where you can switch between all the blocks in the set) and 4 icons. You want to pick the far left icon (orange box with a slash then a white box) this will turn on all blocks so all lines will over lap. Now take the visibility icon and the upside down diamond and move it so it isn't on any of the lines but is still close to the block. This is where that icon will be in all layer states.
-Now click save and check your block. It should work as you want.

If you have any other questions please post. I also wrote this while at work and trying to shuffle two projects so it may have missed a step so please feel free to tell me. Thanks and good luck.

[T9PMK]

Thanks for the guide, I've just completed a new dynamic block for my Fire Symbols (all 20 of them in one block) including an ATT for the detector address.

I'm now working on a door set, i.e. Single, Double, Two-Way Doors, etc, in one block, but so that they can stretch, flip, rotate, etc.

Thanks again for the guide, this is fantastic.

Cheers

Paul

[T9PMK]

Hi M8s

I need a little help here, I made a dynamic block of a door(attached), it flip between open internal/external, it will re size.

But how the **** do you make it flip between left/right hand and change size?

Any pointers please

Cheers

Paul

[Seann]

Easy, you just have to do the same thing as your flip horizontal and make it vertical. I did however make another change which was to incule the other perameters (strech and scale) in with both flips so no matter which way you flip it you can still change the size.

[T9PMK]

Brilliant, Thanks again Seann

I have done as new suggest and I have put together the attached - all seem to work fine accept on the "Door 1 1/2" where one of the doors lift and one of the arc's parts from the door as the door is made bigger.


Cheers


Paul

[Seann]

I only did the first block but I grouped a few items together. Here is the door block we use which you can canabalize if for what you need. It has a whole range of things like scaling, moving perameters, fields, arrays and alot more. Maybe this will help you...

[T9PMK]

Many Thanks

Paul