Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published September 2006

Convert Block To Xref

Back in June of this year when I had the AutoCAD Yard Sale [Michael's Corner June 2006], you may recall that I covered the Wblock command. In that coverage I mentioned it is a great command you can use to convert a floorplan, for example, into a DWG that you can then Xref back into a host drawing.

But here's something better. Under the Express Tools (even in the AutoCAD 2004 collection) in the Blocks category, you have Convert Block To Xref. This is essentially a method by which you swap out an internal block for an external DWG.

Prerequisites: The .DWG file that is to be the replacement for the block in the drawing. This is easily accomplished using Wblock (Write Block) to make the DWG file. Check it out…

Instructions to use the Convert Block To Xref tool

1. Launch the Wblock command by typing W at the command line, then specify the Filename and Path, select the objects, give it a Basepoint and make sure you check the box for Convert To Block before you click OK.
    
   Those objects are now a DWG as well as a block in the drawing.
2. Click ExpressBlocksConvert Block To Xref. In the BLOCKTOXREF dialog box (which looks remarkably similar to the dialog box for ExpressBlocksReplace Block), select the name of the block you just created or use the Pick button to click it.
3. After identifying the internal block, the Select An Xref File dialog box opens from which you can choose the DWG file made in Step 1, then click Open.
4. AutoCAD runs through some checks on referenced items, then comes back with:
    
   Purge unreferenced items when finished? <Y>:
    
   Press Enter if you want to Purge the now-unreferenced block (since it will now be an Xref) and your block is converted to an Xref!

5. One last thing: Open the External Reference dialog box/window by typing XR and notice that the Xref is currently Unreferenced. If you have A2007, click the filename, then right click and select Reload. For all other versions, click the filename then click the Reload button.

Job done.

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