Laying switches sockets on walls.....quickly

[v1406]

I want to know how do professionals lay the switches and sockets at pre defined distances from reference points on large scale drawings?

 

hopefully the answer will teach me more about placing objects quickly by using lesser no of steps.

 

for clarity please go through the attached image.

 

thanks.

 

[ReMark]

The switches and sockets are blocks? If so, what if the insertion base point was equal to the fixed distance required?

 

A dynamic block might even be better.

[v1406]

The switches and sockets are blocks? If so, what if the insertion base point was equal to the fixed distance required?

 

A dynamic block might even be better.

 

I guess I need to clarify .... I have blocks of switches and sockets etc and I need to put switches at say 20 cm from the door ......not all but a majority of them. similarly i have sockets to be placed at varying distances from doors or corners etc.

 

I want to know what is the quickest method of placing objects (like switches) with respect to a reference point. The object can be anything, i just want to know the professional method.

 

i am currently copying the object at the reference point and then moving it by entering the distance. which is obviously not the correct method....

 

please help

 

thanks

[danellis]

Make sure that the insert point of the block is somewhere sensible. In the case of this switch use the centre of the circle part of the symbol.

 

Use this same point as the base point of your copy, or if you're inserting the block it's the "base point" already.

 

Use TRACKING or FROM snapsto place your switch relative to other points.

 

dJE

[v1406]

 

Use TRACKING or FROM snapsto place your switch relative to other points.

 

dJE

 

I request you to kindly elaborate on it further.

 

Just want to quickly put a switch 20 cm from the door ..... forgetting the blocks part...... lets say its just one switch only. what is the quickest method...... probably by direct distance entry....... dont know exactly how.

 

please guide

 

thanks

[nestly]

Yes, OSnap tracking and Direct Distance Entry is the fastest way to locate objects a known distance from a corner, but you may also consider placing additional point parameters in blocks to quickly snap them into the desired position. See demo below

 

[v1406]

Yes, OSnap tracking and Direct Distance Entry is the fastest way to locate objects a known distance from a corner, but you may also consider placing additional point parameters in blocks to quickly snap them into the desired position. See demo below

 

 

 

Thanks a lot once again for the superb explanation.

 

a couple of doubts remains, one that do we have to use insert command for each individual switch or is there a way out for say 50 switches in a plan....

 

secondly, if it was not a block and i just wanted one particular switch to be shifted say 20 cm from a reference point... will the otrack still work. I tried that but it didnt work...... i used move and copy both.....none worked with otrack.

 

thanks once again.

[Robjk]

Yes, OSnap tracking and Direct Distance Entry is the fastest way to locate objects a known distance from a corner, but you may also consider placing additional point parameters in blocks to quickly snap them into the desired position. See demo below

 

 

Wow, very nice!

[danellis]

Yes, OSnap tracking and Direct Distance Entry is the fastest way to locate objects a known distance from a corner, but you may also consider placing additional point parameters in blocks to quickly snap them into the desired position. See demo below

 

 

 

That's pretty nifty, nestly (sorry, couldn't resist), I've never had the opportunity to do much playing with dynamic blocks: that's really nice.

 

dJE

[danellis]

I would probably put my first one or two blocks in using the insert command (if you just hit or the it repeats the previous command, so this is actually quicker than one might imagine, similarly you can just hit ENTER again to specify the same block), but after that would probably use COPY instead. INSERT can be useful because of the option to specify rotation on screen - that could be very useful in the case of placing switches.

 

There are, though, other ways of inserting multiple blocks. If you had to place a switch every five meters over a 250m long corridor (bloody long corridor, but it serves an example) you might want to look into the ARRAY or MEASURE (MEASURE would be useful if it were a curved corridor, or one that went round corners) commands. If you need 50 switches equally spaced over a 350m corridor you might want the DIVIDE command. Obviously these are pretty extreme examples...

 

dJE

[nestly]

I generally don't like Dynamic blocks for this type of application, but an Alignment Parameter can automatically align blocks with other geometry, eliminating the need to manually rotate the blocks.

 

[BIGAL]

Me personally I would use a lisp pick line near corner enter distance from cnr (this would be default for next time ) this way block auto rotates similar to using align.

 

Maybe an extra question at start which block to use again save block name for reuse

 

Set code to say repeat till crash out or neat exit I think everyone is on the same page do 1 2 3 etc or multi at spacing. Some one has probably done this maybe Lee-Mac ?

[v1406]

thanks everybody for your extremely valuable thoughts.

 

In order to understand it fully I want one last explanation:

 

If I want to put a single object (say a switch/table or a cupboard etc) 50 cm from the wall corner or door edge then how should i do it quickly.

 

Presently I am doing it in two steps ....i)copying the object at the corner and then ii)moving it from there by 50 cm. sometimes i have to use the third step of rotation as well.

 

I wonder if it can be done just by selection (and not making it a block) and then using Otrack to move that object 50 cm from the edge of a wall.

 

thanks once again

[danellis]

thanks everybody for your extremely valuable thoughts.

 

In order to understand it fully I want one last explanation:

 

If I want to put a single object (say a switch/table or a cupboard etc) 50 cm from the wall corner or door edge then how should i do it quickly.

 

Presently I am doing it in two steps ....i)copying the object at the corner and then ii)moving it from there by 50 cm. sometimes i have to use the third step of rotation as well.

 

I wonder if it can be done just by selection (and not making it a block) and then using Otrack to move that object 50 cm from the edge of a wall.

 

thanks once again

 

"Just selection" will work fine, and yes, this would be a perfect situation to use tracking or a FROM snap (with FROM you pick your objects to move/copy, then a basepoint, then a from point, then enter co-ordinates relative to that point which it then puts the basepoint).

 

One word of advice: if it's not too late, make your symbols blocks. I agree it can be an hassle when you're trying to knock together a quick drawing but it's worth it in the long run. You WILL need to change this drawing at some point. When that happens you WILL curse yourself for having a 15-object wall cabinet (I bet the average light switch symbol like you showed in your first post contains upwards of then objects!) that takes forever to select!! You said in your OP that you wanted advice on how to draught more quickly and have it seem more professional: IMNSHO Blocks are the answer.

 

dJE

[v1406]

" this would be a perfect situation to use tracking or a FROM snap

 

dJE

 

Thanks for the guidance. I tried From snap and it worked nicely

 

BUT ,

 

I dont have any clue how to do it with tracking. I reckon tracking will be faster than the From method.

I request you to kindly explain how to do it with tracking.

 

Thanks

[RobDraw]

Somebody already showed you how.

Yes, OSnap tracking and Direct Distance Entry is the fastest way to locate objects a known distance from a corner, but you may also consider placing additional point parameters in blocks to quickly snap them into the desired position. See demo below

 

[nestly]

[v1406]

 

thanks for the link.

 

But i have a different problem of moving or copying a thing from one position to another at a certain distance from a reference point using OTRACK.

 

I have understood the FROM method, courtesy Dan, and now i want to follow how to do it using OTRACK. Mostly people use OTRACK for drawing circles in the middle of a rectangle or drawing side view from front view.... things in one line.

 

I can do it by using insert command, courtesy Nestly's screencast. But i want to know how to do it if its not a block....

 

Here I want to know how to place objects using OTRACK without using offset, point or construction lines.

 

I know its very basic stuff in autocad, but please clarify it once more for me.

 

thanks

[RobDraw]

Using OTrack and direct entry you can specify the base point of the move command to be 50 cm from the triangle. Then select the corner as your destination. Or you can specify the base point on the triangle and then use direct entry and OTrack to get 50 cm from the corner. I wish I could throw a quick video together for you but don't know how.

[nestly]

The procedure for copying/moving is the same as Inserting. Hover over any point that can be acquired by Osnaps, when the "plus" sign appears, move the mouse in the desired direction, type the distance and hit If copying, repeat as often as needed.