Sharkbite Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I'm looking for an option to keep master or source blocks together in one file that when changes need to be made I can just update them once and those changes reflect immediately in drawings containing said blocks. I had thought that the wblock command was used for this but it seems to just be another way to insert blocks similar to the design center. Appreciate any help with this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbroada Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 WBLOCK is used to WRITE blocks from your drawing to a file of its own. I cannot think of a way to do what you want although you could try XREFing your blocks rather than inserting them if you do it often. I use Design Center or the command line INSERT command if I need to update blocks within a drawing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Look into the use of xrefs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmcswain Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Also see the second tip on this page if external references will not work for you. http://cadpanacea.com/node/307 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkbite Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Thanks for the suggestions guys, will definitely be trying these out over the next few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadgad Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 This is EXACTLY what Xrefs are meant to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hughes Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 Sharkbite, here's an alternative to the xref approach and if you have multiple blocks that need updating you might find it useful. First, you would need a drawing that contains all of the blocks that are updated - you might say the "Master Block Drawing" Now, here's the trick, invert the process - that is rather than inserting the updated block drawing into the working drawing go the other way insert the working drawing into the "Master Block Drawing" This will result in all blocks in the working drawing updating to what is in the MBD. Now that the inserted working drawing is updated WBLOCK it out to its original name overwriting it. Of course much caution is needed when doing this - it may be better to WBLOCK out to a revised file name to avoid any errors. Now purge the inserted working drawing from your MBD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobDraw Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 If you need to do so many steps, why not just insert the MBD into the files and eliminate the risk of errors. Nothing immediate about that at all. XREFs is the only way that comes to mind that will accomplish the automatic updates through multiple files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hughes Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 If you need to do so many steps, why not just insert the MBD into the files and eliminate the risk of errors. ... Because inserting the MBD into the drawing won't update the (multiple) blocks in the drawing, doing it backwards will. If you are updating only one block it's ok to do that because you will be prompted to redefine the existing block however if there are multiple blocks when you insert the MBD, the blocks in the MBD take on the properties of the drawing's blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 All that work just to avoid using xrefs? Seems counter-productive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkmcswain Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 All that work just to avoid using xrefs? Seems counter-productive. Let's go back to the original post, and the sentence quoted above... I'm looking for an option to keep master or source blocks together in one file I initially took this to mean a single drawing full of multiple blocks. For example let's say the "master dwg" contains a valve, a plug, a flange, a gauge, a 45° bend, etc. In that case, xrefs are not going to help - unless you xclip each insertion of the "master dwg" to only show the portion you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hughes Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I initially took this to mean a single drawing full of multiple blocks. For example let's say the "master dwg" contains a valve, a plug, a flange, a gauge, a 45° bend, etc. That was how I read it also R.K. and why I made the suggestion that I did. It is not an intuitive approach but once it is understood it can be useful. I've done it a number of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbroada Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 That was how I read it also R.K. and why I made the suggestion that I did. It is not an intuitive approach but once it is understood it can be useful. I've done it a number of times.my reading too which is why I said it couldn't be done. However I now realise it can be done so thank you Patrick. I don't think I'll be doing it though, I'll have forgotten how to by the next time it comes up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hughes Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 You're welcome Dave. Even though I said I've done it a number of times it has not been frequent. When I have done it it has usually involved a large number of files and a script to automate the process. The only reason I did remember the method is when looking at a problem I'll often think of doing things backwards when I'm stuck for an solution. That inversion thinking has saved my bacon many times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkbite Posted August 4, 2012 Author Share Posted August 4, 2012 Sharkbite, here's an alternative to the xref approach and if you have multiple blocks that need updating you might find it useful. First, you would need a drawing that contains all of the blocks that are updated - you might say the "Master Block Drawing" Now, here's the trick, invert the process - that is rather than inserting the updated block drawing into the working drawing go the other way insert the working drawing into the "Master Block Drawing" This will result in all blocks in the working drawing updating to what is in the MBD. Now that the inserted working drawing is updated WBLOCK it out to its original name overwriting it. Of course much caution is needed when doing this - it may be better to WBLOCK out to a revised file name to avoid any errors. Now purge the inserted working drawing from your MBD. I cannot thank you enough! This works fantastically and is saving me an enormous amount of time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hughes Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Sharkbite, glad to hear you found the suggestion useful. Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Joslin Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Patrick. That is thinking outside the box. Absolutely Brilliant suggestion & helps me heaps. Xrefs are fine if Not too many are used - but for everyday's symbols - your suggestion is great. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Hughes Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 Wayne, Years ago I had a crotchety old chief engineer that taught me when all the attempts to solve a problem fail try to do the opposite. It's the old "If you can't bring Mohammed to the mountain, bring the mountain to Mohammed" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chico Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Sharkbite If you will give me the block location IE C:\blocks\my\inserts\ I have a Lisp written for you. I have attached the lisp file if you want to change this yourself Note in this one it reads "H:\\dwg\\wblock" you will need to change yours to the locations of you blocks UDB.lsp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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