Topic: Dynamic block of dynamic blocks?

[CottageCGirl]

I don't have access to a computer to try this on until we upgrade, but currently we insert blocks made up of multiple blocks w/ attributes which explode upon insertion...can I do this w/ dynamic bocks?

[David Hall]

I think the answer to that is yes.  I do the same thing (I think)  I have an assembly made up of blocks, and I explode the assembly when I insert it so I can edit the attributes of the sub components

[CottageCGirl]

just to be clear....

I insert a block called LRA which is a living room made up of (for example) 12 separate blocks- each a separate piece of furniture w/ attributes.  The block explodes upon insertion leaving 12 blocks that are moveable and editable....a sofa, chair, coffee table etc.....

that will work...right?
I cant wait to make a dynamic block of a dining table w/ and w/out leaves in it showing either 4, 6 or 8 side chairs in 1 block!!!!!!!! yipeee   
instead of the 7 or 8 separate blocks I now have to make.......

[David Hall]

Yep, that is what we do

[Crank]

Why explode? I think you can make a DB that does that without exploding.

[CottageCGirl]

Why explode? I think you can make a DB that does that without exploding.

The only reason to have them as a block is to insert them all at once as a group.  After insertion, there is no benefit to keeping them as a block of blocks. We pull out attributes listed by room # and/or by item # and need to beable to move/edit/delete specific items as needed.

[Darren J. Young]

just to be clear....

I insert a block called LRA which is a living room made up of (for example) 12 separate blocks- each a separate piece of furniture w/ attributes.  The block explodes upon insertion leaving 12 blocks that are moveable and editable....a sofa, chair, coffee table etc.....

that will work...right?
I cant wait to make a dynamic block of a dining table w/ and w/out leaves in it showing either 4, 6 or 8 side chairs in 1 block!!!!!!!! yipeee   
instead of the 7 or 8 separate blocks I now have to make.......

Yes, that will work. We do that here. The way, we have one item to insert to get our title lbock but it's made up of several pieces so things like Attrib Editing only contains similar grouped items. Our logo is a dynamic block which toggles between office location addresses.

[mjfarrell]

CmdrDuh, and Cheese Grrrl, as Crank Says :why explode?

The Blocks you are making Dynamic, should function EXACTLY as you desire with  no use of Weapons of Blocks Destruction. Add Alignment, Scale and Move paramaters to the nested pieces, and put the TNT back in the shed, at least until Wile E. Coyote shows up that is.

Cmdr, do I need to come down to Tucson and school you on this?

Cheese Grrrl, as implied in you last post, you would be better served by placing these blocks on a tool pallet, in my world the 'tool' of last resort is EXPLODE, the manner you describe is akin to puttin socks on over ones shoes. It may work for you only it isn't exactly as efficient as it could be by placing only the objects one needs, and erasing nothing.  For your dining room table example, you will want to enter a 'fixed' stretch value for the leaf, and various visibility states for the guest chairs to appear or disappear as required.

[David Hall]

Cmdr, do I need to come down to Tucson and school you on this?

No, but I should probably show you what Im doing so that it makes sense

[mjfarrell]

Yes, that will work. We do that here. The way, we have one item to insert to get our title lbock but it's made up of several pieces so things like Attrib Editing only contains similar grouped items. Our logo is a dynamic block which toggles between office location addresses.

Me thinks you could avoid most if not all attribute editing, on that title block, were you to make use of Sheet Sets.

[CottageCGirl]

CmdrDuh, and Cheese Grrrl, as Crank Says :why explode?

The Blocks you are making Dynamic, should function EXACTLY as you desire with  no use of Weapons of Blocks Destruction. Add Alignment, Scale and Move paramaters to the nested pieces, and put the TNT back in the shed, at least until Wile E. Coyote shows up that is.

Cmdr, do I need to come down to Tucson and school you on this?

Cheese Grrrl, as implied in you last post, you would be better served by placing these blocks on a tool pallet, in my world the 'tool' of last resort is EXPLODE, the manner you describe is akin to puttin socks on over ones shoes. It may work for you only it isn't exactly as efficient as it could be by placing only the objects one needs, and erasing nothing.  For your dining room table example, you will want to enter a 'fixed' stretch value for the leaf, and various visibility states for the guest chairs to appear or disappear as required.

First and foremost...there is NOOOOOO CHeeese!!! Cottage C is a place, not a food 

we are actually not using pallets yet, we have a VERY wide range of CAD skills here, some are still having a tough time getting paper space/model space.....
If you are not aware, I am a Store Planner for Ethan Allen furniture and we have prototypical rooms that have fixed finishes, fabrics etc, so we place the whole room in a plan, but then sometimes are required to move specific pieces around the plan. We also typically have 500-700 pieces to place, so popping in 10-12 blocks is easier than going piece by piece, so our drawings are developed in a much less rigid manner than many Architectural/ engineering drawings are.
But thanks for the input, I am constantly trying to move ahead, but I just got ADT last week (2005) so we are behind the CAD curve

[mjfarrell]

OK, hold the Cheese

Given that you now have ADT, the schedules of materials will come in very handy for your needs.

[whdjr]

I think some of the people trying to offer help are confused about your use of blocks here so let me see if I can straighten this out and you guys tell me if I am describing this wrong. 

You guys started a new dwg some time ago and inserted blocks in to make a room arrangement.  This happened for a number of different rooms.  This arrangement of room blocks is stored in a CAD library somewhere for future use.  You then insert this arrangement of room blocks into your current job file thereby created a nested block in your job file.  When you select this arrangement of blocks (now called a nested block) within your job file they are selected as one item with one grip point.  You then proceed to explode this nested block and are now left with an arrangement of un-nested blocks in your job file.  These blocks are still intact as blocks are and can be moved, rotated, copied, deleted, etc. in your file.

Is this anywhere close?

If this is your case then Yes you can do DBs this way and once the nested block is exploded the DBs will function as intended.

[CottageCGirl]

I think some of the people trying to offer help are confused about your use of blocks here so let me see if I can straighten this out and you guys tell me if I am describing this wrong. 

You guys started a new dwg some time ago and inserted blocks in to make a room arrangement.  This happened for a number of different rooms.  This arrangement of room blocks is stored in a CAD library somewhere for future use.  You then insert this arrangement of room blocks into your current job file thereby created a nested block in your job file.  When you select this arrangement of blocks (now called a nested block) within your job file they are selected as one item with one grip point.  You then proceed to explode this nested block and are now left with an arrangement of un-nested blocks in your job file.  These blocks are still intact as blocks are and can be moved, rotated, copied, deleted, etc. in your file.
Is this anywhere close?
If this is your case then Yes you can do DBs this way and once the nested block is exploded the DBs will function as intended.

perfect......thanks

[pmvliet]

I think some of the people trying to offer help are confused about your use of blocks here so let me see if I can straighten this out and you guys tell me if I am describing this wrong. 

You guys started a new dwg some time ago and inserted blocks in to make a room arrangement.  This happened for a number of different rooms.  This arrangement of room blocks is stored in a CAD library somewhere for future use.  You then insert this arrangement of room blocks into your current job file thereby created a nested block in your job file.  When you select this arrangement of blocks (now called a nested block) within your job file they are selected as one item with one grip point.  You then proceed to explode this nested block and are now left with an arrangement of un-nested blocks in your job file.  These blocks are still intact as blocks are and can be moved, rotated, copied, deleted, etc. in your file.

Is this anywhere close?

If this is your case then Yes you can do DBs this way and once the nested block is exploded the DBs will function as intended.

[Clapping/]

That was great!

Pieter