change color within a block

i am using acad2000.
i have to solve the following problem

i want to change the color within a block without exploding it first.
eg.: block contains 1 circle and 1 line, now i want to change the line
layer into another on. can this be done, i am not asking for writing me
the prog, just help if/how this can be done.

mfg
gert

 

While I personally detest any thing that is not BYLAYER, the command you seek is REFEDIT.

 

i will try it, thanks for your help.

mfg
gert

 

OLD-CADaver,

May I suggest, read carefully. As I read gert's message, the question is how to
change the layer of an object contained in a block, in order to change its color.

I also think it's a waste of time questioning methods. You simply cannot know why
someone would want to do something which violates your general rules. They may be
faced with a situation which needs a non-standard solution. Or maybe they don't agree
regarding how things should be done.

Joe Burke

 

Oh, I read it very carefully, and answered it as accuratly as possiible.

I also think it is a waste of time attempting to educate me in your particualr brand of politically correct posting. Get in line.

You're right, I can not know the reason or their situation, I can only rely on my experience (notice where I said "I personally detest"). My experience, and therefore my opinion on the topic, is based on over 20 years using the software, somewhere above 45,000 production hours banging away at it. In those years, I have never seen an intelligent reason for something other than BYLAYER, that was not offset by some other detriment to productivity.

REFEDIT provided a solution to his original question and is the most help I could be at the time, how helpful was your post?

 

Well.....here we are again, OLDCAD. I'm with you and have problems with
users who insist on BYBLOCK instead of BYLAYER. My students drive me
nuts when they change this and then they don't get the right colors.

 

OLD-CADaver,

Get in what line?

For what it's worth, I've also been involved with CAD for twenty years. Over the
course I used various programs, including MicroStation. The bylayer idea is foreign
to MS. Instead all objects are assigned a color.

All I'm saying is there's not only one right way to do things. If that were true,
that way would be the only method available in ACAD.

I still think you misread gert's post. But I guess we'll have to wait for gert's
reply on that point.

Regards,
Joe Burke

 

<<Get in what line? >>

The line of posters wasting their time attempting to educate me in their brand of politically correct posting.


<<Over the course I used various programs, including MicroStation.>>

That explains a lot.


<<The bylayer idea is foreign to MS. >>

As was accuracy until V8.


<<I still think you misread gert's post. >>

How so? He really posted two different questions, REFEDIT will solve either. First he asked "i want to change the color within a block without exploding it first". REFEDIT will do that. Then he asked, "i want to change the line
layer into another on. can this be done", REFEDIT will do that.

What is it you think he asked?

 

questioning methods is fundamental.
what if Gert goes along, coding some routine that grabs the block definition and moves some subentity to another layer so that it becomes a different color. but then *all* of the blocks in the drawing change that way, when he really wanted *just that one instance* to change a color. if he mentioned Why he was trying to do that, we could have helped him with a different, and perhaps easier solution (maybe the block should be created on layer 0, so it's as easy as changing what layer it is inserted on, etc.).
and yes, of course there's times to have something set to something other than ByLayer for perfectly legitimate reasons.
As an Acad programmer, we spend countless hours programming down dead-ends. I for one am grateful when someone who has already been there attempts to warn me by questioning my methods.

--Jeremiah

 

This is going nowhere. Let's forget it.

Joe Burke

 

Well you sent it there, I was just answering the guy's question... albeit, with an editorial comment.

 

You're welcome, be aware that refedit redefines the block such that all instances of that block will reflect the change.

 

<<questioning methods is fundamental.>>

I agree whole-heatedly, though I find we are in a vast minority on these threads with that opinion.


<<what if Gert goes along, coding some routine that grabs the block definition and moves some subentity to another layer so that it becomes a different color. but then *all* of the blocks in the drawing change that way, >>

Then he will have learned something, and no doubt, be back with a more detailed question.


<<and yes, of course there's times to have something set to something other than ByLayer for perfectly legitimate reasons. >>

None that I have found that do not carry consequences that make the effort undesirable. Hard-coding a color, linetype, lineweight, or even ltscale into an element reduces it's flexibility for use elsewhere to next to nothing.

 

okay, well here's an example: you type in an elevation, and your Lisp routine changes the colors of all elevation points in the drawing based on how much higher or lower they are than the one you typed in; another routine sets the colors back. Just because someone is changing colors, doesn't mean it's permanent. Here's another: change the colors of pipes based upon their sizes, from 1/2" up to 6" -- too much of a headache to have that many layers, so you just have them set to their color. Both real-world cases, both best-case solutions, both not using color ByLayer.

--Jeremiah

 

<<Just because someone is changing colors, doesn't mean it's permanent.>>

No, it's just one more spot that needs to be managed to avoid garbage plots later. Bad idea.


<<change the colors of pipes based upon their sizes, from 1/2" up to 6">>

Literally kills their use in subsequent reference files as background. Poor solution. Better solution is to place the pipe on a layer that reflects it's service and leave it all bylayer. If you can't see the different between a 1/2" pipe and a 6" pipe, you don't need to be drawing pipe. A bigger headache than a few extra layers is searching through hundreds of pipe, all on the same layer, for the potable water line.

<<Both real-world cases, both best-case solutions, both not using color ByLayer. >>

Both are poor choices that reduce the power and flexibility of the tool.

 

I am sorry, but I disagree!
The reason that Autocad became the number one drafting software is that it
has the flexibility and the tools to do what ANY user wants to make it do.
If a user wants to use color to illustrate something on a plot, and has the
intelligence to write a program to make it happen, then that same user can
write another program to make it unhappen (and to search through all of the
pipes to find the potable water line).

Poor solution. Better solution is to place the pipe on a layer that
reflects it's service and leave it all bylayer. If you can't see the
different between a 1/2" pipe and a 6" pipe, you don't need to be drawing
pipe. A bigger headache than a few extra layers is searching through
hundreds of pipe, all on the same layer, for the potable water line.

 

No need to apologize for disagreeing.

Your example of flexibility in programming is fine... as far as it goes. Supplying a function to change it back is useful if and only if the user remembers to do so.

But all the programming capabilities, to which I have access, will not change the color of the XREF'd element back to bylayer from the target drawing, without doing so in the source drawing. Spending manhours going back to the source file to change an element's color is counter-productive, and remains a poor choice.

 

and now you're using a very specific case.
YES, an Xref should have all entities color ByLayer.
and that's the only correct thing you've stated in this thread.

but a dwg can have a lot of uses, and ESPECIALLY with truecolor, not having all entities as color ByLayer may be the best solution.

--Jeremiah

 

<< but a dwg can have a lot of uses, and ESPECIALLY with truecolor, not having all entities as color ByLayer may be the best solution. >>

Never is that the best solution, unless you can guarantee without equivocation that the file will NEVER be used as an XREF, or it will NEVER need to translated to a different standard. Even then, it remains a poorer choice as compared to placing specific elements on specific layers.

Just because you "CAN" do something, does not mean it is intelligent to do so.