COMMAND

You can use BLOCK or GROUP. Your best bet would probably be BLOCK. Look it
up in the help file. Explains it very well. You can also use WBLOCK if you
want to export and use it in another dwg.

 

I'm trying to turn a complicated object into one part. For example, I have a complicated bolt that I will be using many times and I dont want to select all the lines everytime I want to copy it. I know there is a way to take a complicated part with many lines where you can select any part of the object and that will automaticaly select the whole object. Its been long since I've used Autocad.

 

Thanks. The "Block" command worked great.

 

Hareen: Now that you've created a block (I hope you used the WBLOCK command to create it) take things a couple of steps further.

Open the block as a drawing.

Purge out any junk that might have come with it (text styles, layers, etc).

Change the principal line work to Layer Zero.

Change secondary lines (if any) to a layer that will plot as finer (thinner) lines.

Select the entire drawing and move it so the insert point is at 0,0,0.

Type BASE and enter 0,0,0.

WBLOCK the drawing to the same name. Now it ishould be cleaner and free of unwanted colors, line types, text styles and sny other unwanted attributes.

 

Hareen: Now that you've created a block (I hope you used the WBLOCK
command to create it) take things a couple of steps further.

The WBLOCK does *NOT* create a block...Bad name...good command..
The only thing the WBLOCK command can create is a .dwg file...

command to create it) take things a couple of steps further.

of unwanted colors, line types, text styles and sny other unwanted
attributes.

 

You're not kidding about wblock being a "bad name". I have tried many
times to explain this to my students and it confuses them seven ways
from Sunday.

 

A little history might help. When first developed it would only "Write
Blocks" to .DWGs, you couldn't select objects, hence the name W(rite)BLOCK.
By the time the developers packaged it up for release you could select
objects as well, but the name stuck.

 

Easy explanation: WBLOCK Writes a BLOCK definition to an external .dwg file.

That was its original intent and function, and the name was apt; after that
it evolved (in addition to its original purpose) to a kind of "save as"
routine commonly used to clean up an entire drawing, among other things.
___

 

Fellas - I am fully aware of the history and what it does; I was just
explaining that to a young person who has never seen autocad, trying to
tell them what wblock does and the reason for the name of it confuses
them to the point they become glassy-eyed.

 

I have found that explaining the history of the name reduces that confusion.

 

my original point was not for us all to spread our wings on our collective
knowledge of the history of a seldom used command...(unfortunate as it is..)

My students have it's use seared into their brains after a 15 week
semester...No confusing history lesson that will soon be
forgotten...Semester two is for all that...ha..

teiarct et al...
WBLOCK is a command with three main purposes...none of which include
the creation of a Block object...

1.Creates a separate dwg file of your entire drawing...Purges out all
objects in your drawing your not using..ie
layers..dimstyles..textsytle..block definition...ect

2.Creates a separate .dwg file. of selected items only...
Ex..entire kitchen, or bath you created as part of a floor plan and would
like to save it as it's own .dwg...Nice for reusing later in other
drawings...

3.Creates a .dwg file from an *Existing* block. The new drawing will have
the block insertion and the block definition...

If you want a block instead the command is BLOCK..

Good Luck...

Paul

 

Paul R: You are correct although you're cutting a thin line of semantics.....academic defensiveness, I suppose.

Mr. Turvill seems to have a better grasp of how to explain things succinctly without verbally slapping my knuckles with the yardstick.

 

Okay, I must be totally missing something here. I use WBLOCK all the time to
make in place blocks and write it out to a file at the same time. Had to go
to the help file to make sure but it states it under WBLOCK as:

"Converts the selected object or objects to a block in the current drawing
after saving them as a file. The block is assigned the name in File Name."

It's a option in the dialog box.

 

No, you don't use WBLOCK to create in-place blocks. You use WBLOCK to
create a dwg file from objects that are in place. Then, you can insert
or -insert the dwg file which then gives you a BLOCK REFERERENCE (commonly
known as a "BLOCK".) and all that regardless of what the help file says.
You can also drag and drop your new file to create a block in your drawing.
It appears that the writers of the help files you read and I are in
disagreement. Nevertheless, I stand by the explanation that I am giving
you. And I also agree with the instructor in this thread. But I also agree
with user that said that the instructor should explain that Write-block
means that the use of the command can write an existing block in a drawing
to a dwg file. But the instructor does exactly that in #3 of his
definition. So, really that part of the argument is no argument at all
because on that part both parties agree.

Can we move on, now?

 

Not really. But only cause it's a holiday and I'm feeling saucy this
morning. :O)

Your explanation of wblock is absolutely correct. But Jason too is
absolutely correct. I too use wblock all the time when I want to write a
block out for use in another drawing, and make use of the block in my
current drawing. I could just use wblock to block it out and then use
insert to put it back into my drawing, but why would I use two commands when
one would do?

Don't trust the help files? Then pull up the dialog. :O)

The option for retaining the objects is under the "Objects" section.

Have fun,
Dave

 

This makes me laugh...I wonder what class would have been like with you guys as my TEACH. I learned WBlock in like Grade 9/10. I'm always amazed by some of the post here, but will never judge...as there are a zillion things I have yet to learn myself.

 

That only indicates that you had autocad at a very early age. There are
a lot of users here who got into autocad late, i.e., late 20's, 30's and
I teach a few in the late 50's. While this may be easy for you, for
others they may have a problem. How are you at knowing what an AU is?

 

sounds australian to me....I'm 29 and have been using AutoCad since 1989/ R10. I've worked both the architectural side and engineering side... engineers love tabs archs dont in my experience...simple things like that make a world of difference to me.
I also HATE acronyms.

 

You shouldn't knock people who may not have the same experience as you.
Sometimes we all have to use acronyms. AU is the scientific term for
Astronomical Unit, i.e., distance from the center of the Earth to center
of our Sun. We all learn something everyday - if we want to.

 

I use WBLOCK all the time and for several reasons. Most often it seems I use it for a purpose it was not designed for. Namely to clean up an existing dwg that is unmanageably "dirty" for whatever reason. Increasingly that reason is proxies.

I use it to "save" something in case it is too premature to delete it.

I use it as teiarch described only if what I'm creating is to be used many more times within the project I'm on. Kinda like a library and I preface these files with an "X" to keep them all together in the directory and easy to dump en masse at the end of the job at clean up.

One other reason came up just the other day. An engineer came to me and wanted something I was working on now.

Options;

1- do a save as into his directory
2- have him open the same dwg as read only and do his own save as
3- WBLOCK just the part he wanted and let him open that