Editing xml files for DCM

[Anonymous]

And on we go to another question.

I have our Detail Component Library on our server. I would like to make some minor changes to those blocks when insterted. I have read all about the "recipes" in the xml files and I can see where the code refers to layer keys but I have never written or edited anything like this. 

So I have gotten that far but what I want to do is not just change a layer key. What I would like to do is this-

Edit the 2 core CMU masonry units so that when they are inserted into a drawing in section view I have one side of the block be a different color than the rest of the outline of the block. What i'm trying to achieve is have the component be brought in and used in a building section or wall section and have it print the outside of the block darker than the inside as it should be. I use ctb so it can stay on the same layer just different color but I need those lines that define the outside of the block to be heavier.

When I insert the component it has a block name and I can edit block in place but I guess it's not really a "block" since I can't find that block anywhere. Any idea how to do this in the xml file or am i just totally off base here.

Thanks,

Ryan

[Laks-Autodesk]

The reason you aren't seeing the block name is because the inserted block is not coming from a block defined in some drawing file, and is therefore inserted as an anonymous block reference. If you're editing this anonymous block in-place and assign colors to the different components, is it not retained? I think this should be the easiest way of achieving the desired result.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback.

You are correct. I can edit the block in place and it will retain those changes. 

While that is definately a work around I would much rather have those come in correctly then have to edit each block in place per drawing. It just seems like there should be a way to edit these permanetly. I have these in a local folder on the server and would like everybody to just be able to grab them and pull them in ready to go. I'm the CAD manager here and the less steps they have to follow the more apt they are to be on the standards. If I have certain steps to edit each block then more chances that they won't happen.

Something is defining those lines in the recipe. I can find the layer keys and all that in the code but I can't figure out how the actual lines are defined (size, shape, what makes it a polyline).

Maybe i'm just asking for to much but it just seems to me that you can edit the display of most other things, why should this be different.

Thanks,

Ryan 

[David_W_Koch · Accepted solution]

The linework generated for the two-core CMU concrete unit Detail Item appears to be built into the AecDtlRcpConcreteUnit2CorePlan and AecDtlRcpConcreteUnit2CoreSection functions; there is not a "stamp" or source file that defines the linework. It appears that the "cut" linework in the plan and section views is drawn based on the Layer Key assigned to the "block" data item, and there is no opportunity to have one face of the section cut linework assigned to a heavier plot style or color that plots heavier. Some Detail Items are based on a source drawing file, in which the linework is drawn on a layer whose name corresponds to the Layer Key used to generate the layer on which that linework is drawn when placed. That type of detail item could be customized by using a different layer key for linework that you want to plot differently. Unfortunately, this type is not used for two-core CMU concrete Details.

[Anonymous]

Wow that's deep. Great reply and very educational! 

Not the answer I was hoping for, but at least now I have an understanding of why. 

Thanks for the time,

Ryan

[David_W_Koch]

For an example of a "stamp-based" Detail Component in the US Details content, look at the Division 06 - Wood, Plastics, and Composites > 06 46 00 - Wood Trim > Custom Millwork. The items here generate section views of various wood trim pieces. The "stamps" for these are blocks that are defined in C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ACA 2014\enu\Details\Details (US)\06 - Wood, Plastics and Composites\dwgs\AecDtlLib_WoodMillwork.dwg [default installation location - your folder path may vary].

The outlines of these blocks are defined on a layer named THIN, and the hatch within the blocks is on a layer named HATCH. The layers specified for the THIN and HATCH Layer Keys are used when one of these Detail Components is placed in a drawing. If you wanted to have linework on another layer for which you have a Layer Key defined, in the source file you could create a layer using the name of the desired Layer Key as the layer name, and then add linework on that layer to the block definition.

For example, if you wanted a heavier line at the exposed side of the block, you could create a layer called WIDE and change the exposed linework to the WIDE layer. (In practice, that would involve breaking the closed Polyline defining the cut line of the wood trim, and possibly reassociating the hatch to the boundary, which would now be two open polylines, rather than one closed polyline. I am not sure whether that would affect the performance of the placed Detail Component or not, so you may want to check out how doing that affects the AEC Modify tools before changing all of them. If a closed perimeter Polyline is needed, you could trace over the exposed part with a Polyline on the WIDE layer, rather than splitting the existing closed Polyline.