Jody -
To create a multiple part sizes, put all your
blocks in one drawing. It doesn't matter where you place your block
in the drawing - the drawing you start with is your working drawing - it will
not be used as the block source drawing (the dwg of the three files needed to
make content).
The key to any MvPart is to define the block's
insertion point in the WCS. I find it easiest to place the
insertion point of all the blocks at 0,0,0.
size=2>So, when starting the MvPartBuilder part of content builder, I have
several model blocks and one symbol block all with the insertion point of 0,0,0
in my current drawing. If I happened to have read the Concepts Guide, I
would have named the model blocks with a suffix of _model and the symbol block
as "symbol". I would do that since the MvPartBuilder automatically
recognizes this text and automatically populates the sizes and the block names
when I get to the Blocks & Names tab. Otherwise, I will need to add
sizes and choose a model block manually for each size - no big deal but a
few more clicks...
Once I have completed the MvPartBuilder
Wizard, new dwg, xml, and bmp files are created in the folder that you
specified. These are the source files. The dwg file contains
the block definitions that are used to make the part when you insert
it. It also contains a grid of each partsize in the
drawing. Note, you do not need anything inserted in the drawing - ABS
uses the block definition not the inserted block to create the part. Note
that all the partsizes are spaced evenly for your convenience - this is the
drawing that you will need to edit later if you choose to add a size to the
part. You may also notice that some of the content in the box does not
have the partsizes arranged in a grid and that they may all be jumbled on top of
each other. This is the result of the our having to run a script that set
layer, color and line type of each block to "By Block, By Block, By Layer" for
partsizes that were created manually back in R1 and R2. Yep - I forgot to
do that for each block when saving it so we used a script. I apologize for
the confusion - we should have modified the script to layout the partsizes in a
grid. Anyway, it doesn't matter where the inserted blocks are in the
drawing - in fact you could even delete them and save what appears to be a blank
drawing - the part would still work as long as you do not purge the block
definitions. In the case where all the blocks are jumbled - just delete
them and reinsert the ones you need to modify.
It is easy to get confused with wacky
block insertions in AutoCAD. AutoCAD starts out with the UCSOrtho setting
such that when you flip views you get the x-y coordinate system that matches
your screen (y is always up, x is always across even when z should be up,
etc). We continued that behavior in ABS since it is standard AutoCAD
behavior that folks expect. You can change the UCSOrtho setting or just
type UCS -> world prior to saving the block definition.
I hope this helps!
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I'm
in the process of creating VAV Box mvparts manufactured by PRICE. I've created
3d representations for the 6",8",10",12",14" VAV boxes. I have the boxes layed
out in a table fashion. Top row has the 6",8" & 10" boxes. The 2nd row has
the 12" & 14" boxes which sit directly below the 6" & 8" boxes
respectively. This layout is done for clarity purpose if needing to modify the
file. However, when I create my blocks and then mvparts, leaving the BASE
POINT X,Y,Z values at 0,0,0 as stated in the tutorial, when entering the
mvparts my origin/entry point is some distance away from my actual part. This
may be due to my initial spacing layout of my VAV boxes. I tried Moving the
actual origin of the drawing before creating each VAV block, but that causes
another problem when creating the mvpart. My connection vectors could not be
placed at the actual duct connector points for some reason. I've opened some
catalog files where the objects are actually sitting on top of one another,
but then they seamed impossible to edit. What is the best way to create a
series of parts in ONE file and still have them come in properly? Do these
parts have to sit directly on top of each other in the file, which then makes
it difficult to edit them in the future?
Regards,
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