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Help with Door & Window Dynamic Blocks Needed

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Message 1 of 8
heinsite
2925 Views, 7 Replies

Help with Door & Window Dynamic Blocks Needed

The door and window dynamic blocks supplied by AutoCAD and installed on the Tool Palette still mystify me, and the documentation I have been able to find about how they're supposed to work is really too general to be of much help.  The part that frustrates me is getting them placed in position.  I don't quite understand what the easiest procedure is for inserting them.

 

As an example, when you drag the door block to an opening corner what is the procedure for getting the orientation correct?  If you move it around a bit it will flip and flop like a fish on a pier, and almost never end up the way it's supposed to be.  Do you specify a rotation before dragging it in, or after it's been placed?  What is the key for getting the wall width line in the block aligned properly?

 

Ditto to an extent with the window block.  The insertion point often puts the block "outside" of the wall.

 

Any explanation that will simplify using these will really be appreciated. 

 

Thanks,

Dave.

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Dave Hein, P.E.
7 REPLIES 7
Message 2 of 8
Charles_Shade
in reply to: heinsite

The Alignment Parameter is what you are describing causing the DynBlk to "flip and flop like a fish on a pier" (good description). I suspect that you have a pair of lines that the door is to go in and maybe an intersecting line that represents the hinge side or how far from the corner you want the door? The Alignment Parameter is trying to guess as to which line it should align with and will align either upright or upside down depending on from which direction you approach the intersection or even just a line: i.e. From the left or right.

 

Alignment Parameters have their place and I have found to not be as useful for door and window DB's. Generally the door or window is being placed at a specific spot some distance from an edge and if you are like me you have inserted an offset line for the center or edge which is causing the flip flop.

 

The window block is doing the same thing with the Alignment Parameter flipping the DB depending on the direction you approach the line.

 

As an example: I have a Bed DynBlk with an Alignment Parameter. This works great as I usually am looking for a midpoint or random placement along a wall line.

 

If you are not inclined to create your own Door and Window you may want to just use the Block Editor and delete the alignment Parameters from these two DynBlk's. If you are inserting these from the Tool Palette you can right click on the DB icon on the Palette and set it to Ask for Rotation so that when you insert it you can rotate it as needed.

 

There are a door and window DB attached if you would like to see a more evolved use of these blocks.

Some potential to what you can do. These are set to Ask for Rotation upon insertion and do not have an Alignment Parameter. I've not posted these in a while and have modified them even from the first time I created them. For some of these DynBlk's that I created I have been moving away from the Lookup driving the Width and going back to the Grip drag as is in the OOTB block. Sometimes simpler is better.

 

Good Luck!

 

Please mark any response as "Accept as Solution" if it answers your question.
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Message 3 of 8
heinsite
in reply to: Charles_Shade

Charles,

 

Thanks for your notes!  It is worth stipulating up front that I’m not an architect, so these aren’t blocks I use very often.  About the only time I run into them are while doing some study exercise and it says, “… go to the Tool Palette and open the Architecture tab.  Insert the Door block…”  So I have only used them so far as they have come straight out of Autodesk’s box, nothing changed.  It always felt like something was slightly “wrong” with them however. 

 

I just took the Autodesk door block apart, and it did an alignment parameter in addition to an insertion point.  My problem has always been one of figuring out how the two work together.  I prefer to have an insertion point and a rotation parameter and expected they would come that way to begin with.  Once I remove the alignment parameter and replace it with a rotation parameter everything works nicely... and the way I'd expect.  It certainly is faster that way!  My preference tends toward lining things up on the drawing rather than specifying an insertion angle... but everyone is different that way.

 

Many text exercises ask the reader to use one of these blocks before the lesson plan has talked about dynamic blocks, and then they don’t say much about how to use the ones they just said to insert.  My thinking is that if things then get frustrating for me how bad must it be for someone who knows less than I do?!

 

I've only looked at your door block so far... but I can say I had less trouble with it than the packaged Autodesk one!  I'll give it an A+ if you add the rotation parameter.  Smiley Wink

 

Dave.

 

 

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Dave Hein, P.E.
Message 4 of 8
Charles_Shade
in reply to: heinsite

Superfluous for my use but here you go.

Message 5 of 8
heinsite
in reply to: Charles_Shade

Okay... A+.  Smiley Happy

 

There is one little oddity about your block I have to ask about:  What is that little 3/32" gap in the linework on one side of the door?  Intentional or an oversight?

 

Dave.

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Dave Hein, P.E.
Message 6 of 8
Charles_Shade
in reply to: heinsite

Intentional.

Allows me to trim the line back to the jamb in one fell crossing swoop.

Some use Wipeouts to cover the lines in the area of the door but i like having the ends trimmed.

Helps with keeping corners for trim moulding and such. (To each his own.)

Message 7 of 8
heinsite
in reply to: Charles_Shade

Thanks again.  These dynamic block designs can be simple or get complicated in a heartbeat!  I think I've pretty much got my head wrapped around these two now.  I'll just modify the definitions in my Tool Palette and move on.

 

Dave.

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Dave Hein, P.E.
Message 8 of 8
hattsoff
in reply to: heinsite

I too was having a similar problem.   I have removed the alignment parameter in the drawing I'm using the door in and I have much more control over this dynamic door block placement.  Unfortunately, the Autocad drawing where this block actually lives seems to be write-protected.   In other words, the next time I use this block in a different drawing it will still have the alignment parameter attached to it.  Thank you for addressing this issue.  I do appreciate everyone's feedback.

 

 

Once I remove the alignment parameter and replace it with a rotation parameter everything works nicely... and the way I'd expect. 

-Chris

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