Hi,
I guess 'autodeskprogrammer' means this: http://cupocadnet.blogspot.com/2009/03/jigging-block-properties.html
I create a jig to insert the block, a jig to change rotation and one property, and a command to glue it all together. You could enhance this further to get some really nice results. This is just a basic sample to get the idea.
@autodeskprogrammer: When creating the sample, I, just like you, chose to use rotation and length. So sorry for 'stealing' your idea. But it must mean that we're both on the right track with this solution 🙂