topic Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks in Dynamic Blocks Forum

Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

ianf75 — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 03:45:00 GMT

Hi,

I am creating a wall tag block as per the attached file. There are nested blocks within it that scale accordingly to the drawing scale so that they don't change position i.e. the two arrows can be stretched to suit a differing wall depth the tag is associated with but the arrows will stay at the correct wall depth whether they are required for a 1:100 or 1:200 or whatever scale.

My issue is with the circle and text. This is a nested block "Text" that I want to be able to rotate should the wall and therefore tag be at a different angle so that the text reads left to right. If I put a rotate parameter within the nested block the grips don't show up. If I put the rotate parameter within the host block the grips don't scale to suit the size of the "Text' block. I guess I could live with the text rotated but I'd prefer not to.

Anyone have any ideas?

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

h_s_walker — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 11:59:34 GMT

I couldn't get your block working how you wanted with the annotative blocks.

I have however managed to do what you wanted with a lookup parameter and several linear scales.

I've attached a drawing. My block is the one on the right

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

h_s_walker — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:36:23 GMT

Slight update to the block. There was a parameter which was showing which didn't need to be seen

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

ianf75 — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 00:31:14 GMT

Thanks, that's one very nifty block which I will learn a lot from.

However I'm afraid it does have an issue when using it across multiple scaled viewports as I have to manually change the scale for each instance. So in a 1:100 viewport it might appear at the right scale but then if it is visible in a 1:50 viewport it would be the wrong scale. It would be reassuring to know it would automatically display correctly whatever viewport it appeared in.

Admittedly though the occasions where these tags would be shown at two different scales is rare on a project. So on those rare occasions a workaround could be having two instances of the tag for each scale on different layers.

Thanks again.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

Libbya — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 01:31:23 GMT

This is just informational and it does not contain a better solution than manually changing the scale. You can make the 'arrows' and callout circle/line nested annotative blocks and they will scale from their basepoints. The trouble is the text. You can make the attributes annotative and they will scale from their justification point. You could even make the entire circle callout with attributes a nested annotative block and it would scale from its basepoint. The trouble is that you cannot access the attribute definitions outside of block editor and if you change them inside block editor it will change the value for all block insertions... Because of all of this, manually scaling like what hwalker shows is as good as it gets, IMO.

You can batch edit the scale by using qselect to select all of the block iterations and changing the scale in properties.

You can also simplify the block some. There is no need for the individual parameters for each scale action. You can have all of the scale actions associated with a single parameter, set them to independent, place the base points in the appropriate locations and add the scale actions to the appropriate polar stretch/move/stretch action selection sets. That makes adding scales a lot easier as it requires editing only one column in the lookup. See attached.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

Imui — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 05:57:07 GMT

Hi,

Interesting block.

If there are many blocks like this in the drawing, does the wipeout slow down the file?

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

ianf75 — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 02:02:39 GMT

I don't normally have issues with multiple wipeouts in my drawings. If I did I'd be in trouble as I use them alot.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

ianf75 — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 02:07:06 GMT

I'm now trying to advance the block a little by adding a double pivot to the the leader. I've engineered something that loosely works (see attached dwg), but would you be able to suggest a less clunky method?

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

Libbya — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 16:02:02 GMT

I would set up the actions and grips like this. It is both simple to manipulate and gives all of the options of placement with the minimum of actions. Move the basepoint to move the whole block and set the one side of the line, polar stretch the other side to adjust the length and angle of the line, place the callout where you want it and stretch the callout connecting line.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

ianf75 — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 23:28:56 GMT

That works really well thanks. But that now takes me back to my original issue that I had with the previous block. if I rotate the tag to suit the angle of the wall the circle with the text is not orthogonal. I need to have a play around to see if I can get this to rotate. I might just stick with the previous block that doesn't have the pivot in the 'leader'.

Thanks for all your help.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

Libbya — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 23:39:26 GMT

You want the text orientation and center line of the callout to always be perpendicular to the wall line? I thought that when you said you always wanted the tag to read left to right, you wanted to maintain the text orientation.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

Libbya — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 23:42:08 GMT

In looking back at the block you marked as the solution, I feel even more confused about what you actually want. That block maintains the horizontal text orientation regardless of the wall line orientation just like the one I just posted. What is the issue?

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

ianf75 — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 00:09:00 GMT

I'd just like to have the block do what the first one did keeping the text reading horizontal (not parallel to the angle of wall) but adding the extra flexibility of having a second adjustable point in the leader. The original block solution is more than adequate but I just wanted to experiment to see if I could go that step further. Based on what I've learnt from what's already been supplied I'm happy to have a play with it myself so don't worry about spending time on it.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

Libbya — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 00:44:26 GMT

What you say you want is exactly what the block I posted does. The text remains horizontal regardless of the angle of the wall line. The wall line can be stretched to any legnth and rotated to any angle. The extra leader leg can be stretched to whatever length desired. The callout can be placed anywhere you want it. It accomplishes all of that with ease and without anything getting weird. Please explain what is different about the functionality of the last block I posted and what you desire.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

ianf75 — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 00:57:25 GMT

My bad I didn't notice that the bottom grip rotated the arrows. That's perfect, thank you.

Re: Using Parameters of Nested Blocks

Libbya — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 01:01:38 GMT

Ah. I see. I changed that to a polar so that you can easily stretch it and rotate it to any desired position in one motion.