Change layer block inserted on
@leothebuilder wrote:
As a suggestion, rather than create a script or lisp to capture all the block names why not right click a block, select similar and change the layer
in the properties palette.
I believe he is looking for a custom function that would take a list of block names and, for each name, extract the layer name of one of the objects in the block definition and then move each block reference in the drawing to that layer. This assumes that all current blocks have all of their nested objects on the same layer. That would have to be run first; then his other routine for changing all of the nested objects to layer 0 with ByLayer color and linetype could be run.
It would fairly easy to write such a routine, and then you could batch process multiple drawings. If it were just one drawing and a small number of different block references, then your suggestion would be the better way to go.
Unfortunately, I do not have such a routine already written. If no one else posts back, perhaps I will take a stab at a bare-bones routine that would do this.
@leothebuilder wrote:
I have seen many files where cut and pasting of blocks have resulted in renaming them something crazy like A$C20462A83.
I hate those. Especially when they then explode the block, but do not purge the definition. Why use PASTEBLOCK if you are going to explode it, anyway. And if there is a reason to keep the contents as a block, then rename it to something that has meaning.
No promises that this will do exactly what you want. I have not extensively tested it, but it did work for me in the limited testing I did. I would suggest making copies of several representative files and testing it on them to make certain nothing unfortunate occurs before running it on the actual files.
In addition to the attached AutoLISP file, you will need a plain text file that has the name of each block definition you wish to process, one name per line. The file can be saved to any name you like, but must have a TXT file extension. The routine will present a dialog that will allow you to navigate to and select your TXT file. Then select the Open button to start the processing.
If the file includes the name of a block definition that does not exist in the current file, it will write a note to that effect to the command line, and move on to the next name. If the file includes the name of a block definition that is defined in the current file, but which does not have any placed instances in the current file, the routine will write a note to that effect to the command line, and move on to the next name. For example:
Command: BTNL Block NoSuchBlockDefinition10 is not defined in this drawing. No instances of block Strike2 were found in this drawing. Block SpirographicBogus7 is not defined in this drawing. Block To Nested Layer function complete.
If you have already converted all of the nested graphics to layer 0, then this routine will not help. It needs to be run while the nested graphics are still on the layer that you want for the main block.
If the blocks have all had their nested objects changed to layer 0, then a modified routine could be written, provided you know what layer name should be used for each block on your list. If you set up the text file so that each line looks like this:
("BLOCKNAME" "LAYERNAME")
then the routine could be modified to read each line in as a list, the parts where the existing layer name is extracted could be deleted, and the change in layer name could be done using the data in the list. This all assumes that the layers already exist, although if desired, the routine could create a new layer for any that do not exist. Unless you want to key in all the layer attribute data, it would probably suffice to have any new layer created with default values for color, linetype, etc. A simple layer script could be run to fix those layers to your standards after the fact.
Here is a routine that does not rely on extracting the layer from the nested entities. It does require that you provide both the block name and the layer name in the text file. As noted in my previous post, each line of the text file needs to be formatted like this:
("BLOCKNAME" "LAYERNAME")
So, each line begins with an open parenthesis, followed by the name of a block to be processed, enclosed in double quotation marks, followed by a space, followed by the name of the layer onto which all instances of that particular block are to be placed, enclosed in double quotation marks, followed by a close parenthesis. The routine does no error checking on what is read in for each line, so any deviation from that format could result in the routine crashing.
The routine starts with a dialog so that you can select the text file that contains the block name/layer name pairs. It works as described for the previous routine.
The attached ZIP file includes the BTL.lsp file, along with a sample drawing file and text file that works with the drawing file. The drawing file includes five block definitions and placed instances of four of those. (Including four instances in paper space - those will have their layers changed too, even if the routine is run from the Model tab.) The text file has lines for all five of those block definitions as well as a sixth that is not defined in the file. Block5 will trigger the no instances in the file command line message; Block6 triggers the not defined in the file command line message.
The previously posted code could be modified to allow for wildcard characters in the block name. That might best be done by a separate subroutine, which, if a block name string with one or more wildcard characters is found, would be called with the block name string as an argument. The routine would then iterate through the Block Table, checking for Block Definition names that match the wildcard string. When done, the routine would return a list of strings containing the names of the Block Definitions that matched the wildcard string or nil if none were found. If the list is non-nil, then the main routine would need to run the layer changing code in a loop, processing each item on the list.
I do not have time right now to write the code to do that, but it is possible.