Creating block where you can hide part of it on command

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I've searched and couldn't find anything on this, though I may just be using the wrong wording...

I am placing devices in a drawing that have certain spacing guidelines (ex. 30' radius). I'd like to drop the blocks in the drawing so that, in addition to the device symbol, a circle showing the device spacing is placed around the device. I can do this by making a block with the spacing circle included, but...

I'd like to be able to place all devices, make sure all the spacings are covered, then hide all those spacing guideline circles at once. 

Can anybody point me in the right direction to do this?

[Kent1Cooper]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I am placing devices in a drawing that have certain spacing guidelines (ex. 30' radius). I'd like to drop the blocks in the drawing so that, in addition to the device symbol, a circle showing the device spacing is placed around the device. I can do this by making a block with the spacing circle included, but...

I'd like to be able to place all devices, make sure all the spacings are covered, then hide all those spacing guideline circles at once. 

....

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Draw that spacing Circle in the Block definition on a Layer made to have only them in it, and when you want them hidden, turn that Layer off.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Kent! Great and easy solution!

[nrz13]

FYI, the type of block you are describing is called a Dynamic Block.  To use that, you would add a Visibility Parameter to the block (you might call it Radius) and give it two Visibility States:  On and Off.  You would functionally use it by putting the blocks in with the radius and copying them around as needed.  When it came time to turn them off, you would select one of them, use the SELECTSIMILAR command to select all of those blocks in the drawing, and then use the Properties palette to change the State from On to Off.

The layer solution is definitely simpler, though, although doing that sort of dynamic block is pretty easy too.

[Kent1Cooper]

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@nrz13 wrote:

FYI, the type of block you are describing is called a Dynamic Block.  To use that, you would add a Visibility Parameter to the block (you might call it Radius) and give it two Visibility States:  On and Off.  ....  When it came time to turn them off, you would ... change the State from On to Off.
....

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I'm not now where I have a new-enough version to have dynamic Blocks to check, but if a Visibility Parameter applies to an entire Block, that would mean the spacing Circle would need to be its own Block separate from the device Block, to have its own Visibility State.  If it were part of the device Block as the OP describes, using Visibility States, the devices themselves would also disappear when the Visibility State is turned off.  Using the Layer-based approach instead means that the spacing Circle can be part of the device Block, so the Circles can't become displaced relative to the devices, but the devices and the spacing Circles can be visible or not, independently.  But if a Visibility Parameter can be applied to an individual entity in a Block [I'm trying to imagine how that would be controlled...], that would seem to be a workable approach.

[nrz13]

Kent:

It's all part of one block so everything would move together.  The On/Off state controls just the items you select within the block editor to be visible for each state, but everything is all together in the same block.