renaming blocks tedious

[sgooss]

I attemped to post in the Community open-discussion forums but was denied access (not sure what is required... a special morse-code mouse clicking?) so I'm posting here.  I've found renaming blocks so tedious as the dialogue box must be closed and reopened for each block.  When there is a series of related blocks slightly different, it would be so helpful to be able to change them all subsequently in the same operation.  Also, when opening Block Editor, the name is at top-left.  This would also be an ideal time and place to adjust a block name. 

Wishing ~

*** POST TITLE EDITED FOR CLARITY***

[fatal.error]

To "save" that additional click, when the Rename Dialog appears, just press the TAB key to set focus on the Item List.

Another TAB keystroke will toggle the focus to the next GUI element ("Old Name" text-box, then "Rename To" button, then "New Name" text-box, and so on).

Notice that a dotted-line rectangle will highlight the current element focus.

[sgooss]

Hence my inital (even mis-guided) sense of tedium!   : )


Thank you again.

[sgooss]

Asking for help again!

I removed an unneeded block and did a purge and audit.   Saved.  Typical routine for me.  I went to finish renaming blocks and every single one that I renamed reverted to their old, longer, descriptive names.   What did I do wrong??

I checked back in the list of commands and see nothing wrong.  This is a horrible mess.   Must redo all again.

[pendean]

You either opened an older version o the DWG file, or you failed to hit OK to exit the RENAME pop-up to end the command process, or somehow performed an UNDO without noticing, or there is a problem in your DWG file that needs to be repaired by RECOVER command (and saved) before you continue using it.

HTH

[sgooss]

I did make sure to hit OK at the end which was my old habit of doing anyway stupidly never noticing the "Rename To" button before.  I checked for undo in List and saw none.  It's the same file open all day.  I will run Recover.

Thanks again. 

[pendean]

Are you storing your files on a cloud service like DropBox or BOX or Google Drive or OneDrive?
you might be fighting their 'versioning' feature that is turned on, or if the files are local or on a server your IT folks may need to get involved.

[Kent1Cooper]

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If you want Rename several together with the same pick on the Rename To: button, you can do that using wildcards if their names are similar in the right way.  For example:

... and after picking on Rename To:

... all have had the "YES" part of their name changed to "NO" without losing the number at the end.

But that works only with the wildcard at the end.  It can't be used to change Blocks named 1NO, 2NO, 3NO & 4NO to 1YES, 2YES, 3YES & 4YES all at once.

[sgooss]

Fortunately not.  I work directly off my harddrive.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw all of the old block names, a true feeling of defeat.  I wondered if removing the one block and purging did some weird thing and caused it.  Who knows but I'm being more careful now to do a few and save, double-check as I go.  And thanks to all for the tips.