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Instead of drawing the arrow and placing the letter at either end of a section line I was thinking of putting these into blocks, one for each end. Is this the way to go? I have tried creating a block following what instructions that I can find but when I come to insert the block it is nowhere to be found.
What are the step by step instructions for creating?
First, yes, this is probably the best way to go; if you plan on using something multiple times, a block is generally the best bet. Second, once you get the hang of the basics, you might want to check out integrating it with the Sheet Set Manager. (Good link here: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/intro.pdf)
It's hard to know what went wrong without knowing what instructions you were following, but one guess is that you created the block, then went to use it in another drawing but it wasn't there. Like all other AutoCAD entities, blocks are only available in drawings they've been placed in. Several approaches are available to deal with this; you can create a template file that already has your blocks in it (simply save a pre-setup drawing as a .dwt file), you can Design Center (command line: adcenter) to grab blocks and other stuff from existing drawings, or you can create a tool palette that will automatically grab blocks from a drawing through the Design Center in the background. Or, when in doubt, copy & paste!
Speaking of the Tool Palette... when you go there be SURE to check out all of the ready made blocks for sectioning. You may find something there that may be easier and more functional than making something new. Look in the Annotation tab of the standard tool palettes.Quote:
Originally Posted by StDoodle
Dave.
Nowhere to be found on the list, or on the drawing area after you insert it?Quote:
Originally Posted by alan.123099
if the first, you were not successful in creating the block.
Its as simple as 1. Entering Name 2. Picking base point 3. Selecting Objects
Then Press OK.
if the latter, I suspect, your base point (set in step 2 above) is way far from the objects in the block. Try picking it snapping to any object included in the set (step 3). Then watch out for the scale upon insertion and of course the active layer & layers used by the objects inside the block (might be off).
Side Note: Its a good (or standard) practice to put all objects in the block to layer 0. Layer 0 acts as a transparent layer and let the objects inside the block to inherit the properties of the layer where the block is being inserted to.
PS: There is a quicker way of creating a block.
1. Copy Objects (Ctrl+C)
2. Paste as Block (Ctrl+Shift+V)
The result is a randomly named block (starts with "A$") with basepoint set on the lower left corner of the objects' bounding box. You can always rename the block later with the RENAME command.
Since I have closed and reopened AutoCAD, the blocks now appear in the drop down list under Insert/Block.
Thank you all for your response.
I replied too soon. When I start a new drawing, the blocks that I have just created do not appear in the drop down list under Insert/Block. (I have other blocks listed that were created many years ago for me by others). The blocks are listed when I'm in the drawing that I used to create them. How do I get these blocks to list when I'm in other drawings?Quote:
Originally Posted by alan.123099
A block only exists inside the file in which it was created until you do something about it.Quote:
Originally Posted by alan.123099
One thing you can do is use the WBLOCK command to create a separate file for each block - those files can then be inserted into any other drawing file.
ANY drawing file can be used as a block simply by using the INSERT command.
You could use the Design Centre (ADC) to collect existing blocks from within the file that already contains them.
etc..
Beware - do not create a block inside a file with the same name; you won't see a problem at the time but you won't be able to insert the file into another file.
it gets even weirder if a drawing ends up xreferenced to itself.... damifino how that happened.