dynamic shim help

[james.126519]

I work for a glazing contractor and have shims in almost every detail of my drawings. I have a dynamic shim that arrays 1/16" thick shims. It does the trick but I would like it to work more "realistic". The attached file shows the steps I would like the block to emulate. I feel like I am pretty good with dynamic blocks but this one has me stumped, and I'm not sure if it can be done. I am running ACAD 2009 by the way.

Basically, I want the first shim to stretch from the default 1/1/6" thick, to 1/8", to 3/16" to 1/4". if i need to shim more than 1/4", then I would like a new 1/16" shim to appear on top of the 1/4" shim, then be able to stretch it up to 1/4" thick, etc etc.

If any of the gurus here knows of a way I would appreciate the guidance.

also, the first shim in the attached file is my dynamic block. the rest are just polylines to show the progression I am looking for

[fkellogg]

Hey there, fellow West Virginian!

For the shim block, I'd say use visibility states and multiple shim stretches.
Make up the first shim to stretch in 1/16" increments only up to 1/4" in the first visibility.
Add a second visibility with a 1/4" shim and another 1/16"-1/4" stretch on top.
Add as many more stretches atop a stack of 1/4" shims as you think you would ever need.
Make sure your grips are not visible in the states not needed.

I am 20 miles west of Winchester, and looking for work. How's things up there in M'burg?
My resume is in the Job Seekers area of AUGI, if you know of anyone looking for a good AutoCAD'er. Most of my experience is in Architectural Millwork, but I can adapt.

[jnoon]

Is this along the lines of what you where looking for?

[USMCBody]

I've got a 2 solutions for you. I'm not sure if it will be exactly what you want, but it will make for a simple block either way.

1. Just keep with one shim block and then copy or array the block. That way you can still quickly count the amount of shim blocks quickly by selecting them or a quick data extraction (EATTEXT)

2. So this way is a kind of complex block. basically it is simpler than the other way, but I can be a bit frustrating to get right. Quit thinking dynamic stretch visual state complexity. Think more along the lines of dynamic array with an overall stretch. So you have a rectangle. As this rectangle stretch's it will "deposit" or array a line inside it self at certain intervales. You may need to have multiple different arrays to account for any gaps inbetween the shims. (begin frustration) The catch here is that the origional parameter distance plays a part in the array. If I remember correctly, the way I got around it was to have the array parameter start off at 2 times the size I needed it to array and then have it chained to another parameter. The way I think it works is that the array doesn't place an object at the end of the array. I'm still a bit confused about that, but that is where the overall stretch picks up the slack. Granted I'm thinking more along the lines of shimming up a door and the end view rather than the side like you have, but the same basic system could apply. It would also require some user intelagence. Like the block would always have to end on a shim or at least be kept in another rectange. The big point is that it will look as virsatle as you want it to be, but you will not be able to pull any intel from it (unless you want to get out the calculator)

Hope this helps.