Dynamic Blocks lose Parameters and Actions

[Inferno6919]

Hi all,

I have created a dynamic block with a few parameters and actions. When I first insert it in a drawing, everything works fine. Once I use one of the actions allocated to it, the block loses all these blue grips and triangles and it behaves as if it is a normal block. No parameters or actions. If I open the block with the block editor though, all the parameters are there!

Can anyone help with this? Thanks.

[Rico]

Hi all,

I have created a dynamic block with a few parameters and actions. When I first insert it in a drawing, everything works fine. Once I use one of the actions allocated to it, the block loses all these blue grips and triangles and it behaves as if it is a normal block. No parameters or actions. If I open the block with the block editor though, all the parameters are there!

Can anyone help with this? Thanks.
What you're experiencing is nothing new .....

http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=33525

see the thread above for the longwinded answer.

The quick answer is that there is no solution to the problem. Various users have reported losing dynamicness within their blocks. Sometimes a simple regenall helps. Othertimes it's a "shut down / restart AutoCAD" that fixes it. Or as I have experienced .... within the same drawing, the exact same block will display dynamicness 1/2 the time. out of 6 blocks, 3 will be dynamic 3 will not. No rhyme or reason.

Fortunately, you can still edit the DB using your properties window. I've become quite friendly with it recently.

[Inferno6919]

...

Fortunately, you can still edit the DB using your properties window...

Unfortunately, when I click on the block and go to properties, I can't see any DB properties. Just the normal block properties.

Thanks for the reply though. Very disappointing that is, with the dynamic Blocks.

[Chris.N]

Hi all,

I have created a dynamic block with a few parameters and actions. When I first insert it in a drawing, everything works fine. Once I use one of the actions allocated to it, the block loses all these blue grips and triangles and it behaves as if it is a normal block. No parameters or actions. If I open the block with the block editor though, all the parameters are there!

Can anyone help with this? Thanks.does it 'lose dynamicness' after switching a vis state? you may not have those parameters set to 'visible' for the selected state. that would also explain why they don't show up in the properties box.

[Rico]

does it 'lose dynamicness' after switching a vis state? you may not have those parameters set to 'visible' for the selected state. that would also explain why they don't show up in the properties box.
hmm. good point.

make sure that your vis and/or lookups are visible in all states.

[Inferno6919]

does it 'lose dynamicness' after switching a vis state? you may not have those parameters set to 'visible' for the selected state. that would also explain why they don't show up in the properties box.

Thanks Chris, but this is not what's happening. I do have different visibility states but I didn't switch. I bring the block in and everything works fine. Then I use the align parameter to align it to a line and after it aligns, it loses every dynamicness. Furthermore, in properties box when selected, it doesn't show any DB properties.

Thanks for the reply though and the suggestion.

[Chris.N]

Thanks Chris, but this is not what's happening. I do have different visibility states but I didn't switch. I bring the block in and everything works fine. Then I use the align parameter to align it to a line and after it aligns, it loses every dynamicness. Furthermore, in properties box when selected, it doesn't show any DB properties.

Thanks for the reply though and the suggestion.would you care to post the 'problem' block to see if we notice some confilcts within?

[Rico]

Thanks Chris, but this is not what's happening. I do have different visibility states but I didn't switch. I bring the block in and everything works fine. Then I use the align parameter to align it to a line and after it aligns, it loses every dynamicness. Furthermore, in properties box when selected, it doesn't show any DB properties.

Thanks for the reply though and the suggestion.
hmmm.

that's the exact thing that was happening to me. Except that I was able to modify using the Props window.

It got especially bad for me if I copied and pasted the block within the drawing.

You know what I found worked sometimes? Copying and pasting the whole document into a new drawing file. But then again, the other half of the time, it didn't .....

I think it's just a bug that we have to work around. I've been actively working on DBs since October of last year (right, Chris) and that problem's been there pretty well since the beginning.

Everybody (especially Chris ;)) called me crazy when I first brought it up but who's laughing maniacally now? huh?

[Inferno6919]

Sure no problem. Here it is.

I recently noticed that the problem I described occurs as soon as I use the align parameter. With any other parameter, the block doesn't lose it's dynamicness. :banghead:

[Chris.N]

hmmm.

that's the exact thing that was happening to me. Except that I was able to modify using the Props window.

It got especially bad for me if I copied and pasted the block within the drawing.

You know what I found worked sometimes? Copying and pasting the whole document into a new drawing file. But then again, the other half of the time, it didn't .....

I think it's just a bug that we have to work around. I've been actively working on DBs since October of last year (right, Chris) and that problem's been there pretty well since the beginning.

Everybody (especially Chris ;)) called me crazy when I first brought it up but who's laughing maniacally now? huh?i like the 'fix in new file' test, sometimes funny things happen when a file gets corrupted.

but for this particular issue, it hasn't affected me (yet). ~bang on wood~

[Inferno6919]

...
Everybody (especially Chris ;)) called me crazy when I first brought it up but who's laughing maniacally now? huh?

You are definitely not crazy but if this problem carries on, we will all soon get there!!!

[Rico]

Sure no problem. Here it is.

I recently noticed that the problem I described occurs as soon as I use the align parameter. With any other parameter, the block doesn't lose it's dynamicness. :banghead:
used the align, polar stretch and everything and it works fine for me.

Sorry Inferno.

This is exactly what happened to me. I'd post it and everyone would say "There's something wrong with you because it works fine for me"

not sure what i can say other than ...... Keep yer head up?

[Chris.N]

used the align, polar stretch and everything and it works fine for me.

Sorry Inferno.

This is exactly what happened to me. I'd post it and everyone would say "There's something wrong with you because it works fine for me"

not sure what i can say other than ...... Keep yer head up?same here, works fine. have you tried using in a new file to see if it's your drawing?

[Rico]

same here, works fine. have you tried using in a new file to see if it's your drawing?
Another idea that has worked for me in the past is to delete the offending parameter and re-install it. If it's an alignment or rotation parameter, it's easy. Lookups and vis states on the other hand ......... i mean, there's no guarantee that it'll work.

But having been on the receiving end, I know it can be pretty frustrating.

You'll be happy to know, though that it appears to be contained within the ONE drawing. I've got many other drawings that use the offending block and there is no problem with either the drawing or block.

[Inferno6919]

I have deleted and re-inserted the offending parameter. Same results though! The only thing that worked ok was when I opened a new drawing with nothing on it. In that case everything worked fine. Pity I don't need a blank drawing with just a pretty block!

Thank you guys for your help. Unfortunately, the frustration continues! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Chris.N]

I have deleted and re-inserted the offending parameter. Same results though! The only thing that worked ok was when I opened a new drawing with nothing on it. In that case everything worked fine. Pity I don't need a blank drawing with just a pretty block!

Thank you guys for your help. Unfortunately, the frustration continues! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:how big is your file? one thing i've done is copyclip using 0,0 as base and pasting in fresh file. then all is well again and the birds break into song like they were meant to do.

[Inferno6919]

how big is your file? one thing i've done is copyclip using 0,0 as base and pasting in fresh file. then all is well again and the birds break into song like they were meant to do.

It is not too big. I will try it right now. And the outcome is...

...Birds don't sing where I am!!! Same results!

Thanks anyway Chris

[Rico]

It is not too big. I will try it right now. And the outcome is...

...Birds don't sing where I am!!! Same results!

Thanks anyway Chris
haha. that's a good one.

try saving the block in a new file. Then purge and delete all instances of the block from the existing drawing and then re-insert.

[Inferno6919]

...try saving the block in a new file. Then purge and delete all instances of the block from the existing drawing and then re-insert.

Unfortunately, this didn't work either.

I will remove the parameter that is causing the problem. At least I will have two out of three actions working. Better than none!

Thanks for all your help.

[JAC.95598]

I have had the same problems with blocks loosing their dynamicness. The solution that we discovered is to select the block, then go over to your properties palette and re-type in the scale. you don't necessarily have to change the scale, just re-enter the x,y & z scale.

[Rico]

I have had the same problems with blocks loosing their dynamicness. The solution that we discovered is to select the block, then go over to your properties palette and re-type in the scale. you don't necessarily have to change the scale, just re-enter the x,y & z scale.
I'll have to give that a shot next time it happens and I'll report on whether it works for me or not.

[lmitsou]

I have had the same problems with blocks loosing their dynamicness. The solution that we discovered is to select the block, then go over to your properties palette and re-type in the scale. you don't necessarily have to change the scale, just re-enter the x,y & z scale.

Just tried that (yes, I am too a member of the "DB problems" club) but it didn't work here.

I noticed though that, as Max.Sabre wrote earlier in this post


...Othertimes it's a "shut down / restart AutoCAD" that fixes it...

( :beer: Max), if you close AutoCAD and re-open it at some point, the problem disappears (if you are lucky because some times it takes more than one time closing and re-opening to make it work).

[Inferno6919]

I have had the same problems with blocks loosing their dynamicness. The solution that we discovered is to select the block, then go over to your properties palette and re-type in the scale. you don't necessarily have to change the scale, just re-enter the x,y & z scale.

Didn't work for me either but thanks for the suggestion.

Same with lmitsou here. I closed the drawing and AutoCAD, and the next day I came back to the office, switched the PC on, started AutoCAD and surprise surprise... the DBs were working fine! Even the alignment parameter. Well... what can I say?

Welcome to the Twilight DB Zone!!!

[Rico]

Didn't work for me either but thanks for the suggestion.

Same with lmitsou here. I closed the drawing and AutoCAD, and the next day I came back to the office, switched the PC on, started AutoCAD and surprise surprise... the DBs were working fine! Even the alignment parameter. Well... what can I say?

Welcome to the Twilight DB Zone!!!
Yeah, it's a weird thing with DBs. I encountered that solution (off and on) right away after my problem. And I've racked my brain trying to figure out why it happens and I still have no answers.

I imagine it has something to do with how the DBs are loaded into the drawing in each session. But what's totally weird is that sometimes I'll have the same block have instances of dead DBs (read: no dynamicness) and working ones within the same drawing.

Glad to hear shut down and re-start works. Personally, once that happens, I make sure to save the file while the DBs are working. That way, I can re-start AutoCAD most if the time and the DBs will work fine.

[Chris.N]

Yeah, it's a weird thing with DBs. I encountered that solution (off and on) right away after my problem. And I've racked my brain trying to figure out why it happens and I still have no answers.

I imagine it has something to do with how the DBs are loaded into the drawing in each session. But what's totally weird is that sometimes I'll have the same block have instances of dead DBs (read: no dynamicness) and working ones within the same drawing.

Glad to hear shut down and re-start works. Personally, once that happens, I make sure to save the file while the DBs are working. That way, I can re-start AutoCAD most if the time and the DBs will work fine.are you 3 guys in the habit of leaving machines and Acad running between working days? i always shut completely down at night and have very few problems, and almost none with DB's. i do notice that when my 'xref' command does not work, it's time for an Acad restart, as the rest of the system's failure is soon to follow... ;)

[Rico]

are you 3 guys in the habit of leaving machines and Acad running between working days? i always shut completely down at night and have very few problems, and almost none with DB's. i do notice that when my 'xref' command does not work, it's time for an Acad restart, as the rest of the system's failure is soon to follow... ;)
I shut down at the end of the day. I used to leave my PC running all the time. But I shut down now. I still get the dead DB issue. It's more rare now than it used to be, but I still get it.

I don't shut down my PC during the day, though. And that's when I get the problems.

[lmitsou]

are you 3 guys in the habit of leaving machines and Acad running between working days? i always shut completely down at night and have very few problems, and almost none with DB's. i do notice that when my 'xref' command does not work, it's time for an Acad restart, as the rest of the system's failure is soon to follow... ;)

Sometimes the machine stays on for days and days. Shuts down only for the weekend. But more often than not, I shut the PC down at end of play. Generally, I don't have any problems with AutoCAD even when the computer stays on all week. The problem with the DB's occured in both situations (PC on all week and PC shutting down for the night). And in some cases, I had to shut down and restart multiple times to make the DB's work.

[Inferno6919]

I shut the machine down every night (ok, ok not every night but most times). I have noticed in the past that performance started going downhill when the pc stayed on for ages but I never imagined that DBs would be affected by it. And also I had the same situation with lmitsou and Max. I rebooted the machine and restarted AutoCAD but the blocks didn't get their dynamicness back. It just happened one day unexpectedly. And I still get dead DBs too.

[Rico]

So it looks like Chris is the only person in the entire world not affected by this issue. He must have one of those "perfect computers" ;) :razz:

[Inferno6919]

So it looks like Chris is the only person in the entire world not affected by this issue...

:idea: So Chris... are you interested in switching places?????


...He must have one of those "perfect computers" ;) :razz:

I could definitely do with one of those! :banghead:

[Chris.N]

So it looks like Chris is the only person in the entire world not affected by this issue. He must have one of those "perfect computers" ;) :razz:in over 6 years of being here, this is at least my 4th one... does that make a difference?

[Chris.N]

:idea: So Chris... are you interested in switching places????? :lol: not a chance! ;)

[Inferno6919]

:lol: not a chance! ;)

Mmmm... didn't think so!!! Fair enough! :(

[Rico]

Mmmm... didn't think so!!! Fair enough! :(
Pouting won't help. ;)

He's cold hearted like that. :razz:

[rao_krish_2004]

Unfortunately, when I click on the block and go to properties, I can't see any DB properties. Just the normal block properties.

Thanks for the reply though. Very disappointing that is, with the dynamic Blocks.



Hi,

I had the same problem of losing dynamics once scaled down, or aligned.
I found through autodesk website the following lisp to fix this

Pleasek make use of it

Thanks

Krish

[whdjr]

Hi,

I had the same problem of losing dynamics once scaled down, or aligned.
I found through autodesk website the following lisp to fix this

Pleasek make use of it

Thanks

KrishThis Lisp may work, I don't know I didn't try it, but all it does is reinput the scales so I don't think it will work any more than manually reinputing the scales as mentioned earlier in this thread.


So it looks like Chris is the only person in the entire world not affected by this issue. He must have one of those "perfect computers" ;) :razz:
I have to back Chris on this one, I too have not encountered this issue.

[pbrumberg]

I too have seen this problem and noticed that I can correct it by resetting the scales. Note that all scales have to be the same (you can't have 1 for the z when the x/y are set to 2). I wonder if the number of significant figures you use in your units could have some effect on this?

[Rico]

This Lisp may work, I don't know I didn't try it, but all it does is reinput the scales so I don't think it will work any more than manually reinputing the scales as mentioned earlier in this thread.


I have to back Chris on this one, I too have not encountered this issue.
just cuz you haven't experienced it yourself doesn't mean the issue doesn't exist.

[whdjr]

just cuz you haven't experienced it yourself doesn't mean the issue doesn't exist.:Oops: no no no...Please don't read that as Me saying "I haven't had the issue so you must be crazy". I was was just simply responding to your comment to Chris that you couldn't believe he was the only one that had not had this issue. I am not doubting you or the issue. Sorry if I misspoke I was not intending any harm.

[Inferno6919]

Hi everyone,

Did anyone find a solution to this problem yet? It is very frustrating (still). Did Autodesk do anything about it? Please let me know.

Thanks,

:beer:

[Rico]

Hi everyone,

Did anyone find a solution to this problem yet? It is very frustrating (still). Did Autodesk do anything about it? Please let me know.

Thanks,

:beer:
I don't think there IS an answer to this one yet. It still happens to me from time to time. And it's happened to a few other users. The best I can offer is to keep sending notices of the error to AutoDESK and keep asking them to provide a fix to this issue.

[Inferno6919]

I don't think there IS an answer to this one yet. It still happens to me from time to time. And it's happened to a few other users. The best I can offer is to keep sending notices of the error to AutoDESK and keep asking them to provide a fix to this issue.
I found a post saying that if you change DYNMODE to a different value other than 3 and then switch it back to 3 all blocks get their dynamic properties back. Tried it but it didn't work.

Unfortunately, to me it happens more than "from time to time" and it is quite frustrating.

Oh well...

Thanks for the reply Rico

:beer:

[artisteroi]

I have seen something similar before. When you bring in a block in a drawing that is zoomed way out such as a landscape file, after placing the block and then zooming in close the block no longer has its abilities what has actully happened is that the dynamic grips are outside of the view. usualy the delete the block then undo will reset it also there is the command 'resetblock' that will restore it to its original state but if you've made changes you will loose them

[SRBalliet]

I had the same problem with the Align Parameter. I did a search, found this thread and tried the "re-enter the scale in the properties dialog box" and it worked for me! The grips came back!

[bshank.140587]

Reviving this thread....Anyone have any new info on the magical mystical disappearing DB grips? Ive tried every suggestion in this thread and cant get the grips back nor can I edit them in the properties palette....the entire "custom properties" tab is gone.

[Chris.N]

Reviving this thread....Anyone have any new info on the magical mystical disappearing DB grips? Ive tried every suggestion in this thread and cant get the grips back nor can I edit them in the properties palette....the entire "custom properties" tab is gone.
can you post a shot of the properties of the block in question?

[bshank.140587]

Sure can....

The first pic is the block NH_Brick Section - Standard, hilighted but without grips and the custom tab missing from properties.

The second pic is the same block working properly with grips.

Something I just noticed in taking the shots...the one that works was somehow renamed with "OLDOLD" at the end. Never in my lifetime have I named anything that way and Im the only one here working in this drawing...interesting.

Both screenshots were taken within the same drawing.

[Chris.N]

only Q is, are you SURE you're the only one opening up and saving this drawing? of so, i have no other advise except to resume your :banghead:

[bshank.140587]

There are no guarantees on that BUT I do know that noone would have changed a block name...especially a DB as most people here are skeered of em, lol.

Banging continues I guess....

[Zuke]

Hey guys, i had this problem well i still do and i tested it with my blocks by recreating them over and over....

Long storey short have you got that block option "Scale Uniformly" set to Yes or No

No allows scaleing (with the properties dialog box, not the command) but removes DB functions.

Yes disallows scaling (with the properties dialog box, not the command) and allows you to keep the DB functions.

Well this helped me out heaps but i hate scaling stuff manually, id rather select a bunch of DB and use the properties menu to scale them up / down. (mostly this effects attributes in blocks)

Hope this helps

As always sorry about the spelling...

[macha]

Hi guys,

I have a thing going on with dyn blocks.
I've created a simple dyn block with stretch and align actions. Works fine BUT when I opened my dwg next day all dyn properties are gone and block name is renamed to U36. Inside the block editor nothing. So, I've inserted my original block and again works fine, next day same thing all over again.
I must mention that this loosing properties thing occur after applying the stretch action.
I attached a dwg if anyone would like to take a look.

Any suggestion would be appreciated

[jmcbride.161140]

I have not had this issue since moving to 2010... That being said, I have found another employer AND AM BACK USING 2008. Guess what? Having block issues again. Has ANYONE ever gotten a solid answer or fix for this bug? It is driving me up the wall, again, 2 years after I had it happen last time!

[RobertB]

I have not had this issue since moving to 2010... That being said, I have found another employer AND AM BACK USING 2008. Guess what? Having block issues again. Has ANYONE ever gotten a solid answer or fix for this bug? It is driving me up the wall, again, 2 years after I had it happen last time!The solid answer is: rounding issues cause the block reference to become non-uniformly scaled.

The bug fix is: manually fix the scales to be uniform.

[jmcbride.161140]

The solid answer is: rounding issues cause the block reference to become non-uniformly scaled.

The bug fix is: manually fix the scales to be uniform.

As previous posters have said as well, rescaling does not fix the problem. (For me at least) I forgot to mention that I had annotative attributes in my block (which have worked flawlessly until now). The only way I was able to fix it was by deleting attributes, save block, ATTSYNC, re-enter block editor, add new Non-annotative attribute and go from there. Of course all will be well until tomorrow when I re-open the drawing! It seems to be fixed for at least the job Im working on. Like I posted, I had no problems with 2009 or 2010.

[RobertB]

As previous posters have said as well, rescaling does not fix the problem. (For me at least) I forgot to mention that I had annotative attributes in my block (which have worked flawlessly until now). The only way I was able to fix it was by deleting attributes, save block, ATTSYNC, re-enter block editor, add new Non-annotative attribute and go from there. Of course all will be well until tomorrow when I re-open the drawing! It seems to be fixed for at least the job Im working on. Like I posted, I had no problems with 2009 or 2010.I've found that if the DBlock is annotative, the attribute definitions are more reliable if they are not annotative.

[wroebuck]

I have seen this issue a few times as well. Here are a few cases I've found:

1) If a dynamic block is mirrored using the mirror command the z value is modified to 1. So the scale for z is no longer 0. This can get wierd if the DB has a flip state already included. Any time the scales are modified the DBs can lose there abilities. I have seen users mirror a DB vs using the flip parameter & this is the result.

2) Nested blocks in the DB. If the DB contains blocks that are already defined in the drawing. When you insert & tell AutoCAD to overwrite the DB definition, Autocad gets caught in a loop trying to redefine all the blocks within as well. You have to be careful if nesting.

A fix I've found is to wblock out the DB to my desktop. Then re-insert the block & overwrite the block definition. But if either of the above examples still exist in the drawing the dyn props will not come back.

[seneca06]

I was having this issue. I found that one of my scales (meaning x,y,or z) did not match the others. Check this, to see if it fixes the problem.

[nextvkin]

Just had this problem with one of our drawings (ACAD 2007), and the problem seems to be when a dynamic block is PASTED (not inserted) in a UCS which is miles away from the WCS.
I did a couple of tests -
1. Reset offending drawing to WCS, pasted it in, it was OK. Setting it back to the miles-away UCS it was not, but inserting it was not a problem.
2. Opened a new drawing, created a new UCS only a few metres away from WCS, pasting was not a problem.

Also found that JAC.95598's solution works