Controlling visibility by user input method. (Not by the list.)

[Ykang.236078]

Say you have 12500 different styles of windows.
We want to have 1 window block with a visibility or a list parameter.
When the block is done, we would like to type the window style number on the quick property window to extract what we want.
That's because the list would be ridiculously long.

How the heck do you do this?
I will call you a DB master if you can solve this problem.
If you can't solve this, you are just like one of us. LOL.

[Chris.N]

can you break it down some more, say, like the animal kingdom?

There may be 1 million (or so) insects in the world, but some are ants, some are beetles, and some are crickets, etc.

you may have a window kingdom right now, but can you break it down into their 'phylums', or even 'classes' of windows?

[rjohnson42]

Say you have 12500 different styles of windows.
We want to have 1 window block with a visibility or a list parameter.
When the block is done, we would like to type the window style number on the quick property window to extract what we want.
That's because the list would be ridiculously long.

What differences are there between the styles of windows? Are they simply dimensional? Or are there others?

Basic practice involves using one visibility parameter per "style" (if the style is more than just a dimensional issue) and then using a lookup table in conjunction with the visibility parameters to achieve a list of, in this case, windows, to choose from.

I'm a little concerned that there are "12,500" different "styles". Could you be more specific?

I agree with Chris that if you do in fact have that many styles, you should break them up into groups and then create DBs. Otherwise, you'll have one, big DB and I'm not sure AutoCAD will hand it very well. However, it is possible.

[fkellogg]

I had a dynamic block of some windows from a particular company.
I had a plan, section, and elevation of the basic single window.
With the whole thing, there was a width and a height. Any change to either parameter changed any view of the window. I think I had the stretch parameters by lists of available sizes.
I say all this in the past tense because I don't have 2006 any more, and I can't test what I have.

Therefore, I am including a drawing with several of these inserted, so someone else can test them. Some portions of these blocks work the way I wanted, and some parts were "work in progress" The exact details of the cross sections of the extrusions have been simplified from cad files from the window makers.

On the confusion note, there are many types of windows; single-hung, double-hung, casement, sliders, fixed, etc. etc. I don't know if you would want to put ALL of them into ONE block, but I could see having a block for each type.

In any case, once you get everything working, it should be a simple matter of setting the properties through the Properties pallette. I can't see a huge lookup list for all options. Height and Width cover most primary window options, for residential construction. Architects I have seen keep windows very generic, so builders or clients can choose the window brand they prefer.

Happy Blocking.
Set your alarms for noon on thursday, for Alice's Restaurant!