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Thread: Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

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    Question Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

    The company I work for sells a managment system for their installations. The system will show an overview of e.g. a plant. It uses block information in CAD to replace te blocks with picto's in the overview. To replace a block with a picto, it needs:
    - a block reference
    - a "TYPE" tag filled with a type description
    - an "Address" tag filled with the unique address of the block
    Some of our components have multiple adresses. So what I would like to do is make a block with multiple blockreferences (not a block with nested blocks, because the attributes become un-editable/unapproachable). That way, the system should be abe to relate multiple references to the corresponding multiple addresses and replace them by pictos. Is it possible to make such a block? I don't have "Dynamic blocks" available in this company, so I can't use that fancy stuff.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

    I am not sure if I understand your question, but block can handle multiple Attributes, which you can use as block references.

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    Default Re: Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

    Thanks for the response. What I'm referring to is the "blockreference" as used in coding. If you want to find a block in your drawing (which is actually a database) you can search through the database to find elements described as "blockreference". These are the blocks in the drawing, and normally 1 block will be registered as 1 blockreference. I am hoping to solve the above situation by making 1 block with multiple blockreferences at the same level (not nested, not a block with blocks inside).

    The way the situation has been solved so far, is by inserting a seperate block for each address. But the bossman is no longer appeased with this solution and wants it to become 1 block / unit. If there's a way to group multiple blocks so they stick together (again, without making them nested: the attributes need to be editable) that would also suit the situation.

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    Default Re: Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

    It's not exactly what I was hoping for, but maybe the "Group" option will suffice. I have grouped seperate blocks, and can switch the group on/off with Ctrl + Shift + A. Perhaps this will do. When the group is turned off, the attributes are editable. Still, if there are more fancy options I'll be more than happy to hear them.

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    Default Re: Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

    short answer -- no. each block reference is a unique entity, with its own unique properties (They may be duplicated properties, e.g. BlockName, but unique in that any block instance is independent of any others.

    What you can do is have multiple attribute definitions as part of the block definition, each with a unique tag, so each block instance can multiple attributes, all editable. so TYPE1, TYPE2, TYPE3, etc, and ADDRESS1, ADDRESS2, ADDRESS3 and so on.

    So as I'm understanding your situation, that would be a mess.

    Might help if you post a sample drawing.... as I'm not at all sure we are communicating correctly

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    Default Re: Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

    Quote Originally Posted by cadtag View Post
    short answer -- no.
    Thanks, and yes you clearly understood the question. Before I posted I wanted to go for the solution you mentioned (Address1, address2, etc.) but the bossman (who doesn't understand much of CAD or CAD automation) wanted all blocks to have te same attributes, which presented me with a new challenge. It seems I'll just need to stick to groups, so thanks for taking the doubt away on other options I don't know about.

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    Default Re: Multiple blockreferences in 1 block

    Groups have a couple of peculiar properties. The one "gotcha" that gets a lot of users is the groups disappear with WBLOCK, which a lot of people use as a generic drawing fixer.

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