How do Blocks work?

[tedg]

this point is defined with insbase.

Yes that is correct, it defaults to 0,0,0 but you can select another point to define the insertion base point in a drawing using that command.

[cpearson804651]

Question 1) If I chose to create blocks and keep all those blocks in one drawing. Can I just put them all in my main Template.dwt? Or would 200'ish block bog down that file too much, and that isn't a good practice?

I would say not to keep all your blocks in the template, partly for file size/performance reasons. The other, much bigger reason is for the security of your blocks. I would strongly caution you to not save them all in one drawing… it sounds reasonable, but it only takes one file getting corrupted to mess up tens or hundreds of hours of work. I know there are probably temp saves and bak versions, but it’s not worth the risk.

Question 2) If I chose to keep each block as a separate block in a folder called "Blocks" what is the proper way to get them there? And how do I edit them if needed? Using BEDIT doesn't seem to edit the block in the main folder

This doesn’t exactly answer your question, but one super helpful thing is using ADCENTER to redefine your blocks. Say you update and improve a block and you want it in your drawing instead of the old version. If you insert into a new drawing, it will be the new one, but if you insert it into a dwg that already has a block defined with the same name, it will not overwrite the existing version. That’s by design, but if you are wanting to update the block, open ADCENTER, then in the left side of the window, navigate to the dwg that has the new version, expand it and click Blocks. It will show you all the blocks in that drawing on the right side. Pick the one you want to update, right click and select Redefine Only and all instances of the block will be updated in your drawing.

[mike.boyles567056]

I'd definitely recommend keeping all of your blocks in your template file and using Design Center to drag and drop them as needed. Once I have everything I need in a certain file, I purge everything else out to trim down the file to make it as efficient as possible. I also find it easier to manage dynamic blocks.

[Nick Antonov]

[QUOTE=Patrick G;1354266]I kind of wish there weren't so many ways to skin the cat.

Question 1) If I chose to create blocks and keep all those blocks in one drawing. Can I just put them all in my main Template.dwt? Or would 200'ish block bog down that file too much, and that isn't a good practice

In my case I found this useful for Company standard blocks we are using, different callouts, section symbols, annotations ,etc.
I used to have them in a "library" folder as separate DWGs , and when I create a custom Tool pallete with all DWG blocks Insert works Ok, BUT, a big BUT Redefining of the block is not working if the blocks are separate DWGs.
Which made me insert all DWG blocks in a single drawing, and then trough Design Center Right click on the "collective" file , then Create Tool Pallete , and Voala, I can Redefine the blocks if they exist in the destination drawing.
This is just DWG with collection of all standards we need , not DWT .


By the way the new introduced BLOCKS tab, is quite confusing, To find the "Browse for external DWG" is quite challenge at first.. Maybe for new gen AutoCAD users is Ok, I suppose was "improved" to aid us and put all in one tab?

[Tom Beauford]

I'd definitely recommend keeping all of your blocks in your template file and using Design Center to drag and drop them as needed. Once I have everything I need in a certain file, I purge everything else out to trim down the file to make it as efficient as possible. I also find it easier to manage dynamic blocks.

Same here!
Few more command that used in macros make using blocks in a template file easier:
ADCNAVIGATE Loads a specified drawing file, folder, or network path in the DesignCenter Folders tab for quick access to the blocks in that template.
-INSERTCONTENT Inserts a drawing or block into the current drawing. Put a space after -INSERTCONTENT then the file path followed by a semicolon for enter. As spaces are often found in file paths a space cannot be used for entering the file path, they really should have provided a few examples in the help file for this command.

BASE Command Sets the insertion base point for the current drawing saved in the INSBASE system variable.