Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
•
If the Scale Uniformly check box is selected:
Blocks will be inserted with the
same X, Y, or Z scale factors. (Scale Uniformly is selected automatically if An-
notative is selected.)
•
If the Allow Exploding check box is selected:
Blocks can be exploded during or
after their insertion in a drawing.
7. Enter a description for the block in the Description text area.
You don't have to enter a description to create a block, but it's not a bad idea.
Think like a database manager and enter a useful description that will identify the
block to yourself and others.
8. Make sure that the Open in Block Editor check box is deselected.
You don't need to use the Edit Block Definition dialog box unless you're going to
add dynamic features to the block (see Chapter 18 to find out more about dynamic
blocks).
9. Click OK to complete the block definition process.
AutoCAD stores the block definition in the current drawing's block table. The radio
buttons you choose from in Step 5 do the following:
• If you select the
Convert to Block
radio button (the default) in Step 5,
AutoCAD creates a block reference pointing to the new block definition —
the objects look the same on-screen, but they are now an instance of the
block rather than the original separate objects. Most of the time, this is your
best choice.
• If you select the
Retain
radio button, the objects remain in place but aren't
converted into a block reference — they remain individual objects with no
connection to the new block definition.
• If you select the
Delete
radio button, the objects disappear (but the block
definition still gets created).
When you define a block, you can include a special kind of variable text ob-
ject called an
attribute definition.
When you insert a block that contains one or
more attribute definitions, AutoCAD prompts you to fill in values for the text
fields. Attributes are useful for variable title block information (sheet number,
sheet title, and so on) and symbols that contain different codes or callouts. I de-
scribe how to create and use attribute definitions later in this chapter.
