Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Exploding blocks
In regular block definitions (not dynamic blocks), the objects in each block reference act
like a well-honed marching squadron: If you move or otherwise edit one object in the
block reference, all objects move or change in the same way. Usually this cohesion is an
advantage, but occasionally you need to break up the squadron in order to modify one
object without affecting the others.
To
explode
a block reference into individual objects, click Explode on the Home
tab's Modify panel or type
X
and press Enter, and then select the block reference. When
you explode a block reference, AutoCAD replaces it with all the objects — lines, poly-
lines, arcs, and so on — specified in the block definition. You then can edit the objects
individually or perhaps use them to make more block definitions.
If you explode a block that contains attributes, the attribute
values
change back
to attribute
definitions.
This usually isn't the sort of change that you want. If you really
need to explode the block reference, you'll probably want to erase the attribute defini-
tions and draw regular text strings in their place. If you've installed the AutoCAD Ex-
press Tools (not available in AutoCAD LT), you can perform this task automatically with
the BURST command. Just type
BURST
and press Enter.
Both AutoCAD 2012 and AutoCAD LT 2012 have a new NCOPY command that
lets you copy objects contained within blocks without having to explode the
block. (AutoCAD users familiar with the Express Tools may already be familiar
with NCOPY; the command is now in the core of the program and therefore avail-
able to LT users for the first time. In both versions, you can find the Copy Nested
Objects tool on the Home tab's Modify panel slideout (or you can simply type
NCOPY
).
Purging unused block definitions
Each block definition slightly increases the size of your DWG file, as do other named ob-
jects such as layers, text styles, and dimension styles. If you delete (or explode) all the
block references that point to a particular block definition, that block definition no
longer serves any purpose.
