Prev: Annotation Tools

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Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Place blocks along polyline vertices.
Command line : GT_PL_PLACE
See Under Polyline Tool Set 1

GT_PL_PLACE Tutorial

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Convert Blocks to Points
Command line : GT_BLKSHP2P
See Under Conversion Tools

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Convert Points to Blocks
Command line : GT_P2BLKSHP
See Under Conversion Tools

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Globally modify block properties
Command line : GT_MOD_SHBL

Globally changes the block and shape properties like scale factors, rotation angles, relative scaling, relative rotation etc.

What to Modify?
Choose either Blocks or Shapes here. The subsequent dialog box will allow only the selected object type to be selected.

Property to modify
Select here either Scale Factor, Relative Rotate, Absolute Rotation Angle or Relative Scale as the case may be.

Enter value for selected property
Enter a destination value for the property specified above.

Rotation/Scaling Options
Under this heading, it is possible to specify the base point of rotation or scaling. The base point is always specified in relation to the  insertion point of the block or shape. The Base Point can either be the insertion point in which case the Rotate/Scale about insertion point  should be checked. If this is unchecked, the other options can be used to specify X and Y offset distances from the insertion point measured in the direction of the block or shape inserted at angle zero. These offset distances are measured in the direction of the rotation angle (X Offset) and the direction perpendicular to it (Y Offset).

If the Scale XY offsets by XY scale factors option is checked, the X and Y offsets entered are considered to be for as unit scale and if the block or shape has a non-unity scale factor, the offsets are also multiplied by this value.

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Globally extract block attributes and other properties
Command line : GT_ATTEXT
See Under Export Tools

GT_ATTEXT Tutorial



Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Globally extract bock attribute tags into an ASCII file
Command line : GT_TAGEXT
See Under Export Tools

GT_TAGEXT Tutorial

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Transfer attributes from one block to another
Command line : GT_ATTXFER / GT_AX
GT_ATTXFER transfers attributes from one block to another. You can specify the source attribute tag name and the target attribute tag name to transfer or let GT_ATTXFER do an automatic transfer of all similar named attributes between source block and target block. The source and target blocks need not be the same block name.

The GT_ATTXFER command brings up the dialog box each time for setting the parameters. To go directly to the command, use the AX command at the command prompt.



Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Explode only nested blocks
Command line : GT_EXPLODENESTED
GT_XPLODENESTED explodes only nested blocks i.e blocks which contain atleast one block (INSERT) object within its definition. Any non-nested blocks objects if selected will be ignored by this command.


Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Global attribute editor
Command line : GT_ATTEDIT
GT_ATTEDIT allows to edit attributes of a block globally.

Specify block to process: Select the block name to process.

Pick Block: Use this option to visually pick a block [ INSERT ] object from the drawing and that will be the currently selected block.

Select Block: Displays a dialog box of currently defined blocks in the drawing. Choosing one of them makes it the currently selected block.

Select Attribute: For the currently selected block, all the defined attributes are shown here. Choose one of them for the global editing purpose.

Edit criteria: Choose one of the edit criteria here.

Set same value: Sets all selected attribute tags with the same value specifed in the Value to set box [see below].

Find / Replace: Finds all occurrences of the attribute string and replaces it with a new string value. These values are specified in the Find String and Replace String box [see below].

Trim characters from start: Trims the specified number of characters from the start of the attribute string.

Trim characters from end: Trims the specified number of characters from the end of the attribute string.

Add prefix: Adds a prefix at the start of the attribute string.

Add suffix: Adds a suffix at the end of the attribute string.

Decrement: Computes the numeric value of the attribute and decrements it by the specified value and updates the attribute.

Increment: Computes the numeric value of the attribute and increments it by the specified value and updates the attribute.

# of chars to trim: Specify the number of characters to trim (either from start or end)

Prefix/Suffix string: Enter the prefix or suffix string to add here.

Value to set: Enter the constant value for the attribute to set here.

Amount to increment: Enter the amount by which the attribute value should be incremented.

Amount to decrement: Enter the amount by which the attribute value should be decremented.

Find String: For Find/Replace, specify the string to find here.

Replace String: For Find/Replace, specify the string to replce here.

Embedded search: Checking this option causes the search to look for embedded string patterns also and they will be replaced with the Replace String.

Case Sensitive: Checking this option causes the search to be case-sensitive.

GT_ATTEDIT Tutorial

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Multiple blocks property redefinition
Command line : GT_MREDEFINE

The GT_MREDEFINE command is used to re-define properties of multiple blocks at once. This command operates on the block definition and redefines a number of properties within the block definition and re-groups the blocks. All instances (insertions) of the block is automatically updated.

Property to redefine:

Layer: Changes the layer of all block entities to the name specified in the LayerName edit box.

Color: Changes the color of all block entities to the value specified in the Color edit box.

Elevation: Changes the elevation value of all block entities to the value specified in the Elevation Edit Box.

Thickness: Changes the thickness value of all block entities to the value specified in the Thickness edit box.

Property Value:

LayerName: Enter the layer name to be used for processing. If the name entered does not exist in the drawing, irt will be created.

Color: Enter the name of the color to be used.  The color value can be specified as Red, Green, Yellow etc or as a number from 1 to 255.

Elevation: Enter elevation value to be used.

Thickness: Enter thickness value to be used.

Select blocks to process: Select block(s) that you want to be processed. Multiple selection is allowed using the Shift and Control keys.



Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Replace one block with another.
Command line : GT_REPBLK 


 

This command is used to replace all insertions of one named block with another. The source block must be defined in the drawing while the destination block can be defined in the drawing or available as a DWG file. When Blocks with attributes are replaced, their attributes also will be transferred, where possible. The number of attributes in the two blocks need not be the same. As many attributes as possible will be transferred. If there are less number of attributes in the target block than in the source block, they will be lost. If there are more attributes in the target block, they will be left blank. All extended entity data will be transferred to the target block.

Source Block: Select the name of the source block

Target Block: Select the name of the target block

Block redefinition options:

Read block definition from external DWG: Checking this option allows one block to be replaced with another block of its same name and the updated block definition will be read from an external DWG by the same name as the block name. The external DWG file should be available in the AutoCAD support path.

Read block definition from current DWG: Checking this option allows one block to be replaced with another block of its same name and the updated block definition will be read from within the current drawing.

Reposition target block attributes at source attribute locations: If this option is checked, the target block attributes will be placed at the same location as on the source blocks. If the source block attributes were moved manually, this option ensures that the newly created block attributes will also be positioned at the same location as in the source blocks.

Replace (selection) options:

Select manually: Provides an option to select objects that you wish to move.

Select All: Selects all blocks matching the provided name and replaces them.

GT_REPBLK Tutorial



Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Explode blocks and retain attributes
Command line : GT_XP_ATT
GT_XP_ATT is used to explode blocks, which contain attributes, but this explode results in the attributes to be converted into text entities rather than the attribute definitions (ATTDEFs). This command also defines the GT_ATT2TXT command, which is used to convert attributes to text.
Note : You can expmode unequally scaled blocks also.

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Express block insert with pre-set defaults.
Command line : GT_BLOCKINS
GT_BLOCKINS cuts short the number of keystrokes required for a typical block insertion. Using the GeoTools defaults for scale factors and rotation angle, this command allows blocks to be easily selected from a dialog box of available blocks and placed quickly by just picking the insertion point. 

GT_BLOCKINS Tutorial

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Repeat last block insert
Command line : GT_REPLASTBLK
This is a further improvement over the previous command. It eliminates the need for selecting the block. The last block used by GT_BLOCKINS is automatically used and the only input required is to pick the insertion point. 


Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Zoom to (search) and replace selected text.
Command line : GT_ZOOMTXT or GT_ZT
See Under Text Tools

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Edit block graphics and attribute properties independently.
Command line : GT_BLKEDIT
The GT_BLKEDIT command is a comprehensive block editing tool similar to the GT_MOD_SHBL command. The difference lies in the fact that GT_BLKEDIT allows the block graphics and attributes to be edited independently but globally for all selected blocks.



What to edit?
Graphics Only - The editing changes applied will be effective only to block graphics. The attributes will be left untouched.
Attributes Only- The editing changes applied will be effective only to the selected block attribute. The block graphics will be left untouched.

Specify block name
Use this section to select the block name to process.

Pick block >
Allows to select an individual block to be edited directly from the drawing. This makes it easier to select the blocks to edit by way of a visual pick selection.
 
Property to modify
Choose one of the following properties to modify or action to perform

Scale Factor: Allows block graphics scale factor to be set. For attributes, this property means changing the text height.

Relative Rotate [degrees]: Performs a relative rotate in degrees. Applicable for both graphics and attribute text.

Absolute Rotation Angle [degrees]: Performs an absolute rotate in degrees. Applicable for both graphics and attribute text.

Relative Scale: Allows block graphics scale factor to be relatively scaled. For attributes, this property means scaling the text height.

Style: Applicable to text attributes only

Justification: Applicable to text attributes only

Move [slide] along X rotation direction: Moves the block graphics or attribute text in the direction [ X ] of the rotation angle by the specified amount.

Move [slide] along Y rotation direction: Moves the block graphics or attribute text in the direction perpendicular [ Y ] to the rotation angle by the specified amount.

Other parameters

Text Justification: Allows the desired text justification to be set here. Applicable for attributes only

Style: Allows the text style to be set. Applicable for attributes only

Select Attribute tag: Allows the attribute tag to edit for the currently selected block

Value for selected property: Enter here the numeric value for the currently selected property in the dialog box section above.

See Also: GT_MOD_SHBL command

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Search blocks for text strings.
Command line : GT_SRCHBLK4TXT 
See Under Text Tools

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Transfer text strings as block attributes.
Command line : GT_TXT2ATT

The GT_TXT2ATT command is used to transfer text strings as block attributes. Using this command, you can select a block name and specify the attributes you wish to populate. Each selected attribute can then be populated with selected text strings.

Block Name: Choose the block name to process from the list of available blocks with attributes in the current drawing.

Select attribute tags: For the selected block, this list box displays all the available attribute tags. Choose the attribute tags that you wish to populate. Multiple selection is permissible.

Upon choosing the Ok button, you will be asked to select a chosen block from the drawing. GT_TXT2ATT will then ask to select text objects, once for each of the chosen attribute tags to populate. The text string from the Text object will then be populated into the block attribute. The existing attribute value is  presented as a default. If you do not wish to change it, simply press the ENTER key and do not select a text object.

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Define object table from block attributes.
Command line : GT_DEFATTOD
See Under AutoCAD Map Tools

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Trim Lines, Polylines along intersecting blocks.
Command line : GT_MBLKTRIM
The GT_MBLKTRIM command is used for Trimming Lines/Polylines along Intersecting Blocks.  

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Rename block attribute tags, defaults and prompts.
Command line : GT_TAGREN

The GT_TAGREN command is used to rename block attribute tags. While replacing the tag name in the block definition with a new name, the command also ensures that any repositioned attributes (moved away from their default locations) will be retained at their existing locations. This command also enables you to rename the attribute prompts as well as their default values.

Select block name: Select the block that you want to process.

Select tag to rename: Select the attribute tag that you want to rename.

New tag name: Enter the new attribute tag name.

New attribute prompt: Enter the new attribute prompt value here.

New attribute default: Enter the new attribute default value here.
 

Toolbar : Blocks Tools  
      Menu : GeoTools Blocks Tools Rename block attribute tags, defaults and prompts.
Command line : GT_COMPAREBLKATTS

The GT_COMPAREBLKATTS command compares all blocks in the current drawing (with attributes) and creates a report of all blocks which have the identical attribute structure. This is a good QA and analysis tool to analyze multiple blocks in drawings which may have identical, slightly different or completely different attribute structures.

The report generated by this command tells which of the blocks have identical attribute structure. Accordingly, the blocks may then be merged (replaced by) into one name or the attribute structure of other blocks can be suitably modified to match the desired attribute structure.

Create output report file : Checking this box allows to store the report of comparison in the form of .rpt file

Output filename... : Clicking on this button pops up the save as dialog box for storing the report

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