Navigation:  CAD Basics > Collections >

Blocks

Previous pageReturn to chapter overviewNext page

Description

A block is a collection of objects you can associate together to form a single object, or block definition. You can insert, scale, and rotate a block in a drawing. You can explode a block into its component objects, modify them, and redefine the block definition.

 

Remarks

Blocks streamline the drawing process. For example, you can use blocks to

Build a standard library of frequently used symbols, components, or standard parts.

You can insert the same block numerous times instead of re-creating the drawing elements each time.

Revise drawings efficiently by inserting, relocating, and copying blocks as components rather than individual geometric objects.
Save disk space by storing all references to the same block as one block definition in the drawing database.

When you insert a block in your drawing, you are creating a block instance. Each time you insert a block instance, you assign a scale factor and rotation angle to the inserted block. You can also scale a block instance using different values in any coordinate (X, Y, Z) direction. Blocks make it possible for you to organize your drawing tasks in a systematic way, so that you can set up, redesign, and sort the objects in your drawings and the information associated with them.