Breaking blocks into individual elements is a very frequent and necessary operation when performing a drawing. Suppose the user needs to make changes to a block, but deleting it and drawing a new one is irrational. To do this, there is a block “exploding” function, which allows you to edit block elements individually.
In this article we will describe the process of breaking a block and the nuances associated with this operation.
Breaking a block when inserting an object
You can explode a block immediately when inserting it into the drawing! To do this, click on the menu bar “Insert” and “Block”.
Breaking drawn blocks
If you want to explode a block that has already been placed in a drawing, simply select it and in the Edit panel, click the Explode button.
The Explode command can also be accessed from the menu. Select the block, go to “Edit” and “Explode”.
Why doesn't the block break?
There are several reasons why a block may not break. Let us briefly describe some of them.
We showed several ways to break a block and looked at the problems that can arise when doing so. Let this information have a positive impact on the speed and quality of your projects.
In our detailed lessons. Using the Explode editing command, you can separate complex objects into their components (the individual primitives that make up the object). Using the dismember command in Autocad is very simple. On the "Home" tab in the "Editing" panel, you need to select the "Explode" command, and then select the objects that you want to split in the AutoCAD workspace. Press Enter to confirm execution of the command.
How to dismember a block in AutoCAD
As a rule, a block is a complex object consisting of a collection various elements. Sometimes there is a need to edit one of the blocks, that is, to break it down in Autocad, so that the original description does not change. To learn how to explode a block in AutoCAD, it is advisable to use the “Explode” command when the block is already present in the drawing. However, it should be taken into account that the meaning of the attributes is removed after dismemberment (only their description remains).
The command to dismember in AutoCAD. What can it be used for?
So, using the “Explode” command in Autocad, you can:
Split a polyline in AutoCAD (when it is split, information about the width is lost);
Dismember hatching and dimensions (in this case, the associativity between all elements is lost);
Split an array in AutoCAD (associative);
Split array coordinate axes, created using the SPDS module (moreover, this command must be executed twice).
Thus, you already know how to split an object in AutoCAD and how to split a drawing in AutoCAD (if for some reason it is a solid object). The “Explode” command is quite often used when working in the program. Therefore, be sure to work through this material in practice and look at our other lessons, which is correct.
Before we move on to actually creating and using blocks, we need to finalize the current drawing.
1. Create four new layers: Children’s (line color index – 214), Balcony (color index – 174), Doors (color index – 116) and Windows (color index – 66) and assign the Children’s layer as current.
Note. As you can see, in this case we create layers based on the functionality of the objects on them.
2. Launch the tool Rectangle and start creating a rectangle by choosing as the first vertex the point that is on the left top corner working area.
3. When prompted by AutoCAD to specify a different point, enter relative coordinates @4920,–2850 to create internal contour nursery walls.
4. Use the tool Zoom within limits to scale the drawing along the boundaries of the newly created rectangle.
5. Launch the tool Similarity, set the offset to 350, select either side of the nursery's wall outline, and then set the offset direction outward from that outline.
6. Use the tool again Zoom within limits to scale the drawing along the boundaries of the second rectangle, which will represent the outline of the external walls in the drawing (Fig. 7.3).
Rice. 7.3 Internal and external contours of the walls of the children's room
7. Click on both rectangles to select them, and then run the tool Dismember toolbars Change. An alternative launch method is to use the menu command Edit » Explode or by entering commands in the command window Dismember or her nickname calculation.
8. Team Dismember will report in the command window that it has found two selected objects and will immediately exit. At first glance, nothing has changed. However, if you try to click on the two rectangles you just created again, you will see that they are now separate lines rather than a single object.
9. Shift the top and bottom lines of the external walls 150 mm inside the nursery, and then delete the original lines.
10. Trim the protruding segments of the left and right vertical lines of the outer walls formed after the displacement along the horizontal lines shifted inward.
11. Shift the right vertical line of the outer wall contour to the left by 850 mm. Then shift the resulting line to the left by 800 mm. Apply the command Similarity two more times, moving the last line to the left by 810 mm, and then the resulting line to the left by 700 mm.
12. Use the command again Similarity to shift the lower horizontal line of the contour of the external walls upward by 800 mm, and then shift the resulting line upward again by 600 mm. The result should be as shown in Fig. 7.4.
Rice. 7.4 Auxiliary lines for creating doorways have been created
13. Apply the tool Trim to trim the wall lines along the auxiliary lines in order to obtain doorways, as shown in Fig. 7.5.
Rice. 7.5 Creating the outer contour of the balcony
14. Set the Balcony layer as current and run the tool Rectangle and start creating a rectangle by selecting the upper left corner of the outer contour of the walls as the starting point (Fig. 7.5).
15. To set the second point, enter relative coordinates @–1250, –3250, and then use the tool Zoom within limits to adjust the scale according to the dimensions of the drawing.
16. Move the balcony outline inward by 100 mm, then use the tool Dismember to divide both rectangles into separate lines, delete the right vertical lines of both contours and extend horizontal lines the inner contour of the balcony wall to the outer contour of the nursery wall (Fig. 7.6).
Rice. 7.6 Contours of the balcony and walls with doorways created
Now, having prepared the “platform”, we can begin to create blocks, which will be used as drawings of windows and doors.
They are rightfully considered very necessary and useful tool. Many experts call them the crown of drawing automation; they guarantee the efficiency of the result and the safety of data. But despite their undoubted benefits, sometimes the question of how to break a block in AutoCAD leads to tangible difficulties.
How to split a block in AutoCAD.
Therefore, in the article we will consider in more detail how to divide a block in AutoCAD. What to do in a situation where the program does not allow you to perform this operation.
Breaking a block in AutoCAD 2015 is an extremely popular and necessary operation when creating drawings. For example, the user plans to make certain changes in its composition. But his plans absolutely do not include creating a new one or deleting an existing one - after all, this would be a completely irrational, additional action with a significant waste of time and effort.
In order to perform such an operation without additional effort, it was precisely possible to split a block by editing its individual elements individually.
How to dismember blocks in AutoCAD 2015 - from theory to practice
Of course, we won’t re-describe it - so let’s look at effective ways correct division. First of all, when we insert a block into our drawing, we can check the “Explode” checkbox.
If we are working with a block that is already in the drawing, we will use the “Explode” editing command. It is enough to activate it and select the block we need to divide it into separate elements. In this case, the description itself remains the same, and the object, when divided, becomes the original set of primitives.
But we have to admit that despite all the usefulness and convenience of this command, it does not always work in practice. The problem can be caused by several main reasons, which we will talk about in more detail.
Why doesn't it break?
There are four possible reasons, which prevent us from performing the necessary operation:
Block won't split - where to allow splitting
As we have already noted, with each addition you need to check whether you forgot to check the “Allow dismemberment” checkbox. But what to do in a situation where it has already been created, was regularly used in the drawing and cannot now be deleted.
Luckily we have effective recipe to solve this problem as well. There shouldn’t be any particular difficulties - just follow a series of steps:
We have looked at effective methods that are suitable for all cases of such a gap. It is unlikely that even the authors of AutoCAD can claim that they were able to foresee absolutely all situations - but we tried to do this by collecting up-to-date information from the recommendations and reviews of reliable experts.
