CAD Forum - tips, tricks, discussion and utilities for AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit and other Autodesk products [www.cadforum.cz] ARKANCE | CONTACT - CZ | SK | EN | DE
Over 1.096.000 registered users (EN+CZ). AutoCAD tips, Inventor tips, Revit tips. Try the new precise Engineering calculator and the updated Barcode generator. New AutoCAD 2026 commands and variables.
RSS channel - CAD tips RSS tips
RSS discussions

Discussion Discussion forum

?
CAD discussions, advices, exchange of experience

CAD Forum - Homepage CAD discussion forum - ask any CAD-related questions here, share your CAD knowledge on AutoCAD, Inventor, Revit and other Autodesk software with your peers from all over the world. To start a new topic, choose an appropriate forum.

Please abide by the rules of this forum.
This is a peer-to-peer forum. The forum doesn't replace the official direct technical support provided by ARKANCE for its customers.
How to post questions: register or login, go to the specific forum and click the NEW TOPIC button.
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic Closed'redefine block' prompt disappeared
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>
Author
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
mrmattbridges View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 22.Jun.2022
Location: United Kingdom
Using: Autocad 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: 'redefine block' prompt disappeared
    Posted: 22.Jun.2022 at 14:37
Hello

I do a lot of copying and pasting blocks for my work and the 'redefine block' prompt has stopped appearing when I add a block that has allready been used in my drawing. This means that any changes that have been made to the block automaticaly and without warning revert back to match the original version od the block

Can someone tell me how to get this prompt back?

Many thanks

M
Back to Top
philippe JOSEPH View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 14.Mar.2011
Location: France
Using: AutoCAD Mechanical 2017
Status: Offline
Points: 1493 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22.Jun.2022 at 16:05
Hello mrmattbridges, do you copy/paste blocks from an other file ?
Then it's normal for an incomming block to be as the one already in the file.
Press F2 and read the messages after a copy/paste.
If you want to manage blocks on different files you should use the wblocks or xref or copy/paste an exploded block and "re-block" it whith the same name, insertion point, scale, rotation, etc...
Please tell us if this helped or not.
Back to Top
Vladimir Michl View Drop Down
Moderator Group
Moderator Group

Arkance Systems CZ

Joined: 26.Jul.2007
Location: Czech Republic
Using: Autodesk software
Status: Offline
Points: 2121 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23.Jun.2022 at 18:15
Your setting of the EXPERT variable is probably too high - reset it to 0.
Vladimir Michl (moderator)
ARKANCE - https://arkance.world - Autodesk Platinum Partner
Back to Top
mrmattbridges View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 22.Jun.2022
Location: United Kingdom
Using: Autocad 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01.Sep.2022 at 09:21
hi Philippe

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I do a lot of copying and pasting blocks from diferent files and then edit them slightly to suit the new design. On 2017 a warning prompt would appear everytime I inserted a block to ask if I wanted to redefine it, but now on 2018 it just automatically ignores block definitions. I understand that I can get around it by expoding and re saving as a new block, but often I have blocks within blocks and this becomes unworkable - here's the F2 command list. 

P_1_7693_7084.sv$ ...
Command:
Command:
Command:
Command:
Command:
Command:
Command: _pasteclip Duplicate definition of block _ArchTick  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block A$C31DB4BFE  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block A$C5F917E32  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block _Oblique  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block panic button plan  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block colcom 8501 plan  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block speaker OD6-W4 plan  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block Gooding Aluminium 25mm channel  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block HH120400 plan view  ignored.
Duplicate definition of block finnish sauna plan  ignored.
Substituting [simplex.shx] for [simplexd.shx].
Specify insertion point:
Back to Top
mrmattbridges View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 22.Jun.2022
Location: United Kingdom
Using: Autocad 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01.Sep.2022 at 09:24
Hi Vladimir

I checked my EXPERT level and it is set to (0).
Back to Top
mrmattbridges View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 22.Jun.2022
Location: United Kingdom
Using: Autocad 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01.Sep.2022 at 09:41
This is the command prompt that used to appear everytime I inserted a block that was already in the drawing. 





Edited by mrmattbridges - 01.Sep.2022 at 09:45
Back to Top
Kent Cooper View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 12.Mar.2013
Location: United States
Using: AutoCAD2020, 2023
Status: Offline
Points: 686 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07.Sep.2022 at 15:38
I believe it depends on how you put the Block in.  If [in Acad2020 that I have here] you use Copy/Paste of a Block insertion from another drawing, or choose it by double-click from the Blocks chart inside another drawing using the Design Center, it uses the current definition of that Block name in the current drawing, ignoring the difference if the one from the other drawing is not the same.  If you use an INSERT command and choose a drawing file with the same name as a Block already defined in the current drawing, it asks whether you want to redefine it [= your dialog-box image].  If, in the Design Center, you instead right-click on a Block thumbnail with a name the same as one in the current drawing, it offers you the choice whether to Insert using the current definition without Redefining [what you get by just double-left-clicking on the thumbnail], Insert and Redefine, or Redefine only [without Inserting another].


Edited by Kent Cooper - 07.Sep.2022 at 15:40
Back to Top
mrmattbridges View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie


Joined: 22.Jun.2022
Location: United Kingdom
Using: Autocad 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07.Sep.2022 at 16:56
Hi Kent

Using the design centre and right clicking is a workaround I've discovered, but I tend to copy and paste from one large drawing that contains many blocks that I commonly use - a bit like a autocad reclamation yard. I would just like to know if it's possible to turn this prompt back on somehow when you copy and paste - not sure why they removed it?
Back to Top
philippe JOSEPH View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 14.Mar.2011
Location: France
Using: AutoCAD Mechanical 2017
Status: Offline
Points: 1493 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08.Sep.2022 at 08:04
Hello mrmattbridges and Kent, if you copy/paste a block from a file to an other the incoming block will be updated to the existing block in the file.
What Kent offered to you is using the WBLOCK system that is creating a file with the exact name of the block and with the 0,0,0 located at the insertion point of the block, then you have an "external library" of your blocks..
Then when you insert the file that will become a block inside the file in wich you are working the incoming file/block will update the existing blocks and you will be offered to update it or not by a message like when you explode a block and redefine it inside your file ( that was used in old AutoCAD versions).
An other way would be to use the XREF system but then the files are heavily connected to each other, very sensible to any change of name, location, etc. I wouldn't recommand it if you have a good computer or only if you work with a team...
Back to Top
Kent Cooper View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 12.Mar.2013
Location: United States
Using: AutoCAD2020, 2023
Status: Offline
Points: 686 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08.Sep.2022 at 14:05
Originally posted by mrmattbridges mrmattbridges wrote:

.... I tend to copy and paste from one large drawing that contains many blocks that I commonly use - a bit like a autocad reclamation yard. ....

This is what the Design Center is for.  Just navigate in it to that "one large drawing" [it will stay there for the next time] and its Block category, and you can bring Blocks in from it without opening it to copy from.  The option of whether to redefine is an added benefit, but I think the avoidance of opening the source drawing is the greater advantage.
Back to Top

Related CAD tips:


 Post Reply Post Reply Page  12>
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0,104 seconds.
CADforum
CADforum
Tips and tricks, support, utilities, help, discussions on AutoCAD, LT, Inventor, Revit, Map, Civil 3D, 3ds Max, Fusion, Forma, Vault, PowerMill and other Autodesk software (community support by ARKANCE). See About CADforum.
Copyright © 2025 | Advertise with us | Online privacy
ARKANCE - Autodesk Platinum Partner & Training Center & Services Partner
CONTACT:
webmaster.cz@arkance.world | tel. +420 910 970 111
FB LN TW YT TW Blog RSS
.
TOPlist