Block properties table

Dynamic blocks created in AutoCAD can include a block properties table: a list of predefined combinations of values for their parameters (visibility state, distances, angles…) and attributes. In AutoCAD, you just pick a row of the table and the block takes all of those values at once.

When you open these drawings, ZWCAD keeps the block properties table but doesn’t let you use it. DWGExplorer adds that capability: it reads the block’s table and applies the row you choose.

Open a block’s table

There are two ways to do it:

Shortcut menu: select a single block and right-click. The Block properties table… option only appears when the selected block has a properties table.
Command line: type DWGBTABLA. If a block is already selected, that block is used; otherwise, the program asks you to select a dynamic block.

If the selected object isn’t valid, the command line shows one of these messages:

The object is not a block.
The block is not dynamic.
The block has no block properties table.

Choose a row

The Block properties table dialog box shows the block name and a table with:

one row for each row of the block properties table, numbered in the same order as in AutoCAD;
one column for each parameter or attribute in the table.

The row that matches the block’s current state is selected and shown in bold. Columns that DWGExplorer can’t link to any parameter or attribute of the block are shown in gray: they are for information only and aren’t applied.

Select the row you want and click Accept, or double-click it.

How the row is applied

DWGExplorer assigns the row’s values in this order:

The visibility state.
The other dynamic parameters.
The attributes.

Empty cells don’t change the block. When it finishes, the command line shows which row was applied, plus a warning for each value that couldn’t be assigned; for example, if the block doesn’t have one of the parameters or attributes in the table.

As with any other command, you can undo the change.