Contents

• A note on customizing blocks
• Properties that can be changed
• How this block is used
• Changing the way sliding glass doors appear

A note on customizing blocks

It is highly recommended that when you want to customize a block that you make a copy of the original block and put the copy in the "Custom" folder. Edit the copy in the "Custom" folder leaving the original file intact. We also recommend that you place any new blocks you create in the "Custom" folder as well.

Put all new and customized blocks here so they will go with you when you upgrade.

When any of the APS commands look for a block they look in the custom folder first and then in either the Planblks or Elevblks folders. By doing this you keep a copy of the original file (just in case something should go wrong or you want to go back to the original) and you keep all of your customizations centrally located which makes it easier to take your customizations with you should you move to a new computer. Also, future version upgrades to the APS software will copy any customizations in the "Custom" folder and use them with the new software saving you the hassle of setting it up again.

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Properties that can be changed

Attribute	Default value	Comments
Layer	0	We don't recommend changing this
Color	BYBLOCK	We don't recommend changing this
Linetype	BYBLOCK	We don't recommend changing this
Lineweight	n/a (all blocks are saved in R13 format)	Can be made byblock in AutoCAD release 2000+
Geometry		See below for how to change the block that the C-SLIDER and O-SLIDER commands insert.

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How this block is used

The block that is used for this command is scaled with different X and Y values when inserted. The X value is always 1.0 and the Y value is the width of the door. By inserting the block this way it is automatically "stretched" (scaled) to fit the opening. The block that you need to modify does not look like the block shown above until the sliding glass door commands scale them. The block actually looks like this in it's raw format:

While this allows us to use only one block for the door it does introduce some inaccuracy when the door size is very large or very small. This block was drawn using 6'-0" as the size that proportions are accurate (4" door frames). To illustrate this, first a 6'-0" door is shown here:

Now if the door is much wider the proportions are stretched.

For a narrow door the reverse is true.

We feel that this is an acceptable practice because doors drawn in a floor plan are symbolic in nature and therefore do not need to be dimensionally perfect.

If you feel strongly that this practice is NOT acceptable please let us know and we will take it in to consideration for future releases.

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Changing the way sliding glass doors appear

The block that we will be replacing is called "aps-sgdr.dwg" and is located in the ...\APS\Planblks folder. This block can also be copied to the "Custom" folder and edited directly but due to the scaling of the block many find it less difficult to modify the block using the steps below.

Open a drawing and use either the C-SLIDER or O-SLIDER commands to insert a 6'-0" wide door in a wall as shown. The orientation of the door is important so make the wall vertical and insert the door with the exterior side to the right.
Either move the door away from the walls or erase the walls.
Draw a line from the insertion point of the door block to an arbitrary point away from the block. This line is simply to help you locate the insertion point again once the block has been exploded and modified.
Explode the block.  The funny blob that appears in the middle of the block is the height attribute definition. Do NOT erase it!
This is the point at which you may make any necessary changes to the block geometry.
Now make sure that all the lines (and any other objects) are all on layer "0" and the color, linetype, and lineweight for all of the objects are "BYBLOCK". The CHLAYR, CCOLOR, LTYPE, and LNWEIGHT commands can help with this.

We will now create a temporary block. Type in "BLOCK" at the command line and when asked for a block name type in "SGDTEMP". When asked for an insertion point select the endpoint of our "insertion placeholder line" as shown here:

Then when asked to select objects, select all the door objects. (all the objects that are shown white here) Don't select our "placeholder line". (the brown one) 

Now we will insert the block that we have just created, but instead of inserting it normally, we will shrink the Y scale factor so that our block will be only 1 unit tall.

 In this case since our block was 6'-0" (72") long we will insert our block with a Y scale factor of 1/72. Our insertion point will be the endpoint of our trusty "placeholder line"

Once the block is inserted we will explode it.

We will now make a  Write-Block.

Type WBLOCK at the command prompt. You will see one of the following:

Release 2000 and later

Release 14 Release 13

Release 13    Locate the "...\APS\Custom" folder, enter the block name (aps-sgdr.dwg) and press "OK". Press <Enter> when prompted for a block name.

Release 14    Locate the "...\APS\Custom" folder, enter the block name (aps-sgdr.dwg) and press "Save". Press <Enter> when prompted for a block name.

Release 2000 and later    Enter the block name (aps-sgdr.dwg) and the location should be set to the "...\APS\Custom" folder. Verify that the source is set to "Objects".

Release 13/14 When asked for an insertion point use the endpoint of our trusty "placeholder line" again. As before, the objects to be selected are all the door objects. (the ones shown here in white.)

Release 2000 and later    In the "Base point" box select the "Pick point" button and select the endpoint of our "placeholder line" again. Next press the "Select objects" button in the "Objects" box and select all of the door objects (the ones shown here in white). Finally press "OK".

We have now created a new sliding glass door block that will be used every time we insert a sliding glass door.

Note: All the APS commands will look in the Custom folder first when searching for a block. This means that you can leave the old "aps-sgdr.dwg" block in the "Planblks" folder as a backup. 

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