{"id":3327,"date":"2015-09-02T11:39:52","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T10:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3327"},"modified":"2015-11-03T15:07:04","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T15:07:04","slug":"spotlight-on-features-why-can-i-not-edit-linked-to-file-blocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/09\/spotlight-on-features-why-can-i-not-edit-linked-to-file-blocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on Features: Why can I not edit linked to file blocks?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You edit a block and get the following message:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"colorbox-7783\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/fig0.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So, why can I not edit linked to file blocks?<\/p>\n<p>First, let\u2019s define the concept of blocks. There are block instances and block definitions. What you see inserted in the drawing sheet area are block instances (Fig. 1)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"colorbox-7783\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/Fig12.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>All the same block instances belong to a block definition. The block definition is \u201cembedded\u201d into the drawing file and is only shown in the drawing feature tree (Fig. 2)<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"colorbox-7783\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/Fig21.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When you edit a block (by right clicking on an instance) you are editing the block definition (Fig. 3) . A change to the block will propagate to all the block instances in the drawing.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"colorbox-7783\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/Fig31.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A block instance linked to its file (Fig. 4 ), makes the block file a block definition.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"colorbox-7783\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/Fig41.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Editing a linked block from a drawing could have severe consequences. Imagine a linked block file that is used in many drawings. This block file could be referenced by hundreds of drawings and in countless instances. You are working on a drawing, need to make a change to the block instance for this particular drawing or circumstance, you edit the block, change it. What is suppose to happen? There could be 2 scenarios:<\/p>\n<p>1) Change the block file. If this happens, then all the drawings in which this block is used will also change. Clearly this is a dangerous proposition<\/p>\n<p>2) Change only that specific block instance. This is a reasonable option. However, this block is linked to a file. Therefore, it cannot be different from the block definition\/file.<\/p>\n<p>Hence, in order to edit a linked block, you must unlink the block instance from the block file. Now, the block definition will exist only in the drawing. You can now proceed and edit this block.<\/p>\n<p>Originally posted by Mario Iocco In the <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/tech\/2015\/07\/spotlight-on-features-why-can-i-not-edit-linked-to-file-blocks.html\" target=\"_blank\">SOLIDWORKS Tech Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DoubleRedArrow.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2090\" src=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DoubleRedArrow.png\" alt=\"DoubleRedArrow\" width=\"15\" height=\"10\" \/><\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/products\/products-solidworks\" target=\"_blank\">Find out more on SOLIDWORKS<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DoubleRedArrow.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2090\" src=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DoubleRedArrow.png\" alt=\"DoubleRedArrow\" width=\"15\" height=\"10\" \/><\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/company\/contact\" target=\"_blank\">Contact Sales<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DoubleRedArrow.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2090\" src=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/DoubleRedArrow.png\" alt=\"DoubleRedArrow\" width=\"15\" height=\"10\" \/><\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/demo-request\" target=\"_blank\">Request a Demo<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mkt.solidworks.com\/emarketing_enu\/start.swe?SWECmd=InvokeMethod&amp;SWEMethod=StartSS&amp;SWEView=URLRouter&amp;SWEApplet=SSRoute&amp;SWENargs=SSId=1-3IX8UQC,SSName=REP+ENG-INTL+SW+Inspection+Feature+Article,SSLC=,SSCC=,CID=1-3J990KL,OID=1-3IX3OU9,COID=1-3J990KM,PRO=1-NKZ7N\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3005\" src=\"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/REP_SWInspection_FeatureArticle_728x90_ENG.jpg\" alt=\"REP_SWInspection_FeatureArticle_728x90_ENG\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/REP_SWInspection_FeatureArticle_728x90_ENG.jpg 728w, https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/REP_SWInspection_FeatureArticle_728x90_ENG-300x37.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You edit a block and get the following message: So, why can I not edit linked to file blocks? First, let\u2019s define the concept of blocks. There are block instances&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[66,37,25,26],"class_list":["post-3327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidworks","tag-drawings","tag-hints-tips","tag-solidworks-2","tag-support"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3327"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3662,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3327\/revisions\/3662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}