Block Name Conflict

Serengeti (Rhino WIP)
1

Maybe it’s just me but I’m consistently finding this UI confusing. The two cases where I see it and I’m confused are Copy, pasting a block and editing a linked 3dm (you return to this UI). I guess the language is funny? Is “Model” supposed to mean the pasted, new model? or the model that’s being merged with the live model, “file”? Yes I understand it now but this was my confusion.

This is how I think of it…
"This action creates a block name conflict for “Houses.3dm”. Which block do you want to use?

New block
Old block
Both Blocks"

2

Obviously you can’t have two different block definition in the same file with the same name.

The “Model block” is the one in the model you’re in.
The File block" is the block with the same name in the file you selected.
“Both” is a suggested concatenation of the file name it’s coming from combined with the block name.

Does that help?

3

I like your suggestion… I wonder if using “Existing” instead of “Old” would be as clear?

"This model already has a block named “Houses”. Do you want to:

( ) Replace with block from clipboard (or “Houses.3dm”)
( ) Keep existing block
( ) Use both:
New block name: _____________________

3 Likes
4

My impression is that he gets it, but that it takes thought every time he sees this dialog to figure out the correct answer. I agree that “model” and “file” do not do a good job of communicating “The model that is open in this session of Rhino” and “The linked file or object on the clipboard”.

1 Like
5

Sorry I wrote this on the way out the door and it doesn’t explain that well. yes I’m just complaining that the wording is unclear. Especially when pasting between files the Model/File language doesn’t work. I’m pasting Model elements (from the clipboard) into a saved file. That’s the opposite of the language. Anyway. Semantics. I like your language brian but I was trying to save the per-case coding. Since it’s a new dialogue users will see often it seems like it should be very clear, rather instructors/CAD managers get “blarrr I upgraded to Rhino 6 and now I’m getting this stupid error all the time”

I would also add that when a new instance of rhino is launched to edit a block, you should never see this dialogue. It risks clicking the wrong one and erasing your edits.

6

I don’t think Rhino currently displays this dialog when you double-click to edit a block. Do you see otherwise? If so, please explain how to reproduce it - it’s a bug we need to fix.

7

I’m no longer seeing it and cannot reproduce. If I see it again or can figure out what I was doing I’ll update.

8

I agree that it not clear. Shouldn’t it ask if you want to overwrite the existing block definition with the new one?

9

2 years on I still find it confusing. The language is ambiguous. The file you’re currently importing to can be described as a model and a file. The imported model can also be described as a model or a file.

Suggestion:
The current model has a block with the same name as the importing model.What do you want to do?

  • Keep current block
  • Replace with imported block
  • Keep both blocks
    (the imported block will be renamed …)
4 Likes
10

I like that language a lot. Thanks for the idea. Logged as RH-49936.

1 Like
11

So I would like always to keep the current block. For every file and every model. When I choose Model Block and choose “do this for all block name conflicts”, it doesn’t stick. The next time I import the block, it asks me the same thing. Admittedly, I’m a little slow. . . .so, what am I missing.? Is there some way to set this sort of globally?
Does it matter whether I’m importing or inserting a block. Man, if I could get rid of that little box, it would make my life a lot easier.:roll_eyes:
Thanks a lot for any help.

1 Like
12

Bingo, super concise!

13

Note that this language change has already been made in Rhino WIP.

2 Likes
14

Hi guys, can you bump this up on the list?
It is still very confusing.

I think the first option should be to keep the block that I already have in the file that I work in, not the one I paste from… but am I working in the model, or the file?

The only logic to me is that I am not pasting in a file, since it is stuff on the clipboard, so that MUST be the Model… or is it…? It is hard to be sure on what the programmer thought and the undo is a bit scary on those things so I would like to feel confident on making the right choice.

image

1 Like
15

I feel 100% the same way. It’s fifth time I’m reading this thread and I still don’t know which option I should click. :frowning:

For me this is a detail that should totally be changed in the current Rhino 6, not in WIP which is not meant for everyday use.

Thank you,
Jonas

1 Like
16

I came to this thread when I ran into this problem again today and had to think hard whether the current file I’m working on is the “model”’ or the “'file”’

It’s been over three years since this thread was originally opened and we’ve still not seen an update. It seems like a consensus has been reached that the language is confusing. I’m not going to pretend I know anything about software programming but the change seems easy enough. I’d like to see this on the next update of Rhino 6. I’m currently on 6 SR19.

2 Likes
20

I just noticed that the change has been implemented in the latest version of Rhino!! Thanks @brian and the rest of the team. You’ve used the exact language posted by @Andrew on this thread which is awesome and what makes me love the community here.