Bug: Thumbnails always auto-update

I believe this has been reported previously, but in both the Block Manager and the Named Views tab, the thumbnails still update ignoring the auto-update box being unchecked. This happens when I change one linked block to another in the Block Manager.

R5 SR4 x64

Hi Greg,

Can you explain more about what your workflow is and when you see the thumbnail update in a named view? I see them update here only after a save (which I always assumed was by design). Do they update for you then too or just when changing a linked block? If you have a sample file and the linked block that might help too. I haven’t been able to reproduce an unintended update yet here.

Thanks for looking into it, Brian. Just made a test file here and I have the same problem - not sure what we’re doing differently. Here’s my workflow:

  1. Run BlockManager
  2. Select block name, go to properties, choose a different linked block.
  3. Hit OK and new block is shown in the Block preview thumbnail and Named view tab, even though auto-update is not checked in either.
  4. Close block manager.

In attached, open test_block_thumbnails and replace linkedblock_1 with linkedblock_2.
Test files zip

Hi Greg,

I asked around on this one and haven’t found a good answer yet honestly. In my opinion the thumbnail should change if the geometry is changed because the thumbnail is really just a saved view. So the camera position stays the same but what the camera sees changes. The Auto-Update feature is used to control the update of the thumbnail during object transformations in my understanding but would still be forced to update upon a save which seems correct to me given the previous reasoning that the thumbnail is a saved view and not a saved static raster image.

I filed this regardless though as RH-19817 and we’ll see what development says here. Thanks for the feedback, it’s appreciated.
(This is not publicly visible yet… but that’s planned)

Thanks Brian.

In the block manager, the checkbox is called “Block Preview”. If unchecked, there shouldn’t be a preview! With very complex blocks, it can take a very long time to create that preview. That is why I leave it unchecked.

I see what you are saying with regard to the auto-update on the Named View - it won’t update when geometry is moved. However, I have the same problem that views can take a very long time to refresh with complex geometry and/or multiple views. I know about the list view mode, but prefer the thumbnails. I can understand if they refresh on block changes, but still would prefer they didn’t unless auto-update is checked.