Convert Text to Curves from inside nested blocks

Rhino
1

I need to export a lot of blocks as separate IGES files to my CAM program, and it will not save text annotations in IGES files because there is no definition for it in the IGES format, but I find that IGES is the most compatible in every other way, my geometry, layer names, colors, and all other attributes all come in just fine. My goal with the text is to machine it with the CAM program, so the Text was all done with the SLF-RHN Architect font… it’s a single line font, and I found that I can convert it to curves with the Explode command, and the curves I end up with are excellent for engraving.

The method I use is to just highlight my final block, then do Export Selected and save just the selection to an IGES file. What I would like to do, is select the whole block, then convert the text to curves, perform the export, then undo the convert to curves, so that it’s still editable text in my main drawing.

The problem is that the text not on the main block that I select, it’s nested several times… so it’s in a block in a block in a block. I can’t do a blockedit once I’m already editing a block, and it’s tedious to extract all the nested blocks to be able to do a blockedit on the ones that have text so I can explode the text. I would like to find a solution that is easy to undo and that does not require that I disrupt the structure of the main block.

I am creating it like this on purpose and not using the text object because I want to be able to change it by just typing the new text in the main model. It’s part of a whole procedure that works well for me… except for converting the text to curves from inside nested blocks without exploding all the blocks, or manually extracting the nested portions.

I really just want to hit one button and all the text in a selected block is converted to curves no matter how deeply nested it is, do the export, then undo the convert to curves. Any suggestions on how this could be done?

2

HI James -

Yes, you can. You just have to select the correct nested block in the Block Edit dialog box.
-wim

1 Like
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!!! Really??? that would save me SOOO Much time!
I am constantly extracting blocks from blocks to edit them.

hold on I’m going to go see this…

!!! I can’t believe I never knew this !!!

That changes everything!!! and I did type many more ! than showed up here

@wim Thank you SO MUCH for letting me know this!!! I would have NEVER guessed that those were selections to edit the nested blocks. I kept trying to hit the blockedit button a second time, which does nothing… so I just thought, you can’t edit a block in a block like that. In fact, I keep copies of the nested blocks all over the place to make it easier to edit them, but I do not like them around at all, it clutters everything up, and as soon as I get done typing this, I’m going to go delete them all, because I don’t need them, I can just select them from the list

it is NOT obvious, at least to me, that selecting those from the list would edit those nested blocks. I have been working on this for YEARS and doing it a stupid way because I did not know I could just click on those over there.

If the window with the nested blocks had a nice title like “Select Nested Block To Edit” I would have known this the first day I used Rhino. Of course now that I know about this, it seems so obvious… but many times until you know a thing, it’s really not obvious at all. I also must point out that my CAD/CAM package CANNOT edit a block in a block… so when I hit the block edit button a second time and nothing happened, I figured Rhino couldn’t do it either.

If the if the Block Edit dialog was modified to look like this, it would have saved me SOOOO much time over the years. I’m sure there are others who never knew this that it would be helpful to, and even if it only helped a very few people, it would take less than 1 minute to put in there and would never hurt.

suggestion
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Ok, so problem solved.. and MANY other problems solved!!!
This changed the entire way I organize my large projects… I can’t even start to say how much this is going to help me.

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I think that’s how most people, myself included, would want it to work, or double click a block in a block.

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I keep trying to select the block itself instead of the text in the window… because that’s how I edit the initial block. This would be a drastic improvement because some of my nested block lists are quite long… but I can pick out the block I want pretty quickly.

Maybe V8 and just change blocks for you if you select a block while in blockedit…

I have been using this feature… but a few times now, it got into some mode where selecting the block I want does not change to editing that block. I haven’t figured out what causes this, but I did figure out that exiting blockedit, then going back into it fixes the issue.

Even though I encounter this quirk from time to time… it’s still a massive improvement to my workflow to be able to switch blocks like this! Sometimes I need to get the intersection of a line in one nested block to a plan in a different nested block, and all I have to do is switch to the block with the line in it, copy the line to the clipboard, change to the block with the plane in it, paste it, draw the intersection, then delete the copy of the line. I was doing it this way before, but I didn’t know I could just change blocks… so I was constantly extracting blocks and putting them somewhere, then opening them to get the line, then going back to the other block… etc…

Also converting my text to curves for the export has become super easy now. It doesn’t matter how many nests deep it is, I can get to it quickly.