Hello,
Is there a way of editing a linked block inplace?
When you try to edit a linked block a new instance of Rhino is opened. Although sometimes this may be conveniente, in other situations you may need the context for your changes.
Ideally, you should be able to edit the block as if it would be an embedded block.
Thanks,N
I’m a bit confused this is still not possible. Even AutoCad has edit-in-place for linked files. It is very hard to edit the linked files when it needs to reference other files. Is this not possible?
+1
This would be very useful, for example, to be able to access snaps to other objects outside the block. 
Hello- would you then expect the changes you make to be saved back to the linked file?
RH-82630 Edit linked blocks in place
Note this is very, very unliklely to be implemented anytime soon, if ever.
-Pascal
Yes, that’s the idea.
Thing is, Autocad can open multiple files in one instance, and Rhino just one. That’s why another instance has to be opened.
Anyway, +1 to the wish!
A suggestion:
It is now necessary to fully close the block editing Rhino instance to finish the block editing. Would it be possible to finish block editing by just saving the file, instead of closing?
The time consuming part is waiting for another Rhino to start.
Also, maybe any empty, open Rhino instance that sits around idle could be used for editing the linked block?
I could live with the fact that a second Rhino instance is necessary, if it were just faster. Keeping a second Rhino with an empty scene in the background, just for block editing, could speed things up.
At least solve the issue that happens when you edit the linked block. see linked topic.
N
I am always hesitant to use linked models solely because of this issue. Do you say it’s very unlikely to have this implemented because it’s technically too difficult, or McNeel doesn’t see its usefulness?
I Pascal,
Thanks for registering a track.
I’d like to add a clarification regarding my last comment. The difficulty might not lie where I initially thought, at least in my case.
I’m using linked blocks for two main purposes:
Organizing a file: I reference certain parts outside of the main file. This allows me to separate the components, toggle their visibility or activation, without duplicating layers. However, if I need to snap to other parts, I end up having to create a sort of cross-referencing. Perhaps worksessions would be better for this, but I can’t tell since I’m working on a Mac.
Maintaining groups: When I use embedded blocks, all my groups get exploded within the block, which ruins my work. I use groups frequently to overcome a specific issue: hatches. To have a hatch with a border of a different color or width, I have to duplicate its boundary. To avoid confusion, I group the hatch and its border, allowing me to modify them together. However, I can’t use embedded blocks without losing all these group relationships. As a result, I often work outside of my main drawing to create linked blocks while preserving groups, which can be quite tricky to relate or snap to other objects.
I’m also facing a similar issue with linetypes, which require a comparable workaround.
Dual color linetype - #13 by Helvetosaur
So the issues are perhaps more to do with the groups and their relationship to the blocks, file organisation possibilities (and improvement of certain tools) rather than linked blocks themselves.
With a python script this is possible. In my company we have a script that also does this (but it also does a hole lot more so sharing the code/part of the code would be quite difficult).
I’ll take a look around the web to see if I can find a script that resembels our script.