Thanks for looking into this.
Yes, you have conveyed the intended function very well.
As for the relevant questions here are my suggestions. Feel free to use or ignore as you see fit.
What might this feature be called?
I used “make block unique” to describe the function as it was inspired from SketchUp that use this terminologi. But a better name might be found. RedefineBlock? CopyBlockDefinition?
Does the command just allow any block instances to be picked?
Yes I don’t know. Are there corner cases where blocks would not be suited for this operation?
Can block instances that reference different block definitions be include in the selection?
I would feel it intuitive that any nested block be included as is in the new definition. Recursive “redefinition” would be possible but I don’t know if it’s worth it. I guess you could BlockEdit and redefine the nested blocks manually afterwards?
Do you pick a single object first to set the filter to a specific block instance?
Maybe follow Rhino logic. If something is selected before running the command use that as selection. If not ask for selecting blocks.
How does the duplicated block definition name get decorated?
Tricky. I just used #1 as numbering and if any #(INT) was present in name I increment that number.
Should this command start a block edit on a the duplicated block?
Not if you ask me. That is a separate command and could be easily macro’ed.
Is this something that would be helpful for Rhino 7.x or should it be a Rhino 8 feature.
Looking forward to deprecating my tools soon
Might I unapologetically point to the last tool in my little collection? SelectSameBlock. It simply selects all blocks of the same definition.
@ejnaren : thanks for your tool, it works really well! Never had any problems with it, and we use it on a daily basis (for a facade study at the moment, with many blocks).
I gather McNeel is working on making these commands ‘native’, but it’s not finished, is it?
SelSameBlock, MakeUnique are w.i.p., and ResetBlockScale is already in Rhino, right?
Thanks!
The ResetBlockScale is in Rhino now and I think called MakeUniform.
The other two tools are not worked on as far as I know, but they are essential and I think if enough people voice their opinions maybe they will be implemented soon.
I want to add my voice in here for making blocks unique as part of rhino. I believe i saw somewhere that a bunch of block manipulation improvements are planned for version 8. Making unique copies, reassign block instances to different definitiones, and being able to easily edit nested blocks are much needed features.
Late to the party again, but here’s my two pennyworth, @ejnaren@pascal .
I agree ‘make block unique’ isn’t ideal. For example, looking at the name you might think that it actually combined similar blocks. And in this context it is actually doing the opposite of making a block unique - it is creating an exact copy of the block content. And whilst leaving the block unchanged it is altering instances.
So, how about DivideBlockInstances? That seems to better reflect what is happening. Cells divide, plantsmen divide perennials and sports classes divide into teams, so there are precedents.
I don’t know. Are there corner cases where blocks would not be suited for this operation?
