The Block Manager is new to version 5 of TurboCAD and is a way to manage your symbols, but it can be used to manage any object in your drawing that you will use repetitively. The Block Manager gives you the ability to edit a block and the edits will automatically be applied to every block in the drawing. The blocks become part of the drawing file and thus shared with others in your work group. You can also apply your own names to the blocks.
To use the Block Manager, select from the menu bar "Window" -> "Blocks". This will place the Blocks palette in your drawing space at the bottom of the tool palette and is movable. There are two icons in this palette, the top one is "Insert a Block at a point" the other is "Insert a two point Block".
Hold down the option key and click either icon. The Block Manager window will open and present you with four options, New, Edit, Delete, and Rename. Select New and a new drawing page will open. At the bottom right corner a blue "Exit" box appears and a small black circle divided into four parts is in the center.
At this point you can choose to import a symbol from the "TurboCAD Explorer" Symbols tab or you can elect to draw your own block. Once you have entered your new block object you now need to think about how you want to place it in your drawings. The center of the black circle is the point that the block will locate itself on your drawing when you place it. The center of this circle does not have a "snap to" point, so go to "Menu" -> "View" -> "Show Axis". This will provide an "Origin Point" in the center of the circle to snap to. Now select the entire block and grab the block at your placement point and move it to the center of the circle. When you are done click "Exit". To check the block, hold the option key and click a Block icon, the Block Manager will re-open. If the block needs some adjustment then click Edit and make the changes, then "Exit" any Blocks already placed on the drawing will also be changed. You can add another Block by clicking New, or you can delete a Block by selecting "Delete". Delete will delete the Block from the Manager and all instances in the drawing, you will get a warning message on this. The last option is Rename. Enter the name you want into the box and click "Rename". Dismiss the Manager by clicking on OK.
To set a block in the drawing select the "Insert a Block at a point" icon then click on the drawing at the point where the block is to be set. The "Insert a two point Block" icon allows you to place and rotate the block. If you have several different blocks, first hold down the Option Key and select one of the Block icons. The Block Manager will appear. Select the block to be placed and click OK.
If there is an object or symbol on a drawing that you want to become a block, select it then control click or right click on it. In the window that pops up select "Save to block". This method is also used to create a block from an imported file type since it will not import directly into the Block Manager. One point to note is if you edit this block the original source object will not change. Consider deleting the original object and replace it with the block just created to avoid that issue. The last item is the count of the blocks in the Block Manager. The Block Manager does not decrement when a block is removed, not a big problem but I hope IMSI will fix that.
