If You Want to Experiment...

If you'd like to see firsthand how block substitution works, try doing the exercise in Figure 6.20. It shows how quickly you can change the configuration of a drawing by careful use of block substitution. As you work through the exercise, keep in mind that some planning is required to use blocks in this way. If you know that you will have to try various configurations in a drawing, plan to set up files to accommodate them.

Figure 6.20: An exercise in block substitution

You might also want to try the exercise by using Xrefs instead of inserting files as blocks. After you've attached the Xref, try substituting the Tab1 Xref with the Tab2 Xref by using the Browse button in the External Reference dialog box. Highlight Tab1 in the list of Xrefs, and then click Browse and select Tab2. The current file still calls the Xref Tab1 by its original name , but instead loads Tab2 in its place.

Tip  

You can substitute Xrefs in a way similar to blocks as shown in this example.

By now, you might be anxious to see how your drawings look on paper. In the next chapter, you will explore the use of AutoCAD's printing and plotting commands.