Introduction to GstarCAD Express Tool: Block Break

What is Block Break and how does it help?

Working with block references are essential in some industry such electrical schematics, piping, etc.

In some cases we might need to insert block references into a cable line. Normally, we need the cable line to break where the block reference is inserted. In other cases, we just need to accurately place the block reference and no breaks needed where the overlap happens. With this useful tool, users can either wipeout or breaks an object overlapped by a reference block.

How to access Block Break in GstarCAD?

There are two ways to access the Block Break in GstarCAD:

1. From Menu: Express > Blocks > Block Break, as shown in the following picture,

2. Enter BLOCKBREAK, as shown in the following picture,

Then press Enter, the Block Break dialog box will pop up, as shown in the following picture,

Let’s explore the Block Break dialog box!

Name: List all blocks available in the drawing.

Browse: Click Browse to open specific drawing file.

Pick: We can manually pick an existing block reference in the current drawing, after click Pick, users are prompted to Select object, as shown in the following picture,

Scale: Scales the block reference size according to X, Y and Z coordinates. Uniform Scale option keeps the block reference in the original size.

Rotation: Users can rotate a block reference by entering the angle value or just check the Aligned box to keep it aligned.

Process mode: The Process mode includes Break and Shelter. If the Break box is checked, the background object breaks when a block reference is overlapped, as shown in the following picture,

If the Shelter box is checked, the background object is wipeout when a block reference is overlapped, as shown in the following picture,

A step-by-step tutorial