How to Use AutoCAD Groups to organise your geometry

At the command prompt, enter group. · In the Object Grouping dialog box, select the group name from the list of groups. · Under Change Group, select Explode. HowtoUseAutoCADGroupstoorganiseyourgeometry October2009 PaulMunford 11Comments AutoCADTutorials AutoCAD’sGroupscanbeusedtocollectgeometrytogetherthathasdifferentpropertiesorisondifferentlayers. Onceasetofdrawingelementsaregroupedtogetheryoucanselectthemwithonepickandmanipulatethemasiftheywereoneobject.GroupsareslightlymoreflexiblethanPolylines,Butslightlyless useful thanBlocks. DoyouuseAutocadGroups?Yes-Frequently Yes-Occasionally No-Never ViewResults  Loading... CreatingGroups Groupsareeasytocreate:StarttheGROUPcommand,enterthenameforanewgroup,select‘NEW’,andselecttheobjectsthatbelongtothenewgroup. apre-selectedgroup Allthisgroupedgeometryisselectedwithasinglepick Groupshaveuniquenames,thereforegroupscanbeselectedbyname.Theobjectsinyourdrawingcanbemembersofmorethanonegroup,andgroupsthemselvescanbenestedinothergroups. TIP:Avoidcreatinglargegroupscontaininghundredsorthousandsofobjects.AlargegroupsignificantlydegradesAutoCAD’sperformance. Unlikepolylines,groupscancontainmanydifferentelements,theseelementscanhavedifferentpropertiesandcanbeondifferentlayers. UnlikeBlocksitispossibletoaddorremovegeometryfromagroupasyouareworking. UnlikeBlocksyoucaneasilyeditanelementthatispartofaGroup. UnlikeBlocks,whenyoucopyagroupanew,‘un-named’setofgroupedelementsiscreatedthathavenolinktotheoriginalgroup. NOTE:‘Un-named’groupsshouldreallybecalledautomaticallynamedgroups. Groupsaresavedfromsessiontosession,butarenottransferablebetweendrawingslikeBlocksare. YourgroupnameisnotmaintainedwhenyouuseadrawingasanX-referenceorinsertitasablock.However,ifyoubindandthenexplodetheX-referenceorexplodetheblockthegeometrywillstillbegroupedunderanautomaticallycreatedname. TIP:Groupsaregoodfororganisingmultipledynamicblocks. ToCreateaGroup Whenyoucreateagroup,youcangivethegroupanameanddescription.Ifyoucopyagroup,thecopyisgivenanameautomaticallyandisconsideredunnamed.Unnamedgroupsdonotshowupinthedialogbox,unlessyoucheckthe‘Includeunnamed’box. Groupnamescanbeupto31characterslongandcanincludeletters,numbers,andthespecialcharactersdollarsign($),hyphen(-),andunderscore(_)butnotspaces.Yourgroupnameisautomaticallyconvertedtouppercasecharacters. Atthecommandprompt,entergroup. IntheObjectGroupingdialogbox,underGroupIdentification,enteragroupnameandanoptionaldescription. IntheCreateGrouparea,clickNew–Thedialogboxwillclosetemporarilytoallowyoutomakeyourselection. SelectobjectsandpressENTER. ClickOK. Commandentry:GROUP SelectingGroups WhenyouPickanentitythatispartofagroup,thewholegroupisselected.IfyouwanttoselectindividualentitieswithintheGroupyoucanturnofgroupselectionforthatonespecificgroupusingthe‘Group’command. Withthe‘ObjectGrouping’dialogopenselectthegroupyouwanttoeditfromthelistandclickonthe‘Selectable’button. TIP:ItisusuallyquickertoturnoffGroupselectiongloballybypressingCTRL+HonyourKeyboard.PressCTRL+HagaintoreturntoGroupselection.ThiskeyboardshortcutiscontrollingthePICKSTYLEsystemvariable,whichalsocontrolsAssociativehatchselection PICKSTYLEValues 0Nogroupselectionorassociativehatchselectionpickingonasingleentitywillonlyselectthatentity. 1 Groupselection,Pickingonanentitythatispartofagroupwillselectthewholegroup. 2 Associativehatchselection,pickingonahatchwillselecttheboundarygeometrythehatchisassociatedwith. 3 Groupselectionandassociativehatchselectionapply. Youcanselectagroupbyname.Type‘Select’atthecommandprompt,thentype‘Group’orjust‘G’forgroupselectionandhitreturn.Youwillbepromptedtotypeinthenameofyourgroup. Wheneveryouarepromptedforaselectionyoucantype‘G’andhitreturntoselectbygroup. TIP:Thegroupnamepromptisnotcasesensitive. Whenyouselectagriponanentitythatispartofagroupthewholegroupisselected,butonlythegripyouhaveselectedwillstretch.Anyoftheothergripeditingoptions,suchas‘Copy’or‘Move’willapplytothewholegroup. TofindaGroup’sname Tofindthenameofagroup Atthecommandprompt,entergroup. IntheObjectGroupingdialogbox,selectthe‘Findname’Button. Youwillbepromptedtopickagroup Thegroupnamewillbedisplayed ClickOK. Commandentry:GROUP TIP: AgroupnamebeginningwithanAsteriskisan‘Un-Named’group. TofindaGroup TofindtheagroupbyName Atthecommandprompt,entergroup. IntheObjectGroupingdialogbox,selectthegroupnamefromthelistofgroups. Whilstthegroupnameishighlightedselectthe‘Highlight’Button. Thegroupwillbedisplayed,highlightedonthegraphicsscreen. ClickContinue. Commandentry:GROUP TIP:Doa‘Zoomall’ora‘ZoomExtents’beforeyoustartthe‘Group’command,Ifthegroupyouarelookingforisnotonthegraphicsscreen,youwon’tseeithighlight! TIP: Checkthe‘IncludeUnnamed’boxtoincludeanyun-namedgroupsthatmightbeinyourdrawing. DeleteGroups Ifyoudeletesomegroupedgeometry,thegeometrywillbegonebutthegroupdefinitionwillremaininthedrawing.Youcandeleteagroupdefinitionbyusingthe“explode”optionintheObjectGroupingdialogbox. Thisoperationisnotthesameasexplodingablock,hatch,ordimension.Objectsthatbelongedtotheexplodedgroupremaininthedrawing,thegroupisdisbandedbutthemembersarenotchangedinanyotherway. NOTE:Unpopulatedgroupsarenotremovedbythe‘purge’command Todeleteanamedgroup Atthecommandprompt,entergroup. IntheObjectGroupingdialogbox,selectthegroupnamefromthelistofgroups. UnderChangeGroup,selectExplode. ClickOK.Thegroupisdeleted. Commandentry:GROUP OtherOptions OtheroptionsintheObjectGroupingdialogbox,allowyoutoaddorremovegeometryfromagroup,Re-orderthegeometrywithintheGroupandreviseagroup’snameordescription. Ifdeletinganobjectorremovingitfromagroupleavesthegroupempty,thegroupremainsdefinedbutwithoutanygeometry. TIP: Explodinganobjectsuchasablockinstanceorhatchthatbelongstoagroupdoesnotautomaticallyaddtheresultinggeometrytothegroup. TIP:Ifyouenter‘-group’atthecommand,theObjectgroupingdialogboxwillbesuppressedandthevariousoptionswillbeavailableatthecommandprompt.Thisallowsyoutouseobjectgroupingaspartofascript,commandmacrooractionrecordermacro. Groupsareaquickandeasywayoforganisingdrawingelementsthatneedtostaytogether.Withalittleforethoughtcreatinggroupscansaveyoutimethroughoutyourproject. Willyouusegroupsmoreoftenfromnowon!Yes,definitely! No(Pleaseleaveacommenttotellmewhy) ViewResults  Loading...   Ifyouneedamoreneedamorepermanent solution togrouping geometry –Readthisposton AutoCADBlocks! AutoCADEdit 11Responsesto“HowtoUseAutoCADGroupstoorganiseyourgeometry” Kuci 4yearsago Thank’smaster! PaulMunford 4yearsago ThanksKuci:) JeffHaney 4yearsago Ihavealwaysfoundgroupstoslowdownourdrawingsandcausecorruption. PaulMunford 4yearsago HiJeff, Ihaven’texperiencedthis. HaveyoueverpostedanyofyourproblemfilesontheAutodeskforums?Itwouldbegreattoseesomeexamples?https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/bd-p/706 Paul PeteStrycharske 6yearsago Reallynicearticle,Paul!Keepupthegreatwork,hopealliswellandhaveamostblessedday! PaulMunford 5yearsago ThanksPete:) AutocadTraining 7yearsago Ihavegonethroughyourarticleandit’sjustanamazingarticle. ThanksPaulMunfordforpostingsuchawonderfularticle.Keepposting. JohnMartin 11yearsago IreadyourpageonGroups: ThismaybethereandImissedit(forestforthetreesthing): Ihavedeletedsomegroupsbuttheirnamesarestillinthelist.Soastobesurenottomesswithagroupthatmaystillexistbutisnotvisible(e.g.layerturnedoffetc.),istherea(quick)waytodeterminewhichgroupsdoordonotstillexist? PaulMunford 11yearsago HiJohn, LikeBlocksGroupshaveadefinitionthatisseparatetothegeometry.IfyouhavedeletedthegeometryoutoftheGroup,withoutdeletingthegroupitself,theGroupdefinitionwillstillshowupintheGroupdialogue. Takeareadofthisarticle,tofindoutmoreaboutdeletingemptygroupdefinitions:HowtooptimizeyourAutoCADDWGdrawingfiles IfyouhavedeletedALLcopiesofaGroup,itwillnolongershowupinthedialogue–soifyoucanseeitinthedialogue,theremustbeacopyofitinyourdrawingsomewhere. TheonlythingIcansuggestistomakeallyourlayersThawedandOn,zoomextents,andusethe‘Highlight’buttontoidentifywherethegroupis. Ihopethatthishelps, -Paul- Fred 10yearsago HiPaul CouldyoutellmehowcanIUsemygroupedobjectsintoanotherCADdrawing?IcangroupobjectsandgivethemavalidnamebutwhenItrytocopy/Pasteitintoanotherdrawing,theydonotshowupasGroupsandnogroupnameisinthelist.AmIdoingsomethingwrong?Isthereawaytodothis? Regards Fred PaulMunford 10yearsago HiFred, Thisappearstobealimit.Welldoneforturningitup.Windowsclipboardappearstostripoutallbutthebasicgeometryasyoucopyandpastebetweenfiles. Itshouldn’tbetootrickytore-groupobjectafteryoucopyandpaste.YoucouldautomatethiswithaMacro: ^C^Cpasteclip;\-group;create;*;;\\; Foundhere:http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=212140 Paul Copyright©Cadsetterout.com2022   LoadingComments...   WriteaComment... Email(Required) Name(Required) Website