The library

#Finding blocks

Goal: find the right block in the library.

1. Choose the Library tab. The folder tree shows the standard blocks at the top and your own folders below. The number after a folder counts the blocks in it and in its subfolders – only those that match the 2D | 3D switch. Folders without a matching block are hidden.
2. Click a folder – the tiles show all its blocks and those of its subfolders. The root shows everything below it.
3. Or search at the top: type parts of the name or the folder, for example "wash 60". Every word must occur; upper/lower case and the spelling of umlauts do not matter. The search applies on every page, also to favorites, recent and the current drawing.
4. Click a tile – the block is selected (accent frame) and appears in the preview window. A double-click inserts it right away. The tooltip of a tile names the block and its origin.

Options

• Tree and tiles can be made taller or shorter with the bar below them; a double-click on the bar resets the default. The heights are remembered.
• At most 150 tiles are shown – beyond that the line below the tiles says "150 of n blocks – refine the search".
• Below the tiles is how many blocks there are, and how many exist only in the other mode ("3 more only in 2D (switch at the top)").
• A tile without an embedded preview gets a line picture of the DWG; until it is drawn, two letters of the name are shown.
• A folder that cannot be read is shown in red in the tree; its tooltip names the reason.

#Preview

Goal: look at a block from all sides before inserting and choose the base point.

1. Click a tile – the preview window next to the palette shows the block. In 3D with solid and connectors, in 2D only its 2D parts from above, as it looks when inserted.
2. Rotate in the window, choose the display and the view direction.
3. Choose a base point in the window – it hangs at the cursor the next time this block is inserted. A clicked connector too.
4. For a fixture with several connector sets the preview shows the connectors of the set chosen under "Connectors".

The DWG is only read for this – the drawing stays untouched, no undo step. Closed? Gear menu › Preview window › Show brings the window back; Hide turns it off.

#Favorites and recent

Goal: find frequently used blocks again quickly.

1. On a tile click the star at the top right – the block is a favorite (star filled). Or right-click the tile › Add to favorites.
2. The tab with the star shows all favorites from all folders.
3. Clicking the star again (or right-click › Remove from favorites) takes it out again.
4. The Recent tab shows the blocks inserted last, the newest first, at most 20.

Favorites and recent follow the 2D | 3D switch and the search. If a folder is renamed, they move along; a deleted block stays remembered but is no longer shown.

#Adding your own folders

Goal: bring your own block DWGs (office, manufacturer, project) into the library.

1. Gear menu › Folders ….
2. Add – choose a folder with DWG or DXF files, also on a network drive (UNC path such as \\Server\Share\Blocks).
3. On the right give it a name – it appears in the folder tree, the path stays. Below is how many DWG/DXF files and subfolders it contains.
4. OK – the palette reads again, the folder appears in the tree below the standard blocks.

Options

• Remove (or Del) takes an entry out of the list – the files stay on disk.
• Add subfolders makes each subfolder an entry of its own (at most 100). In the Block Library this is rarely needed: the tree shows the subfolders anyway.
• The selected (highlighted) entry is also the place where the block wizard wants to save first.
• By default the folder Custom blocks is in the list (AppData\Roaming\LuaCAD\Bibliothek\Bloecke). The standard blocks are always at the top of the tree and do not belong in this list.

Every DWG and DXF of a folder is a block, subfolders up to eight levels deep are its categories. Folders and files whose name starts with "_" or ".", and hidden files, are not shown. Without any entry the palette shows the hint "No folder set up yet – gear menu › Folders."

#Creating, renaming, deleting folders

Goal: organize the folders of your own library right in the palette.

1. Right-click a folder in the tree to open the shortcut menu – the folder is selected at the same time.
2. New folder … – enter a name; the subfolder is created in the selected folder and is selected afterwards.
3. Rename … – enter the new name. Favorites, recent, the selected block and scale factors move along; blocks already inserted stay in their drawings as they are.
4. Delete … – the confirmation states how many DWGs and subfolders it contains; To the recycle bin moves the folder to the recycle bin (restorable in Explorer).
5. Show in Explorer opens the folder in Windows Explorer.

These entries are unavailable (gray, the tooltip names the reason) for the standard blocks (read-only) and, for rename and delete, for a root – add and remove roots in gear menu › Folders. A name must not contain characters such as \ / : * ? " < > |, must not end with a period and must not start with "_" or "." (the folder would be invisible). If something does not work (for example because a DWG from it is still open), the reason appears at the bottom of the palette.

#Scale factor of a folder

Goal: insert the blocks of a folder at a different scale – for example plan symbols drawn for 1:50.

1. Right-click the folder in the tree › Scale factor … – or, on the Library page with the folder selected, gear menu › Scale factor for folder '…' ….
2. Enter the factor: 1 = original size; you may calculate ("1/50", "2*25"). A number greater than 0 is allowed (0.0001 to 100 000).
3. OK – the tree shows the factor after the folder ("×50"), the selected block shows "· Factor 50". When inserting, the command line says "Scale factor 50 (folder)."
4. Factor 1 removes it again.

The factor applies to the folder and all subfolders that have none of their own. Fixtures with connectors keep their size – their dimensions and connector elevations are real millimeters; the command line says so. The factor is stored in your settings, not in the folder – standard blocks can carry one too. Preview, base points and distance at the cursor apply at the new scale.

#Shortcut menu of a tile

Goal: insert, remember, open or locate a block right at its tile.

Right-click a tile:

#Reloading the library

Goal: bring new, changed or deleted DWGs into the palette that were added in Explorer (or by colleagues on the network).

1. Gear menu › Reload library.
2. The palette reads all folders again; expanded folders and the selected block stay.

A change in gear menu › Folders and the block wizard read again by themselves. Whether a block can show 2D, 3D or both is determined by the palette for new blocks in idle time – until then it appears in both modes.