Do you sometimes want to know how many times you inserted the widget block in your drawing? Here’s a quick way:
- Display the Properties palette (Ctrl+1).
Click the Quick Select button at the upper-right corner of the Properties palette.- In the Quick Select dialog box, from the Object Type drop-down list, choose Block Reference. If you choose one of the blocks before you start, the Object Type will already be set to Block Reference
- From the Properties pane, choose Name.
- From the Value drop-down list, choose the name of the block that you want to count.
- Click OK to close the Quick Select dialog box.
The Quick Select dialog box
AutoCAD selects all the instances of the block. You can see the number in the Quick Properties panel or the Properties palette.
The Quick Properties panel shows the number of insertions of your block.
Ellen,
I used this feature for quite some time but then found the command “bcount”. If you simply want to find out the number of occurences rather than their positions on the drawing then this is the easiest way I found.
It can be used to count the number of blocks in a selected window or press to select the entire drawing space. Note this will also count any blocks on hidden layers so a window can prove very useful.
Another option is DATA EXTRACTION. Very useful option if you wish to count Dynamic Blocks because both the Table and CSV options subtotal each occurrence of the dynamic option chosen for the block insertion. For example, if your Dynamic Block is an electrical wall switch with 2-way, 3-way and 4-way switches as dynamic options, you will export a CSV or insert a Data Table with a total for each of the three options. No, the table and CSV are not dynamic.
Chris, I’d always relied on BCOUNT too. That is until I used it on Autodesk’s sample drawing (available for download from their Web site) “blocks_and_tables_-_imperial.dwg”. Using Ellen’s suggested ‘Quick Select’ method, block reference ‘Toilet’ returns three instances, easily confirmed visually. BCOUNT finds only two instances, even if you preselect all three. So, I guess from here on BCOUNT requires a little ‘Trust but verify’