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Chapter 14 Symbols
current drawing. To learn how to create new fields, see “Creating Fields” on
page 334.
Groups are also collections of entities which AutoSketch treats as a single
entity, but symbols and groups are very different. Groups have no associated
AutoFields and cannot have database values assigned to them. Because they
are not assigned a symbol name, groups cannot be saved and recalled from
symbol libraries. For more information about groups, see “Creating Groups”
on page 319.
When you create a symbol definition, the selection set is not replaced with
the symbol—therefore, your symbol is defined but no instances exist. To
replace the entities with a symbol, delete the selection set and place a
symbol. For more information on placing symbols, see “Placing a Symbol”
on page 168.
A symbol can contain other symbols. The container symbol is called a nested
symbol. You can create additional levels of nesting by placing a nested sym-
bol inside another symbol. There is no firm limit to how many times you can
nest a symbol, but repeated nesting can deteriorate system performance.
To create a new symbol
1 Select the entities from which you want to create a symbol.
2 In the Content Librarian, click the Symbol page tab, then click the Symbol
Create button at the bottom of the page. The Create Symbol Definition
dialog box appears.
3 Enter a symbol name in the Name text box.
4 Select a method for entering the basepoint from the Basepoint drop-down
list box.
5 (optional) Check the Save In Library check box to store the symbol in a
library.
6 (optional) To change the library in which the symbol is stored, click
Browse. The Open Symbol Library dialog box appears. Click an existing
library name or create a new one by clicking the Create New Folder button
and entering a library name, then click Open.
7 Click Next.
8 (optional) Enter a type and description for the symbol in the correspond-
ing text boxes.
9 (optional) Enter a hyperlink in the corresponding text box. For more
information on hyperlinks, see the chapter titled “Using Web Tools,”
which begins on page 351.
10 Click Finish.