2011

Table Of Contents
Thus, there are two general methods for designing with constraints:
You can work in an underconstrained drawing and make changes as you
go, using a combination of editing commands, grips, and adding or
changing constraints.
You can create and fully constrain a drawing first, and then control the
design exclusively by relaxing and replacing geometric constraints, and
changing the values in dimensional constraints.
The method that you choose depends on your design practices and the
requirements of your discipline.
NOTE The program prevents you from applying any constraints that result in an
overconstrained condition.
Use Constraints with Blocks and Xrefs
You can apply constraints between
An object in the drawing and an object within a block reference
An object within a block reference and an object within a different block
reference (not between objects within the same block reference)
The insertion point of an xref and an object or a block, but not to any
objects within xrefs
When you apply constraints to block references, the objects contained within
the block are automatically available for selection. You do not need to press
Ctrl for subobject selection. Adding constraints to a block reference can cause
it to move or rotate as a result.
NOTE Applying constraints to dynamic blocks suppresses the display of their
dynamic grips. You can still change the values in a dynamic block using the
Properties palette, but to redisplay the dynamic grips, the constraints must first
be removed from the dynamic block.
Constraints can be used in block definitions, resulting in dynamic blocks. You
can control the size and shape of dynamic blocks directly from within the
drawing. For more information, see Add Constraints to Dynamic Blocks on
page 912.
Overview of Constraints | 805