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The Blocks Sheet in Spreadsheet

Adding a custom property to a reusable block definition, and the Instances column

Written by Holly Conrad Smith

A standard rent, a typical hard cost, or any other rate that should apply to every placement of a reusable block belongs on the block's definition, not typed onto each instance separately. The Blocks sheet is where you add it.

The Blocks sheet

Spreadsheet adds a Blocks sheet to the workbook once your project has at least one block definition. Each row is one block definition, not one placed instance: a definition placed forty times is one row here, however many times it appears on the map.

Adding a custom property

Unlike the Usages sheet, the Blocks sheet's columns are not already there waiting to be edited. Type a header of your own, such as Standard rent, into a blank column and fill values down it. Every placement of that block then carries the value, the same way it would if you had set it in Giraffe's own block properties panel.

See Block Metadata for how a value set this way appears elsewhere in Giraffe.

Values write themselves

There is no Push button on this sheet. A value typed into one of its columns goes to the block definition on its own, the moment you type it.

The Instances column

The Instances column counts how many times each block is placed in the project. It is read-only: a definition placed nowhere is one worth deleting, and one placed forty times is one worth getting right.

Use the Blocks sheet in formulas

Point any formula at a cell on the sheet, like =Blocks!B3. Type =, click the Blocks tab, then click the cell, and Spreadsheet writes the reference for you. GI functions read geometries and usages, not the Blocks sheet itself, so point at the sheet's cells when you need a block's values.

See Units in Spreadsheet for why the Blocks sheet is never unit-converted, and Block Instances for how a block definition relates to what is placed on the map.

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