OLE Excel in multiple Dynamic Blocks -or- Tables

[ColinPearson]

Hey folks.  I've got a question about using info from Excel in multiple dynamic blocks.  I use PASTESPEC to insert a little snip of a spreadsheet into drawings all teh time and have recently been putting some info into Dynamic Blocks that way.  I wanted to start making changes to some of my blocks this morning and realized something.  I entered the info for Block A and PASTESPEC that bit of Excel sheet in.  Then I copy  that Excel OLE, closed Block A, and went to paste the OLE into Block B to update with its own information.  I realized that if I changed anything in the Block A info while I was in the sheet via double-clicking the OLE while Block B is open in Block Editor, that info does NOT update in Block A.  The Excel worksheet in Black A and Block B are actually two separate copies.

 

So my question is... if there isn't a way to keep all the info in a single Worksheet for all Block A thru Z in this drawing (so the info could be easily updated for any/all blocks in one place), is there a compelling reason to PASTESPEC from Excel versus just inserting a Table in each block?  I'm about to update a bunch of blocks and wanted to ask if anyone had any insight on pros/cons.  I've had some weird stuff happen before with Data Links, so I'm hesitant to go that route.  I'm also really looking to ensure the longevity of these blocks AND I want to make sure if I email this .dwg to colleagues that the blocks will behave for them.  My suspicion is that just inserting Tables in each Block is the way to go

 

Anyway, thanks y'all!

 

 

[BIGAL]

You can read a selection from excel and then make a table of that info, just not sure how you would do that to inside a block, as a separate table yes can do. Direct read from excel using lisp.

Edited February 20, 2023 by BIGAL