How do you get block dimensions in Beamer?

Question

I'm using a block for emphasizing different pieces of information. I'd like those pieces to be constrained to the block dimensions and to use the columns environment, but I don't know how to get the block dimensions in order to constraint the column's width.

\begin{block}
   \begin{columns}[t]
      \column{.3XXX} 
         Blah blah
      \column{.3XXX} 
         Blah blah
      \column{.3XXX} 
         Blah blah
   \end{columns}
\end{block}

How can I specify the column width based on the block width?

Answer 1

Add the totalwidth=\linewidth option to your columns environment. Then you can use \linewidth as reference.

\documentclass{beamer}
\usetheme{Rochester}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{Columns in block}
  \begin{block}{A}
    \begin{columns}[totalwidth=\linewidth,t]
      \column{.3\linewidth} 
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
      \column{.3\linewidth} 
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
      \column{.3\linewidth} 
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
      Blah blah
    \end{columns}
  \end{block}
\end{frame}
\end{document}