AutoCAD Frequently Asked Questions

Based on the queries I frequently encounter, I have created an AutoCAD® Frequently Asked Questions page.

Higher Order Thinking Skills Question Templates Recall Note: Any question becomes a recall question if the answer has already. Based on the written description, draw a diagram. Draw your own map of without tracing or copying. Use the map to determine. You can insert any drawing file as an external reference or xref in the current drawing. You can attach an entire drawing file to the current drawing as a referenced drawing (xref). With xrefs, changes made in the referenced drawing are reflected in the current drawing.

1. The wipeouts in my PDFs don’t print properly

2. I cannot create a PDF from a drawing that contains Gradient Hatch
   

1. What is the best way to integrate external consultants�drawings?

Using data that has been sent to you from external sources can cause problems to the smooth running of your drawings. Consultants may use different CAD systems or different versions of the same software. They most likely have different CAD standards and may use their own custom elements such as fonts or line types, all of which can cause stability issues with your files.
Just because a file has a DWG extension it doesn’t necessarily mean it is safe and problem free to use. Different CAD applications have the ability to write out from their native format to DWG but these files can be riddled with problems. For example, a client received a drawing from a consultant that only contained several polylines, however, the drawing was nearly 800kb in size which is about ten times larger than if it had been created by AutoCAD.

If possible, at the front end of the project, attempt to meet with all consultants that may need to exchange data. Swap CAD manuals, discuss each other’s CAD standards and agree on a simple set of rules that you all abide by which is for the benefit of everyone’s workflow. If you regularly have to clean up a file from one particular consultant that will involve a lot of repetitive work, it may be worth investing some time in writing script routines that will automate tasks. It is also a good idea to use the Layer Translator tool for repetitive layer clean up.

To help reduce problems follow these guidelines:-

• If you have to use the line data from a consultant's drawing never insert straight into your file. Always use copy and paste to extract the required data from the drawing into a clean template file from your company, then use the purge and audit commands to further clean the file. Once that has been done, then copy and paste the data into your drawing. Use the intermediate file as a ‘quarantineâ€?area.
  

• If the consultant's data is for reference purposes only, for example, it is just forming a back drop to your drawing and will not be edited such as a structural engineer’s column layout in an architectural plan, avoid inserting the drawn data from the external source straight into your AutoCAD file and instead xref it. This will isolate any corrupted data and it should be easier to pin-point any problems. I would suggest opening the consultant’s drawing and using copy and paste to take only the information you require and paste into a clean template file. Use the purge and audit commands to further clean the file and then xref as required.

• If the external file is looking for custom elements such as fonts or line types when opening, speak to the person who sent you the file and ask them to send you the missing items. If that’s not possible try copying and renaming the same type AutoCAD files to match the custom ones and place them in the AutoCAD search path which should suppress dialogue boxes when opening.

• Proxy Graphics contained in external drawings can also cause problems. These are drawing elements created by AutoCAD vertical products such as ADT or Architecture, MEP, etc. and cannot necessarily be handled by AutoCAD unless the relevant Object Enabler is loaded. Object Enablers act as a type of reader allowing additional functionality from plain AutoCAD on the Proxy Graphics.
  Use the command –ExportToAutoCAD (don’t forget the hyphen). It writes out another version of the same file with all Proxy Graphics exploded to plain AutoCAD entities. Installing Object Enablers and any other Hotfixes should help stabilise the drawings. These can be downloaded from the Autodesk website at www.Autodesk.com under the Utilities and Drivers and Updates and Service Packs sections for the relative version of AutoCAD.

2. Why won’t my xrefs bind and how can I bind problem xrefs?

Binding drawings in AutoCAD can be very problematic, but if users are made aware of what causes the xrefs not to bind most problems can be eliminated before they have started.

I’ve split this into two sections. First I’ll give a list of the most common reasons why drawings won’t bind and the best course of action to avoid them happening, secondly I’ll provide a step by step guide of what to do if your xref/xrefs won’t bind.

Common Reasons Why Xrefs Won’t Bind

• The most basic reason for xrefs not binding is down to poor maintenance of the drawings. Drawing files that contain errors, unused and damaged data can contribute to binding problems.
  Action:To detect and fix errors use the Audit command, to remove unused data from drawings use Purge (in addition be sure to run the command line version of Purge i.e. -Purge and use the Regapps option to clean out unreferenced registered application IDs) to repair damaged data within drawings use Recover. It’s worth noting that for more recent versions of AutoCAD a quick way to perform a Recover on a drawing and all its xrefs is to useFile »Drawing Utilities »Recover drawings and xrefs.. from the pull down menu.
  Prevention: Regular use of the Audit and Purge commands is good practice to optimise drawing performance. Try combining the two commands in a macro and adding to a toolbar for quicker user execution.
  
• If a parent xref contains a nested child xref that is the attachment type as oppose to the overlay type, the parent xref will not bind if the nested xref is unloaded in the drawing where the parent xref resides. For example: If you have two xrefs called drawing1.dwg and drawing2.dwg and you xref drawing2.dwg to drawing1.dwg as an attachment (note â€?not an overlay) and then xref drawing1.dwg to TitleSheet.dwg as an attachment or overlay (it makes no difference here), this will also drag drawing2.dwg to TitleSheet.dwg. If you then unload drawing2.dwg within TitleSheet.dwg, neither of the xrefs will bind into TitleSheet.dwg.
  Action: Avoid unloading xrefs that are the attachment type �either use the overlay type of xref or avoid unloading xrefs. Detach any nested unloaded xrefs or change them into the overlay type.
  Prevention: Ensure all users are aware of the differences between attachment and overlay. Design an effective xref structure for all projects prior to starting and ensure all users are aware of it.
  
• Drawings that have been exported from different CAD systems as DWG files and xrefed straight into your drawings can be particularly troublesome to bind.
  Action:Remake the drawing using copy and paste to take the information required only from the exported file, paste it into a clean drawing and substitute the xrefs.
  Prevention: Introduce this procedure across the office as a standard for integrating drawing data from external sources.
  
• Similarly drawings that have been backwards saved from later versions of AutoCAD can be a problem to bind, for example a drawing that has been saved back from the AutoCAD 2010 format to the 2004 format. Please note that if the later application of AutoCAD is set to always save in the earlier format problems should not arise.
  Action: Remake the drawing using copy and paste to take the information required from the exported file, paste it into a clean drawing and substitute the xrefs.
  Prevention: Introduce this procedure across the office as a standard for integrating drawing data from later versions of AutoCAD. If you have different versions of AutoCAD within the same office it is advisable to set all machines in the office to save consistently in the same format. This can be done from the Options command, selecting the Open and Save tab and setting the desired format under Save as.
  

• Proxy Graphics contained in drawings can also cause problems when binding. These are drawing elements created by AutoCAD vertical products such as ADT or Architecture, MEP, etc. and cannot necessarily be handled by AutoCAD unless the relevant Object Enabler is loaded. Object Enablers act as a type of reader allowing additional functionality from plain AutoCAD on the Proxy Graphics.
  Action: Use the command –ExportToAutoCAD (don’t forget the hyphen). It writes out another version of the same file with all Proxy Graphics exploded to plain AutoCAD entities.
  Prevention: Installing Object Enablers and any other Hotfixes should stabilise AutoCAD and hopefully make the binding process less problematic. These can be downloaded from the Autodesk website at www.Autodesk.com under the Utilities and Drivers and Updates and Service Packs sections for the relative version of AutoCAD.
  

How to Bind Problem Xrefs
It is advisable to take back-up copies of all drawing files prior to running through these steps. I have put these steps in order of how quick and easy they are to perform so it is worthwhile working through in order.
Reloading the xrefs - A long shot but it is always worth a try as it does occasionally work and is quick to perform:

• Open the drawing that won’t bind the xref /xrefs
• Open the Xref Manager / External References Palette
• Highlight all xrefs, click the Reload button and hit OK
• Reopen Xref Manager / External References Palette immediately and attempt to bind
• Should it fail move onto the next step

Check there are no unloaded attachments - Check for unloaded and nested xrefs that are the Attach type.

• Open the drawing that won’t bind the xref /xrefs
• Open the Xref Manager / External References Palette
• Check for any xrefs that are unloaded and are the Attach type
• Should there be any next use F3 and F4 on the keyboard to toggle between xref structure views to see if they are nested (nested xrefs are routed to the drawing via another xref)
• If there are any either reload them or open the drawing the xref is nested in and change the xref type to an Overlay
• Ensure you save and reload xrefs as necessary
• Attempt to bind again, move onto the next step if it fails.

Perform a cleanup - Clean the host drawing and all xrefs of errors and unused and damaged data.

• In each of the files mentioned above run the Audit and Purge (in addition be sure to run the command line version of Purge i.e. -Purge and use the Regapps option to clean out unreferenced registered application IDs) commands to remove errors and unused data.
• Use Recover on each file to repair any damaged data. In more recent versions of AutoCAD a quick way to perform a Recover on a drawing and all its xrefs is to click on File »Drawing Utilities »Recover drawings and xrefs.. from the pull down menu.
• Ensure you save and reload xrefs as necessary.
• Attempt to bind again, move onto the next step if it fails.
  

Find the problem xref / xrefs - If you have multiple xrefs in your drawing the first thing to do is find the problematic file or files.

• Firstly open the drawing that failed to bind the xrefs, check everything is set correctly and Save.
• From now on do notSave.
• Open the Xref Manager / External References Palette.
• Select each xref individually and attempt to bind. Make absolutely sure each xref has bound in successfully by ensuring it has disappeared from the list in the Xref Manager / External References Palette
• Note if you are using the old style Xref Manager you must hit OK after binding each xref and then re-open the Xref Manager dialogue to check if the bind has been successful.
• Repeat this process for every xref in the list making a note of each xref that does not bind.
• Close the title sheet drawing anddo notSave.

Remake the problem xref / xrefs �Once you have identified the problems files you need to remake the drawings. This is the most time consuming method but by far the best way to clean a drawing. After performing the following steps compare file sizes of the old and new files. Very often the cleaned file is far smaller than the original and is therefore an excellent way of keeping files to their minimum size.

• Make sure you have backed up all xref files to a safe location as you need to remake each one and overwrite it with a new one
• Also check if the file has any particular settings or variables that may require transferring to the new file, for example, custom UCS, LTSCALE and PSLTSCALE variables
• In the first xref drawing first perform a Reload on all the xrefs and Thaw, turn On and Unlock all layers
• Zoom the drawing to Extents
• From the AutoCAD pull down menu selectEdit »Copy with Basepoint enter 0,0 at the command prompt and close the drawing
• Start a new, clean drawing using your office standard template. For the purposes of this task the template should ideally be completely blank and not contain any standard styles, layers or blocks - if it does delete and Purge as necessary to remove them
• From the AutoCAD pull down menu select Edit »Paste and enter 0,0 at the command prompt
• Reapply any settings or variables as noted
• Save the drawing and overwrite the file the data was taken from
• Run the Purge and Audit commands and close the drawing
• Repeat these steps for each xref that would not bind
• Reopen the title sheet or reload the xrefs if still open and bind again.

Insert the xref / xref as blocks �If all else fails and time is of the essence, detach the problem xrefs and use the Insert command to place them in the drawing as blocks. Beware when doing this as common layer and block names between xrefs will now merge to the same names so check for any differences in the display of the drawing.
This is a short term fix only and I do not recommend this as a solution.

Should the files still refuse to bind, which is extremely rare, my next approach is to find what element within the drawing is causing the problem. To do this I use Qselect to remove each object type (i.e. blocks, text, hatches, splines, etc) from the offending xref one at a time and reattempt to bind. Once I have identified the offending object I can decide what remedial action to take.

3. Which bind method should I use �Bind or Insert?

Firstly, I will outline the main differences between the two methods:

• the Bind option maintains the same prefixes added to block, layer and style names, etc. as is given to these objects when they are xrefed (except a $0$ is added to the name in place of the ). This maintains the individual identity for each object as if it were xrefed. Be aware as this option adds prefixes to block, layer and style names, etc. Take care not to mix with the office working data as duplication of these entities will occur.
  

• the Insert option, however, does not alter the names of objects at all and so all inserted duplicate data will merge with that of the host drawing. Be aware that if there is any duplication of properties for block, layer and style names, the host drawing takes precedence so some incoming data may change.

In my opinion there is no right or wrong way, it just comes down to what the bound file will be used for.

If the bound file is to be used where the integrity of the drawing has to be maintained as for a drawing issue for example, then I would recommend the Bind option.

If the file is for internal use only, where the duplication of block, layer and style names would cause a problem, I would recommend the Insert option.

4. Which PDF driver should I use with AutoCAD?

There are common problems associated with creating PDFs from AutoCAD such as:

• gradient hatch contained in the drawing causing the PDF creation to fail
• wipeouts in the drawing appear as black solids in the PDF itself and/or any hardcopies taken from the PDF
• random thickening of lines in the PDF.

Many of these problems can be overcome by knowing which is the best suited PDF driver to the version of AutoCAD you are using. In order to ascertain this I have formed two tests using typical architectural type drawings and will create PDFs of them using several different PDF drivers on AutoCAD versions 2008, 2009 and 2010. The PDF drivers I am using are:

• the Adobe 7.0 PDF driver which a lot of companies use
• the Autodesk in-built driver included with AutoCAD (PDF to DWG)
• the PDFill PDF Writer driver which is free to use for both personal and commercial uses and does not have any annoying banners or watermarks

The machine I have used for the tests has an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor @ 2.00ghz with 2GB of RAM and is running Windows XP, the PDFs were all created at an A1 sheet size and a HP printer was used for all hardcopy prints. All relevant information will be displayed in the tables.

Test 1 �Typical General Arrangement Plan

The first test uses a typical architectural general arrangement plan drawn at a scale of 1:200 which shows the layout of a store and adjacent site information. The drawing contains some text (no true type fonts), basic hatches (no gradient hatch) and some detail reference bubbles that have wipeouts placed within them. This is one of the most common types of drawings that an architectural practice would require to PDF. Please note all drivers were set to 300dpi to maintain a consistent comparison.

* The clarity of the PDF print was absolutely fine for general use such as viewing at various zooms and printing.

** The wipeouts printed as black solids, however they did print correctly using the Print as Image workaround as outlined in Section 5.

Test 2 �Typical Presentation Elevation Type Drawing Containing Gradient Hatch and Wipeouts

For this test I have used an architectural elevation type drawing that would be commonly used for presentation purposes. It contains AutoCAD elements that are typically troublesome to create successfully in PDFs, gradient hatch and wipeouts.

I know from experience that if a drawing contains gradient hatch and the dpi setting of the driver is too high, the PDF creation will normally fail. With that in mind I have used a low base setting of around 150dpi for each driver to ensure the PDF is created. In addition I have included a further set of results for the highest dpi setting that the driver could cope with and these results are shown in italics. For details of how to adjust the dpi settings of each driver please see below.

Please note that the clarity of all the PDFs was absolutely fine for general use such as viewing at various zooms and printing.

*** The wipeouts printed with black lines across them, however they did print correctly using thePrint as Imageworkaround as outlined in Section5.

**** The quality of the print was fine and the wipeouts printed correctly however the appearance of the print was hampered by random lines not merging even though the driver was set to Lines Merge. Bizarrely setting the MergeControl on the driver to Lines Overwrite seemed to merge lines better! The print did print correctly using the Print as Image workaround as outlined in Section5.

To Amend DPI Settings on Each Driver:

Adobe Driver - Open PC3 file �Device and Document Settings tab �Custom Properties button �Layout tab �Advanced button �expand Graphic �click on Print Quality and set required dpi

Autodesk Driver - Open PC3 file �Device and Document Settings tab �Custom Properties button �and set all resolutions as required

PDFill Driver - Open PC3 file �Device and Document Settings tab �Custom Properties button �Layout tab �Advanced button �expand Graphic �click on Print Quality and set to required dpi.

Conclusion

The Adobe driver is possibly the most commonly used and can produce good quality PDFs, however, it doesn’t seem to be the best suited to AutoCAD. Whilst large file sizes and slow generation can be lived with, the inability to handle wipeouts is a real problem. I know there is a workaround for this but from experience it doesn’t appear to work �I’ve found even if you tell consultants about this they can soon forget and quickly go back to printing your drawings missing vital information. I realise I have not used the latest version (9.0) for this test, but I have used it elsewhere and experienced the identical wipeout and gradient hatch problems, so would therefore avoid using it for AutoCAD.

The in-built Autodesk PDF to DWG driver that is included with AutoCAD can perform brilliantly with AutoCAD (and so it should) but is constantly let down by niggly problems. If configured correctly it can create small files very quickly and prints gradient hatch and wipeouts without problem. However, with the early version of this driver I experienced problems with random lines thickening which was not acceptable for presentation drawings so I stopped using it (however increasing the dpi setting on the driver may solve this). The 2009 version has so far for me been trouble free, but then the latest 2010 version has behaved erratically when attempting to get lines to merge or overwrite. Although there are some good additional features in this latest driver, I have found it can be problematic.

The PDFill PDF Writer by Plotsoft (download from www.pdfill.com) has proved reliable in all areas, in particular creating the wipeouts and gradient hatch and consistently seems to perform well with AutoCAD. The only drawback is the length of time taken to create higher dpi PDFs that contain gradient hatch, but it’s a small price to pay for consistency and reliability.

In my opinion and looking at the above results, for all round performance and reliability the best PDF driver to use with AutoCAD seems to be PDFill PDF Writer. However, if you can live with the quirks and speed is of the essence, the AutoCAD driver could be a viable option. As and when more information becomes available I will update this section.

5.The wipeouts in my PDFs don't print properly

The Spirits’ Book – Allan Kardec It was the first and remains the most important Spiritist book. Containing The Principles of Spiritist Doctrine on the Immortality of the Soul; The Nature of Spirits and their Relations with the corporeal world; The Moral Laws; The Present Life, the Future life and The Destiny of the Human Races. The Spirits’ Book. The Spirits’ Book was the first book Spiritism published by Allan Kardec in 1857, a mere nine years after the Fox Sisters triggered the Spiritual Renaissance. The book begins with a thorough introduction of Kardec’s observations and then contains several chapters of questions being posed with the corresponding answers that were revealed during his spiritist studies. Allan Kardec is the pen name of the French teacher and educator Hippolyte Leon Denizard known as the systematizer of Spiritism for which he laid the foundation with the five books of the Spiritist Codification. The spirits book free download. 14 ALLAN KARDEC any of his readers, having been progressively educed by him from the concurrent statements of a legion of spirits, through many thousands of mediums, unknown to each other, belonging to different countries, and to every variety of social position.

The PDF drawing looks fine on screen but when printed the wipeouts appear as a solid black fill. This can normally be attributed to a PDF driver being used that is not completely compatible with AutoCAD. To overcome this there are two things that can be done. Firstly, I will outline a workaround to print the existing drawings correctly and secondly, you need to refer to Section 4 and configure a driver that will handle wipeouts.

Firstly, presuming you are viewing your PDFs with Adobe Reader, you can use this workaround to print the drawings:

• Open the PDF in Adobe Reader and select Print.
• From the Adobe pull down menu go to File> Print and select Advanced as shown below.

• Put a tick in the Print as Image box from the Advanced Print Setup dialogue as below.

• Click OK and continue with the normal printing process. Once set, this setting should hold and become the default.

6. I cannot create a PDF from a drawing that contains Gradient Hatch

Creating PDFs that contain gradient hatch is notoriously difficult but it can be done as long as the driver is configured correctly.From my experience failure to produce a PDF that contains gradient hatch can commonly be attributed to the dpi setting for that driver being set too high.Please refer to Section4 for information on how different PDF drivers perform with AutoCAD when producing gradient hatch and how to change the dpi settings for commonly used drivers.

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Lightroom :: Prints Coming Out Too Dark - Calibration Workflow?

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An additional problem is that the DRAWINGS contain pictures on layout-tabs which are also shown in the MAIN file xref manager.
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AutoCAD 2010 :: Xrefs Not Auto-updating

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4gb Ram
Nvidia Quadro NVS 290
32 bit Windows Vista Business

AutoCAD 2010 :: Block Scale In Xrefs

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CompanyA - DrawingA
CompanyB - DrawingB
DrawingA will xref DrawingB
DrawingB will xref DrawingA
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AutoCAD 2010 :: Fatal Error Coming Out Of Screen Saver

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What is the reason behind this window coming while working.
After putting email-id in the box then clicking on the 'Send report' how we get the solution .

AutoCAD 2010 :: Losing Cross Hairs Coming Out Of Viewports?

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AutoCAD 2010 :: Image Xrefs Stretched In 2011?

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when i copy paste another persons drawing into mine,all the xrefs get placed well away from the the original drawing.

AutoCAD 2010 :: Xrefs Are Orphaned And Status Is Unreferenced?

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AutoCAD 2010 :: Unloaded XREFs Reloading Itself (2012)

I've come across an action that appears to be a bug to me. I have a file Xref'd in my drawing that I've unloaded while I do some edting to the main file. While copying text in paperspace using the Copy & Paste feature from one tab to another, it's causing the unloaded Xref to reload when I activate the Paste feature using the Ctrl-V hot key. How to duplicate this?

AutoCad :: XRefs Detached And Reattached With Latest Model XRefs

i have a large number of drawings that need xrefs detached and re-attached with the latest model xrefs, any way to do them in bulk rather than opening each individual drawing? the problem started a while back, when opening drawings, ACAD is not loading the latest 'saved' model when opening drawings..

AutoCAD 2010 :: Dimension Lines To Follows Edges Of Section Instead Of Coming Straight Out

I am currently using AutoCAD 2010. I'm placing some length dimensions on partial sections of a circle and the arc dimension comes straight out from the chosen points as a dimension of a flat line does. I would like it to look like an angular dimension without having to use a text override. Is there any way to change that to where the placed dimension lines follows the edges of the section instead of coming straight out?

AutoCAD 2010 :: Change Xrefs From Full To Relative Pathing

I am trying to change my Xrefs from full pathing to relative pathing. If the file i am trying to xref is located at the following location
hfg.intdepartmentsProduction'6 HA'1 StructuralFabrication EngineeringDrawing OfficePrevious ProjectsA11001
What do i put for the file path for it to be relative pathed?

AutoCAD 2010 :: Keep Blocks / Xrefs From Being Edited / Exploded 2012

Using ACAD 2012 full version
I need to send a dwg file to someone by e-mail but need to keep them from editting/exploding/etc it. I have tried a test on the method described below and it does not work:
Set XEDIT = 0 in the child drawing(s) and create blocks in the child with 'Allow Exploding' unchecked.
Start a new drawing and Attach the child into this new parent drawing as an XREF.
This is all fine and does not allow editting/exploding. However, when I XBind or eTransmit, it undoes all this fancy prevention. Even with XEDIT = 0 in the parent.
I know at one time in like ACAD 2000, it was possible to prevent someone from editting/exploding a drawing e-mailed to them. It's been a while. Maybe we used a LISP routine or some features native to ACAD. I just don't remember.

AutoCAD 2010 :: Xrefs Being Automatically Saved To Wrong Format?

We’re working in AutoCAD 2010 but need to save as 2007 DWG. AutoCAD is set in Options to save to 2007 format, and all files - host and reference - are or should be in that format.
Something is triggering an automatic save of the xrefs. The xrefs are not being edited, in-place or otherwise, but every so often I get a balloon message saying the xref has changed and I need to update it. So I update it, and when I check the file format, I find it’s been saved in 2010 DWG.
Other people on the project are also having this problem. Engineers on this project are using 2009 and keep coming to us and asking where the xrefs are.
This is AutoCAD 2010, 'English Version 3' running in XP2 SP3.

AutoCAD 2010 :: Auto Update List Of Xrefs In Drawing?

I have been trying to get a list of xrefs contained within a drawing to auto update by using Rtext.
I have got as far as using the following diesel expression.
Xref's in this file are indicated as - Xref name [Filepath]
$(Xrefs,3,)
$(Images,3,Images in this file: )
This gives me more or less what I want but I dont want to show the file path. What changes to the expression I need to do to achieve this.

AutoCAD 2010 :: Sending Drawings Containing XREFs With Sensitive Data

I have drawings which are occasionally transmitted to vendors, building officials and other parties. These drawings contain XREFs for the floor plans, roof plans, site plans, etc. Some of these XREFs contain layers with sensitive information the client does not want distributed to third parties.
If I'm just sending a PDF or plotting locally the sensitive layers are turned off or frozen and the PDF is plotted without layers. This is sufficient to protect the sensitive data. But if the third party requests a CAD file then I have a problem.
If I use Send to create a package of dependent files including XREFs they are included whole with all of the sensitive data on frozen layers.
If I Bind the XREF to a copy of the drawing for distribution the sensitive layers are still included as frozen layers.
In either case I am confronted with the task of deleting a large number of layers and we all know what a chore deleting layers with content can be. There has to be a solution to this problem, either an easier way to delete layers or a way to filter them in the binding process. Currently I am removing the XREF and making a block of the essential layers each time I have to make a distribution but these are large and complex drawings making this a chore as well.
Arguably this would be much simpler if AutoCAD had a better method for removing layers such as offering to a. move all contents to layer 0, b. delete all layer contents or c. cancel instead of just telling me I can't delete the layer because there are contents like we're still using R12.
AutoCAD 2010
AutoCAD LT 2013
Revit Architecture LT 2013

AutoCAD 2010 :: Xref Masters / Template VS Single Xrefs

I am currently working on quite a large scale project with drawing packages of up to 50 drawings. Each of these drawings are layouts and need to have the same set of xrefs (ie. survey and road design) with the same layer properties. I may have one set of 50 drawings for Road Lghting and another for drainage for example. Each requiring a different set of xrefs and different set of layer properties.
Where I currently work I have a choice between to systems to run the job, both involve the use of scripts to control the layer states. My question is, and i wanted to start a discussion on which option is better, is whether to use Xref templates which nest all the individual xrefs into each of the 50 drawings, or use another script to attach/change the list of xrefs in each of the 50 drawings.
Xref Master/template option.Nest all required xrefs in one master, ie. X_DRAINAGE_MASTER.DWG Use a script to control layer states, ie. DRAINAGE_ LAYERS.SCR I think this has greater control over random mistakes with draw order issues from other draftsmen.Attache individual xrefs option. Individual xrefs in each drawing with a script ready which loads/changes the xrefs as I need. This script also controls draw order Also uses the same DRAINAGE_ LAYERS.SCR to control layer states I think this has a higher likelihood of draftsmen making mistakes with random xrefs and/or draw order problems. Probably takes more time to update all drawings with a respective change as opposed to updating one master xref.Does nesting a whole load (maybe 50-100 xrefs) into a master create slow working drawings?
Worth noting I have the ability to apply any number of script in any order I want through the use of a spreadsheet.

AutoCAD 2010 :: Autodesk - Layerstates Of Xrefs In Drawings Disappearing

Installed AutoCAD 2012 3 days ago.
I have noticed the layerstates of the xrefs in my drawings are disappearing. I have to close and reopen the file for them to reappear. Can duplicate this error? At the moment i haven't been able to pinpoint when it happens, but its a first in my experience. I just installed it on another staff members computer so i will see if they get the same problem and report back.
OK. I discovered it occurs when you unload the xrefs, then reload them in the drawing. I was able to duplicate the same problem in a seperate drawing on another computer.

AutoCAD 2010 :: Xrefs To Stay Attached To A Drawing File / When Using Dropbox As Network?

Is there a way for xrefs to stay attached to a drawing file when using Dropbox as a network? All files are saved to the dropbox which is loaded on both computers that need to access the files. If I do work and save an xref in a file that is then opened by someone else on a different computer, the xref is not loaded and has to be re-routed. Is there a way to avoid having to reroute xrefs everytime someone different opens the file?