XRefs, Updating XRefs and Layer Settings

domson
domson
in 2D Drafting

Hi Bricscad community!

I have a drawing A0 referenced into drawing B0. Both drawings share the same layer structure.
B0.dwg:
_layer1
_layer2
A0|_layer1
A0|_layer2

Within drawing B I freeze/hide several layers of drawing A to work with a selected state.
B0.dwg:
_layer1
_layer2
A0|_layer1
A0|_layer2 X

Drawing A0 changes and updates are available as Drawing A1.
Now I want to save drawing B0 as drawing B1, and also update the reference path so it points to A1. But the Xref name is kept as A0.
B1.dwg:
_layer1
_layer2
A0|_layer1 (path now points to A1)
A0|_layer2 (but layer2 is changed back to visible)

Is it possible to preserve a specific xref layer setting accross several Xref rereferencing (i.e. changing xref path but keep xref name)

I hopefully made my useful idea clear.

Thank you!!

Cheers
dom

Comments

  • Michael Mayer
    Michael Mayer

    I have not much experience with Referencing in ACAD.

    But I learned and really like that you never change the file Name
    or Paths of any Project File, like for versioning or such things.
    There is always the one current File at that time.
    You make duplicates from that file and rename these,
    for keeping older Versions or Backups.

    So in that case for the update it would be - and stay - Drawing_A
    and Drawing_B.
    Just that Drawing A is now updated.

    If you need different states/versions to switch between,
    you could temporarily reference all versions,
    like Drawing_A_v1, Drawing_A_v2, Drawing_A_v3, ...
    until after the decision was made,
    you throw them out and go on with Reference Drawing_A.

    Back to your question,
    their may be some options in Bricscad to automate this,
    maybe with scripts and such that I don't know.

    But when I had such issues like changes or loss of References in
    Microstation or Vectorworks, I always had options to repair dead
    References by replacing File or Path with a new one,
    while keeping my Reference settings like Scale, Position, ... and such.

    Of course there may be slight problems like Visibilities of Layers
    that didn't exist before and similar.

  • James Maeding
    James Maeding

    You can simply browse the path of a xref to point it to a new file. The layer names that match the old file will keep their state.
    Having said that, yes, there are all kinds of lisps and other tools written to deal with layer states.
    I wrote one to replicate picked xrefs from one file into another, complete with clipping and all props.
    Its one of the easier things to do with lisp or .net.
    At a minimum, you should look up how to script the renaming. You use command line tools like -xref and type the commands into a .scr text file.
    Then drag the .scr into drawing area to run it.
    Acad and bcad are super powerful for this as they give pretty much full access top things through easy languages like lisp. You have to put in a couple hours trying some things though at first.

  • Jason Bourhill
    Jason Bourhill

    If the purpose of renaming is for conversioning, then I would recommend looking at using ETRANSMIT as an alternative approach. With this method you would use Etransmit at key project stages (Concept, Tender, Construction, Asbuilt) to capture a copy of the files as they stand. Essentially creating a backup of your drawing file(s). This avoids the need to rename any files. If you have a project involving multiple drawing files, then you can leverage of the functionality of Sheetsets to create an Etransmit of the entire project.

    Regards,
    Jason Bourhill
    BricsCAD V20 Ultimate
    CAD Concepts