Monday, August 14, 2006

XREF Tidbit

I recently stumbled across (by mistake) and interesting AutoCAD XREF trick that I was unaware of. In fact it provides an instant solution to a problem I do come across now and again so I thought I would share.
The tip is with regards to changing and Attached Xref to an Overlayed Xref and visa versa. My guess is that 90% of AutoCAD users are unaware of this tip.

The tip is:

In the XREF dialog box if you double click the word Attach or Overlay in the'Type' column (as seen above) you can actually toggle the xref from being Attached to being Overlayed, and visa versa. This can help eliminate a Circular Xref error. This click behaviour in a dialog box is unusual for AutoCAD, and I don't think it would even occur to an experienced AutoCAD user to try this.

So now I will start double clicking in other dialog boxes and see what other treasures lie within.

As most experienced AutoCAD users know, an attached Xref WILL travel forward with the host file if it is further Xref'd but an Overlayed Xref will NOT travel forward with it's host file if it gets further Xref'd.

4 comments:

Ward Romberger said...

This double-click functionality is missing in the AutoCAD 2007 Xref palette (which replaces the Xref dialog).

However, all is not lost. You can still change the Xref attachment type in the detail section. The Type property has a drop down that lets you select the other attachment method.

And if you really want the older double-click you can opt to use the old dialog in lieu of the new palette by using the CLASSICXREF command.

Daryl Gregoire said...

Thanks Ward, excellent follow up comment. I have not had time open my 2007 software but welcome the new palettes interface.

Daryl Gregoire said...

You can do some manipulation with the built in Xref Manager under the Windows Start > Programs > Autodesk > .... but I see nothing allowing you to switch from Attach to Overlay.

I also do not see anything by doing the -xref command either.

Perhaps a 3rd party ?

ChrisC said...

In 2008 you can toggle a referenced xref's attachment type by opening up the 'details' pane of the External References palette. It took me a few minutes to notice it after reading this post.