topic external reference in AutoCAD Forum

external reference

stephen.manila — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 11:44:22 GMT

So after upgrading my AutoCAD software, i have noticed that just about every drawing i open i get the external not found dialog box and have to open and detach the two or more external references. It appears to be the same two .jpeg a previous drafter used in their drawings. It gives me a location but the path is to their doc's and settings\(their name) etc. obviously that doesn't exist anymore. Is there a way to remove the external reference on all the drawings or do i have to do it one by one?? i would think using a script is a way, if so is there a guide on how to write a script (never have used one)

Re: external reference

rkmcswain — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 12:08:35 GMT

Sounds like this drawing may be your default template. You need to edit this .DWT file and remove the references so that future new drawings will not contain them.

To test, run the NEW command (type it in).
When you get to the general file dialog to choose a template, click the drop-down arrow next to "Open", and choose "Open with no Template - Imperial"
Now does this new drawing contain these references?

Re: external reference

stephen.manila — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 12:15:30 GMT

no issue with opening a new drawing with use of a template or just a new (blank) drawing. the majority of our drawing start off with a standard print that is currently saved and i add and edit to create new job files. i can go in and manually detach the reference from those drawings not a huge issue, which would solve my problem for any new drawing i create from here on. my concern is with the drawings i have created or have been created referencing those files. there are thousands...

Re: external reference

Kent1Cooper — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 12:23:24 GMT

@stephen.manila wrote:

.... i can go in and manually detach the reference from those drawings not a huge issue, which would solve my problem for any new drawing i create from here on. my concern is with the drawings i have created or have been created referencing those files. there are thousands...

If you detach them from the template drawing, they won't be in new drawings that use that template. But you don't need to worry about already-created drawings -- they used that template as a basis, but they don't refer back to it again, so you can remove the references from the template without any loss to your thousands of drawings.

Re: external reference

stephen.manila — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 12:32:55 GMT

actually i want to remove the xrefs from those thousands of drawings. i know one of the xrefs was a jpeg of a part used on the drawings and i replace it as i update drawings for revisions or busy work. the odd thing is that i get the xref dialogue box when opening a drawing that the xref was never attached to. i am not sure what the previous drafter was doing since they were not employed here when i started. this wasn't and issue prior to the updated software, i was using 2015lt and got 2020 at the beginning of the year.

Re: external reference

pietro.pedone — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 13:41:43 GMT

Hi @stephen.manila , there is no "in-built" way to mass detach xrefs. However, maybe any of the following procedures will help you:

When you get the "Xref not found" window, you can choose to not show it anymore by flagging the checkbox.
If the name of the missing reference is always the same, you can use the following script:

-XREF

YOURXREFNAME

Hope this helps!

Re: external reference

rkmcswain — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 16:15:42 GMT

@stephen.manila

Is the name of the reference always the same in those thousands of drawings?

If so, create (or append) your ACADDOC.LSP with something like this:

(vl-cmdf ".image" "_d" "name_of_image")