topic Re: Efficient xreffing in AutoCAD LT Forum

Efficient xreffing

shabik — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 15:12:45 GMT

I have worked professionally in a few different softwares and I just want to understand the best procedures for xreffing in autocad as I find it quite slow but I am sure there must be a lot better way. My current practice in general has one single drawing per floor plan and that goes for every type of drawing. That is, one ground floor plan for GA, one for furniture, one for RCP, one for fire, one for demolition. Then on top, this is all linked to a separate layout/sheet file one per each. This means that for each floor there are about 10 different autocad files (2x5) that are all crossed link. Every time someone changes a name you need to update it. This seems very excessive but I understand that the purpose of having one file per type and floor is that you can potentially have multiple people work on the same drawings at the same time. I also understand that the purpose of having separate sheet files is for the only reason (?) of being able to have more layer control where you may want to hide/freeze layer xx on one sheet without having an effect on other drawings, yes?

I understand also that there is overlay and attachments for xref and I see there is a difference but I am not really sure what the practice is for this?

It would be great if I could fully understand the logic of this because it feels like I am spending a huge amount of time setting up xrefs and updating xrefs with very little benefit but it is certainly possible that I am doing something wrong. Appreciate any help here.

Re: Efficient xreffing

tramber — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 15:48:13 GMT

I also understand that the purpose of having separate sheet files is for the only reason (?) of being able to have more layer control where you may want to hide/freeze layer xx on one sheet without having an effect on other drawings, yes?

Well, it depends on the setting of the famous VISRETAIN variable (recorded by drawing)....

I would recommend that you know it well.

And not to make too much drawings as soon as you can use layers and layerstates 😉

Re: Efficient xreffing

paullimapa — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 21:20:57 GMT

You should setup project folder & drawing naming standards so you should not have to rename a drawing file. This way you don't have to deal with resolving lost xrefs due to the folders and/or drawings being frequently renamed.

Your method of separating floor plans so more people could work on it sounds efficient for projects that support larger teams. To avoid circular xrefs this is when you would use "Overlay" vs "Attach". When you "Overlay" an RCP into a Floor Plan and when others xref that Floor Plan into their dwg they won't see the RCP. But if you "Attach" the RCP into the Floor Plan then others will see that RCP when they xref the Floor Plan into their dwg.

Re: Efficient xreffing

tramber — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 09:16:36 GMT

And read about projectname in that page.

Something that you can set in the options, first tab.

It is so practical as a complement to @paullimapa advices. 😉

Re: Efficient xreffing

RSomppi — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 19:02:30 GMT

@shabik wrote:
Every time someone changes a name you need to update it.

Are you talking about file name?

Re: Efficient xreffing

shabik — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 14:31:51 GMT

What happens if your client all of a sudden request to split the project up in 3 different drawing pages?

Re: Efficient xreffing

shabik — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 14:32:55 GMT

Yes or folder location. For example we just split up one project in 4 different segments and moved each drawing in separate folders.

Re: Efficient xreffing

paullimapa — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 14:35:52 GMT

You still xref the same original drawing without a need to rename it and then create vports in paperspace looking at the different areas

Re: Efficient xreffing

RSomppi — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 14:40:01 GMT

@shabik wrote:
Yes or folder location. For example we just split up one project in 4 different segments and moved each drawing in separate folders.

Ideally, these kinds things should be done as early as possible because it's usually a fair amount of work that needs to be applied multiple times. Relative pathing might help but moving files around is generally to be avoided. It just creates extra work.

Re: Efficient xreffing

paullimapa — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 14:46:42 GMT

Charge the client for this change order. Or just leave everything as is. The client doesn’t care how you structure your projects. All that matters is the end result. So you can still have all the folder and drawing names exactly as you had it before. You’ll just create different title blocks to represent each project and reference the same drawings in but show the areas that differentiate the projects. You can use xclip or pspace vports to accomplish this. This time spent is definitely what you should charge the client for.