Line type scale

[shane.doyleNLUPQ]

I have beams coming into my model with a line type scale of 20.00, plates are coming in with a linetype scale of 1.00, Bolts are at 20. This is causing grief for some of our non-structural departments who use a standard autocad viewport in paperspace to look at the model and their sheets do not print right. The hidden lines in the beams are showing up solid. Is there a setting somewhere that will make all the items in the model be inserted with the same linetype scale? I can't have them being different and manually changing every beam may be a solution but it is not a good solution. Also, we are a design firm, not everyone here uses advance steel so having all sheets in the project be advance steel views is not an option. I just need everything in my model to have a linetype scale of 1.00

Thanks. 

[pendean]

That's a source setting: or after the fact fixes you will need to customize with a LISP if manually editing is too cumbersome. LISP forum is over here, post sample DWG files for the folks over there to test with https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-customization/ct-p/AutoCADTopic1

[shane.doyleNLUPQ]

So where and how to change the source setting? I surely don't want to do this after the fact, manually or by lisp file. I need all members to come in at the same linetype scale, I don't really care what that is. Preferably 1, but I'd be fine if that's 1 or 100 or anything in between as long as they're all the same. But after the fact adjustments for that are unacceptable. The members are being inserted at a certain linetype scale, and they are not uniform. There has to be a way to make them the same before they come into the model. Surely A.S. isn't just pulling that out of a hat. Yet looking at the model that's what you would think. 

. 

[johnjmbennett]

Hi,

so the line line types are linked to the line type file that is stored within the advance steel 

this is previous thread offers advice over this topic.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/advance-steel-forum/advance-steel-drawing-linetype-scale/td-p/5505527

Try Rey reading this for the file locations and management tool defaults etc.

[shane.doyleNLUPQ]

Ok thanks, that article seems to only address linetype scales on advance steel detail sheets. I guess I need to go to Autodesk for support on this. I'm trying to get the linetype scale to be uniform in the model, not on detail sheets. Not everyone here has or uses advance steel. Lots of time my structural model is shown on a drawing with a basic Autocad viewport looking into model space at the model. So the linetype scales in the model need to be uniform and hopefully adjustable or nothing shows as it should. having beams on a linetype scale of 20.00 and plates on a linetype scale of 1.00 doesn't work here. Manually changing that on every item in the model would be far too time consuming and would defeat the purpose of using the program at all. 

[johnjmbennett]

Hi,

so so if your team is looking at the model directly via autocad, then you should try installing the advance steel object enabler.

i am not sure if you are using this or not,  but with that the autocad users can see the model directly in the model space.

But you mention drawing / paper space ,  so are you trying to create a 3D drawing with hidden detail.

maybe post some images to try and help better understand, or share sample file.

[muleman1]

We hope someone post a solution for this. Linetype is one of many, many, many, many things we gave up on trying to get to work in AS. It seems as though it would be a childishly simple setting, but we have wasted countless hours trying to figure it out and we just can't get it..... 

[shane.doyleNLUPQ]

This has nothing to do with object enablers. I'm trying to get my model objects to all have the same linetype scale so lines print properly when the drawing is simply an autocad viewport looking at the model. forget why, I should have never mentioned why, I just need to know how to get everything in the model on the same linetype scale, without going back and manually adjusting every single item in the model. 

[shane.doyleNLUPQ]

So it's impossible. Thank you. Did you find a work around? or do you just live with hidden lines showing up solid? 

[mick-CNF]

Not sure what you are trying to achieve?

If you are trying to view the model in ACAD in a viewport you won't get hidden lines, how it is displayed depends on the visual style.

[shane.doyleNLUPQ]

Thank you very much, yes I understand about visual styles and all that. What I don't understand is how to set advance steel objects to come into my model with a linetype scale of 1, rather than 20, or at least have them all the same. Apparently it's impossible. Everyone, including Autodesk support now, is just trying to explain to me different ways of making drawings and exploding them and all sorts of cool ideas that I am all well aware of. No one, and I really mean no one, wants to tell me how to set advance steel model objects to all be on the same linetype scale, or explain why it is they come in different. It's really baffling. I should have never said why I need to do this, no one can or will get past that and answer my question. Thanks though. 

[mick-CNF · Accepted solution]

It does seem a bit strange, I've been through MT and cannot see anything.

[johnjmbennett]

i think this is related to the visual Styles, as you must be using this option under the print dialog, if you are just printing via a viewport.

i think that you need to look at the AutoCAD help over this,  the  Visual style line type is   'obsuredline' type,  there are system variables for that.   (sorry they seem to be fixed from what i can tell, only the list available )

Also they seem to be unaffected by the zoom factor they remain fixed, according to the  Autocad help page.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-lt/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2019/ENU/Au...

also the system variable page : 

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2019/ENU/AutoC...

also i found this previous Autocad forum post, over the topic of hidden lines in visual styles.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/hidden-linetypes-with-hidden-visual-style/td-p/3144538

i guess this is the method you are using, when plotting,  under view port set to hidden for the plot, then the obscured line type come through.

[shane.doyleNLUPQ · Accepted solution]

Thanks a lot, but again, I'm not trying to learn about AutoCAD visual styles. I am aware of how they work. What I am trying to discover is why my Advance Steel model members come in on different linetype scales, and is there a way to have bolts, plates and beams all be on the same linetype scale in the model without manually changing every item in the model. Why is it different?  

[muleman1]

@shane.doyleNLUPQ we just live with it as well as dozens of other things....it just isn't worth wasting hours and hours and hours and hours of time... but you need to understand we are not computer gurus or devs....we are just combined 100 years of steel detailing, ignorant fabricators and ironworkers trying to use an "intuitive**" software to make our jobs better....🤔

When hidden lines, hatches, labels, leaders or whatever we need doesnt work, we manually do what needs to be done. It has proven quicker for us....but that is for us....there are a lot of users on here that seem to understand how to drill down into the 188 layers of choices required to make usable details.

If it was not for this forum and the users and gurus that share thier valuable time and knowledge we would have thrown this screaming impossible learning curve software, computer, desk and office chair out the window a year into it! (documentaion portion we talking about, modelling is truly easy and intuitive, but the rest is asinine, in our opinion)

**in·tu·i·tive

/inˈt(y)o͞oədiv/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

• (chiefly of computer software) easy to use and understand.

[rmoutonJ6JSY]

This has not been solved. The biggest issue is that there are options in the Defaults that do nothing when the numbers are changed.  This has been going on for multiple versions.  If the variables do not work as advertised, then simply remove them.  So frustrating to have to use tricks to get drawing to look the way we want. It should be straight forward to change the linetype file and set the scale for the linetypes and have it match settings in the paperspace border.

[shane.doyleNLUPQ]

I agree, we have given up. Moved onto Revit which is very unuser friendly. Very difficult to use. But the problems with AS were unsurmountable. I hate revit much worse than AS, but what do we do? Now we have clients requiring Revit in order to even get the job. So I guess we're stuck with that nightmare. And believe me it is a nightmare.