Binding 1000 separate DWG files into a single model in AutoCAD

Binding 1000 separate DWG files into a single model in AutoCAD

Krzysztof_Marszycki5ZY6Y
Community Visitor Community Visitor
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Binding 1000 separate DWG files into a single model in AutoCAD

Krzysztof_Marszycki5ZY6Y
Community Visitor
Community Visitor

Hello everyone,

I would kindly ask for your help in solving a problem in AutoCAD:

We have 1000 separate *dwg files that we would like to bind into a single file in one model, inserting them at distances from each other so that they do not overlap.

I would greatly appreciate any advice or guidance you can provide to help me resolve this issue. Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.

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Message 2 of 6

tramber
Advisor
Advisor

Make a script !

It gonna be very easy as long as you use Excel to build it.

Or you can also use Lisp to scan the folder if you dont't have the list.

(I've always used a prog named Directory Lister... some do it with MS-DOS)

tramber_0-1718970861282.png

Have a look on this script file (don't forget to de-activate the objects snaping, it interfere with the scripts and basic autolisp with no control of OSMODE)....

  • Replace -inserer with INSERT (English)
  • I specified no path but you must do it in the dwg name to insert if the files are not in a Autocad Directory path. In case, specify the folder in the reasearch folder list, first tab of the options.
  • replace 0,6000 with the coordinates of your choice, made incrementaly one by one in your case, pleased to Excel if you choose a script.

tramber_1-1718971292750.png

If you specify a path, use \ and not / or put a //

😉

YOu can also explode each insertion if needed. 

The syntax is easy too, with the use of L (for Last) as a choice of objects...

 

Are you confident with Excel and the use of CONCATENATE ?

Can you easily make a list of your blocks to put in Excel ?


EESignature

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Message 3 of 6

Kent1Cooper
Consultant
Consultant

If they are all .dwg files in the same folder location, you can use the BlockChartxxx.lsp routines >here<.  You navigate to the folder and pick any drawing file in it, and the commands bring everything in, spaced apart by a distance you can specify.  Be sure to set drawing LIMITS appropriate to the width of a row or height of a column relative to the typical size of the drawings involved and approximately how many you would want in a row or column.  See the comments at the top of the files.

EDIT:  One thing to be aware of:  If there are nested Blocks of the same name in the different files, defined differently in some than in others, the definition in the first file brought in will be used in all the others having the same Block name.  So, say one of the drawings is BATHROOM1 that you plug into various apartment layouts, and another is BATHROOM2 used in others, and they both have a Block in them called TOILET.  If TOILET in one is defined with zero rotation having the toilet aimed toward 0° [to the right] away from the wall, but in the other it's defined aiming at 90° [upward], then the definition in whichever of those BATHROOMx drawings was Inserted first will rule, and in the other BATHROOMy Insertions, toilets will face in some incorrect direction.

Likewise with things like Layers -- if there's a Layer name that is used in multiple .dwg files, but has different properties in different files, the properties in the first one Inserted will apply to that Layer in all those Inserted later.  Also Text Styles, Dimension Styles, etc.

Kent Cooper, AIA
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Message 4 of 6

paullimapa
Mentor
Mentor

Due to the problems of nested blocks with the same name perhaps BlockChartxxx.lsp can be modified to xref the dwgs in and then after all dwgs are completed use the xref bind * option which would resolve the nested block issue and also match with the OPs request of “Binding”?


Paul Li
IT Specialist
@The Office
Apps & Publications | Video Demos
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Message 5 of 6

Kent1Cooper
Consultant
Consultant

@paullimapa wrote:

Due to the problems of nested blocks with the same name perhaps BlockChartxxx.lsp can be modified to xref the dwgs in and then after all dwgs are completed use the xref bind * option which would resolve the nested block issue and also match with the OPs request of “Binding”?


Yes, that could be done, with the right option for the type of binding.  But it entails the complication of the names of all Layers, Blocks, Styles, etc. having the source drawing's file name prefixed to them, along with the $0$ or similar infix.  So if you have a TOILET Block in a lot of the source drawings, and that's defined the same way in all of them, you'd end up with a multiplicity of independent [and overly long] Block names, even though they're not different.  And likewise with Layers, etc.  That could cause serious file-size bloat, given the number of drawings they're talking about.  But it's a trade-off that could be necessary if they have the differently-defined-under-the-same-name issue with such things.

Kent Cooper, AIA
Message 6 of 6

baksconstructor
Advocate
Advocate

No problem .
Use this - AutoImportCAD 

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