Cleaning up a very old drawing (layers/blocks and the likes)

[Millehuse]

Hi

My knowledge of AutoCad in general can fit on 1 layer max - I've only been on a single course and I've worked very little with the program in the past. I have 3-4 years of experience in other programs (Inventor, PC Schematics etc) - so while I'm not completely new in the field, I'm stomped my AutoCad's "complexity".

I've inherited a rather old drawing - which geometrically is very simple. 2D schematic buildings, wells, pipes etc of the layout on our factory.

The drawing (as far as I can tell with my knowledge) used to consist of a "main" drawing with 3-4 xrefs. These have been "bound" on a later date, and the layers have been tidied up a bit. 

The problem I have now, is I need to tidy up the drawing a fair bit more, and there are several layers that seem empty, but that cannot be deleted or purged. I assume it's because of block references or the likes.

We have semi-annual updates to this drawing, from a firm on the outside. They will send us a new drawing, that is xrefffed then bound into the main drawing. 

This means that now I have

4 layers called something like this:

Tag-name

Tag-name-

Tag-name_

Tag-name__

As far as I can tell, these layers are used within blocks as attributes. Is there an easy way to merge these layers (or attributes)?

The drawing has tons and tons of blocks ... with 4-5 attributes in each - which means loads of clutter and it's a royal pain trying to make the different layouts. It really adds up. I've managed to merge/purge some of the layers, but the ones that has attribute references within them, really stomp me.

Maybe an easy way to define all the blocks? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. My company will surely send me on more courses, but it would be excellent if I could work on this project on the side.

[pendean]

You need to brush up on your commands list. Explore these:
LAYMRG (if unsure, merge with layer 0).
LAYDEL (more lethal, as it deletes content as well. Use with caution).

[Millehuse]

Thank you for the quick reply

I did managed to find the laymrg command (thank you youtube) - but it doesnt seem to work in this instance. The program will "merge" the layers, renegerate my model, but the layers are still present in the layer manager and cannot be purged.

I did find the laydel command as well, but it seems like a very harsh method, and while I'm not too familiar with the drawing yet, I dont feel comfortable using the command. There are 100's of tiny circles (wells) - and I'm not sure how I could tell if I delete something.

Will try merging to layer 0 .. and see if that helps.

Thank you again.

[drjohn]

---

@Millehuse wrote:

Thank you for the quick reply

I did managed to find the laymrg command (thank you youtube) - but it doesnt seem to work in this instance. The program will "merge" the layers, renegerate my model, but the layers are still present in the layer manager and cannot be purged.

I did find the laydel command as well, but it seems like a very harsh method, and while I'm not too familiar with the drawing yet, I dont feel comfortable using the command. There are 100's of tiny circles (wells) - and I'm not sure how I could tell if I delete something.

Will try merging to layer 0 .. and see if that helps.

Thank you again.

---

You can always make a copy of the file, test laydel and other options and if you screw up .... no harm .... no foul.

Regards,

DJ

[scot-65 · Accepted solution]

Do you know how to load a custom routine?

Look into the startup suite as a start.

Do a search for the following: FixBlock.lsp by ManuSoft

All objects inside a block will be set to layer 0.

I think you have to select the blocks to start...

???

[Millehuse]

@ DJ .. that's a fair point 

@ scot-65

Sounds like it's time to learn how to load custom routines. Because I can only see this drawing getting more and more out of hand the more xrefs get bound to it. Thank you for the tip I'll look into it.

With what little knowledge I have of AutoCad, it sounds like this is exactly what I need.

[Millehuse]

Thank you for the heads up on the lisp routine. It helped me clean up the drawing a fair bit, solved a few other problems I wasnt aware off - and made me aware of even more =).

I ran the lisp, purged, cleaned the drawing up. The blocks are now the correct color - and I managed to purge quite a few layers. However the attributes containing text all go into the center of the block and they change color to be the same as the block - which is some cases is not really want I need.

I studied the drawing a bit more, and I can see that it has 650 blocks in it ... most of these are unique - and quite a few different text fonts/sizes etc are used.

Is there any way to select all attributes - within loads of different blocks - and change the text font / text color / justification in one go?

I cant find a way to qselect the attributes.