Sheet set and Xref table

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone! Recently i found out about that great feature "sheet set", I tried organize one of mine old projets but i have a strugle with my table head where i have to put all the information about the project like: "Drown by", "Checked by","Organization","Project name" etc. 
Upon creating sheet set i create one new and add my drawings (layouts) from Sheet list using tool: Import layout as sheet. I am doing that because i already have all my drawings in different layouts and they are having different sizes like Iso A3, other is iso A2 and some are custom paper size. 
Usualy i am using Xref for my table head which i import in all my layouts and if i have some virables like "page number" i am typing it manualy in every layout, So i changed my xref's text with fields connected with sheet set, then made new sub set and have added my xref for table there. 
 The problem i have with all of this is that fields in xref are not communicating with sheet set data i change.. Is there a way to refresh it.
 Second problem i have is that i can't choose plot style .ctb file for diferent sheets they all plot with defout "none" plot style.

Thanks in advance!

[Darin.Green]

In regards to the Custom Sheet Set Properties, see this video:

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

I am glad that you have discovered this feature - it is a great tool!

Can you attach your sheet set and a couple of drawings so I can see what you are seeing?

The custom properties are fairly easy to define are set to the entire sheet set or just an individual sheet.

The fields in your Xref's might be a problem depending on what they are trying to capture. In my experience, fields that are trying to read sheet properties are going to read those of the drawing they are xref attached to.

Give me a couple of samples and I can help walk you through the process to get this all working for you - inlcuding the plot/page setups.

[Anonymous]

@Darin.Green Thank you for the video! Fields work briliant in that case when they are directly in the drawing. My case is that i want to have fields not in the drawing but in xref drawing which i use for Head table.

@john.vellek Thank you for the response, now i will upload one example of what i am trying to do.

Reconstruction.dst is my sheet set file, I have 3 sheets there from 2 drawings - "Situ_Nadl_sev.dwg" and "Podr_sev.dwg". Third drawing "Antetka ok.dwg" is my Head table with all my fields and some text which i want to be normal Text objects. 

First I made my drawings and layouts, then i made my head table with all the fields i need which i insert in layouts of the drawings as xref and in the end i made the sheet set where i put all the layouts from "Import layouts as sheet" command.

Problem comes when i change some entities in sheet set but nothing changes in xref

, only way to regen all the information is to open the drawing, then start command "edit reference in place" and type regen

This is working, but if i have more drawings it is the same as using texts and opening all the drawings and retyping it.. I also tried to plot sheets, but they remain old dated (if i haven't regen all the references in place). I will upload the .pdf plot file i've got with old information.

I am using xref table head because in our office we often add some new things in the table head at the end of the project like "Checked by" or we have to add new logo of the owner or something like that. We are also using different table heads for different projects (which is very bad i know) but that is the case here and i can't change it. Xref is working great for us because of those things, but i want to automatize the process of numbering the drawings and changing the names of designers.

The second problem i have is plotting. I found the way to publish my project to PDF but i have trouble to set different plot styles (.ctb) files for different drawings ( I think that if i have nothing selected in the drawings and in properties at plot style i can choose .ctb it should plot plot drawings correctly). Other thing is that i can't plot the sheets on my printers i want for example sheet "Layout and longitudinal profile" to be plotted with .acad .ctb on my HP plotter (Iso A2 format) and sheets "Cross sections" to be printed with .monochrome .ctb on my Konica Minolta printer (Iso A3 format). 

[john.vellek · Accepted solution]

HI @Anonymous,

I am curious why you don't assign these properties directly in the sheet set so you don't need this xreference? Your fields can then be directly part of your titleblock and can obtain the custom properties on a sheet or sheetset basis.

 While I am doing that I want to address the second question you asked.  I suggest that you assign a page setup to each layout that you want to publish. That way when you have multiple drawings you can select the "Use Plotter Named in Page Setup" option.

BTW, you are saving these files in a very old file format (2004). Do they behave differently for you if you save them in the current 2013 format?

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous]

@john.vellek thank you again for the reply!

I am using reference because i need one title table for all my sheets, for example if i need to add new field i just add it in reference and i dont need to copy and paste it in all the drawings (if it is a block i would need to replace old with the new one). That is needed because we are having different title table with every project and we often need to add or delete some information from it and redesign it in the process of desining (usually near the deadline)
Is there a way to assign block(or something like block or xref) in sheet set which can be edited once and refreshed in all the layouts?

That works great! I am usually using defaut page setup and with every plotting am selecting my plotter, plot area, scale and ctb. file but if i assign those things in the begining it is working as i wanted. Thanks!

We are saving files to 2004 because some of my colegues use old versions and they can't view 2013 format.. The only problem i've seen is that files are bigger in sizes.

[cadwomen]

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We are saving files to 2004 because some of my colegues use old versions and they can't view 2013 format.. The only problem i've seen is that files are bigger in sizes.

---

Hy

that´s not the way you shoud work  ...... 2013 to 2007 may work but 2004 bad ideea

cu cw

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

The way I have tackled this myself in the past is to use a block similar to what you are doing. Then if it changes, I create a macro to do a block substitution (block=block) and then an attsync.

The other way I have dealt with this is to add the maximum fields at the beginning and leave them blank if not used.

I would be careful saving back so far version wise. I have seen a variety of issues doing this such as image files not being handled properly when embedded in drawings.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[cadwomen · Accepted solution]

may you use a regular Block and use a excel sheet to update.

this may works better

cu cw

[Anonymous]

Hi, again!

Using blocks works better than xrefs in terms of regenerating the fields. With blocks i can change for example the name of the project without opening the drawing (this is what i am aiming at). The only problem that pressists is with block replacement from one to another drawing. 
Here is small example: 
- I've put my block in the first drawing modified some attributes as i need them and they work fine, then i copied it to the other 2 layouts and everything is fine

- but after a while someone wants from us to add another designer in place which he wants it to be and we add it in the block of drawing1 but how to replace it as fast as i can in the other 2 layouts (and if there are 20-30 layouts i would like to batch replace in all the drawings)

@john.vellek Thank you for your answer.I assume this is what you are suggesting but i coudn't understand how to replace block from one drawing to another (the only way i can think of is to delete old block and replace it with new, or to copy new one with new name and then replace it). Ways i find are very time consuming and i would need to open all the layouts one after another to replace blocks.

@cadwomen Thank you for your the answer, but i didn't understand what you suggest can you give me an example please.

[cadwomen]

Hy Dragon_HS

sorry i am not a native Speaker

1 Goal 1000 way´s to go

so here just one but  like i said  just a exapele

http://www.lee-mac.com/updatetitleblock.html

cu cw

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Block substitution is easy and can be done at the command line which makes it useful for a macro.

I made a quick video that might help you with the process.

I make a drawing that has my block. I define a new block that I want to change it to. I wblock it out and then rename it (I do this just so I can keep track of what it is called).

Then in the drawing Ii use -Insert, blockname=blockname

Lastly, I use ATTSYNC (or BATTMAN) to update the attribute.

[Anonymous]

@john.vellek and @cadwomen Thank you a lot! Both ways work good for me! I realy appreciate your help! 

For now i think that i will stick with block title table, only disadvantage is that i would have to open all my drawings and replace the existing titleblock with new one if it is needed, but even with that complication i will save a lot of time plotting, publishind PDFs and editing text like i would normally do with my Xref tables.

Wish you all the best!