What not to do in AutoCAD – Labels in a Base File

Today’s look into “You’re doing it wrong” is about labels in base files and drawing files.

Here is a screenshot of a residential plan where a new Force Main was being tied in to an existing manhole.  I have circled the manhole label because that is what I want to discuss today.  This drawing file has two “base” files referenced into it.  One is an existing conditions file that contains the existing residential area, the existing roads, the existing water main, the existing sewer system.  The other reference drawing is the new, or proposed, line work that contains the new force main.  That’s the good part.  It’s always good to separate the new and the old in separate database.  It makes things easier to manage, revise, and to work with.

The bad part is the existing manhole label.  This information is needed of course but it is in the base file.  Labels don’t belong in the base file.  They belong in the drawing file.  Now there is nothing wrong with putting the manhole data in the file in some way; in fact, that would be a great thing to do.  Put that info as attributed info in the manhole block or put it on a non-printing layer.  Better yet, use Civil3D or some other information modeling program like Civil3D to manage the data.  What makes it worse is that the creator of the drawing file took a shortcut and used the data labels as labels for the drawing file.  It might have sounded great at the time but now somebody else has to deal with them.  It turns out that the Force main was installed but not as designed.  Field conditions weren't as indicated on the record drawings.  Oops!!  It happens.  Now we have to update the drawings to reflect the changes made.

We have new labels to add, new information to integrate into the drawings but because the labels are in the base file it is making things difficult to work with.  The work that was avoided at the beginning still has to be done now.  We will copy the labels data into the drawing file, position it so that our new labels can be seen, and freeze the labels in the drawing file.   Unfortunately another no-no happened and when the labels are frozen, so are the lot numbers, and all other labels in the base file because they are all on the same layer.
 
I hate it when a file has a billion layers, but it is a great idea to use more than one layer for your text.  Put lot numbers on their own layer and put street names on their own layer.  You get the idea.  Also keep in mind that the shortcut you use to avoid work now will likely mean you will have to do the work later on, when there is even less time and less budget.

How to Reverse Your Polyline When Text-Based Linetypes Are Upside Down

Many AutoCAD users have custom linetypes with embedded text.  We use these lietypes to help visually identify what the line represents.  Here is an example of an existing water main with a linetype having the text “EX-WM” in it.

Figure 1: An example of a custom linetype going the wrong way.

You can easily tell which lines represent the existing water main.  In this example we have a situation where two lines meet but the linetype text is oriented differently.  It is upside down.  We want the text to “flow” just like we want the water in these pipes to “flow”.  The issue lies in the direction of the line.  These two lines are LINE objects.  They are not joined polylines.

Where do AutoCAD Dimensions Belong? Paper Space or Model Space?

There are some topics that will always be debated; Paper or Plastic, Mac or PC, Football or Soccer, Standard Time or Daylight Savings Time, Dimension in AutoCAD’s Model Space or Paper Space?

The problem with this question is the same as with the other questions that I mentioned, the answer depends on what you are doing.  That answer sucks to be honest, but it’s the truth.  Many times it really won’t matter.  Other times having dimensions in model space is the worst thing to do!  Or the worst will be having a million dimensions in paper space across several tabs that have to be updated when one model space dimension would have updated everything.

When is dimensioning in Model Space ok?  When that dimension (and this goes for text too) needs to be shown everywhere (or nearly everywhere) or when there will only be one paper space tab in the file.

When is dimensioning in Paper Space ok?  When you have multiple paper space tabs in your file and your dimensions do not carry over from sheet to sheet.

AutoCAD - What not to do

Here at CAD-a-Blog a typical post will contain tips, tricks, and other techniques. This time I want to provide an example of what not to do. 

Typically a drawing set will require a set of notes.  AutoCAD has a multiline text feature. Do not create a set of notes out of single lined text, especially when there are 17 different notes, many of which require more than one line.  Also do not create a wipeout object for each line. Yes. It is a waste of time to create a wipeout object for each line of text.

If I ever hear of any of my readers doing this on purpose I may block you!  I know, idle threats.

This is how it should have been done.  One multiline text object with the background mask option turned on.  See, now it wasn't that difficult now was it?

Use the tools in AutoCAD that are there to help you.  Don't do things the hard way.

Quick Tip-Mtext Upper to Lower Case and Back

Here is an Mtext Quick Tip that I am "borrowing" from Cadalyst's latest Tips and Tools Weekly.

Have you ever typed a note in AutoCAD's Mtext editor only to find out that your caps lock was on (or off depending on what you want to accomplish)? There are a few things you can do to fix it. Right click in the editor and select the CHANGE CASE option. Or, press Ctrl + Shift + U to set the text to Upper Case, OR . . . . press Ctrl + Shift + L to set the test to Lower Case.

Very simple but handy.

Happy CADDING!

Quick tip - Annotated text

Here's a quick tip from CAD-a-Blog using AutoCAD's Annotative Text. If you need to use text in drawings to lable something in multiple drawings use Annotative Text. Just set up a text style that is Annotative and have at. It can be set to show up through an x-ref file ant several different scales eliminating the need for multiple entities of text each having to be updated. And if your views are rotated you can turn on the MATCH TEXT ORIENTATION TO LAYOUT setting. That will automatically rotate your text so you can read it!!

Happy CADDING!

Displaying Reoccurring Data in a Drawing Set

I started this off as a CAD-a-Blog QUICK TIP, but it got too long, but, do you ever need to show the same information, a name, number, amount, etc. on many of your drawings in a set ? Is that information subject to change through the drawing process? One way to deal with this is to use fields and sheet sets.

To set it up with sheet sets, open your sheet set manager. Load the sheet set you need. Right click on the sheet set name. Then open the properties window. At the bottom of this window is a button, EDIT CUSTOM PROPERTIES. Click it to open the Custom Properties window.

Here you can add any bit of information to your sheet set. Click the ADD button and fill it out. Give it a NAME and a default value. Click ok and close all of the windows.

Now go to your drawing file. Edit the text you want the info to show up in. This can be Mtext, Dtext, Leader Text, Multileader text, or in a dimension. Wherever there is text you can add a field, which is what we are going to do.

In your text editor, press CTRL+F, or right click and then click ADD FIELD. This opens the FIELD manager window thingy (I don’t know what it’s actual name is, sorry.) In the FIELD Category pull down menu, select SHEET SET. This will bring up all of your field options in that sheet set.

Go to the sheet set (in the Field Names menu), in the sheet set navigation (yes it’s complicated, but you’ll get it quick enough) browse to your sheet set (it should open up to the proper one automatically). Then select your field property in the PROPERTY menu at the bottom right corner, then click ok, ok, ok, etc.

When done, you will see the information displayed in your text. Do that on every sheet wherever you need it and when the info changes, just go to the sheet set manger, load your sheet set, open the custom properties again and edit that value. Bingo!! All instances where your field “links” to that value will be updated.

This is a real quick "how to set it up" kind of a tip. I plan on getting into it more deeply in later posts.

Happy CADDING!!

Workaround - AutoCAD 2009 - Find/Replace - no Zoom!

In a previous post, AutoCAD 2009 - Find and Replace, I spoke about the changes in AutoCAD 2009's Find and replace command. It now automatically zooms to the text you find, but when you quit the command you are returned to where you were when you started the command. That means you can no longer use the find command to find text!

One of CAD-a-Blog's great and highly intelligent readers came up with a work around. Use the find command and zoom to the text. Close the command. then execute a Zoom PREVIOUS!!! Fantastic! It works, I tried it. It also works in 2008.

Just start the find command, find your text, zoom to it (it does this automatically now). Then close the command. Then start the zoom command, then type in P for previous and there you go, at your text!

Great tip, great workaround! Keep them coming.

Happy CADing!

Quick Tip - Annotated Text Won't Move, Delete, Rotate, Etc.

While you were working in AutoCAD and were using Annotated Text, (available since AutoCAD 2008), have you ever noticed that after you save the file, you can't manipulate it anymore? It's some sort of "glitch". I have found that if you close the file and open it again you can once again move, rotate, delete, etc. once again. Until you save the file that is. This is very annoying to me because I have developed the habit of saving nearly every five minutes or so (I have trust issues with the autosave and my battery back up!)

Note: Anonymous (I'm not sure who you are but thanks!) left a comment on this post saying that he/she would run the AUDIT command and make sure that you press Y (meaning yes) to make sure that any errors are fixed and that will allow you to edit your annotated text again. I tried it out and it works great!! Keep the tips and comments coming! Great work

Happy CADDING

AutoCAD 2008 & 2009– Scale List Clean UP

AutoCAD – Scale List Clean UP

How annoying are the annotation scales that just fill your list like crazy? The list gets so big that it fills your screen and you can’t find the scale you want to! It’s awful. AutoCAD 2009 now has a prompt to help this out. You can turn off the scale list from referenced files if you don’t want to see them. This isn’t full proof, however as the file can still fill up all on its own.

Autodesk has released an add on (a patch if you will) that can run in AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD 2009 to clean up the annotated scale list.

The scale list patch will available at Autodek’s Support Site soon (tomorrow they say):

http://support.autodesk.com


Here is an overview as taken from Shaan Hurley’s blog:
Description of Problem

When a file contains excess scales, performance may be negatively affected. Eventually, the file may become unusable. To use the file, some scales must be removed. This utility repairs affected files by removing excess scales.

NOTE: Nested external references (xrefs) may produce excess scales. To correct this problem, install AutoCAD 2008 Service Pack 1 or corresponding service packs for AutoCAD-based products. The Scale List Cleanup Utility repairs files affected before the necessary service pack was installed.

Affected Products
· AutoCAD® 2008-based products, including DWG TrueView™ 2008
· AutoCAD® 2009-based products, including DWG TrueView 2009

Installation Instructions
To install the Scale List Cleanup Utility
This utility has to be installed in the AutoCAD 2008 or AutoCAD 2009 installation folders.
You must have administrative privileges on your Microsoft® Windows® operating system to complete installation.

1. Based on your operating system (32-bit or 64-bit), download the appropriate self-extracting executable file.
2. Select a folder.
3. Extract files to the selected folder.
4. Navigate to the folder and copy CleanupScales.exe, CleanupScalesRes.dll, and CleanupScales.html to the installation directory of your AutoCAD-based product.

NOTE: To run this utility you must launch CleanupScales.exe from the installation directory of your AutoCAD-based product.

Repair Affected Files
To repair affected files
1. Close all affected files. Open affected files will not be repaired.
2. Launch the Scale List Cleanup Utility from the installation folder of your AutoCAD-based product.
3. Under Files to Clean, select affected files.
4. If desired, select Maintain Visual Fidelity for Annotative Objects.

NOTE: This option allows you to maintain visual fidelity for annotative objects when they are viewed in AutoCAD 2007 or earlier releases and corresponds to the SAVEFIDELITY system variable. Annotative objects may have multiple scale representations. When you select this option, annotative objects are decomposed and scale representations are saved (in an anonymous block) to separate layers, which are named based on their original layer and appended with a number.

5. Under New Scale List, in the drop-down list, select a scale list template.
NOTE: Each scale list template contains a different scale list. When you run this utility, unused scales are deleted from files and the scale list from the selected template is applied.
6. If desired, change the scale list threshold.
NOTE: The scale list threshold determines the minimum number of scales a file must contain in order to be repaired. The default scale list threshold is 50. Files that contain fewer scales than the scale list threshold will not be repaired. To change the scale list threshold, on the New scale list panel, enter a number in the Scale List Threshold field.
7. Click OK. Repaired files are saved in the same format last saved in.

AutoCAD 2009 - Find and Replace, no zoom

It has been brought to my attention that when using the Find and Replace function in AutoCAD 2009, that you can not actually go to the text you find. While in the function, 2009 zooms to that object automatically. When you end the Find command, it zooms back to where you were when you started.

This means that you will have to FIND (automatically zoom to within the command), make your changes within the Find command, then close.

It used to be that when you zoomed to text in the find command you could then close the function and be where your text was. Evidently not any more.

But you can edit the text right there within the find command, just not anything else.

The automatic zoom is a nice feature, but I really want to end up where I am editing my drawing at. Follow me here? What is happening now, is that I have no idea where it was that I changed my text!! It could have been anywhere.

Keep this in mind when you use the find replace command.

AutoCAD 2009 - Fit and Finish

Fit and Finish items are small enhancements and additions to the AutoCAD 2009 that help to complete the package. These little details are not enough to demand an upgrade, but they sweeten the pot! Collectively they help to make the upgrade to AutoCAD 2009 well worth it. Lets take a look at these new features:

M-Text now has automatic spell checking! Well duh!! Why hasn’t this been in there from the beginning? Everything else has it? I would often forget to go back and spell check a drawing, now I don’t have to, Mtext will do it for me. Yes, I get lazy.

ETransmit is a great way to get your drawings to somebody else. ETransmit allows you to send everything your client, vendor, best friend (whomever) needs to open and read your AutoCAD files. In AutoCAD 2009 eTransmit, you now have the option to save or not to save a drawing before you pack it all up, AND you can purge too.

Dynamic Xclip updates. This is one of my other favorite enhancements in AutoCAD 2009. It used to be that in order to update an xclip you had to generate the polygon, edit the polygon, then update the clip which involved several steps. Now, generate the polygon and grip edit it!! Xclip is instantly updated. This one is real nice.

Export Layouts to model space. At first I scratched my head, and said “huh?” You can import a layout into another layout, but now you can export a layout tab into the model of a different file.

Geographic Locations. Now you can set the geographical location in a file. The command geographiclocation sets the longitude, latitude, and north direction in a file. You can import this information from a .KML or .KMZ file, from your current Google Earth location (very nice), or enter the location values yourself. Here is the dialog box in case you enter the information yourself.

Find and Replace. I failed to mention earlier that the Find and replace will also now look for text in blocks and in an xref. Now that’s handy.


The Fit and Finish enhancements are a part of what makes upgrading to AutoCAD 2009 a good idea.

Happy CADDING


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AutoCAD 2009 - Find and Replace

I love find and replace. I have used it many times to fix the mistakes that I insisted on copying, and pasting, and pasting, and pasting, and . . . . You get the point.

One of the beautiful things about digital design is that I can copy something over and over again, reducing the amount of time and work it takes to accomplish a task. That also means that whatever I copy has to be correct, or else it will be wrong all over my drawing! Find and Replace can help to fix this. AutoCAD 2009 has enhanced the F & R by providing more options to search with, and more filters to weed out what I don’t want. It will also automatically zoom to the entity we are replacing. That makes the process easier to review before you change it.

Start the Find and Replace command, (I type in FIND). Put some text in there to locate, select the MORE OPTIONS icon to bring up more options (what a concept!). Pick what you want to search through and go! The screen will automatically move to where the object is.
Yet another little thing enhanced to make designing better.

Happy CADDING!
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