Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 11, No. 37)
15 Oct, 2006Get the Code! Cadalyst's October Web Exclusives Now Live Online! Cadalyst Daily Update
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This Week's Software Tips Do you have a favorite tip or shortcut that you use every day in your CAD software? One that saves you time? Makes life easier? Share it with other readers and, if we publish it, we'll send you a “ Cadalyst: CAD the Way You Want It” t-shirt. Follow-Up to Viewport Lock Purging RegApps
"This cleans out RegApps so they don’t add to your file size. I recently did this on a drawing from someone else and purged 156,000 registered applications, cutting the file size from 2.5 MB to 400 KB. The worst thing about RegApps is the virulent nature of them. If you xref an infected file into a clean drawing, the RegApps are brought into the new file. With behavior like that, you need to nip the problem in the bud or else you can corrupt a whole project in no time by opening a few drawings. Purging RegApps has known detrimental effects on the drawing or applications used." NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: Our Patrollers are in agreement that it’s necessary to purge RegApps on a regular basis, and this is a good solution. In addition, Manusoft offers a small utility program called SuperPurge ($30) that helps you rid your files of RegApps, as well as other things that a normal Purge command won’t, such as the Defpoints layer. You can also use it to hard purge items that are still in the drawing, so use it wisely. Redir Command There are many ways to fix this, but Douglas has found the Redir command to be the best option to strip the path names off the references. The beauty of Redir is that if a path redirection doesn't find the file, the original remains as-is, he says. For example, he keeps all image references (that are unique to a job) within a subfolder under the drawing folder named Images. If he sees full paths on the image references, he types Redir, presses Enter to bring up the Settings dialog box, selects Images, presses OK to continue and then types the asterisk symbol (*) to select all paths. The next prompt asks for the replacement folder, so he types IMAGES\. All the images found in the Images folder are given relative paths. This works well with batch scripting too, he adds. NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: One Patroller notes, “The usefulness of this feature will, I think, have more to do with the structure of a given firm’s CAD filing protocols and standards. In some offices, the current revision drawing set is the one in the active folder. (Earlier revisions are saved in subfolders Rev-1, Rev-2, etc.). Storing the full path guarantees that if you need to see Rev-1 (even though the current revision is Rev-4) it won’t reference the wrong xref.” Easy Toolbar Move After you lock toolbars and tool palettes in place, you can temporarily override that lock to move them by pressing and holding the CTRL key while moving the toolbars and tool palettes. Once they are in place, release the CTRL key and they are again locked. NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: MicroStation Tip -- Design Model Copied to a Sheet Metal Answer: Try saving a view in the design file. Next, switch to the sheet model and reference the current file. Now, select the view you saved in the design model and set Nesting to 1, then just data point on the screen to place the referenced view. Axiom offers many MicroStation Tips on its MicroStationTips.com Web site. Tips & Tools Weekly software tips for AutoCAD are reviewed by Cadalyst staff and the Cadalyst Tip Patrol before publication. Use tips at your own discretion, please, and watch later editions of this newsletter for updates and corrections. Many thanks to our volunteer Cadalyst Tip Patrol members: Don Boyer, Mitchell Hirschklau, R.K. McSwain, Don Reichle, Kevin Sawyer, Ivanhoe Tejeda, Billy Wooten and Ben Young. |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deals & Freebies Special Price on i.get.it Solid Edge Velocity Series Discounts on rapidformXO Redesign Bundled with StarCam |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opportunities & Honors Call for Speakers: Interoperability & 3D Collaboration Conference ESRI Conference Submission Deadline Extended |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Books & Training Goldberg Updates ADT User Guide AutoCAD LT 2007 for Designers Textbook Textbook publisher CADCIM Technologies released AutoCAD LT 2007 for Designers (704 pages, $29) by Sham Tickoo, a professor at Purdue University Calumet. The book explains in detail the advance core drafting functions for more intuitive and faster design and drafting capability. From basic conceptual design representations to visual presentations, the textbook highlights AutoCAD LT's technology and gives an in-depth description of the process of dynamic input. The textbook caters to both the novice and the advanced user. Three additional chapters are available for free download from the CADCIM Technologies Web site. |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Week's New CAD and Related Products AEC: PowerCAD SiteMaster 3 AEC: Prolog 2007 MCAD: Teamcenter Express Version 2 MCAD: FormatWorks 2007 CAE: ABAQUS Student Edition Version 6.6 CAM: FeatureCAM 2007 |
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Your Calendar Cadalyst'scomplete list of upcoming industry events is always available on our Web site. Webinar: Autodesk Building Systems Autodesk Building Systems Workshop Introducing ArcGIS 9.2 Seminar Product Roadmapping Training Workshop Land Development Breakthroughs: Best Practices Conference UK Rhino User Meeting ESRI California User Group Meetings Second International Conference on Rapid Manufacturing
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