Tips & Tools Weekly (Vol. 12, No. 34)
23 Sep, 2007This Week's Software Tips Backup Plan Daley continues, "If you streamline the process, it will only take a few minutes to get all your data backed up. I like to use a USB flash drive because it's mobile, and it's quick to throw in. Besides, these drives have come down in price tremendously since they first came out! "There is a bit of setup involved, but it's simple enough. The easiest thing to do is to make sure your customized files and folders are in one central location. I like to make a main CAD folder under My Documents and then start creating my directory structure for what settings I will customize. Your paths in your AutoCAD options should point to these folders. The next thing I do is browse to the folders where my CUI files are kept for my various programs, whether it is Land Desktop, Civil 3D, or Map3D. The easiest thing to do is to create a shortcut to each folder, then place the shortcuts in My Documents under your CAD hierarchy. Then it's easy to click on the shortcut and copy the CUI files out of their main directory and into your CUI backup folder that you've made. "When it's time to back up your information, just copy or drag-and-drop your main CAD folder from My Documents to the flash drive or other backup location. It's easy, it's fast, and it will save you from certain tragedy if something happens to your machine." NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: Great tip! Another option would be to use the Windows Backup Utility, especially if you find it difficult to customize your folder structure. You should also make backups of your PGP and LIN files and LISP programs, plus master block, layer, and dimension sets. It's also not a bad idea to print out important files and keep the paper backups in a safe location. Purge Stubborn Layers "Select all using Ctrl+A. Unselect everything visible by pressing the Shift key and making a crossing window around everything. Now erase those empty objects. If you are curious, you can see a list of the types of objects that are left; Open the Properties box and click on the arrow next to All (*)." NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: This is one of the best tips we've seen yet. Many thanks, Rob! Increase Performance Set the program's priority to High in the Processes tab of the Windows Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete/Task Manager). Right-click on the program and select Set Priority/High. If you want your program to always run with high priority, you can create a BAT file (text file with a .BAT extension) that contains the following code: Start "Priority" /high "C:\Program Files\Any Folder\MyProgram.exe" If you don't like the generic icon used for BAT files, you can create a shortcut to the BAT file so you can assign a different icon. NOTES FROM CADALYST TIP PATROL: Here are a few things to be aware of if you use this tip:
In some work settings, you'll have to ask your IT department for assistance if you do not have permission to make such changes. Follow-Up: Reference Information Follow-Up: Keep Files Clean In response to a reader's request in the August 20 issue, original Keep Files Clean tipster Michael Cipolla reworked his code so that now it combines two steps (purge and delete filters) in just one step (one button). Thanks, Michael!
MicroStation Tip: Changing the AccuDraw Coordinate Units Axiom offers many MicroStation Tips on its MicroStationTips.com Web site. Submit Your Tip:E-mail your tip, code or shortcut for your favorite CAD software. If we publish your tip, we'll send you a Cadalyst T-shirt, and each month Cadalyst editors will randomly select one published tip and send a $100 gift card to its author. Please submit only code and other tips that are your original work (or provide the original source so we can include proper credit) and tell us which software version you use. By submitting code, you grant Cadalyst the right to print and distribute your code in print, digitally and by other means. Cadalyst and individual authors retain all rights to the code; published code is not to be used for commercial purposes.
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