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Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

(OP)
Hi folks !

I have received a CD with a large number of drawings on it - and each contain many xrefs - the xrefs are in a seperate dir on the disk > Upon opening the drawing the xrefs are not found as it's looking for them elsewhere .....

now it's simple enough to re-path each xref in every drawing - but very time consuming ! Is there any way of doing a global re-path ?!?! ie "look here instead,for ALL your xrefs" lol.

Ideally i need to copy the full set into the project dir on our network.

AHAAAA - jst tried sthing> the drawing was looking for the xrefs withn the same dir  as each dwg - but theyd been separated on the disk - I just copied thm to my network and put dwgs AND xrefs in the same directory - and it has loaded them all ! (though the dir name is now differnt to original name in path)

would this still work ....if the xref path had been looking in a sep dir to the actual dwg originally? will a drawing ALWAYS look for xrefs within it's 'own' directory even if the path says otherwise ?

any help/comments appreciated - cheers



RE: Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

CADALOG.COM is a great shareware site:)
try this:
xRepath - Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000 tool (no AutoCAD needed) for changing or listing external reference paths (XREFs and IMAGEs) in AutoCAD DWG files. Works with all versions of DWG files containing XREF or IMAGE objects, R11 to Acad2002. Like other BLITZ! tools, xRepath doesn\'t need AutoCAD to access and modify drawing files. Another remarkable feature is its extreme processing speed of thousands of drawings per hour. It can be used to change paths of attached reference files (XREF or IMAGE) (up to 1 MILLION drawings per run) on all local and network drives and directories. Ideal tool when changing drive mapping, moving the project to another drive or returning project files to the client. There is also an option for creating the Excel spreadsheet of reference files attached to processed drawings. Easy to use, comes with help file explaining usage in fine detail. Run AXR2INST.EXE to install xRepath on your system and try it free for 14 days.

RE: Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

If you don't have the "search path" in AutoCAD set up, then AutoCAD by default will look in the same folder for the XREFs.
.
Now some CAD users like to save the path "if the search path variable isn't set up".
.
Per the procedures in this office, when we issue out files here, we issue 2 CDs of our CAD files.
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One CD will have the CADfiles seperated per discipline AND the other CD will have the SAME files in one folder. This makes the CD more "plotting" friendly. This way the "end user" doesn't have to copy all the files to ONE folder on their SERVER.
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Hope that sheds some light.
Rich

RE: Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

Dear Cenkos,
You can gather all xref dwgs into a single folder and delete their required path using the ETRANSMIT command.
:)
Farzad

RE: Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

(OP)
thanks (all) for those suggstns/comments :)

I've been using cad for yeeeeears (and thght i knew a fair amount ! lol) - but now I have somewhere to ask help with all the niggly things I can't find a solution for - excellent !! could be posting alot more from now on .... ;)

cheers,

Cenkos

RE: Xref search Path - can I change globally ?

Cenkos,

If you have express tools, you can do it easily.  Express->File Tools->Edit Xref Paths.

Brian

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