I am working on a study guide for my exam and I cannot find those 4 questions on my textbook. It would be great if you could answer any of them! 1. What are the 3 types of paths that can be used for storing an XREF?2. DO you need to be in paper space or model space to resize a viewport?3. When using the properties window to edit a dimension, what is the effect on the dimension style?4. What is the procedure to set annotative text to a specific scale?4. The difference between the OFF option and the FREEZE option is that the frozen layers are not ______ by the computer while regenerating the drawing.

Let's try the Socratic method here... 1.  Open a new drawing.  Go to Insert > Reference > Attach and select a drawing to attach.  Then, click the down arrow in the Path type section.  You'll find your answer there.2.  Create a Viewport in both Model and Paper space.  The answer will become immediately obvious.3.  The first part of this question doesn't make any sense.  If it came from your instructor it needs to be clarified.  The answer to the second part of this question can be found in either the Properties palette or on the Status bar of the Model space window.4.  If the answer to this question is not in your textbook you need to find a new textbook!  Or, you need to look at every reference to Freeze in the index again.  Short of that, go into the AutoCAD Help system and look up Freeze.  The answer is there.Dave.

Thank you Mr. Hein! It was probably better that you let me find the answer instead of giving them to me. Thanks again!

if you can answer to this question it would be great...What are 2 ways to access a listing of all blocks in the current drawing?

1.  If you wanted to place a new block in a drawing, how would you do it?  There's one answer there.2.  If you wanted to create a new block in a drawing, what command would you use?  There's another answer there.Good luck!Dave.


heinsite2012-05-07 10:59:34

I got them now thank you.I have another question (not from a study guide but from actual drawing).I am currently drawing a layout for a subdivision, front view of houses, window, and door. I have to put dimensions for lengths and other things. (The houses are about 80 units wide and 40 units high)I have to turn them in with a template and when I do that, the numbers are too small to read.What commands do I use to be able to see the numbers on template? 

First, define for me what you mean by "template".  When I hear that word I immediately think of DWT files.  But somehow in this context that doesn't seem correct.  By any chance do you mean "layout"?Next, when you made your dimensions, did you create an annotative dimstyle and use it?  Or, are your dimensions non-annotative?  And when you placed your dimension objects did you put them in the model with the building objects themselves?With the answers to these questions we can move on.  I suspect also you meant to say "plan view" of the subdivision... not "front view".  But you can correct me if this is wrong.Dave.


heinsite2012-05-09 03:18:01

My professor prefers to have a drawing in a rectangle with some information on it (drawn by: , Assignment #:, etc.) and he calls it a template. And I draw thing on Model view and I want my drawings to be on Layout 1, Layout 2, etc. and no. I did not create annotative dimstyle. I am not sure how to do it.Thanks

Okay then.  I can't think of a better way to convince you to figure out how to use Annotative dimensioning than the process you are about to go thru.  The way you have to do this now is the way AutoCAD users had to do things for years.  You'll need to compute the scale factor necessary to take text objects from model space to your layout views so that they appear at a size you would like.
 
To do this you need to consider what scales you are using in the Layouts.  This will determine how large you need to make your text in the model.  Here's an example:
 
Let's say you want all text in the Layout to be 0.15 inches high.  If your Layout viewport is 1"=100', how large does your text need to be to appear 0.15" high in the viewport?  This is a little more tricky if you are using imperial scales, but the concept is the same.
 
Now, here's the tricky bit.  If you have multiple viewports with different scales you'll need to use differently sized text objects in the model, right?  And what if you only want things to show in the right viewports?  You'll need to put them on different layers.
 
Have a crack at this and let us know if you still need help.
 
btw, Annotative dimstyles take care of all this for you!  All you do there is specify how large you want the text to appear in your layouts and AutoCAD does the rest!  There are a few details to keep track of, but for the most part it's a piece of cake.  And no messing with layer control tricks either.
 
Do it the hard way first.  That's always best.  You'll appreciate the easy way more later.
 
Dave. 

Maybe I should go back a little bit. I am trying to insert a part of my drawing into the Layout 1 by using WBLOCK and then INSERT. nothing shows up even though I followed every single youtube videos, AutoCAD help, etc. what could i possibly be doing? 

Yeah, that's part of your problem right there.  WBLOCK and INSERT are two completely different operations.  WBLOCK takes a set of objects and writes them out to the disk as a completely new DWG file.  INSERT takes a drawing or a block and places it in a drawing.  By any chance is it the "template" file (either as a dwg or a block) the part you're trying to put into the Layout?  Is it a title block by any chance?A word of explanation is in order at this point too.  Your subdivision, or whatever it is, is entirely in Model space, and is drawn to real scale... probably a thousand feet (or meters) or more on a side.  But it's real scale, full units  Stuff in model space is always drawn full scale whether it's in millimeters or parsecs.  But Layout space, otherwise known as Paper space, is just used for prints, plots, or display.  It is not in real units.  It's scaled to fit the medium, and is our Viewport, or window, thru which we look at our drawing.  Think of it as a window you look thru to see your model.  But you create the window.  It's called a Viewport, and you draw it in paper space.  Without a Viewport you can't see the model.Now explain again what you're trying to do.Dave.

> ... drawing in a rectangle with some information on it (drawn by: , Assignment #:, etc.) and he calls it a template. Between you and me, he should call it a Title Block, because that's what it is.  And that's the terminology you'll hear when you start doing drawings you get paid for.  Template files *can* include title blocks, but they don't have to.Dave.

Please guys anybody can help me that how to create a lisp file?

 I am working mostly in infrastructure projects by using cad-2012.My problem that when i will bind my x-refs, the file size increasing.eg:95MB,105MB 85MB etc...   How can i reduce maximum of a dwg file size?

Yes I meant the title block. I am sorry. Right now, I have a top view of a block (with roads and houses), top view of a house, front view of a house, and parts (doors, windows, garage, etc.) with dimensions in 1 big drawingSo here, I am trying to place my title block on my Layout and place parts of my drawing in the title block. I am lost how to do this.

Insert your title block and border in your layout.Next, create at least one viewport.  A viewport is like a window that allows the user to look at the objects that were created back in model space.Viewports can be resized with their grips.Viewports can be moved, copied, rotated and even deleted.It's a good idea to put viewports on their own layer and set the layer to "no print" in the Layer Properties Manager.Viewports are assigned a scale not the objects back in model space.  They should all be drawn at full size.Viewports, after having a scale assigned to them, to have their display locked (can do this via the Properties palette) so as to prevent accidentally changing the scale when moving between paper space and model space.Viewports can be created using the MView command.

Yeah, as John says, first you insert the title block (what your prof calls a template - I'm convinced he's trying to confuse you) on the Layout tab.  Insert it on Layer 0 (in other words, make Layer 0 current before you insert), and make sure you insert at 0,0.   More than likely it's been created so that 0,0 is the insertion point.Once you have the block in the Layout you can "cut a hole in it".  This is the viewport.  A bit of magic will happen when you first do this as your model will suddenly appear!  It will be sized as if you just zoomed extents.  It will fill the viewport.  You can work on the model from here by double clicking anywhere inside the viewport.  When you double click back outside you'll return to paper space.  Double clicking inside the viewport is called, "activating" the view.  To resize the model in the viewport click on the edge of the viewport and change the scale setting on the Status bar.  You will only see the scale setting by clicking the viewport edge.  Now you'll see what happens to your text objects to fixed height text when you change display scales.There's much more to learn here.  But you're getting started.  :)Dave.

> Please guys anybody can help me that how to create a lisp file?samdesign:  This is called, "hijacking" a thread.  Don't do it.  It's off-topic, confusing and makes finding things later next to impossible.  Don't expect an answer until you start a new thread with a new post and an appropriate subject line and ask the question again.  Then you'll not only get responses but allow others to see what the subject is and join in.Dave

I've never forgot my prof's explanation of paper space. He said, "Take a piece of paper with your title block on it, cut an opening in it and that is a viewport." Of course you can then scale the viewport to see any scaled object you drew in model space. Multiple viewports on one page can have different scales as needed as well.

That is a good analogy.

That is a good way to think of it.  The only thing about it is that a pure hole in the paper wouldn't provide any mechanism for scaling.  Everything would remain 1:1.  So I like to think of the viewport as a magic glass window with the ability to adjust magnification.  Then when you look thru the opening you're allowed to zoom in or out of the model depending on what you want to see.
But whatever idea you choose it takes something to get over the hurdle when you first try to learn this stuff.  Any visual analogies are good because everyone learns things differently.
 
Dave.

Download the  Autocad drawing of POST-MODERN HOTEL on http://ed7fab5b.linkbucks.com
O3ISSA2012-05-13 04:16:48

O3ISSA:  And just how does this solve chickenjoe's problem?