xref slowing down the drawings

[gerit]

hi everybody,

our drawings contain on average probably about 30 xrefs with nested xrefs in them. i.e. we created

a detail drawing (file A) - lets say a window detail -

which is brought in as an attached xref into

a GA drawing of only that detail (file B) - like an outline of that detail which can be used like a block (but is a xref) -

and this one again will be attached as an xref to the final GA drawing (file C)!

the problem is, that by drawing more and more details and outlines this slows down our main GA to a point where we can hardly turn off any xrefs within the drawings because the cursor stops before you even get over the xref manager.

we purged almost all the drawings and it still happens.

are we going over the top with efficiency in terms of xrefs? does autocad go crazy if there is too many xrefs in there? or is there another way of making it work smoothly again?

many thanks for any comments

gerit

[murrayc.49304]

Another trick to look into is to delete/clean-up any unnecessary annotation scales within the xrefs. To do this globally (without having to open each every xref file) you can download the application "CleanUpScales.exe" free from Autodesk.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...linkID=9240618

And you may also want to take a look at cleaning up RegApps as well

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet...linkID=9240618

[richard.binning]

You mentioned your cursor stops....perhaps just turning off the preview filter for xrefs will solve your problem.

From the Help files:

Sytem Variable: PREVIEWFILTER

PREVIEWFILTER System Variable Type: Bitcode Saved in: Registry Initial value: 7
Excludes specified object types from selection previewing. The setting is stored as a bitcode using the sum of the following values:
0
Excludes nothing
1
Excludes objects on locked layers
2
Excludes objects in xrefs
4
Excludes tables
8
Excludes multiline text objects
16
Excludes hatch objects
32
Excludes objects in groups

[gerit]

thanks! i'll give it a go

[oliveoil]

Sytem Variable: PREVIEWFILTER

Wow! I wasn't aware of that one. Must be a post 2005 thing.

This can be similarly done through menus if you "partially load" your drawing. When opening a file, hit the down arrow to the right of the Open tab. It should give you options for "Open", "Open Read-Only", "Partial Open", & "Partial Open Read-Only". It will give you the option to load a specific set of layers, and the option to unload all xrefs upon opening the drawing. Say you know what xrefs and other geometry is taking up a lot of space; you can just turn off the option to load any layer with the particular xref prefix prior to opening your drawing. Thusly, this reduces the strain on you computer's memory. And if you want to play it completely safe, check the box "Unload all Xrefs on open". You can always reload the ones that you want when in the drawing is open.

And if you are wondering if AutoCAD saves the drawing in this disabled state, the answer is yes and no. When you go to re-open your drawing, you will be given the option to "Fully Open" or "Restore" the drawing. "Fully Open" opens the drawing with everything loaded. "Restore" opens the drawing as you last saved it.

If you know what part of the drawing you will be working on, this can be a powerful tool.

[irneb]

You may also look at IndexCtl in all the DWG's (if you XClip / freeze xref layers). This basically does the "partial load" automatically.

But definitely try Richard's idea with PreviewFilter (add those you want together and set the var to the result). This does the same as Tools --> Options --> Selection (tab) --> Visual Effects Settings (button) --> Advanced Options (button) --> Check those you don't want highlighted when the cursor moves over them. I'd actually advise excluding all of them (just to be on the safe side). The main culprit in this is usually hatching, but hatching could form part of Groups or XRefs as well.

I think your problem is simply: too much xrefs. You're using ACad as you'd use SolidWorks with some part files inside an assembly file, then several assemblies inside a deliverable file. ACad's not that great once you start nesting XRefs. Remember that a DWG with several XRefs is loaded into RAM as if all of them are one large file. So it may easily use up all your RAM even if the files are individually not large.

[oliveoil]

You may also look at IndexCtl in all the DWG's (if you XClip / freeze xref layers). This basically does the "partial load" automatically.

Please elaborate. I tryed using the "indexctl" system variable with no success. Even when I set the variable to 3 and set demand loading to "Enabled", there is no change to the way AutoCAD behaves. However, the system variable "visretain", set to 0 where changes made to xref-dependent layers in the current drawing are valid only in the current drawing session, and set to 1 where the layer settings are saved with the current drawing's layer table and persist from session to session.

I am curious of how this works, because like Gerit, I to am working with a rather large dwg that has approximately 75 xrefs. Many of which are 3D. It is currently just about unmanageable. If I understood how INDEXCTL worked, maybe I will add it to my arsenal of tools to deal with this file. Currently, the PARTIALOAD option seems to work the best. I am using AC 2005.

[nolandlab806813]

it might be an old post..

but just had the problem myself (a very annoying one indeed, the cursor not moving but jumping)..

the SOLUTION for me was to reconcile the layers...

[irneb]

Yes, I've found similar problems before. Usually on hatches / blocks. What I've noticed is if the Hatch setting out point / block insertion point falls outside the clip, the hatch/block won't get shown (usually). Try modifying the hatches with HEdit and setting the setting out point to somewhere inside the hatch itself. Blocks (unfortunately) needs redefining for this to work. Perhaps it helps

I've never had the issue with PLs though. Are you using the default LWPoly or set to use old (pre 2000) 2d Polies?