UNbinding XREFS (BlockToXref)

[EvylRat]

Summary: You cannot retain layer states on XREFs when using BlockToXref.

Consider my XREF drawing, XR_Test.dwg. It has a circle and a square (on their own layers), overlayed on eath other. My working drawing, Test1.dwg, has two viewports; one has the square layer turned off, the other has the circle layer turned off.

If you BIND the XREF, then the drawing appears to be displayed the same. Layer names are changed from XR_Test|Circles to XR_Test$0$Circles and viewports remain the same; one shows a circle, one shows a square.

But if I do BlocktoXref and repoint the block back to the XR_Test.dwg, then the viewports lose all state settings for the XREFs and both viewports show a square and a circle.

Saving the layer states for each viewport doesn't work, because after BINDING the XREFs, the layer states saved show the new layer names (eg XR_Test$0$Circles), not the old Xref names (eg XR_Test|Circles). After running BlocktoXref, these layer names remain the same, so no longer show the correct layers on the XREF.

The ONLY solution I have found so far is to export the LAYER STATES from Test1.dwg prior to binding, and copy them to the XR_Test.dwg (for safe keeping). You can then restore them from that drawing after running BlockToXref. But without a backup, or those layer states, I'd have to manually adjust the layers to match the original plots I'd made.

I'm trying to write an Idiots guide for working with XREFs. We have to hold all our documents on a document management system, we are not supposed to keep working drawings on there, besides the one we're working on. Once a drawing has been issued, I think the CAD version (PDFs are made) should be bound to preserve the drawing, but we can't keep a bound copy and an unbound copy on the DMS.

Are there any other ways to revert a block back to it's XREF form without messing up the layer states in a viewport?

[tedg]

Congrats on your first post!

I don't know anything about the process of BlockToXref, I've actually never heard of it, sounds interesting.

But just a quick thought...

If you have layer states looking at layers like "XR_Test|Circles" and you have layers like "XR_Test$0$Circles" in your bound drawing, why cant you use the rename command with wild cards?

Rename > Layers > *$0$* > to > *|*Seems like it would work.

Just a thought.

**Edit**
I just tested it, I couldn't do two wild cards and it wouldn't let me use the bar "|" in a new layer name.
But I could use one wild card "XR_Test$0$*" and change them to something else, but with no bar and so it doesn't solve this problem.

Sorry, maybe someone else has a solution.

[EvylRat]

If you have layer states looking at layers like "XR_Test|Circles" and you have layers like "XR_Test$0$Circles" in your bound drawing, why cant you use the rename command with wild cards?

Rename > Layers > *$0$* > to > *|*Seems like it would work.

Thanks for the congtrats! Usually with AutoCAD issues, I get all my answers from this forum and never have to ask. But when it comes to XREFs, perhaps we're just using them wrong! I like to keep all information on a drawing (for a building, it would be steel, masonry, foundations, etc) and have a drawing showing plans at each level, so a viewport showing Foundations, one showing the masonry, another showing steelwork setting out. Seems odd that if you bind a drawing, there's no UNbind option. I'm surprised that I seem to be part of a tiny percentage asking this question.

After running the Blocktoxref, and choosing NOT to purge the unneeded data (so I can see what's left behind), I am left with an XR_Test$0$Circles layer (from the block) but also have a new XR_Test|Circles from the XREF, so I can't rename the layers because they already exist. If I DO purge the data, those unused layers are deleted from the Layer State Manager. You can export the original layer states to the XR_Test, and reimport them later so they are unchanged.

We usually forget to bind the drawings 95 times out of 100, and since only our PDFs are counted as official documents (they have stamps and signatures on them), losing the DWG because XREFs weren't bound, isn't a huge problem unless there is a design change and we want to go back to a previous design. Just wondering if there's something I'm missing with this feature.

[tedg]

Thanks for the congtrats! Usually with AutoCAD issues, I get all my answers from this forum and never have to ask. But when it comes to XREFs, perhaps we're just using them wrong! I like to keep all information on a drawing (for a building, it would be steel, masonry, foundations, etc) and have a drawing showing plans at each level, so a viewport showing Foundations, one showing the masonry, another showing steelwork setting out. Seems odd that if you bind a drawing, there's no UNbind option. I'm surprised that I seem to be part of a tiny percentage asking this question.

After running the Blocktoxref, and choosing NOT to purge the unneeded data (so I can see what's left behind), I am left with an XR_Test$0$Circles layer (from the block) but also have a new XR_Test|Circles from the XREF, so I can't rename the layers because they already exist. If I DO purge the data, those unused layers are deleted from the Layer State Manager. You can export the original layer states to the XR_Test, and reimport them later so they are unchanged.

We usually forget to bind the drawings 95 times out of 100, and since only our PDFs are counted as official documents (they have stamps and signatures on them), losing the DWG because XREFs weren't bound, isn't a huge problem unless there is a design change and we want to go back to a previous design. Just wondering if there's something I'm missing with this feature.

We use a separate xref base for each level at the same origin.
So the structural foundation plan and framing plans are thier own drawings, you could literally "stack" the bases on top of eachother and everthing lines up.
Common features such as column grids are used throughout the whole project.
And the architectural plans are the same way, each floor is it's own drawing, and so MEP uses these plans for thier backgrounds.

[cadtag]

My 0.02 euros. Binding is evil. sometime's (very rarely!!) it's a necessary evil, but still an evil. since binding is a very rare necessity, the need to _unbind_ is even rarer. In the scenario you've described, the only thing I can suggest is to save a named layer state before binding the Xref into the dwg.

For archiving jobs, use the Archive option in sheet set manager. that will grab everything required to reconstruct the drawing sets at a later date, with no need to bind anything into the drawing file.

[EvylRat]

We use a separate xref base for each level at the same origin.

Luckily our drawings don't get that complicated, which is why we just keep a handful of xrefs with lots of information on it; buildings, civil layouts, cable layouts, topographic surveys.

For archiving jobs, use the Archive option in sheet set manager. that will grab everything required to reconstruct the drawing sets at a later date, with no need to bind anything into the drawing file.

That's the other way I've been doing it, kinda, taking regular local backups of the XREFs. Our PROJECT wise can export a drawing and all its associated XREFs. Not used the sheet set manager, will have a look. Admittedly the only real time we bind drawings is if we email them to someone, but maybe we should keep them as a set instead.

Thank you both for your inputs.

EDIT I can setup an eTransmit to do the same thing as Archive; compress all drawings and references into a single zip. Thanks