source files for tool palletes

[rvellia]

i have moved the source files for my tool palette. does anyone know how i can modify the source file location to the new place they're located so I can use the blocks in my tool palette? Thanks!

[dkoch]

Assuming that you are using AutoCAD MEP, and that you are talking about tools on a local tool palette in your workspace, you could right-click each tool, choose Properties and change the location of the source file. If you are more adventurous or have a lot of tools to update, you could use an XML editor that has search and replace abilities to open the palette file and update the source file tool paths that way. (Do the latter with AutoCAD MEP closed.)

If your palette is taken from a tool catalog (either by i-dropping into the local workspace, or by directly including the tool catalog folder in your Tool Palette File Locations on the Files tab of the Options dialog), then things are a little more complicated. If these are office-standard or otherwise shared catalogs/palettes, I assume that if you have the authority to move the source files, you have the authority to modify the palettes and catalog(s). Post back if this is the case, and describe the exact arrangement (i-drop or direct reference), and I or someone else here can provide instructions.

Or, you could build new palettes from the source files in their new location.

[rvellia]

Assuming that you are using AutoCAD MEP, and that you are talking about tools on a local tool palette in your workspace, you could right-click each tool, choose Properties and change the location of the source file. If you are more adventurous or have a lot of tools to update, you could use an XML editor that has search and replace abilities to open the palette file and update the source file tool paths that way. (Do the latter with AutoCAD MEP closed.)

If your palette is taken from a tool catalog (either by i-dropping into the local workspace, or by directly including the tool catalog folder in your Tool Palette File Locations on the Files tab of the Options dialog), then things are a little more complicated. If these are office-standard or otherwise shared catalogs/palettes, I assume that if you have the authority to move the source files, you have the authority to modify the palettes and catalog(s). Post back if this is the case, and describe the exact arrangement (i-drop or direct reference), and I or someone else here can provide instructions.

Or, you could build new palettes from the source files in their new location.

Thanks for your response, dkoch. Sorry for the vague OP, I knew I was lacking required info but had faith that the crew here at Augi would discover what I was looking for.

The palette is taken from a tool catalog via i-dropping. It was originally created by a former coworker who is no longer with us. We have done some shifting around of our network files and now are having issues with the blocks in the tool palettes. I have the authority to move the files wherever I want. In fact, I have moved them, which is how I discovered this issue. I also have a new location of the source files.

I believe creating new tool catalog would be most beneficial, as I would learn the proper way to do this from scratch instead of re-pathing (which seems like I pain btw). Please help!

Regards.

[dkoch]

If everyone has i-dropped this palette into his or her workspace and kept it linked to the source catalog, it may be easier to update the existing palette tools and then have everyone refresh the palette. If the catalog location on the network has also moved, such that the local workspace copies can no longer be refreshed, then you can either modify the current catalog/tools or start a new catalog and build new palettes, as it will likely be easier to have the users delete their existing palettes and i-drop new ones.

To create a new catalog, open the Content Browser. (One way: on the Insert ribbon tab, on the Content panel, choose the Content Browser tool. If the Content Browser tool is not the current tool, select the bottom part of the split button tool and choose Content Browser from the drop-down list.)

In the Content Browser, in the lower left corner is the Add/Create Catalog tool. Select it, and, in the Add Catalog dialog that appears, choose the Create a new catalog radio button. Provide a catalog name, and use the Browse button to navigate to a network location where you will keep the catalog. Select the OK button, and a new, empty catalog will appear in the Content Browser. Depending upon how many catalogs you have open, it may be on a different page.

Right click on the newly created catalog, and choose Properties. In the Catalog Properties dialog, you can add to or edit the listed properties of the catalog. Right click on the Image tile to specify an image for the cover of your catalog (when seen at the top level of the Content Browser). Keep the Link items when added to workspace toggle checked if your users will be i-dropping palettes from the catalog into their local workspaces, and you want them to remain linked to and refreshable from the network catalog.

Double click on the newly created catalog to open it. It will be empty. You will need to create new tool palettes in AutoCAD MEP. I usually set up a separate profile for editing/creating palettes that includes a "Sandbox" Tool Palette Location at the top of the list, on my computer, and then use that profile when creating new palettes. That way, I can keep a "clean" profile that represents what is available to production machines when troubleshooting issues (with tool palettes or anything else). Create a new palette on your computer by right clicking the title spine of the Tool palettes and choosing New Palette from the context menu. Give the palette a meaningful name. You can now start creating tools on this palette, using your network-based source files, now in the "permanent" location(s). The exact means of doing so will depend on the type of content. If I were creating a Wall tool, I would open the Style Manager and then open the source file in the Style Manager (unless you have already opened it in AMEP on your computer, in which case it will already be listed in the Style Manager). I would expand the node below the source file in the left sash until a listing of the object styles appeared in on the right side (DWG NAME > Architectural Objects > Wall Styles for a Wall), and the left click-hold-and-drag the Style from the right side over to the new tool palette, and drop the style on the palette. That will create a tool that starts the ADD command for that object type, using that style. AutoCAD blocks can be added in a similar fashion using DesignCenter, or you can open the source file, place an instance of the block in the source file (if there is not already one there), and then left click-hold-and-drag the instance onto the Tool palette and drop it. (If there is a particular ACA or AMEP tool that adds a block and does other things appropriate to that block, you can drag a copy of that tool onto the tool palette and then edit the tool properties to use your source file and your specific block.)

Once you have a palette full of tools, ready for your catalog, open the Content Browser and your catalog therein. Left click-hold-and-drag the Tool palette from the palette tab and drop it onto the Content Browser. This can be tricky, particularly if you only have one monitor. If the Content Browser is hidden by the AMEP window when you start the drag-n-drop, you can drag down to the Windows task bar, and hover over the Content Browser icon until it pops back up to the top, then drag over to it and drop. Or, before you start the drag-n-drop, right click on the title bar at the top of the Content Browser window and choose Always on Top from the content menu. This will keep the Content Browser window on top of the AMEP window, making it easier to drag-n-drop a palette into a catalog.

Note also that if you expect to have a large number of palettes in one catalog, you can create categories in Content Browser, which act like folders to allow you to organize that large number of palettes in logical groupings. We have separate catalogs for each discipline, so have not needed to do so, but you may want to consider this.

Once your palettes are in place in your catalog, your users can i-drop them into their workspaces. If you are using the refresh feature, if it becomes necessary to edit the contents of a palette, you will need to do so in the AMEP window, and then copy the changed tools to the palette in the catalog. To do this correctly, you need to start with an i-dropped palette that is linked back to the catalog, temporarily disable the refresh for that palette (in the palette's properties), temporarily disable the refresh for the tool to be edited (in the tool's properties), make the changes in the tool's properties, drag-n-drop the changed tool to the palette in the catalog in Content Browser, making certain you get the warning that the tool already exists, and choosing to overwrite it. Then you can go back to the tool properties in your AMEP workspace and recheck the refresh toggle and finally recheck the refresh toggle for the palette.

You cannot simply create a new tool of the same name with the revised properties and drag-n-drop it onto the palette in the catalog. AMEP uses GUIDs to identify tools and palettes, not just the name you give the tool, and it will know that the new tool you created is not the tool already there, and you will end up with two tools. Likewise, you cannot update an entire existing palette by making a new one with the same name; you will wind up with two palettes with the same name.

Adding new tools to an existing palette requires that you start with an i-dropped/refreshable copy of the original palette from the catalog. Temporarily disable the refresh, add the tools, drag-n-drop the entire palette to the catalog in the same location as the original palette and make certain that you are prompted to overwrite the existing palette (and do so). At that point, you can re-enable the refresh on the palette in your workspace. (If you re-enable the refresh of a tool or palette before you drag-n-drop the revised version to the catalog, it will refresh from the old version in the catalog and delete your revisions.) Tool order for added tools can be somewhat painful, unless you are fine with them being at the bottom of the palette. I have found that to reliably have new tools intermingled with old tools that I have to cut and then paste back the old tools below a newly added tool to get the tool order to be respected.

I am sure I have left out something in all of the above, but that should get you started.

[Coloradomrg]

Maybe I'm thinking too simply... If it's simply a drive or folder change issue, using notepad to find and replace the path might work.

I had to do this with vanilla AutoCAD a few years ago when our server was replaced and someone thought it was a good idea to change the drive letter where all of our AutoCAD stuff lived. The ATC files look like junk in a text editor, but being able to find and replace strings made my life much easier!

[dkoch]

Notepad will work. I prefer to use XML Notepad 2007 (a free download from Microsoft), as that sorts out all that junk into a more identifiable format.

[rvellia]

dkoch, thanks for the reply, although I don't think what I need to do is that complicated. Maybe I'm not understanding, as I'm not very well versed in creating these palettes. Let me be more clear with my situation.

I have a bunch of .dwg files that have blocks in them
Each dwg file represents a separate palette (i.e. electrical power symbols, electrical lighting symbols, mechanical piping symbols, mechanical duct work symbols, general annotations, etc.)
I also have a .cdc file that (I believe) has all of the palettes in groups organized by trade.

How can I do the following:

1) Use the existing .cdc file to create a i-drop tool palette.

or

2) Use the existing .dwg files with blocks to create a separate library from scratch

Also, what do you mean use notepad to find/replace the path? What path are we talking about, and in what files are we doing this?

Thanks again for all your help.

EDIT: I have attached the following picture to help. I have the right tool palettes and all the groups loaded into my CAD. However, the individual blocks loaded onto each palette are still pointing to the old location. HOw do I re-path all these blocks quickly? Thanks!

[Coloradomrg]

i have moved the source files for my tool palette. does anyone know how i can modify the source file location to the new place they're located so I can use the blocks in my tool palette?

Also, what do you mean use notepad to find/replace the path? What path are we talking about, and in what files are we doing this?

If you use a text editor to open the .atc files, you can use find/replace to fix the path to look at your new source file location.

[rvellia]

If you use a text editor to open the .atc files, you can use find/replace to fix the path to look at your new source file location.

<Category FileRevision="19.1.0" Revision="19.1.1" option="0"><ItemID idValue="{7FCF8684-17F6-4293-980E-4E7CA00A1F93}"/><Properties><ItemName>RKV Electrical</ItemName><Images option="0"/><Time createdUniversalDateTime="2008-10-21T16:44:00" modifiedUniversalDateTime="2008-10-21T16:44:00"/></Properties><Source/><Tools/><Palettes/><Packages/><Categories><Category Revision="18.0.0" option="0"><ItemID idValue="{3C956FAC-2469-40E3-9ED0-D0AF094610A8}"/><Url href=".\Categories\E-AutoCAD_3C956FAC-2469-40E3-9ED0-D0AF094610A8.atc"/><Properties><ItemName>AutoCAD</ItemName><Images option="0"/></Properties><Source/></Category><Category Revision="18.0.0" option="0"><ItemID idValue="{F58AEFEB-CFAF-4EF4-8ACF-6C0362CD4607}"/><Url href=".\Categories\E-MEP_F58AEFEB-CFAF-4EF4-8ACF-6C0362CD4607.atc"/><Properties><ItemName>MEP</ItemName><Images option="0"/></Properties><Source/></Category></Categories><StockTools/></Category>


That is what I get when I check a few of the ATC files in a text editor. There is no reference to any file locations. Am I looking at the wrong ATC?

[dkoch]

You are looking at the catalog file. It appears that you have two categories in your catalog, AutoCAD and MEP. I expect that you have a subfolder in the same folder as your catalog file, called Categories, and that there are ATC files in that folder called E-AutoCAD_3C956FAC-2469-40E3-9ED0-D0AF094610A8.atc for the AutoCAD category and E-MEP_F58AEFEB-CFAF-4EF4-8ACF-6C0362CD4607.atc for the MEP category. The paths to the categories files are relative paths, so there is no need to edit any paths here.

We do not use Categories in our tool catalogs at work (nothing wrong with using them; we just do not), but I believe you will find in the Categories folder a subfolder called Palettes. In the two Categories ATC file, you should find a listing of your palettes, with the path for each set up to be relative as well. If you go into the Palettes folder, you should find an ATC file for each palette. These files will have a listing of the tools and the properties of those tools. It is here that the paths to the source files for the content of each tool will be found (in your case, the source file for the block definitions), and these paths will likely not be relative, but will have the full path information (R:\AutoCAD MEP 2014\Content\... per your image). These are the paths that need to be changed, replacing the current values with the new paths. If you edit the palette files (with Notepad or an XML editor), you can replace the incorrect path with the new path for all tools on a given palette at once.

It appears that your palettes are refreshable from the catalog (per your image). If you are going to edit the ATC files through Notepad or an XML editor, it would be best to do so when no one else is running AMEP (with these palettes active in the workspace), particularly anyone with write permissions to the folders, as the old values may overwrite your changes when they close out, if they do not refresh after you make the changes.

I have attached an image of your catalog ATC file (created by cutting and pasting the text you posted into an empty Notepad file, and saving that file in Notepad), opened in XML Notepad, so you can see how an XML editor can make reading an ATC file much easier. It will also make it easier to look through all of the data so you can make certain that there are no instances of the path you plan to replace that should not be replaced.
RKV Electrical Catalog - XML Notepad.png