Identical objects displaying differently between drawings.

[jguest]

I'm hoping that someone can help me with this problem:

I'm having some major issues with an inconsistency in how Acad displays linetypes between drawings.

I have 2 drawings, both created using the same template file. I have an object (5 straight lines) that was created in one of those drawings and copied using COPYBASE command into the other drawing. LTSCALE = 50, CELTSCALE (which I didn't even know existed until yesterday, and still don't see any use for other than frustrating your co-workers ) = 1, Object linetype scale in the properties box = 1, all of the layer properties are identical, yet in spite of all of this the object displays as though the LTSCALE variable were different between drawings.

I can not figure out what is happening here - Has anyone else encountered this problem? If so, did you also find a fix?

TIA for any help.

Cheers,...Jon.

P.S. I am actually using AutoCAD Electrical 2006, but I figured that this issue was more closely related to basic AutoCAD than it was specific to ACADE.

[Mike.Perry]

Hi

Have a browse of the following threads -

Customized Hatches

Imperial to Metric Creating Templates and work process.....

Linetypes disappearing??

ltscale restricted to viewport

CAN'T DASH OR "HIDDEN" LINETYPES

Paper space changes line scale

Different scales for lines in different viewports

Have a good one, Mike

[jguest]

Thanks Mike, however these threads were not much help.

MEASUREMENT & MEASUREINIT were not relevant variables as both of the drawings that evidence the problem were created from the same template file. (All metric) Thus these variables are identical in each case.

It is not an issue with the linetype file as the same ISO file was used in both instances.

It is not an issue with PSLTSCALE, as the problem displays in modelspace, even before a paperspace layout is configured. Nor is it an issue with viewports, for the same reason.

[jguest]

The problem turned out to be an issue with the line type definitions within the drawing.
(Thanks to Matt, in the Autodesk Discussion Groups)

It took a while to find that problem even still, as the drawings themselves were using the ACADISO.lin file, as was the template that I created the drawings from.

I managed to track the problem down to the block libraries that have been supplied with AutoCAD Electrical.

It just happens that I had inserted a block from these libraries which contained a dashed line, the block had been created using the ACAD.lin linetype definition file rather than the ACADISO.lin file (even though the symbols I was using are supposed to be IEC symbols) thus leaving behind the definition from the ACAD.lin file which is then used from this point forward whenever a dashed line is drawn.

This then creates a situation where, regardless of what you set the LTSCALE variable at, you will have two different line type scales operating in the one model space due to the scale difference between the two .lin files.

A very dangerous trap for the unwary!

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,...Jon.

[Mike.Perry]

The problem turned out to be an issue with the line type definitions within the drawing.
(Thanks to Matt, in the Autodesk Discussion Groups)

It took a while to find that problem even still, as the drawings themselves were using the ACADISO.lin file, as was the template that I created the drawings from.

I managed to track the problem down to the block libraries that have been supplied with AutoCAD Electrical.

It just happens that I had inserted a block from these libraries which contained a dashed line, the block had been created using the ACAD.lin linetype definition file rather than the ACADISO.lin file (even though the symbols I was using are supposed to be IEC symbols) thus leaving behind the definition from the ACAD.lin file which is then used from this point forward whenever a dashed line is drawn.

This then creates a situation where, regardless of what you set the LTSCALE variable at, you will have two different line type scales operating in the one model space due to the scale difference between the two .lin files.

Hi

Therefore the setting of MEASUREMENT was exactly the issue / problem within those Block Libraries.

Have a good one, Mike

[jguest]

Therefore the setting of MEASUREMENT was exactly the issue / problem within those Block Libraries.

Well, yes and no. It was related to the MEASUREMENT variable, but not in the current drawing as one would expect.

What had happened was that the blocks had been created using the acad.lin linetype definition file, where they should have been built using the acadiso.lin linetype definition file. (Remember, these were IEC symbols, so they are supposed to be metric.) Because of this they had carried with them the linetype definition from that imperial acad.lin file into the new drawing, regardless of the setting of the MEASUREMENT variable.

Therefore, when a new layer was created using the linetype that had been included in the block it was adopting the linetype that had already been imported into the drawing via the block definition rather than using the correct definition from the acadiso.lin file. This meant that even though the MEASUREMENT variable was set to 1, for any new layers that shared a linetype with a block that had already been inserted and that had been built using the wrong linetype definition file, the linetype of that layer would display incorrectly.

It also meant that no matter how much you manipulated the various linetype scale factors (excluding the Object Linetype Scale) you would never end up with a consistent appearance across the drawing. The only way to fix the problem is to reload that particular linetype.

So yes, the MEASUREMENT variable was the culprit, though not in the current drawing where one would initially expect it to be but in the block that had been inserted into the drawing. It was a natural reaction to check that the linetype definition file was correct in the current drawing, however it was not a natural reaction to assume that AutoCAD would ignore the MEASUREMENT variable setting and use the linetype from an inserted (but not exploded) block, especially seeing as that block was supposed to be drawn in metric.

To get around this whole dilemma it would make a lot more sense to me if AutoCAD always used the linetype definitions that had been determined by the MEASUREMENT variable, regardless of if there were different linetypes in the block being imported. (But also had the option, perhaps by means of a checkbox in the Insert dialog, to import the linetypes as part of the block if necessary.)

I guess what it boiled down to is that I was looking for the problem within the drawing file that I was working on, whereas it was actually buried elsewhere. Oh well, hopefully all of this will help someone else out with the same problem.

Cheers,...Jon.