Xclip per VP??

[cadman_meg]

We use multiple layouts with a dwg for some things and in this, I may have certain layouts where I would like to xclip out some things but in other layouts, have that info showing. I know I can turn the xclip on and off, but how can this be done per viewport?

See, we are a civil firm and anything after TESC and demo plans we do not necessarily need to see survey info within the bldg confines. But since we use multiple layouts for a submittal or phased project (mostly commercial redevelopment), we want to control this more. In the past the company would create 'demo' layers and freeze and thaw things accordingly which to me is just to much.

So what I am after is being able to xclip per viewport or turn on/off per viewport. Any way to achieve this? Any other thoughts which may be able to help?

Thanks much!

[irneb]

Nope, nothing like this ... maybe add as a wish. If you need to do this per layout then you could always split the layouts into separate files and do a xclip (or not) for each separately. If you've got 2 VP's on the same layout (with the different scenarios happening) there's no simple solution, off the top of my head:
You could rename the xref block, then re-attach it so you end up with the same xref attached twice - having a separate set of layer names in the Layer Manager (because the XRefs have differing names) then you could xclip the one & VPFreeze the layers per viewport to show only the XRef you want shown. As you can see this is a convoluted appraoch and uses 2x the amount of RAM - thus your drawings may become unnecessarily slow.

[cadman_meg]

It may just be a necessary eveil in this cause as everyone here is used to just a couple of drawings per phase/project so at this point, I wouldn't want to start splitting up more on most 'typical' projects. I think you last idea towards the end of your response could work. Sure it isn't as simply as I was hoping, but is most definitely better than the methods that were employed previously at my company.

Is it possible that anyone else may have something more to add?

Thanks much!

[irneb]

Trying to think slightly out the box ... what about placing a wipeout over the xref. Then VPFreeze the layer on which you placed the wipeout in the VP's where you want the entire xref seen.

[cadman_meg]

Okay... so I believe I got a pattern down for this, but one more thing.

Since I prmiarily used this on our dwgs (civil) for project where we were doing commercial redevelopment, it was handy to clip out the survey from within the bldg constraints when on plan sheets such as Right-Of-Way drawings. Typically, until now, most of these have been one building types of deals. Now, we have a couple of project with multiple building and areas where we want to clip, but we cannot!

Is it true that you can only clip one xref with one boundary per drawing? Any way around this with my current setup as mentioned above?

If no other tricks and other than what I mentioned previously about how they company did it, are there any other work arounds anyone else can think of? Is much appreciated!

Thanks much!

[Norton_cad]

Add all your Xref's to one file, then Xref that file to your drawing sheet. then Xclip as required for the whole site. I think that would work. Let me know how it goes.

[irneb]

Is it true that you can only clip one xref with one boundary per drawing? Any way around this with my current setup as mentioned above?That's correct. As of 2008 the boundary can be a hole cut out of the XRef instead of aboundary surrounding it. But unfortunately it's still only one per XRef.

There are 2 ways of getting around this:

Simply make a copy @0,0 of the Xref and xclip this with a different boundary. This way you could make several holes. You could also repeat the procedure. It doesn't load an extra XRef - it's more like copying a block several times - so memory & performance shouldn't be affected that much (not like my previous explanation for the layering changes with a renamed copy).
If the "holes" are reasonably simple you could just create a convoluted closed polyline to define the boundary. As long as it doesn't cross itself it should work. For holes I usually just follow the polyline into the area and then return it at a very close (but not touching) parallel line to the one comming in.

[irneb]

Add all your Xref's to one file, then Xref that file to your drawing sheet. then Xclip as required for the whole site. I think that would work. Let me know how it goes.I'm not sure I'm following you correctly ... but I think I understand what you're on about: Make a intermediary file, in which you Attach (not Overlay) the base file(s). Xclip them here as per one of your Viewport setups. Then repeat this process for the other type of XClip (or no XClip) into another intermediate file. Then xref both these into the title block drawing and VPFreeze as needed.

Unfortunately this still won't suffice as the orriginal base files are still loaded as a single XRef type - with only one set of layers to VPFreeze per XRef (so both XClips will either be shown or not shown throughout the drawing). Again the only way around is to rename the XRef blocks in the intermediate files - so they have 2 separate sets of layers in the titleblock file. It's simply a different way of getting to the same result, but now you've got 2 (or more) extra files.

[Firmso]

I would create different drawing files under one folder for this condition and xclip the xref any which way in each file. That way others could access it without openning a read-only file.

[irneb]

Hang-on ... after testing this I found it's not so difficult after all. You still need 2 copies of the xref, but you don't need to rename them. I though this would be necessary, as this is how the VPFreeze works for normal blocks (or that was my understanding).

Save the attached 2 DWGs to the same folder. The TitleBlock is loading the Base as an XRef. Then I simply copied the XRef entity (or rather referenced block INSERT) by 0,0. Then placed that on another layer.

XClipped each in turn with a different polygonal boundary. Then created 2 Viewports in PS with one VPFreeznig the layer onto which the 1st XRef was placed & the 2nd doing the same for the layer of the 2nd copy of the XRef. No need to VPFreeze the layers inside the xref - i.e. not necessary to rename.