Make Objects unselectable, especially in Xref's

[kgray.65984]

Does anyone know of a way to make an object unselectable; particularly an xref. My problem is that I am working with a huge reference file and anytime I accidentally select it, it puts me out of business for about 5 minutes. I'd still like to be able to snap to objects in the reference; just not select it? Any alternative methods would also be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

[CADKitty]

Is your x-ref on its own layer, so you could just lock the layer?

[kgray.65984]

Thanks,
I tried locking the layer but I can still select it.

[Mike.Perry]

Hi

But you can't Erase / Move / etc that Layer (if it's Locked).

Have a good one, Mike

[BrenBren]

But I believe the original question was to make it unselectable. What I believe is happening is that it takes forever for AutoCAD to select the whole object (must be pretty big).

My first instinct was locking the layer, but I checked and it is still selectable. I have seen objects in drawings that seemed unselectable, but I have no idea how it was done. Sorry.

[Mike.Perry]

Hi

Objects on Locked Layers are unselectable when a command is run that prompts -

Select Objects:

Yes you can select (highlight) them prior to running a command BUT!!! as soon as a command is run any Objects preselected that reside on Locked Layers will be automatiaclly deselected (regardless of PickFirst setting).

Have a good one, Mike

[Coolmo]

By snapping to objects withn the xref you are still "selecting" the xref for it to reference the endpoint, nearest to, midpoint, etc., so with that in mind, making it so you can't select it would mean no snaps to entities within the xref. I'm not sure of this but it seems logical that the program would HAVE to allow the user to select the entity that you're snapping to in order to snap to it.

[Ed Jobe]

Snapping and selecting are two different mechanisms. Mike is correct. Give it a try. I called up a dwg that has an xref with its layer locked. If you pickfirst, it highlights. This is so you can grip edit. If you then starrt a command like move or copy, it is automatically removed from the pickfirst selectionset. If you start a command and then try to select an entity on a locked layer, it is not highlighted and you are prompted that it was not selected because it was on a locked layer. So it is a matter of training them to start the command first if they don't want the large xref to highlight.

As far as snapping goes, of course you can't edit the xref but I can still snap to any entity in the xref when drawing/editing entities on other layers.

[Coolmo]

The only point I was making is that if there was a way to make the xref so you couldn't select it, would you still be able to snap to it? It seems like the process of snapping to an object involves actually selecting the object so AutoCAD can query what you snapped to and then set the snap point accordingly. An example would be to draw entities on the DEFPOINTS layer and then turn layer 0 (zero) off. By doing this, you can neither select the objects on DEFPOINTS layer or snap to them. You simply see them on screen. I feel the case would be similar if you made the xref and all its entities unselectable.

[kgray.65984]

I tried doing the defpoints thing where I put the xref on that layer and turned off layer zero. It works for an object like a line but not for an xref. I have eased the problem a lot by freezing off some of the killer layers like for topography. But I will need to use these eventually. I tend to pick first and then issue the command most of the time (keyboard shortcuts person); so the locked layer doesn't help either. For now freezing the layers does help quite a bit. Thanks to you all for your input. I've learned a few new things. If anyone get's inspired with another way around the issue let me know. It's not the first time I've had to deal with monster xrefs.