Summary: Synopsis: Create a new object or extend the viewport object to define a named area in modelspace, Extend the viewport object to (optionally) reference one of these new objects to define the area to view. Allow all basic editing commands allowed for viewports including irregular outlines, move, copy, mirror, rotate and scale. Names/ID's please.
Description: I would like to be able to create named views/viewports in modelspace that can be mapped to viewports in paperspace. The issue is that drawings often contain more data than can be displayed in a single viewport. In the work I currently do we maintain 10 or more identically sized sets of data that are mapped in paperspace.
Imagine a rectangle (in model space) the same size as a full page viewport. For an E1 drawing this rectangle is 37.5" x 28.5" at 1:1. Fill this with your choice of data (lines, polylines, text, etc.) Now copy this rectangle 6 times to the right by 42" for each rectangle. You now have seven rectangles side by side. Copy the first paperspace tab as many times as needed to view the seven rectangles.
Note that after copying, all seven tabs are viewing the same area of the underlying drawing, which is not what we want generally. Now you must find the new area to view either by panning the view or by zooming and setting the view scale until satisfied. Not terribly difficult, but painful.
Imagine now that for some inexplicable reason your boss decides to move everything around in modelspace. The views established in paperspace on the individual tabs are now looking either at nothing (less than desireable) or at something completely wrong (WAY less than desireable).
What is desired is a new object that defines a paperspace viewport - in Modelspace - that is named (automatically) which can be linked to a viewport (a view) on a tab in Paperspace. Now when copying the rectangles above, you would copy the modelspace viewport object as well, which would automatically get a unique name that could be assigned to a viewport later. So instead of laboriously panning and zooming you would simple select the name of the modelspace viewport you wanted to view in the viewport - very similar to using the View Restore command.
So, given the imagined scenario above, if all of the viewports had been mapped to modelspace viewport definition objects, when the boss decided to move everything, the views would still reflect the intended objects - the mapping from modelspace to paperspace would be maintained. This would occur because the boss would have moved the new modelspace viewports around with the model. Callout areas would also be defined in this way so that when a building is flipped, the callout area shows the reflected area of the plan.
Synopsis: Create a new object or extend the viewport object to define a named area in modelspace, Extend the viewport object to (optionally) reference one of these new objects to define the area to view. Allow all basic editing commands allowed for viewports including irregular outlines, move, copy, mirror, rotate and scale. Names/ID's please.
I think I will hold my breath now...
Product and Feature: AutoCAD - Other
Submitted By: Jan S Yoder on 12/17/2012