Why are my Grips Missing?

1st check the variable GRIPS is set to 1.

If you still don't see them after selecting objects then you may have exceeded the GRIPOBJLIMIT. This variable controls how many objects will display grips within a selection. If your selection exceeds the amount then no grips will appear. Default is 100 objects. Increase the amount and try again. You may experience lag if this is substantially increased especially if you have Enable grips within blocks checked.

Do you really want to do this?

Issue: I'm getting a message asking me, "Do you really want to do this?"

I stumbled upon this many moons ago. This is one fix I know of. Doesn't always do the trick so give it a try and hope for the best.

The issue I found was my Associative Hatch was using an Xreference Object as my boundary.

I used the Pick Points function in the Boundary Hatch command to create my hatching. I started to see this message shortly thereafter and sometimes after I've closed and reopened my drawing.

My Attributes are Missing

Issue: My attribute text in my title block is not shown. My Layer is Thawed and On. What gives?

Your attributes may be turned off. To return to default use this command.

Command: ATTDISP
Enter attribute visibility setting [Normal/ON/OFF] : N

Normal is default. Invisible attributes are not shown whilst others are.
Many Land Desktop users change this to ON so the profile attributes appear. What they forget is that they should use Normal to change it back, not OFF.

My Underscores are Missing from my Menus

Issue: Your Menu Bar or Osnap Menu doesn't have underscores under key letters.

Windows XP:

- Open the Control Panel

- Open Display

- Click Appearance Tab

- Press the Effects... Button

- Uncheck "Hide underlined...."

- Press OK Button

The underscores should appear instantly.

Windows 7:  http://superuser.com/questions/16952/how-to-enable-underscore-shortcut-mnemonics-for-menu-items

This post goes hand in hand with my previous post called http://autocad-for-civils.blogspot.com/2007/10/how-to-speed-up-working-with-osnaps.html

How to speed up working with OSnaps

What if I told you that when I work with Osnaps I never see the Osnap Menu? Ahh... Ooo... I don't mean use Toolbars. That would require screen real estate that I'm not willing to give up.


This menu can be accessed a few ways. (See Image -->)

- Middle Button down
- If your middle button is "Pan" then Shift+Right Click
(This function is controlled by the variable MBUTTONPAN)


Focus on the Underscore under Each Osnap.


Work flow...
- Draw a Line
- Bring up the Osnap Menu
(If you remember your Key Letter then just key it in. No menu clicking necessary.)
- Press E for Endpoint
Continue as usual.

If you don't see the underscores in this menu then see my next blog post to change a windows setting.

I hope this speeds you up. Happy Cading...

Open a drawing Read Only

Ever wanted to open a drawing Read-Only without changing the file properties?

Error: Unable to write data to locked layer: ???

Do you get this error when opening a drawing file in Land Desktop?
Background Info:

A block named "ADCADD_ZZ" gets inserted by LDT into the 1st layout tab. This block includes information about the name of the project (database) that the drawing is attached to and the drawing setup information.

Solution:

- Change the "ADCADD_ZZ" block layer to Zero (0) and/or unlock it's layer.

- Since you can't select the object with a mouse you have to use something like Quick Select to grab it to change its layer.

How to repeat this error:
- Create a new file using Land Enabled Map.
- Lock the current layer then save & close.
- Open the same drawing using LDT and you'll get a message box with the Unable to... error.

Fix broken hatch patterns

This is a classic issue and they're many people who don't know about or seem to forget "SNAPBASE".

Issue: Your hatch is broken into segments. Below is an example of the Gravel pattern. The further your hatch objects are from 0,0 the worse it gets.

Solution:
1) Type "SNAPBASE"
2) Pick a point near your proposed hatch area.
3) If your hatch pattern exists all you have to do is type "HE" for "HatchEdit" and press OK. Double clicking a hatch object also opens the Edit Hatch dialog.
OR
3) Create a new hatch object.

IMPORTANT STEP!!! Reset snapbase back to defaults.
4) Type "SNAPBASE"
5) Type "0,0" (Return to Default)


Updated for AutoCAD 2008 on 12/16/08:
The above workaround doesn't always work.
So here's round 2:
- Create a hatch boundary polyline.
- Wblock, copy clip into a new blank drawing around 0,0,0.
- Hatch as usual.
- Wblock, copy clip into your original drawing around 0,0,0. Remember to include the hatch boundary in your selection. You'll need it to move your hatching into position.
- Finally move it into place.

If you have a faster work around please reply. I will copy your tip into the main post so people can get the answer and return to work.

Quick select is not permitted in perspective view

I grew some grey hairs on this one. Consider this post as my forwarding of information from this AUGI forum post. Mike.Perry posted this fix on July 22, 2004. Scroll down to his last response for the fix.

This also fixed my problem where I couldn't select objects to edit. Also if I regen my drawing they would disappear. I was ready to block my line work into a fresh new drawing file.

I believe you may view this post as a guest. http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?t=6039

If you're not a member of AUGI you should be. There's a wealth of info here. Here's the link: http://www.augi.com/join/application.asp

Snippet:
Command: dview

Select objects or <>: Press Enter

Enter option[CAmera/TArget/Distance/POints/PAn/Zoom/TWist/CLip/Hide/Off/Undo]: PO

Specify target point <17741.51,>: 0,0,0

Specify camera point <17741.51,>: 0,0,1

Enter option[CAmera/TArget/Distance/POints/PAn/Zoom/TWist/CLip/Hide/Off/Undo]: Press Enter to Exit

Plot Stamp switch from Rtext with Diesel Code to Text with Fields

All of my Title Blocks contained a Plot Stamp using the Rtext object with diesel code. I switched and now use a Text object with Fields.

I was sifting through the vast Field object options and found a field that will only update after I plot. If you want this option it is in the PLOT category and called PLOTDATE in the field names list.

This behavior isn't like the Rtext where it updates after every Regen. I got a tip from my buddy's at CAD Masters on how to use my diesel code inside fields. This is in the OTHER category and called DIESEL EXPRESSION in the field names list. Eueka! Same flavor different smell.

As a CAD Manager you must upgrade your systems and processes as new releases offer better solutions. This move for me was my 1st step towards using fields in general. This post is a bit late, but hey, better late then never.

Wait a minute. Need some code? Here you go.Date: $(edtime,0,mon dd"," yyyy)
Time: $(edtime,0,h:mmam/pm)
Dwg Name: I used the DOCUMENT > FILENAME field.

See my response below to get diesel and autolisp syntax for File Name and Location.

Recover drawing data when all seems lost

This is a continuance to my previous post regarding "AutoCAD Automatic Save Feature".

Recovering Drawing Data 101... (AutoCAD 2005 Viewpoint)
1) If you press YES to save changes after a fatal error (assuming it gave you the chance) then a file is created with a "{file name}_recover.dwg" in the same directory as your closed file. Open a new AutoCAD session and run a recover (File>Drawing Utilities>Recover) on the new file. If it's successful REMEMBER to Save As on top of the old file and delete the "_recover.dwg" file. Don't work in the recovered drawing file.

If you can't recover your drawing then move onto # 2.

2) Rename your .bak file to "temp.dwg" and see if that is corrupted too. If that's gone then move onto # 3.

3) Go to your local AutoSave directory. Look for the "{file name}.sv$" file Refer to my previous post "AutoCAD Automatic Save Feature" to recover from that.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS you can open a New Blank drawing and Insert the corrupted file as a block. If this works you'll only get items in Model Space. Paper Space is kyboshed.

Why are my paper space objects white?

Do you have a situation where all your objects in paper space (layout tab) are white? Your objects are on layers with different colors and they're all bylayer. The problem lies within your current page setup.

• Set your layout tab current. Right Click on the tab itself and press Page Setup Manager...

• Press Modify

• Uncheck "Display plot styles"

Viewport Conflict

1) Scenario: You have two viewports ontop of eachother and you can't get into one or the other. Use Ctrl+R as a toggle into any viewport within current Layout tab.

Here's a list of a few must know setvars

1) Missing dialog boxes use: FILEDIA - Set to (1)

2) Getting a prompt About to Regen - Proceed?: REGENAUTO - Set to ON

3) AutoCAD point display: PDMODE - This varies based on how you wish them to be displayed. Use DDPTYPE to change the display using a dialog box. We "use AutoCAD POINT for Marker" for our AECC_POINT objects. This allows us to control their display without changing the master dwg where the points are located.

4) Attribute display: ATTDISP Enter attribute visibility setting [Normal/ON/OFF]: - Set to Normal if they're not displaying, this is default. Set to ON to view invisible attributes. (Use ON to see LDT Profile tag in the lower left corner of your grid). I haven't found a reason for OFF.

5) Middle button to Pan or Osnap: MBUTTONPAN - Set to (0) for Osnaps or (1) for Pan.

6) Change your pick box size: PICKBOX - Set to desired size. Typically around (5).

7) Change your Cursor X,Y vector length: CURSORSIZE - Set to (100) for standard length. Set to a lower # for shorter vectors.

Missing Icon Images on Toolbars (v2005)

This topic probably has been exhausted over the years but I have a tidbit to add to the mix for AutoCAD 2005. I updated a menu (.mnu) file and recompiled it. I opened my AutoCAD session and my icons were missing from my toolbars. Look familiar? ( ) I've done this a few hundred times and couldn't figure it out. I realized that the AutoCAD profile I had current didn't have any of my Support File Search Paths. The one I needed points to the location where I keep my bitmap files. I added that directory to my Search Paths and recompiled my menu and walla. It was found !

I get the task of working with the Custom User Interface (CUI) editor for our up and coming upgrade to 2007.

AutoCAD Automatic Save Feature

The automatic save feature explained... (AutoCAD 2005 TESTed)

I did some research regarding why Autosave does and doesn't save a backup on your local system.

We had an incident a few months ago where AutoCAD crashed a .dwg and corrupted the .bak file in the current drawing directory and didn't save a .sv$ in the temp local directory. Definition: FILE WAS TOAST and work was lost!!! :-(

To test this I set the time located in my Options to 1 min. because I didn't think that it saved a .sv$ file ever. It actually works even if you don't see it pop up in your command line. The thing to be aware of is that the .sv$ file gets deleted from your local directory when you successfully Exit your drawing file. This feature is designed to be used when AutoCAD exits abnormally, i.e. Fatal Error.

If your drawing crashes and you loose work attempt to rename the .bak file to a different name but use a .dwg extension. If your work is still not all there go to your local temp directory and look for your drawing name with the extension .sv$. Rename the extension to .dwg and open it to see if that recovers more data. You can compare Modified times as well. If the file doesn't exist, it only means that AutoCAD failed to perform as designed...

Sometimes AutoCAD will save a .bak file in your local directory along with .sv$ files. AutoCAD designed the autosave feature to delete the .sv$ after the second autosave and create a permanent .bak file. This is a Crap Shoot. I had it work on 2nd save then on the 3rd then it didn't do it at all on one of my tests. Another AutoCAD program failed to perform as designed... again...

The moral of the story is to, "SAVE Often"...

To find your temporary Autosave directory go to your options and under the Files Tab is an Autosave location.




















For more information about recovering drawing data refer to my new post "Recover drawing data when all seems lost".