2004

90 | Chapter 8 Open an Existing Drawing
To search for files
1 From the File menu, choose Open.
2 In the Select File dialog box, choose Tools ➤ Find.
3 In the Find dialog box, on the Name & Location tab, specify a file type,
file name, and path.
You can use wild cards when specifying a file name.
4 On the Date Modified tab, choose All Files, or choose Find All Files Created
or Modified to specify a date filter.
You can search for drawings modified between a specified range of dates
or within a specified number of months or days.
5 Choose Find Now.
6 Select one or more files from the search results and choose OK.
7 In the Select File dialog box, choose Open.
Standard toolbar
Command line
OPEN
Specify Search Paths, File Names, and File
Locations
The Files tab of the Options dialog box is where you set the search path
AutoCAD uses to find support files such as text fonts, drawings, linetypes,
and hatch patterns. The
MYDOCUMENTSPREFIX system variable stores the
location of the My Documents folder for the current user. The working sup-
port file search path lists paths from the support file search path that are valid
and exist in the current system directory structure (including system network
mapping). Using these options helps improve performance when AutoCAD
loads these files.
You also can specify the location of temporary files on the Files tab. AutoCAD
creates temporary files on disk, and then deletes them when you exit
AutoCAD. AutoCAD sets the temporary directory to the location that
Microsoft
Windows uses. If you plan to run AutoCAD from a write-protected
directory (for example, if you work on a network or open files on a CD), spec-
ify a different location for your temporary files. The directory you specify
must not be write-protected, and the drive containing the directory should
have sufficient disk space for the temporary files.