Datasheet

quickly change all names created when binding external references (if you used the Bind
option for binding, which I recommend you do, and not the Insert option). For example, if
you bind an externally referenced drawing named STP123.dwg to a host
drawing, the block definitions have names like STP123$0$BLOCK1,
STP123$0$BLOCK2, STP123$0$BLOCK3, STP123$0$BLOCK4, and
STP123$0$BLOCK5. If you want them to have the names BLOCK1 and
so on, type STP123$0$* in the Old Name field and * in the Rename To
field, as shown in Figure 1.21.
PARTIALOPEN
You can elect to open part of a drawing to reduce regeneration time on
large drawings. Highlight a file and then select the Open button in the
lower-right corner of the Select File dialog box that’s used to open an
existing drawing. The Partial Open dialog box that’s displayed can be
used to select only those layers or views with which you want to work.
Once you’ve used PARTIALOPEN to open part of a drawing, you can
use the PARTIALLOAD command (found on the File pull-down menu)
to select different layers. There is a design flaw in PARTIALLOAD:
You must reselect all layers each time you do a partial load. The lay-
ers you first selected aren’t remembered. This issue wasn’t addressed
in AutoCAD 2007, but I’m hoping it will be fixed someday.
Express Tools
The Express Tools, which started as Bonus Tools, have always been
popular with AutoCAD users. Many users haven’t found them or
haven’t taken the time to understand them, or these tools aren’t
loaded on their workstation. Some afternoon when you have a lit-
tle time, go to the Express pull-down menu and select Help. Now
you can read about each tool and get inspired:
If you don’t have the Express Tools loaded on your workstation, try typing the command
EXPRESSTOOLS at the command line. They may show up. If they don’t, the tools may not have
been loaded by whoever installed AutoCAD. This is likely to be the case if you use Architec-
tural Desktop (ADT) prior to Release 2007, because loading Express Tools isn’t listed as an
option during the install. You have to have the install CD, know where on the CD the Express
Tools are stored (a folder named Express), and then load them manually. This is because
CHSPACE will corrupt some pre–Release 2007 ADT objects.
feature review (all releases) ■ 37
Figure 1.20
Purge All
Figure 1.21
Using wildcards
when renaming
objects
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