Understanding External References: PART -1

External References also called as xrefs in AutoCAD, allow you to view any drawing as a reference in your current drawing. The Referenced drawing will be treated as an external drawing and will not be the part of your current drawing. External References gives you the flexibility of laying one drawing on top of another in any location, scale and rotate and being able to see both at the same time.

When you attach a drawing as an xref, you link that referenced drawing to the current drawing; any changes to the referenced drawing are displayed in the current drawing when it is opened or reloaded.

Attaching External References

Command : xref
Alias Command : xr
Pull Down : Insert > External References…

1. External References can be started by typing the command ‘xref’ in the command prompt or typing its alias command ‘xr’ or you can also insert external reference by pull down menu Insert > External References….External Reference dialog box appears as shown below.

 2. Click on the AttachDWG icon. Select the drawing file you want to insert in the current drawing. The dialog box displays the file that you chose, along with its path (location).

 3. Choose Reference Type as Attachment. You can give the x,y and z co-ordinates point or Specify On-screen  for Insertion Point. Leave the Scale values of x, y and z to 1.00. Set the Path type to Full path. If you like insert the drawing in certain angle you can specify the Angle under Rotation or leave to 0 and Click OK to attach an xref.

Note : Reference Type - Overlay can be used when you are sharing the drawings in a network environment. When someone else attaches your drawing as an xref the overlay is not displayed. 

Path Type : This allows you to specify whether the save path to the external referenced drawing (xref) is full path, a relative path or no path. 

 

i. Select Full Path to specify the  full path of the xref drawing, including the drive letter (c:).

ii. Select Relative Path if you want to specify only a part of the xref drawing’s path. This will allow you to move an xref to different drive that has the same folder structure. 

 iii. Select No Path, allows you to use xref when you want to send it someone else with a different folder structure. To make sure that the drawing can find xref, ensure that it is in the project files search path. 

 Please feel free to leave a comment or queries. I would be glad to answer your queries.