CADDManager on April 14th, 2010

Next on the Open and Save Tab we have the External XRef options.  Xrefs are external files that are Attached or Overlaid to show information from other drawings.  They load and refresh every time you open the host drawing.

Demand Loading Xrefs defines how you want your system to handle XRefs.  There are three options:

Disable; Enable and Enable with Copy.

When you set it to Disable then Demand Loading is turned off and the entire drawing is loaded (this takes longer).

When you set it to Enable, it turns on Demand loading.  This improves performance by only opening areas that you need.  If something is clipped, it is not loaded.  If there is layer indexing, it only loads what you need.  Enabled though allows the XRef to be locked and others cannot edit the file while you have it referenced.

When you set it to Enable with Copy, a temporary copy of each referenced drawing file is stored in the folder set in the Options dialog box under the Files Tab. Additionally, xrefs load faster when you work across a network: the performance enhancement is most pronounced when you open drawings with many xrefs.

Set it to Enable with Copy.

Retain changes to Xref Layers is the grand old VISRETAIN variable.  One that I think Autodesk needs to make some heavy upgrades on.

When this is turned on (checked) Xref-dependent layer changes made in the current drawing take precedence over the XRef original layer settings. Layer settings are saved with the current drawing’s layer table and persist from session to session.  If you change the original file – the drawings that have this turned on and have edits to layer setting will never see the original changes.

Allow other users to Refedit current drawing controls whether the current drawing can be edited by others who have it referenced.

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