can't modify drawing

Hello,

I'm being asked to modify the architectural drawing below:

But whoever it was you made it (not me) has done something to it so that it all works as one piece. I can't modify any one part independently of the whole. I tried exploding it, but that didn't seem to help. I tried checking the groups, but there weren't any. I set pickstyle to 0, but that did nothing.

What else could be causing the structure to be acting as one whole piece?

What is the source of the drawing? Was it created with an AutoDesk product?

Maybe it is a nested block and you have to "explode" it more than once?

A group can consist of multiple objects.

Could it be a Xref?

One method used to protect a drawing content is to create a block from all entities and insert it back using MINSERT command (this block cannot be exploded). In this case should check the list of defined blocks and insert it again using INSERT command.

Also, there is the option to prevent a block being exploded after insertion - edit the block to remove that feature.

My suggestion is to select that entity and call LIST command – this will tell you what kind of entity is; post this information and someone can provide you with more solutions.

My suggestion is to select that entity and call LIST command – this will tell you what kind of entity is; post this information and someone can provide you with more solutions.

Here's what LIST returned:

Command:  <Switching to: Model>
Restoring cached viewports.
Command: Specify opposite corner:
Command: list
1 found
                 BLOCK REFERENCE  Layer: "0"
                           Space: Model space
                  Color: 0,0,0    Linetype: "BYLAYER"
                  Handle = 10a
      Block Name: "Level 01"
                 External reference
               at point, X=    0.000  Y=    0.000  Z=    0.000
  X scale factor:     1.000
  Y scale factor:     1.000
  rotation angle:   0.00
  Z scale factor:     1.000
        InsUnits: Millimeters
 Unit conversion:     1.000
 Scale uniformly: No
 Allow exploding: Yes

I'm not too familiar with how blocks work, so any more info on how to proceed would be much appreciated.

Is it an Xref? Type XOPEN, hit enter, pick on the plan somewhere.

It's an XREF. I found out how to modify it. Thanks.

I have further questions on XREFs. I hope nobody minds.

1) Does the use of XREFs lessen the load of large an complex files? What I mean is, when I'm working on a project (i.e. a 3D model) and it gets complex enough to cause AutoCAD to crash frequently, would it help to take some elements out and save them in a different file, and then refere to them from inside the original file?

2) If I have a file that references several other files, how can I collapse them into one? I ask because I have to email a file to someone, and it would be better if I only had to send him one file rather than 10.

1. Yes, you should definitely use xrefs in large files.

2. Use the ETRANSMIT utility when sending files.

Thanks for the response.