Copy /past/paste special etc

[Dan]

Morning chaps and chapesses. Could anyone tell me the best method for inserting a excell spread sheet in LT 2000, and the pros and cons of using:

1. Copy and Paste
2. Insert OLE object
3. Paste special
4. Paste link

As i am finding them to be almost the same????????? :oops:

[CADTutor]

The advantage of the "Insert OLE Object" option is that it links to the original file. So, any changes made to that file will be updated in your AutoCAD drawings. However, inserting Excel files into AutoCAD seems to be a constant source of frustration for many users. OLE support has been greatly improved in AutoCAD 2004. Let us know how you get on. If you manage to test out all the various options, perhaps you could report back on your findings.

[Dan]

What I have learnt:

Copy and past - obviousley has no link to update the spread sheets, it also seems to be hit and miss if the excel spread sheet is saved in the drawing. Sometimes you can see the outline of the spreadsheet, if you double click on the table it open in excel, but you cannot print it or see it in the drawing. It apears that when i double click on some spreadsheets inserted in this way it give me a Fatal Error message and crashes.

OLE - this creates a live link with the spread sheet, and appears to stay in the drawing after it has been closed and re-opened. However in full AutoCAD 2002 it prints the excel spread sheets upside down, even though in the dwg and the print preview they are correct and it only does this when printing to a Epson 1520 and a HP plotter, (epson 1200's and HP deskjets its prints out as it should be). In 2000LT the spreadsheets print out to all printers / plotters as they should?????????????????????????????

To summarise, there has to be a better more efficient, dependable way of getting excel spread sheets in to AutoaCAD, I am sure there is, its just that i dont now it.

[Dan]

The error message read:

FATAL ERROR Unhandled Access Violation Reading 0X0010 Exception at 77d4e63bh.

[CADTutor]

Dan - sorry to break the news after your recent move to 2002 but I understand that the handling of OLE objects has been much improved in 2004 - maybe you should think about another upgrade if you do a lot of this sort of stuff. Either that or use one of the "off-the-peg" softworks add-ons like KeySCAPE - then all your schedules are handled entirely inside AutoCAD and are updated in real time.