No "save a copy" in Autocad lt

[jaccna]

When you enter the "Save" command in LT you get a qsave, Sketchup has a good
approach to this, when you issue a save, it simply saves a copy of your file, no
questions asked. A "saveas" is the same as in autocad. On the file menu there is
a "save a copy as". This performs a save to another file name, but you continue
in the original file. That tip about using "wblock" with the "entire dwg" option, kinda
gives me what I previously knew as the "save" command in regular autocad. I just
got a kick out of the autocad techy's telling me that since you didn't pay for regular autocad, you don't get that command. Kinda like buying a cheap car, and being
told, oh for that price you don't get brakes.

[rkent]

When you enter the "Save" command in LT you get a qsave, Sketchup has a good
approach to this, when you issue a save, it simply saves a copy of your file, no
questions asked. A "saveas" is the same as in autocad. On the file menu there is
a "save a copy as". This performs a save to another file name, but you continue
in the original file. That tip about using "wblock" with the "entire dwg" option, kinda
gives me what I previously knew as the "save" command in regular autocad. I just
got a kick out of the autocad techy's telling me that since you didn't pay for regular autocad, you don't get that command. Kinda like buying a cheap car, and being
told, oh for that price you don't get brakes.

If you TYPE THE WORD ".SAVE" at the command line you will get what you are after. Don't pick on a menu button or toolbar, TYPE out the word .SAVE, hit enter, proceed from there.

[Jack_O'neill]

If you TYPE THE WORD ".SAVE" at the command line you will get what you are after. Don't pick on a menu button or toolbar, TYPE out the word .SAVE, hit enter, proceed from there.

I just tried it in both packages (downloaded a trial of LT2012 a couple days ago). In Autocad, it works like you say...type in .save or just 'save' and it pops up a dialog box and you can save a copy of the drawing with a different name or in a different folder or whatever, and stay in the original. In LT2012, a ".save" acts like a qsave.

I don't understand the purpose of making this command act differently in the 2 packages, but they did. Makes no sense.

[rkent]

I just tried it in both packages (downloaded a trial of LT2012 a couple days ago). In Autocad, it works like you say...type in .save or just 'save' and it pops up a dialog box and you can save a copy of the drawing with a different name or in a different folder or whatever, and stay in the original. In LT2012, a ".save" acts like a qsave.

I don't understand the purpose of making this command act differently in the 2 packages, but they did. Makes no sense.

OK, thanks for confirming. LT looks less and less viable as an alternate, the list of commands that have been disabled continues to grow.

So the most obvious choice I see for the OP is to saveas to a new file name, close that file, open the original file.
Or if not in the file, rename the file, open, saveas to original file name.

[Jack_O'neill]

Or simply do a save, followed by a save as, give it a name and keep going. You'd be working on the new file, but the original would be intact. For instance, if the thing was called whatsit1 then hit save, then save as whatsit2 and keep working. some time in the future, repeat with whatsit3. You'd have incremental files that show the progress on the job that way, and they'd be numbered sequentially.

[rkent]

Or simply do a save, followed by a save as, give it a name and keep going. You'd be working on the new file, but the original would be intact. For instance, if the thing was called whatsit1 then hit save, then save as whatsit2 and keep working. some time in the future, repeat with whatsit3. You'd have incremental files that show the progress on the job that way, and they'd be numbered sequentially.

The OP wrote

..and have always used the save command to save a copy to another name, while still remaining in the original file.

[jaccna]

Yes that would be an "autosave" function. I like the wblock workaround, when saving to another location on the network "saveas"
leaves you out there at another network location, I know this is much ado about nothing, (I have never spent so much time on a
sort of trivial matter) buuut it has been interesting, and has gotten me familiar with the forum process, again thanks for your help.

[Dana W]

Are you saying in LT you can't type .save? It doesn't recognize the command or just what happens when you do that?

It Saves. It merely saves current edits to the current dwg, no secondary copy results.

Sorry. Somebody said that already, yesterday.

[Glen1980]

OK, thanks for confirming. LT looks less and less viable as an alternate, the list of commands that have been disabled continues to grow.

So the most obvious choice I see for the OP is to saveas to a new file name, close that file, open the original file.
Or if not in the file, rename the file, open, saveas to original file name.

I work with LT and they have been giving us more and more full version 2D functionality over the last 5 years. The only problem I have is the lack of LISP. I want to play with LISP and learn how to automate the boring stuff e.g. the other day I had to renumber 120 block attributes to match an excel file.

I like the WBlock workaround, it even retains X-Ref paths.

[dbroada]

I like the wblock workaround,

but WBLOCK will strip all redundant information (in effect PURGE the drawing). You may want this but if you have set up blocks and layers in readiness for the next stage you will need to recreate them after the WBLOCK instruction.