Vport Scales to be set by "build"

hey all,

Where i am working we use AutoCAD Map 3D 2014 (although i basically use it as regular CAD...) and one thing that is driving me a bit crazy is that rather than being able to simply select a viewport scale, we are currently having to do a conversion whereby you divide the scale you want by 1000.

this is because our (civil) drawings are in metres.

for example, you want the viewport to be 1:500, so you divide 1000 by 500 (which equals 2) and manually set up a scale that is 1:500, you create a VP scale that is 2 paper units (mm) equals one MS unit (m).

i'd really like to get this changed.

i can set up all of the required scales and have them read "1:500" having the same 2 PS units to 1 MS unit and be rid of all the others (if this is easiest/best way to do it), but would like to be able to access the VP scales in new drawings.

i dont know how to do this, and would appreciate if anyone can give me some guidance. i hope i have explained it okay? its a PS is mm, MS is m thing....

i also dont know why this hasnt been changed in the past, but i would like to change it now...

thank you.

Turn on the "vports" toolbar and you will see a number appear in the box as you go into the viewport if its set to a scale it will show 1:500 etc else a number say 4.456 as you say I do it every day just type a number in the box like 2 and this is 1:500 Metric it is just so easy with this toolbar turned on.

thanks very much BigAl.

may sound strange, but when i go to "Show Menu Bar", the only ones i get are Express and AutoTURN, not the usual - only ribbons for all of those.

i have however, included the "Show XREF Scales" whereby i do get scales called "1:500 (m) X_REF" that are what i am after, but this is via the option at the bottom right, not a toolbar.

...there are also about a billion other that show up. dont know how this has happened, but it would be nice to be able to not see them (a lot are also duplicates and imperial ones) any more.

i know i can delete them through customise but where are is the file that has these set up when you open CAD? i would like to be able to save the original and rename it and then edit this so i only see the "1:--- (m)" x ref viewport scales.

thanks again. even now, i am a step better off.

Update: have learnt i can drag menu items to the menu part of my workspace. getting there... slowly!

thanks very much BigAl.

may sound strange, but when i go to "Show Menu Bar", the only ones i get are Express and AutoTURN, not the usual - only ribbons for all of those.

i have however, included the "Show XREF Scales" whereby i do get scales called "1:500 (m) X_REF" that are what i am after, but this is via the option at the bottom right, not a toolbar.

...there are also about a billion other that show up. dont know how this has happened, but it would be nice to be able to not see them (a lot are also duplicates and imperial ones) any more.

 

i know i can delete them through customise but where are is the file that has these set up when you open CAD? i would like to be able to save the original and rename it and then edit this so i only see the "1:--- (m)" x ref viewport scales.

 

thanks again. even now, i am a step better off.

 

Update: have learnt i can drag menu items to the menu part of my workspace. getting there... slowly!

In OPTIONS, on the User Preferences tab, near the bottom you will find the Default Scale List button.

What happens when you press it, can you attach a screenshot? I am trying to figure out if the default scales being displayed are the Metric or Imperial ones?

in this, all the "X_Ref" and imperial scales arent listed.

also, i am wary of my colleagues not being able to use vport scales i am....

whilst i would like to say, "here, now you can just select the scale the way we are supposed to...", i dont want to be the new guy who upsets the apple cart.

still, the whole "divide by a thousand..." thing is unprecedented in my career...

thanks heaps for your help - i really appreciate it.

It sounds like you understand how to Edit, Add, Rename any values which you want to be displayed.

These are the Default values which will be saved on your machine.

I am glad to see that, as you are working in Metric, your default scale list is the metric one.

Do you have your own custom Profile, set up how you like it on the machine you are using?

If not, you might want to set one up.

I would just go ahead and customize these default values however you would like them to be, and whenever you open a drawing on your machine, they will be available.

Move them up or down, group the ones you will use, however it makes sense TO YOU!

Thanks Dadgad,

i have a CUI as i like my workspace, but not profile.

so the scales listed via Options are only scales i have as default VP Scales and dont affect others'?

does this need to be saved to a profile rather than CUI if i do this?

Those defaults are not a part of the drawing, they are part of your personal setup.

So, you have saved your home Workspace, from the sound of things, good.

Do other people work on your machine, or are you the only one?

The Default Scale List remains the same, as you switch between different user profiles, they are not proprietary for each profile, unlike lots of the other settings which you might care to personalize, and save in your own Profile. Do you have a personalized Default Template, either for your company, or for your own personal use, so that you hit the ground running when you start a new drawing?

no, only i use this machine. i'm just wary of my neighbour seeing some annotative text and it being annotative at 1:500 (m), rather than "2:1" as it would be on his machine.

if this is the case, i am thinking it is easily sorted by either him adding the 1:500 (m) scale, or changing it to 2:1 (as he is used to).

something i dont understand is the default scale list i have differs from the viewport scales list (the one with billions of scales!); can i also modify this so it only affects my pc?

above are the metre scales i would like; is there an easy way to transfer these to my default scales rather than editing and creating them all (even though i would only have to do it once...lazy me!)

You can click into the Viewport Scales box and customize it there in the same way. As to possible confusion with your coworkers, either of the options you suggested could be fine, as long as all parties understand what is going on, and sure, it would be ideal if you showed the same scale lists, or at least use the same names, for the ones you will tend to use, to ensure consistency.

no, only i use this machine. i'm just wary of my neighbour seeing some annotative text and it being annotative at 1:500 (m), rather than "2:1" as it would be on his machine.

if this is the case, i am thinking it is easily sorted by either him adding the 1:500 (m) scale, or changing it to 2:1 (as he is used to).

 

something i dont understand is the default scale list i have differs from the viewport scales list (the one with billions of scales!); can i also modify this so it only affects my pc?

 

 

above are the metre scales i would like; is there an easy way to transfer these to my default scales rather than editing and creating them all (even though i would only have to do it once...lazy me!)

Maybe if you wait for a day or two, somebody will invest a bunch of time and energy to write a lisp or something, but it seems to me that the five minutes you spend doing this now, and having it how you like it, is a better idea.

thank you. i understand exactly what you are saying, and as i said, even though i think just getting it right (imo) is the way to go, i have to respect he has been here longer than i have and is used to his way...

my last point in my previous post was that i dont understand why there are so many more scales in the drawing as compared to my default scales list (which is nice and clean...). But you are exactly right; just a few minutes now and its happy days for a long time afterwards.

you have helped immensely.

thank you.

Once you have set up your Default Scale List how you like it, you can click into the Viewports Scale box, which will open the dialog you used when tweaking your personalized settings, and RESET, at which point it will look just like your default list. You will be offered the Metric, Imperial or Metric & Imperial default lists from which to choose. Glad I could help you.

Once you have set up your Default Scale List how you like it, you can click into the Viewports Scale box, which will open the dialog you used when tweaking your personalized settings, and RESET, at which point it will look just like your default list. You will be offered the Metric, Imperial or Metric & Imperial default lists from which to choose. Glad I could help you.

ha ha... exactly what i have just done! also added in the 1:1 plot and 1:2 plot scales.

very happy - big thanks.

Now that you have your scales all dialed in, and without pushing, at some point when you are not under the gun, show it to your coworker. Hey, he might just think it is the best thing since sliced bread, and ask you to set it up for him on his box. Stranger things have happened!

thank you. i understand exactly what you are saying, and as i said, even though i think just getting it right (imo) is the way to go, i have to respect he has been here longer than i have and is used to his way...

 

my last point in my previous post was that i dont understand why there are so many more scales in the drawing as compared to my default scales list (which is nice and clean...). But you are exactly right; just a few minutes now and its happy days for a long time afterwards.

you have helped immensely.

 

thank you.

Likely the only reason those extra scales are there, is that nobody has ever been offended enough by them, to investigate a bit, and find the RESET option.

They are now a thing of the past, there is no time like the pleasant.

To turn on manually -toolbar Viewports show

Now that you have your scales all dialed in, and without pushing, at some point when you are not under the gun, show it to your coworker. Hey, he might just think it is the best thing since sliced bread, and ask you to set it up for him on his box. Stranger things have happened!

its an interesting prospect tbh; usually (and quite a few times since starting here i have) i will be the first to let him know, how things like this can be improved, but....

whatever....

thanks Dadgad,

i did show him. he didnt take it on board, but at least i have done the right thing.

i am planning to sort out the mess that is at this company with regard to templates, plot styles, everything... and this is a start at least.

a question i have regarding the scales is that currently i am having to simply copy and paste a title block from another drawing and then when i do that, all my nice new scales get overwritten and disappear. when i do a reset after this, the nice new ones go and are replaced with the ones that seem to have come from the title block.

if i do a purge on the titleblock (which i will clean right up so it can be xreffed in from there on....) will that get rid of the scales that are overwriting my correctly named ones?

thanks again.

As I mentioned in a previous post, regarding having a personalized default template, it is certainly a very good idea to create things such as your sheet, which are totally sanitized, and to your liking.

Yes, if your xref has been cleaned up, you should be able to avoid that problem.

Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to check your dimension, text, table and line styles, and set appropriate ones as current in the xref.

You could also save that titleblock, once cleaned up, as a .dwt (drawing template), which would always be available when you are starting a new drawing, or it could be set as your default QNEW template, in OPTIONS, on the FILES tab, down in the TEMPLATE settings. Once set, each time you push the NEW drawing button, that would be the default used, and you would hit the ground running.