disable 3D

[au-s]

Hi,

 

maybe that's strange but I am wondering if there is a possibility to disable 3D ortho/snap, alternative saying, 3Dmode.

 

let me explane...

We sometimes use flatten to flatten all objects in a 3D drawing.. allthough some users do not do as they've been told. So the results are that they often snap to some object on Z-axis without knowing it.

So, my question is if there is "something" in terms of settings to force only 2D environment when opening a file, 2D environment simply put?

[Tiger]

How about a very large stick to convince them that not Flattening is Not a Good Idea.

 

But no, seriously, there is no way that I know of. Its just one of those things that seperates the Bad Drafters from the Good Draughters.

[Dana W]

It does sound strange, but.... Change the workspace to one of the 2d options. Tools > Workspaces.

 

I am not sure AutoCAD will even open a 3D drawing in one of them.

 

Anyway, if you are editing anything but a cube, it will be a mess.

[BlackBox]

Standards enforcement is an important issue, one usually maintained by professional employees and a good training program.

 

If there are CAD users blatantly disregarding policy, then they should be tactfully confronted, and/or brought to the CAD manager's attention. I'm sure there are hundreds of people in your area, that are out of work, and would love the opportunity to replace the offender(s).

 

IMO - The simplest solution is to get the users to adhere to your standards.

 

Otherwise, in order to prevent users from drawing entities with a Z value, and preventing properties manipulation, one would use a layered set of reactors (vlr-sysvar-reactor, and vlr-editor-reactor specifically). To be technically correct, a reactor will not prevent manipulation, but instead would fire a callback function which for this example, would immediately change the value back.

 

Edit: One could also use a reactor to document the offender(s) in a log file (.txt) on the server, or even email the CAD Manager directly using (vlax-get-or-create-object "Outlook.Application") . ehhhehehehe

 

Again, a reactor *can* become quite complex, and overkill given your situation.

Edited October 12, 2010 by BlackBox
Typo

[KJB]

Investigate OSNAPZ.

[ReMark]

"It does sound strange, but.... Change the workspace to one of the 2d options. Tools > Workspaces.

I am not sure AutoCAD will even open a 3D drawing in one of them."

 

You can open a 3D drawing in a 2D workspace so changing the workspace would not be an option.

[ReMark]

Investigate OSNAPZ.

 

What one man/woman can do another can circumvent. Anyway, the variable is an integer and is not saved with the drawing. Bummer.

[ReMark]

You're trying to change a culture which is never an easy thing to accomplish no matter what. You can say "please and thank you", you can use incentives (bonus dollars, free pizza or promotional items), or you can use the big stick approach. Some people are not swayed by any of that. Short of disabling those features via programming I think if someone wants to intentionally give you a migraine they'll find a way.

 

You do have a written set of CAD standards right?

[Jack_O'neill]

We had a guy once (long before my time) that would create 2d drawings in 3d coordinates. In other words, if drawing the front of a building, that would be at a z cooridnate of zero. A section cut of the building 10 feet behind that then be at a z cooridinate of -120", at 20 feet from the front it would be -240 and so forth. He'd do the same on the sides, but would create a ucs that would put the west side perpendicular to the north side, and then do the same thing again with the section cuts. He'd go all the way around the building doing this. He'd keep it all straight by creating a set of layers for each elevation or section cut. Only thing was, he never told anybody he'd done this. Needless to say, it was extremely difficult for anyone to modify his drawings because most folks would never look for something like that. One of my first jobs when I went to work there was to "figure out this mess, and fix it". The creator of this mess had long since moved on and people tryng to make revisions were coming up with bookcases that looked right, but if you listed a line to find out how long the shelf was you'd get a ridiculous number like 1000 inches. Fortunately the company had a policy in place that instead of working on the original drawings, you archived them and worked on copies so I was able to get hold of his original creation. All this had been created in model space with about 80 page layouts. That all looked normal enough, but when i clicked on the model tab there was only one elevation visible, and it was skewed off at some angle as if someone had used the orbit command to look sideways at a 2d drawing. For some reason I just happened to pull down the layer control box and saw a bunch of frozen layers. As i started thawing them, the building started to appear before my eyes. I was actually seeing it from a SW isometric view, and all these elevations and cross sections were popping up where they would have actually been in the real world.

 

It was an interesting thing to see, and while I can understand what he did, I do not know why anyone would go to all that trouble.

[BlackBox]

What one man/woman can do another can circumvent.

 

 

 

Isn't that the truth:

 

(vlr-remove-all)

 

 

KABOOM!

... we need a mushroom cloud animated icon.

 

Muahahahahahhh!

Edited October 13, 2010 by BlackBox

[KJB]

As a surveyor, I work in 2D and use contours to represent elevations.

OSNAPZ is a "must have" for me since our third party software is now 3D.

[Dana W]

"It does sound strange, but.... Change the workspace to one of the 2d options. Tools > Workspaces.

I am not sure AutoCAD will even open a 3D drawing in one of them."

 

You can open a 3D drawing in a 2D workspace so changing the workspace would not be an option.

 

Good. But there would be no "Z". Isn't that what is sought?

[ReMark]

Good. But there would be no "Z". Isn't that what is sought?

 

OK...in your version of AutoCAD that might be the way it works but not in mine. I've got all the "Z" I need and then some.

 

Before the advent of workspaces how do you think people created 3D drawings in AutoCAD?

[Grant]

Osnapz

 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2010/Save-OSNAPZ-setting/td-p/2685549

[au-s]

Allright, thanks guys. it is not an issue that users are making 3D when drawing 2D but when we sometimes get drawings from some consultants the drawings are 3D ones.

I use to flat them for us here although the disabling 3D option was just a curiuosity from me to make even safer model setting

But thank you for all replies.

Cheers !

[BlackBox]

Osnapz

 

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2010/Save-OSNAPZ-setting/td-p/2685549

 

lmao - I (incorrectly) thought KJB was just misspelling OSNAPS Too funny!

 

Edit: My apologies KJB.

 

Thanks for the clarification, Grant.

[Dana W]

OK...in your version of AutoCAD that might be the way it works but not in mine. I've got all the "Z" I need and then some.

 

Before the advent of workspaces how do you think people created 3D drawings in AutoCAD?

 

You know, I may be a victim of LT sucking all my memory of full AutoCAD away. I'll just be quiet for a while and learn how it really works from you guys.