XRef Difficulties

[billyreiter]

Hello, all. I'm currently using AutoCAD MEP at my job, and I have a quick question for anyone willing to answer. The company I work for usually receives architectural backgrounds, which I xref them into a new drawing and start drawing ductwork, units, etc., overtop of the xref. The problem is, most of the drawings aren't cleaned up, meaning the room names are usually in the way of where I'm going to draw in the new work. I solve this problem by moving said room names, and that's where the problem arises. If I receive a new background from the architect, the room names and objects that I moved are back where they were, and I have to clean them up all over again. Is there anyway I can clean up the drawing, and when I receive the new xref files, import the background but retain the positions of the objects I've moved? Also, when I import some of the xrefs, some objects don't show up, and the layer isn't off or frozen. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[LifeoRiley0]

Billy,

 

Welcome to CAD Tutor!

 

I usually layer isolate the room names and copy and paste the "moved" ones into the new drawing.

 

The layer isn't off or frozen in EITHER drawing?

[CyberAngel]

For your first question, is it absolutely necessary to replace the entire xref? There are utilities that can graphically show you the differences between two drawings. If there's nothing in a new drawing that impacts your work, you can ignore it. If there are a few minor changes, you can probably update your old xref in less time than it would take to update the new one.

 

Another option (as LifeoRiley suggests) is to wblock everything on the room names layer, once you have everything where you want it. When you get a new xref, erase the room names and replace them with yours.

 

For your second question, see if layer 0 is frozen in your drawing or viewport. That would freeze anything on layer 0 in the xref (or anything in a block on layer 0, or anything in an xref on layer 0 ...).