{"id":2149,"date":"2019-02-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/camilion.dms3labs.cat\/2019\/02\/11\/autocad-external-reference-overview-and-path-update-with-refman\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T17:02:03","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T16:02:03","slug":"autocad-external-reference-overview-and-path-update-with-refman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/2019\/02\/11\/autocad-external-reference-overview-and-path-update-with-refman\/","title":{"rendered":"AutoCAD: External Reference overview and path update with RefMan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you work with <a href=\"https:\/\/autodesk.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Autodesk\u00ae<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/autocad\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AutoCAD\u00ae<\/a> software in large projects,<br \/>\nyou probably use External References.<\/p>\n<p>But precisely in large projects, managing those references can be a time drain.<br \/>\nWhich is why we added <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> as one of <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/\">our apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> allows you to manage External References in projects with hundreds<br \/>\nor even thousands of DWG\u00ae files.<\/p>\n<p>In this entry, we explain how to use <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> to quickly have an overview of all<br \/>\nExternal References and whether or not they are correctly set up and how to<br \/>\nfix things quickly when they aren&rsquo;t perfect.<\/p>\n<div class=\"toc\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#overview-of-external-references-with-refman\">Overview of External References with RefMan<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#opening-refman\">Opening RefMan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#load-files-into-refman\">Load files into RefMan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#the-rename-interface\">The Rename interface<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#updating-paths-of-external-references-with-refman\">Updating paths of External References with RefMan<\/a>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#converting-full-paths-to-relative-ones\">Converting full paths to relative ones<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#search-and-replace\">Search and Replace<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#manually-fix-things\">Manually fix things<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#applying-changes\">Applying changes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"overview-of-external-references-with-refman\">Overview of External References with <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a><\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"opening-refman\">Opening <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>This is done from an empty drawing in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/autocad\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AutoCAD<\/a> software, by typing <code>REFMAN<\/code> in the command line interface.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"en_refman_01.png\" src=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/en_refman_01-3.png\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"load-files-into-refman\">Load files into <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>Remember this works with one or multiple files.<\/p>\n<p>Loading files into <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> can be done by either of the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Drag and dropping files<\/li>\n<li>Clicking the <code>Add files<\/code> button<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Now <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> will start loading and analysing the files, meanwhile you can decide about the <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> operation you wish to execute, in this case it will be <code>Rename<\/code>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"en_refman_10.png\" src=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/en_refman_10-2.png\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"the-rename-interface\">The <code>Rename<\/code> interface<\/h3>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a>&rsquo;s <code>Rename<\/code> interface, seven columns appear describing names, paths and directories of the external references.<\/p>\n<p>The first interesting thing to check for is the <code>X<\/code> column, where any red flags, indicate that the path to the corresponding external reference is not correct.<\/p>\n<p>This can be because of multiple reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Full paths are being used when they should be relative<\/li>\n<li>Some files were not passed by the contractor or client<\/li>\n<li>References were renamed and the files were not updated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>At this point, <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> can serve as a very quick diagnostics tool as you can instantly have a visual feedback on any missing References. This can be invaluable if you are receiving the files from a client and need to check if all the required data has been transmitted to your team.<\/p>\n<p>The next section explains how to fix missing or incorrect references.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"en_refman_04.png\" src=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/en_refman_04.png\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"updating-paths-of-external-references-with-refman\">Updating paths of External References with <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>In the <code>Rename<\/code> interface, there are multiple tools available to ensure that all DWG\u00ae files are properly set up.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"converting-full-paths-to-relative-ones\">Converting full paths to relative ones<\/h3>\n<p>If you notice that the <code>Saved path<\/code> column contains full paths, and the <code>X<\/code> column is green, the button <code>Relative paths<\/code> will automatically convert the full paths to relative ones if that&rsquo;s possible.<\/p>\n<p>Notice that this is not possible in certain cases, e.g. if your drawings are in a different windows unit (<code>P:<\/code>) than the external references (<code>R:<\/code>).<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"search-and-replace\">Search and Replace<\/h3>\n<p>It sometimes happens that certain contracts require things like external references to be versioned in the file name.<\/p>\n<p>By using the <code>Replace<\/code> <code>X<\/code> by <code>Y<\/code> interface, you can easily keep things up to date.<\/p>\n<p>Just fill in the corresponding text boxes and click in <code>Replace<\/code>, which will affect the list of references and hopefully turn the red flags in the <code>X<\/code> column into green ones.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"en_refman_09.png\" src=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/en_refman_09.png\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"manually-fix-things\">Manually fix things<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes mistakes can be even more subtle, you have full control and can even pick the target external reference files one by one.<br \/>\nTry clicking on the <code>Saved Name<\/code> or <code>Saved Path<\/code> columns, or just typing in the <code>New Name<\/code> and <code>New Path<\/code> columns.<\/p>\n<p>In the <code>Resulting Path<\/code> column you will find a preview of your changes, so you can be reasonably sure about your results.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"applying-changes\">Applying changes<\/h2>\n<p>By clicking on <code>Process files<\/code>, <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> will start applying any pending changes on all loaded files.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For each modified file, <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> saves a backup with extension <code>.RefManBak<\/code> in the same folder.<br \/>\nIf you need to go back to before using <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a>, you can replace your <code>.dwg<\/code> files with the corresponding <code>.RefManBak<\/code> and change the extension back to <code>.dwg<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"en_refman_12.png\" src=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/en_refman_12-3.png\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Getting this kind of overview and consistency with the usual tools requires a lot of time, deep knowledge and attention to detail and anomalies are bound to not be caught.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> gives you power and control over this aspect of your project, allowing you not only to save time but also to ensure a better quality end result.<\/p>\n<p>Notice this can also be very useful if your team is not responsible for producing the documentation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>if a client gives you existing documentation, you can ensure your engineering and drafting people do not<br \/>\nwaste time figuring out how other contractors were doing things.<\/li>\n<li>if you want to ensure your contractors give you quality data and want to have a quick way to check that.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you work with <a href=\"https:\/\/autodesk.com\">Autodesk\u00ae<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/autocad\/overview\">AutoCAD\u00ae<\/a> software in large projects,<br \/>\nyou probably use External References.<\/p>\n<p>But precisely in large projects, managing those references can be a time drain.<br \/>\nWhich is why we added <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> as one of <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/\">our apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> allows you to manage External References in projects with hundreds<br \/>\nor even thousands of DWG\u00ae files.<\/p>\n<p>In this entry, we explain how to use <a href=\"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/apps\/RefMan\/\">RefMan<\/a> to quickly have an overview of all<br \/>\nExternal References and whether or not they are correctly set up and how to<br \/>\nfix things quickly when they aren&rsquo;t perfect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[138,192,156],"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"class_list":["post-2149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autocad-es","category-howto-es","category-refman-es"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2149"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2211,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions\/2211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2149"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camilion.eu\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=2149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}