Question

AutoCAD xrefs and the writer

  • 10 November 2017
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For some reason when you change the "name" of an xref in a workbench the writer doesn't replace the old xref, it just adds a new one. Purging in the writer doesn't work. Does anyone know how to get rid of defunct xrefs?


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Update: I found a partial solution. When you need to change the xref path, you have to change the xref name at the same time, because the name and the path are linked and the names can't be changed simply by changing the value in FME. I have no idea why this is, but I'm assuming it's an obscure bit of code buried deep within AutoCAD - the names appear to be stored oddly in the file. This was the genesis of my question above.

Anyway, once you've created a new name/path, to get rid of the old name/path you use an Attribute Manager to change the autocad_entity value from autocad_xref to autocad_xref.

Again, I have no idea why this works. I stumbled across it by accident. Maybe an FME AutoCAD expert can chime in.

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