LT Unlimited

Named Views and Hyperlinks

I really like getting tips from users, but it's not often I get the same tip from two people! Kevin Braun and Murray Clack wrote in within a few days of each other about the benefits of named views and hyperlinks -- two subjects I haven't posted much about. (I didn't think there were too many of those left!)

Kevin says:

Something I don't see a lot of talk about, but I use almost all day long, are Named Views and Hyperlinks.

We use Named Views to help out the people who use our finished drawings. They click on the Named View and they can see what they need.  This is very cool, because it sets layers, UCS, etc.

We use model space markers with names to direct them to the proper Named View.

As usual, I got tired of typing in the names and all the scrolling down the list of views, and said to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool to just click on the marker?" (a bright light bulb turned on in my head!) I went to Hyperlinks and discovered you can link an object to a Named View! This was very cool.

Now I drop the marker in the drawing, and Hyperlink it to a view. Now all we do is click on the marker and away we go, no more scrolling through a drop down window. Getting around is so much faster now.

Murray's tip:

Below is a step-by-step process that helps you quickly navigate between Modelspace orientations and multiple Layout tabs using Saved Views and Hyperlinks.

1. While in a Layout tab, use the VIEW command to save a view name (usually, I would name the view based on whatever the sheet number would be, like “A101”)
2. Then, draw a closed pline around the perimeter of a Viewport (either on Layer “defpoints” or a unique layer set to “no plot”), and then use the CHSPACE command to send the pline into Modelspace through that Viewport.
3. With your cursor still within Modelspace via inside the Viewport, save a new view name to something reflecting what is going on within the viewport and including the sheet number (eg. “Plan 1 – A101”), and then bring your cursor back into the Layout environment (ie. PSPACE command)
4. Enter the command HYPERLINK
5. When prompted to “Select Objects”, select the Viewport boundary that you just saved a view in.
6. When the “Edit Hyperlink” dialog box appears, click on the “View of this Drawing” button
7.  Expand the Model tree by clicking on the “+” symbol, select the view name you just created, and then click the OK button

Now, hold down your Ctrl key, and click once on the Viewport boundary with your left mouse button.  AutoCAD will then switch to Modelspace and zoom into the area of the saved Modelspace view that you created earlier – and you will also see the closed pline that you sent through the Viewport.

To get back to the Layout tab, repeat steps 4 through 7, but this time, select the closed pline and select the saved view for the Layout.

(I just tried Murray's tip, and it's not as complicated as it sounds. Really.)

Two slightly different approaches, but both using the same tools to speed up navigation in drawings.

What do you think? Anybody else out there using named views and hyperlinks?

Quick Text (QTEXT) display

Quick Text, or QTEXT, is one of those holdovers from the days when regenerating your drawing meant a coffee break, but it's still around and can be useful.

What it does is change the text in your drawing from actual characters to square boxes. In the "old days" this saved a lot of time in rendering the text, so you could work faster. With today's processor speeds, though, the difference isn't really noticeable.

QTEXT off:

 

QTEXT on:

Hey, where'd that extra box come from? Turns out it's an empty piece of single-line text, one that contains only spaces. With QTEXT on, you can see these items, select them, and delete them.

This trick won't find empty mtext objects, though, and it's been made more or less obsolete by the "purge empty text objects" option in in the Purge dialog, but you never know when it might come in handy.

Lock Position of Interface Elements

We all know that sometimes, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Today, that good/bad thing is the ability to reposition the elements of your user interface -- toolbars, ribbon panels, palettes, etc.

When you're first setting up your workspace, you need to be able to rearrange things to suit the way you work. But once you're done, you'd like them to stay where you put them, and not get dragged around by a too-slow mouse click. (It's happened to all of us.)

Fortunately, there's a feature built-in to workspaces to prevent this from happening.

In the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, next to the workspace-switching icon, there's a little padlock. (Don't confuse it with the viewport-locking padlock -- they're not related.)

 

The options you'll see when you click on it require a little explanation.

• Toolbars: This also includes ribbon panels.
• Windows: This includes palettes.
• Docked: Attached to the top, bottom, or sides of the screen, or to the ribbon.
• Floating: Everywhere else, i.e. a detached ribbon panel or an un-anchored palette.

When you check one or more of those options, that type of screen element becomes fixed in position. No matter how much you try to drag it, it won't move. (If it's a toolbar or ribbon panel, you can still edit it with the CUI. You just can't move it.) If you reach the point where this becomes a bad thing again, you can always uncheck it in the list.

You can also lock or unlock all eligible elements at once with the "All" option.

And for my command-line fans, this is controlled with the LOCKUI system variable, which can be the sum of any of the following values:

• 0: Toolbars and windows not locked
• 1: Docked toolbars locked
• 2: Docked or anchored windows locked
• 4: Floating toolbars locked
• 8: Floating windows locked

So if you wanted to lock everything, you'd set LOCKUI to 15.

Project Cooper Needs a Name

Project Cooper is a fine name for a technology preview, but it was never intended to be a permanent name.

To pick Project Cooper's real name, we need your help!

Try it out, then take the survey here.

Can't make it to Vegas? Come to AU Virtual!

I know that a lot of you won't be able to make it to Autodesk University this year, so I'm happy to help spread the word about a new alternative -- AU Virtual.

AU virtual provides some of the best of AU content, delivered right to your desktop. We'll be streaming over 50 virtual sessions live over the web, plus product clinics where you can get answers to questions from experts on a variety of topics. (Full session listing.)

If you're already a member of AU Online (and why not, it's free), you can attend any keynote or product clinic absolutely free.

If you want more, $99 gets you an AU Virtual Premier Pass. The Premier Pass includes all the keynotes and clinics from the Free Pass, plus the 50+ virtual sessions I mentioned earlier, where you get to interact with other attendees as well as with the presenter. The Premier Pass also includes post-conference on-demand access to recordings of over 350 classes from AU 2009, for viewing at your leisure.

Even better, if you're a Subscription customer, the Premier Pass is free. And everyone who registers for AU in Vegas gets 4 free Premier Passes to share with friends, so that's one more way to get to AU Virtual for free.

And in case you need one more reason to register, if you sign up for an AU Virtual Premier Pass by November 13, 2009 you'll be entered in a drawing for a full pass to AU 2009 or AU 2010 in Las Vegas (your choice)—a US$2,395 value!

Still have questions? Check out the AU Virtual home page, the FAQ, and the comparison of AU On-Site and AU Virtual.

Hope to see you in Vegas, or at least in cyberspace!