Xref in Archicad-diff between "attach" and "overlay"

[rob2218]

I know what the diff is in Autocad but in Archicad....what happens when you "attach" a DWG vs "overlay"?

[rob2218]

Ok, so this is what we have.
In the dreaded "autocad" we have a site plan. that site plan is called "Site-1.dwg"
this site plan DWG has attatched (not sure if overlayed or attached yet) other DWGs which is called "Plan-1.DWG".

So...whats the best method/practice.

[Laszlo Nagy]

Checking the Help files as a first step would save you a lot of waiting time.
If you press F1 in the Attach XREF Dialog it will take you to this help page:

http://helpcenter.graphisoft.com/guides/archicad-18-int-reference-guide/user-interface-reference/dia...

But to answer your question: the Plan-1.dwg is nested within the Site-1.dwg if I understand correctly. So to be safe you would have to use the Attach method, because with the Overlay method the nested DWG (Plan-1.dwg) will not be displayed in ArchiCAD.

As a sidenote: I myself prefer placing DWG files as a Drawing because that way they will not mess up my attributes with the attributes in the DWG file. Plus, if you select the placed DWG, you will still be able to access the layers within the DWG and change their visibilities in case it is needed.

[rob2218]

thanks Lasz.
will read help files.
I'll try the "place drawing method" of adding the site plan.
which one (xref attach) or (drawing placement) retains the DWG files lineweights?
do any of these retain their lineweights?
I remember being told by someone on this forum that the "xref attach" is the best bet instead of the "place drawing" method....wonder why that was?

[Laszlo Nagy]

Line weights in AutoCAD are not part of a Pen definition like they are in ArchiCAD, but a separate setting for each element.
So in a DWG file you can have several elements with all kind of colors, while their line weight can be the same.
Or, you can have several elements with the same color, while the line weight of each can be different.
In ArchiCAD elements with the same Pen always have the same line weight.

In the DWG/DXF Translation Setup Dialog you can define Pen-Color Conversion tables, which will convert a DWG element with a certain color to a specified ArchiCAD Pen. But I think that is about the most you can do. The way the two programs handle line weights is so different that there is no good solution.

Maybe we would need a DWG/DXF Import option that would make it possible to map AutoCAD line weights to ArchiCAD Pens, that would probably provide a better solution for this case.

[rob2218]

doh....bummer.
So...the architect did a bunch of work in Autocad. He has a site plan...very messy filled with lots of engineering dimensions, points, elevations, trees...etc...so we are trying to come up with the best solution where I can either import the DWG file, slap it on an Archicad sheet and be done with it....therefore if changes need to be made in Autocad he (the architect) can continue to make revisions and I'll simply "update" the 'drawing' or 'xref DWG' but the lineweights is what's gonna kill me.

How to get the DWG from autocad to come into Archicad and maintain their pen weights from Autocad....and not have to create a penset for yet "another" 256 pens....hubboy.

[rob2218]

Also...isn't the whole hangup about inserting a DWG as a "Drawing" vs. inserting it as an XREF DWG ATTACH the whole "layer" issue?

Right now I have the DWG xref'd into ARchicad. Throws all sorts of additional layers in my Archicad layer list I DO NOT want to see.

It's my understanding that I can simply bring in that same DWG as a "Drawing" grabbing it form an external source, place it in my layout and the layer list wont be populated...is that not the case?

[Laszlo Nagy]

If you can make him do the following, that might work:

Tell him to set the color and line weight of all elements to BYLAYER. The effect of this will be that the color and line weight defined for a Layer will be applied to the color and line weight of all elements on that Layer.
This way all elements with a given color will have the same line weight.
Then when you import that into ArchiCAD, you can map AutoCAD colors to ArchiCAD Pens.

[Laszlo Nagy]

rob2218 wrote:
Also...isn't the whole hangup about inserting a DWG as a "Drawing" vs. inserting it as an XREF DWG ATTACH the whole "layer" issue?

Right now I have the DWG xref'd into ARchicad. Throws all sorts of additional layers in my Archicad layer list I DO NOT want to see.

It's my understanding that I can simply bring in that same DWG as a "Drawing" grabbing it form an external source, place it in my layout and the layer list wont be populated...is that not the case?

Yes, if you bring the DWG as a Drawing, it will not bring its attributes into ArchiCAD's attribute set - a cleaner solution.

[rob2218]

wondering then if....the DWG from Autocad is brought in as a "Drawing" into Archicad...if it will retain then it's autocad lineweights?
hummm..

laszlonagy wrote:

rob2218 wrote:
Also...isn't the whole hangup about inserting a DWG as a "Drawing" vs. inserting it as an XREF DWG ATTACH the whole "layer" issue?

Right now I have the DWG xref'd into ARchicad. Throws all sorts of additional layers in my Archicad layer list I DO NOT want to see.

It's my understanding that I can simply bring in that same DWG as a "Drawing" grabbing it form an external source, place it in my layout and the layer list wont be populated...is that not the case?

Yes, if you bring the DWG as a Drawing, it will not bring its attributes into ArchiCAD's attribute set - a cleaner solution.