paul1966 Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 i have a dwg attached as an xref (DWG1). if i swtch off layers in the xref the dwg i have inserted the xref into (DWG2) a message pops up saying the xref needs reloading, when i reload it there is no change in DWG2. i have read about setting visretain=1 but unless i have read it wrong this only saves any layers that are changed in the xref layers in DWG2. am i right or wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 Visretain=1 means that any changes to DWG1's layers (on, froze, color, weight etc) that you change in DWG2 are saved between sessions in DWG2. So if you make similar changes in DWG1 - then no, the changes won't come through to DWG2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1966 Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 so regardless of what visretain is set to, if i turn off layers in the xref DWG1 and reload the xref in DWG2 the layers should be off? if thats right then its not happening for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 so regardless of what visretain is set to, if i turn off layers in the xref DWG1 and reload the xref in DWG2 the layers should be off? if thats right then its not happening for some reason. No, here's how it works in layman's terms.... VISRETAIN = 1: Any edits to the XREF that are saved will not be carried over to the parent drawing. VISRETAIN = 0: Any edits to the XREF that are saved will be carried over to the parent drawing. Examples: with VISRETAIN set to 0, if I make color changes, and freeze a few layers in the XREF and save, when I return to the parent drawing and reload the XREF then those changes are reflected. Make the same exact changes with VISRETAIN set to 1, and no changes will be made. No frozen layers, no layer color changes, nada señor. One thing to remember is that VISRETAIN = 0 will also knock out any saved Viewport settings as well in the parent drawing, which can cause chaos if you have multiple layout tabs with Viewports that have things hidden or frozen, etc etc. A tip from me personally: I use VISRETAIN = 0 only when absolutely needed, then immediately change it back to 1 when I've made my changes. I always set my VISRETAIN variable to 1 and leave it. Hope this helps some along with Tiger's post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1966 Posted September 10, 2009 Author Share Posted September 10, 2009 ok i think i've got now, seems i have been doing things back to front. so its best practice to alter layers through the drawing you have attached the xref to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 ok i think i've got now, seems i have been doing things back to front. so its best practice to alter layers through the drawing you have attached the xref to. It depends really. Either you do up your DWG1 exactly as it should look as a finished drawing, and then you keep VISRETAIN=0 in all drawings. Or you do all changes in DWG2 and leave DWG1 to it's own. It's down to how you wanna work really. For me, it depends on what kind of project I have. If you search on my name and VISRETAIN here, I think there are several threads (or one really long) with me trying to figure out how best to use VISRETAIN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted September 10, 2009 Share Posted September 10, 2009 ok i think i've got now, seems i have been doing things back to front. so its best practice to alter layers through the drawing you have attached the xref to. Like Tiger said, it depends. Most people do not alter the XREF through the parent drawing. You open the XREF and make your changes, save & close, then reload in the parent drawing. This is best practice usually. Maybe just because everyone has done it for so long it has become the unwritten rule, Play around with your own updating techniques and figure out what works best for you. Probably the best advice I can give ya on this particular topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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