Drawing Tabs

[toddcl]

Hi all, I am new on to the forum we just recently upgraded from Civil 2008 to 2011 and had and extention add-on for drawing tabs (MdiTab17.arx) and was wondering if there was such an extention for 2011 or could be apply that extention to the current install? I've attached an image of our 2008 Autocad

 

Thanks,

Todd

 

 

[ccowgill]

try googling for MDItab18.arx, thats the replacement for 2010 and 2011

[toddcl]

thanks,

 

also I seem to forgot how to add the extention into civil as well, its been a long time since I put it in and can't remember how to load the extention?

[toddcl]

nevermind, I just had to read a bit...thanks alot!!

[ccowgill]

your welcome, oh, and welcome to CADtutor.

[Kat]

Thanks for posting this! I will use these tabs all the time!

[ccowgill]

I'd probably use them if I could put them somewhere else. currently I use CAELINK's Dwgmanager for my tabs because I can have them at the bottom, right above coordinates where I seem to look more often than the top.

[Jack_O'neill]

There's a Quick View Drawings button on the status bar on 2010 that will pop up little thumbnails of all the drawings you have open. Plus a Quick View Layouts button that will let you see the different layouts in the current drawing. Makes it pretty easy to zip around in multiple drawings and layouts. I assume this is still there in 2011.

[ccowgill]

it is still there in 2011, but it has the same bug it has had since it was introduced in 09. You cant tell what you are currently looking at. if you mouse over it, it highlights what you mouse over, then you have no idea when you have 10 drawings, each with 2 layouts (model and 1 layout) what you currently are looking at. That is the reason for the dwgmanager being located at the bottom of the screen, I can see which drawing I have open, and I also have a macro next to the coordinates that tells me what the ctab variable is.

[CADkitt]

Cool I downloaded both caelinks: http://www.caelink.com/drawing_tabs.htm

and the one from that autodesk blog.

I think the caelink is the best but the right click functions in the autodesk addon are also pretty handy :S .

could try both

[Jack_O'neill]

it is still there in 2011, but it has the same bug it has had since it was introduced in 09. You cant tell what you are currently looking at. if you mouse over it, it highlights what you mouse over, then you have no idea when you have 10 drawings, each with 2 layouts (model and 1 layout) what you currently are looking at. That is the reason for the dwgmanager being located at the bottom of the screen, I can see which drawing I have open, and I also have a macro next to the coordinates that tells me what the ctab variable is.

 

I guess I'm not following you. If you look at the image below, you'll see 2 larger thumbnails and a several smaller ones above it. I have "100 elevations" highlighted, and the smaller ones above are all the tabs in that drawing. When I mouse over the smaller ones, they get bigger so I can even kinda see what's in them. If you have named your drawings and your layout tabs, it shouldn't be difficult to know where you are.

[ccowgill]

You have layout/model tabs turned on, I do not, my point is, if I copy a layout, I have no idea which layout I'm currently viewing, so more often than not, I've made changes, only to find out that it was on the wrong layout tab.

 

I dont want to have to have layout/model tabs or even have a need for dwgmanager, I just want to use the qview. In the image below, if it were not for the macro in the bottom left, telling me the current laytout tab name, and the dwg manager bar across the bottom, I wouldnt know which tab I was currently viewing, I'm most certainly not viewing 10-090-03 and the blue to grey difference isnt really substantial enough to say here is the drawing that is highlighted. I'd just like to have some attention called to the current drawing/layout perhaps a bold box, or an asterisk.

 

[Jack_O'neill]

It works the same whether the tabs are visible or not (see below). But I can see now where you could get confused if the tabs were off and you were copying layouts from the "quickview drawings". There is right next to it a "quickview layouts" which only shows you the layouts in your current drawing, who's name is in the titlebar at the top of the screen. It's all what you get used to and how you go about doing it I guess. I leave the tabs off while drawing, then turn them on when I need to add layouts. The only thing my customers (well, most of them anyway) want on the layout tabs is the titleblock, even the parts lists are in model space for one of them. Yes, I've suggested and even shown them better ways, and no, they are not interested. Makes no difference to me, I get paid either way.

 

[ccowgill]

exactly my point, you turn the tabs on when you add layouts, extra step that in my opinion could be avoided if Autodesk would properly finish the feature. But that is neither here nor there, just wishful thinking I guess. At least it looks like the OP got the answer they were looking for.

[Jack_O'neill]

I turn them on and off just to maximize the drawing area. Usually I have the command line pulled over on the second monitor too. That's where my tool palettes live most of the time as well. Those dang scroll bars are a complete waste as far as I'm concerned and could go away permanently. I keep turning them off, and something i'm doing keeps turning them back on, don't know what but when I find it....

 

Honestly, I don't see the difference in having the tabs and the stuff i was talking about as opposed to using a third party bit of code to do the same thing. The cool part about it is that you can do it the way that make you happy and productive. Autocad is by far the most flexible and customizable bit of software I've ever seen. You can do just about anything you want, in just about any way you want to do it.

[ccowgill]

i like to maximize my drawing area as well...

 

I may have a way to find out what is causing your scroll bar issue, I'll look through my stuff, I may have a routine some where that could help pinpoint the cause