Referencing Drawings - Basics

Differences between References and Block insertions

Referenced drawings are similar to Block insertions, but the differences are that:

• Referencing a drawing establishes a link to another drawing file, but it does not become a permanent part of the current drawing, keeping the file size smaller.
• You can move, scale, rotate, and copy Referenced drawings. You cannot explode a Reference as you can with Blocks.

Dependent symbol names

When attaching drawing files, Layers, LineStyles, TextStyles, DimensionStyles, Block definitions, and other symbols are loaded into the drawing.

The following scheme is used to name dependent symbols in the drawing:

Logical_Reference_Name| Dependent_Symbol_Name

For example, the layer names of a Referenced drawing with the name SHAFT are listed as:

SHAFT|CONSTRUCTION

SHAFT|DETAILS

SHAFT|DIMENSION

Other dependent symbols like LineStyles or Blocks use the same naming convention.

You cannot redefine or rename dependent symbols. Also, you cannot insert dependent Blocks and you cannot make a dependent Layer the current Layer.

The dependent symbol conventions allow you to control the visibility as well as the LineColors and LineStyles of Referenced drawings. The Layers Manager dialog box displays the names of the dependent Layers and you can apply various options.

The logical name prefix makes it easy to distinguish the dependent Layers from the Layers originally defined in the drawing.

Removing References from the current drawing

You should not remove Referenced drawings from the current drawing with the Delete command because it does not delete the dependent symbols from the drawing.

To remove References:

1. If the References palette is not displayed, click Tools > References (or type References).
2. Right-click the Referenced file on the list and click Detach.
   
   The Reference disappears and the link is removed.

You can also use the Detach option of the -References command.