Updating workgroup referenced files

[WilliamK]

Suppose I have a VW drawing which references a VW drawing containing only ACAD imported drawings from a client. My VW drawing contains viewports that reference the VW drawing from the client. Everything is great!

Now the client sends me a new ACAD drawing. I import in into VW as before. I rename the old VW drawing from the client so VW will not find it. Then name the new imported VW drawing from the client to the name my VW drawing is referenced to. One would think that all the viewports would now point to the same objects in the same locations on the client drawing, and my drawings would now automatically contain the updated client drawings by reference. HOWEVER, it appears that none do. All the viewports are empty.

This involves multiple ACAD drawings with multiple layers, some changed and some not. It has happened on two projects with different drafters at the client's office. Is this supposed to work, or does work group referencing and viewports somehow change the referenced file, so that deleting and replacing will never work? Let me know if this procedure works for you at all. Maybe it is something I am doing.

[islandmon]

There's a big difference between Object ID# and ObjectName. When you

create a new Layer and give it a unique name, VW assigns a specific ID# to track that Layer regardless of the LayerName you assign to it... same for Classes, Symbols, and Viewports, etc.

Therefore, each Layer instance is uniquely identifiable by it's ID#. If you delete the Layer but then create another with the same name VW will assign a new ID# to it. NameStrings must be unique to avoid chaos in the User interface but are relatively inconsequential to the ID# database.

Although each car on the highway must have a unique 'named' driver... the DMV vehicle registration database only needs to track the VIN #.

Therefore, deleting objects 'breaks' the links to them. If you desire to retain the WGR structure then you must not delete Layers ... only delete the contents of the Layers and replace that content as often as required.

[WilliamK]

Islandmon is correct. Import the files, copy the layer contents into the linked VW file. If you are lucky, the ACAD drafter has not changed their origin (or whatever). I was not lucky, but they used objects to help align with their origin so I could move mine as needed.

Kudos, Islandmon!