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Combining Files


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I'm sure this is old hat to you experienced users:

I have a rather large file of a subdivision with grading contours, streets, building pads, utilities, etc. This was a .dwg file which I imported into VW (12.5.1) then used to design common space landscaping. All is well with this part of the project.

Next, I received separate .dwg files of each of four different condo designs, which I imported into VW and used as the bases for the individual unit landscape designs for the builder's models. So far so good.

Now, I need to show these model footprints with their associated landscapes on their appropriate building pads in the master plan (which is already a very large file, incidentally).

Since I will ultimately, over time, be drawing the landscape designs for each of some 80 duplex condominiums, I cannot realistically plan to keep adding individual landscape plans to this master plan file. Is there a way to "excise" only the section of the master plan that I need for each condo?

Whew. Thanks for reading, and thanks even more for your advice. I hope I've explained my problem clearly enough.

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One low-tech way to do it would be to draw a rectangle over the part of the master plan that you want to use. Then, while the rectangle is still selected, issue the Trim command, which cuts everything else at that rectangle. Then use a selection window to select the rectangle and everything inside it, then Cut, then Select All, then Delete, then Paste-In-Place, which leaves you with only the part of the master plan that's inside your rectangle.

Since you're talking about imported dwg files, which are always full of unused Symbol definitions and other garbage, it might be better to do the Paste-in-Place in a new file.

The Trim command won't cut things that are in Symbols or Groups, so first you'd have to convert any of those to simple lines, arcs, polylines, etc. Use the Symbol-to-Group and Ungroup commands. And to get it to cut things on other layers or in other classes you'd need to have Layer and Class Options set accordingly.

I should also point out that I have all the commands mentioned above assigned to unshifted Function keys, so that whole operation of getting rid of everything but the stuff inside a drawn rectangle would take me less than two seconds, including getting rid of symbols and groups. With the standard user interface it might be impractical to do this 80 times, because of the number of pull-down menu commands involved.

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One other caveat: when you do that Paste-in-Place, you'll be pasting all the selected things onto the active Layer, regardless of which layer(s) they were on before. But they'll still be in the same Class they were in before. So if you want to maintain the distinction of the AC Layers, import AC Layers as VW Classes. That's a good idea generally, since AC Layers aren't layered -- they're more like Classes.

I've never used workgroup referencing. I remember reading on this forum that it's like xref's but with some improvements. I always hated xref's.

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