Jim in AZ, post: 376045, member: 249 wrote: Be careful about the length of file nand folder names if you thibk there is ANY possibility the you will ever use them as XREF's. There are a limited number of charcters available for paths, and it is quite easy to exceed it if you start using lengthy names and/or file structure paths in XREF's.
The only issue that I've had with regards to an xref with a long drawing name is when using the Layer Manager. If the name is long enough then the layer name box needs to be so wide that you are left with little room to actually manage the layers. This is resolved though by changing what the xref'd drawing is called in the Xref Manager, i.e when referencing a design drawing I change the name in the details box, the Reference Name can be changed to just DESIGN, no matter what the designer named it, and that how its shows up in the Layer Manager. I was using just SURVEY for the survey reference, but we also have a separate layer filter in our template with that name so no matter which of the two I selected I got no layers an since have named the survey reference SURVEYBASE.
Those odd and non-intuitive examples might explain why so many of my architect and engineer clients can't find AutoCAD files. The drawings are probably there, but they don't recognize the name. Me, I prefer something clear and obvious, like (all recent examples):
Third Avenue Record of Survey.dwg
West Gas Road ALTA Survey.dwg
And, when I send a drawing to a client I include today's date in the name so they know it is the latest: Third Avenue ALTA Survey 06-07-2016.dwg
Bruce Small, post: 376098, member: 1201 wrote: ... I include today's date in the name so they know it is the latest: Third Avenue ALTA Survey 06-07-2016.dwg
I like to use a YYMMDD format on my dates in file names. That way they sort in date order.
Kris Morgan, post: 375972, member: 29 wrote: C:CarlsonData16Mark_Mayer_40_Acre_Subdivision_on_FM_2138_South_of_CR_3215.dwg
The use of underscores is another throwback to DOS, which didn't allow spaces in file names. They looked clunky then, and they look clunky now. A space is just another character. (Well, almost -- you have to enclose the path in double-quotes when using it as a command-line argument if it contains spaces.)
Jim Frame, post: 376110, member: 10 wrote: The use of underscores is another throwback to DOS, which didn't allow spaces in file names. They looked clunky then, and they look clunky now. A space is just another character. (Well, almost -- you have to enclose the path in double-quotes when using it as a command-line argument if it contains spaces.)
Yes I realize that, but some old habits die hard. 🙂
Complex, standardized naming would seem to be essential for operations with all sorts of people needing to find the file for years to come. Simple, whatever-helps-you-know-it filenames, however, can work for the small operator. I'm one of those little shops. I am personally involved with every project and am the number one person to deal with the client or the client's representative. Simple works well for me.
A job for Hank Snow in March of 1998 would be either SNOWHANK0398 or HANKSNOW0398. If the project was an elevation certificate or a mortgagee title inspection it changes to something like SNOWHANKEC0398 or SNOWHANKMTI0398. The job for Mr. Czarnowsky is shortened to CZAR0416 simply because the odds of having another job for someone with a name starting with those same letters is so unlikely. Repeat clients such as real estate offices start off with an abbreviated form of the name, WD, ACR, TRE. The same for certain banks, FNBCH, FNBPA, SSB. Those leap off the page at you when you have a dozen or 50 that all start out like that.
It also helps to have the kind of memory where you remember things that absolutely no one else seems to remember. I may be looking for a file for a one-time-only client about 20 years ago. The first thing I remember is that it was about 106 that day so it had to be in June, July or August. The next thing I recall is that a specific daughter was with me on the reconnaissance trip, therefore it was before 1998. Next I may recall something more specific. A quick check of mid-Summer jobs in 1998,1997,1996 narrows the search tremendously. Yup, there it is, SMITHDAVID0897.
Holy Cow, post: 376130, member: 50 wrote: ..A job for Hank Snow in March of 1998 would be either SNOWHANK0398 or HANKSNOW0398..
I had no idea Hank Snow was still around. Of course he's pretty hard to keep track of because I hear "he's been everywhere, man..". :pinch:
Monday night was the high school baseball after-season party. The varsity coach has held the spot for 20 years, before that he coached JV, and before that he played for the team. During his remarks Monday night he not only recalled specific details about this season's games -- which kid got a clutch hit during a certain game, who was on base at the time, what the count was -- but he also pulled out similar details from games that were played 10, 15 and 20 years ago. I've noticed the same incredibly detailed memory during conversations with him over the years.
But ask me what inning it is, or whether or not the last pitch was a ball or a strike, and after scratching my head for a bit I'll say, "Not sure." It's pretty much the same thing with jobs. I might remember being on a site, but coming up with the job number, client name or date of survey often draws a blank. I rely on a combination of Google Earth and Microsoft Access for that stuff.
Jim Frame, post: 376157, member: 10 wrote: ... I might remember being on a site, but coming up with the job number, client name or date of survey often draws a blank. I rely on a combination of Google Earth and Microsoft Access for that stuff.
My whole life I have had an almost photographic memory...with one drawback; I can't tell you what I will be able to remember or won't remember. Teachers and counselors were frustrated with me in school because they thought I ought to be doing well with such a good memory. One sure fire way I WON'T remember something is if I TRY to remember it.
I might see someone I haven't seen for 20 years and instantly our last conversation comes to mind, almost verbatim. I've already misplaced my glasses twice this morning.
I have been on a job and will see something (hear or smell, also) and it will trigger a memory...and WOW. I was on a crew that pinned this property in 1976! It was a farm house with a red Massey Ferguson on blocks behind it and a purple Rose of Sharon at the corner! Of course it looks nothing like that nowadays, but my memory is so crystal clear when it happens.
Wish I could get a bridle on it, it would have helped over the years.
Selective memory, Jim. I'm the same way - lotsa detail about aspects of the job, but retrieval needs to be properly indexed. A coach's forte is strategy, so minutia matters.
Richard Germiller, post: 376063, member: 499 wrote: The only issue that I've had with regards to an xref with a long drawing name is when using the Layer Manager. If the name is long enough then the layer name box needs to be so wide that you are left with little room to actually manage the layers. This is resolved though by changing what the xref'd drawing is called in the Xref Manager, i.e when referencing a design drawing I change the name in the details box, the Reference Name can be changed to just DESIGN, no matter what the designer named it, and that how its shows up in the Layer Manager. I was using just SURVEY for the survey reference, but we also have a separate layer filter in our template with that name so no matter which of the two I selected I got no layers an since have named the survey reference SURVEYBASE.
There is a drawing on our server containing over 1400 characters in the paths & drawing names. It went from surveyor to architect to engineer back to architect back to engineer then to me for staking. I believe that there are at least 37 XREF's - and we get new ones every few days with changes - most of the time we can't really remove the old ones without losing somethng, so they are all stacked on each other and interwoven. The whole mess concerns me but we've been indemnified for any issues related to these issues, so I'm supposed to sleep better...
Jim in AZ, post: 376204, member: 249 wrote: ..I believe that there are at least 37 XREF's - and we get new ones every few days with changes - most of the time we can't really remove the old ones without losing somethng, so they are all stacked on each other and interwoven.....
I try not to work off xrefs if I can help it. Got burned once staking a bunch of screwy sidewalks in an apartment complex. Seems as though someone "accidently" moved the "sidewalk" xref about 6-7 feet and when zoomed out, you really couldn't tell. Nobody acted like it was their fault.
I did check the original that was emailed to us and it was moved before we got it. Sorry sunzabitches...
A couple of good, underlying points here:
- Always do a save as, with a new drawing you get from anyone; preserving the original in a separate folder
- Always add a 1 to the beginning of the file name. When you get a revised file that gets xref'd; change the old file to 2 and make the new file a 1, in the same directory path and the changes will follow.
Lots of other good advice, I'm sure; feel free to chime in.
Mark Mayer, post: 376109, member: 424 wrote: I like to use a YYMMDD format on my dates in file names. That way they sort in date order.
I also like to use a similar format. I go with the ISO 8601 standard of YYYY-MM-DD. It sorts in order, it is easy to parse what the information is when I see it, and I can tell my co-workers (and boss) that it is an INTERNATIONAL STANDARD and THAT'S why I think we should use it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601#Calendar_dates