AutoCAD Platform Customization. Ambrosius Lee

Figure 1.1 Possible project numbering structure

      The project-naming information I've presented is only one of many possible ways you can define the numbers for your projects. Just keep in mind that project numbers should be short and sequential. No matter how you choose to name your projects, be sure to document your system and follow it for every project you create. Documenting the system will be important for those inside and outside your company.

      After you have defined the requirements and structure for your project name, assign that name to the folder on the network in which all files related to that project should be stored. Alternatively, you can use the name as an attribute in your file-management system of choice.

      Filenames

      There are two schools of thought when it comes to naming the files that are part of a project: one is to include the project name as part of the filename and the other is not to include it, since it is already the project folder's name. I subscribe to the school of thought that a project name should be part of a file's name, and my main reason is that a file can accidentally be placed in the wrong project folder. If the project name is not part of the filename, the file in a way could be lost forever. No matter which approach you choose, you will want to be consistent. Either prefix all your files with the project name, or don't.

      Similar to a project name, the files in a project should use consistent, short, and meaningful names. A basic filename might contain the following information:

      Discipline Often a single letter that represents the main discipline that the drawing is used by (for example, A for Architecture, C for Civil, M for Mechanical, or S for Structural).

      Secondary Discipline Often a single alphabetic letter that helps provide an additional level of classification for the file based on the designated main discipline (for example, D for details, G for grading, L for lighting grid, or S for sitework).

      Sheet/File Type Often a single alphabetic letter used to identify the contents of a file – for example, – P for plans, – G for columns grid, and – I for images. The same can also be represented by numbers – for example, -1 for plans, -0 for columns grid, and -9 for images. You might want to consider also adding an – X when the file should be used only as an external reference across multiple drawing files.

      Sheet Number Often a sequential numeric value of two numbers that range from 00 through 99 to uniquely identify a file from other files that might contain all the same file attributes in the project (for example, 01 or 76).

Figure 1.2 shows a possible structure for a filename based on the file information described.

Figure 1.2 Possible file-naming structure

      The following is some additional information you might want to consider adding to your filenames:

      Sheet Size Optional; often a single alphabetic letter used in combination with the sheet number to represent the paper size that the file should be output on (for example, A for an ANSI A-size [8 1/2″ × 11″] or D for an Architectural D-size [24″ × 36″]).

      Building Often a single alphabetic letter used in combination with floor to indicate which building the file belongs to (for example, – A or – B).

      Floor Often two numbers to indicate which floor of a building the file belongs to (for example, -01 or -22).

      Area Optional; a single alphabetic letter used in combination with floor to help identify a specific area on a floor when a floor is broken up into one or more files (for example, A or C).

      Revision Often the letter R or RV followed by a numeric value to represent the current revision level of a file (for example, – R1 or – RV03). Using revision numbers in a filename has its pros and cons. One of the benefits is that you can go back to an earlier revision of a design if you do not use a system that supports version tracking. The downside is that it affects the other drawings that might reference the drawing; to avoid this, you could create a copy of the drawing being revised and rename the copied file to include the revision number in its name.

      Not all of the attributes will make sense for each discipline. For example, a civil drawing will most likely not contain a Building or Floor attribute, but it might contain an Area. So, it is possible that you might use different file-naming structures for different disciplines in your company. If you use different naming structures for different disciplines, be sure the attribute values have the same meaning across the entire company. For instance, do not use numbers to indicate Areas for civil, and alphabetic letters for the architectural drawings.

      Managing Standards with Drawing Templates

      When you create a new drawing, you have two choices: start from scratch or use a drawing template (DWT) file. Starting from scratch, or using the default drawing that is created when AutoCAD first starts up, is not ideal as it most likely does not conform to your company's standards and the settings can change from release to release. The same is true for the drawing template files that come with AutoCAD: you can use them, but they are not tailored to your company's standards. The default drawing templates make for an excellent starting point, but you should create your own drawing template files so that you know what's in them.

      What Is a Drawing Template?

      A drawing template is a file that contains the objects, styles, unit of measurement, and other settings that should be used when creating a new drawing with the new or qnew commands. It has a file extension of .dwt. Prior to drawing templates, they were called prototype drawings; you should know that just in case you hear that term come up in a conversation with an AutoCAD veteran.

      When a new drawing is created using a DWT file, the DWT file is copied into memory as a new drawing and the DWT file remains unchanged. A DWT file is identical to a drawing (DWG ^TM) file. While you commonly use the saveas command to save a DWG file as a DWT file, you could also just change the file extension of a DWG file from .dwg to .dwt and achieve the same results.

      The following steps explain how to save a DWG file as a DWT file using AutoCAD on Windows:

      1. In the AutoCAD software, open the DWG file that you want to save as a DWT file and click the Application button ➢ Save As (or at the command prompt, you could enter saveas and press Enter).

      2. In the Save Drawing As dialog box, click the Files Of Type drop-down list and choose AutoCAD Drawing Template (*.dwt).

      The AutoCAD software changes the Save In location to the location specified by the Drawing Template File Location node on the Files tab of the Options dialog box (options command).

      3. In the File Name box, enter a name for the new drawing template file. Click Save.

      If you are using AutoCAD on Mac OS, use the following steps:

      1. With AutoCAD as the active application, open the DWG file that you want to save as a DWT file and click File ➢ Save As (or at the command prompt, you could enter saveas and press Enter).

      2. In the Save Drawing As dialog box, click the File Format drop-down list and choose AutoCAD Drawing Template (*.dwt).

      AutoCAD changes the current Save To location in the Where drop-down list to the location specified by the Drawing Template File Location node on the Application tab of the Application Preferences dialog box (options command).

      3. In the Save As box, enter a name for the new drawing template file. Click Save.

      NOTE

      Drawing standards (DWS) files are always saved in the latest file format. If you support multiple releases of AutoCAD in your company, you will want to instead save your standards to a DWG file with the oldest file format required. Once the DWG file is created,