multiple CTB folders

we are running ADT2004. this question relates to the ACAD2004 product.
currently we have all CTBs in a read-only folder on the network. this
started out as only our official office standards CTBs. though since
deploying the new software i have have realized that there are alot of
consultants we use that require differing CTBs. so many that it is not
efficient to put all of them in the same folder. user A has different CTBs
than user B so the extras from each just cause troubles for the other. we
have 40 users so it fills up quick.

is there anyway besides setting the locations for the CTBs to look in one
folder and then look in another subsequent folder if the CTB is not found
(like fonts). maybe putting them in the project folder. i suppose i could
put these in a network folder that is edittable by the users that can be
managed. but this means the 20 that we all use would be repeated 40 times.

any advice?

 

I solved this in R2005, but I think it works in R2004 as well. It depends on
the ability of AutoCAD to follow a shortcut (LNK file) to get at the CTBs.
Now lets see if I can explain it

On the server, I have a folder for Plot Styles, which I map to an S: drive.
In that folder is a sub folder for each project, named the same as the
project folder on the P: drive, and filled with all project specific CTBs.
Thus S:\Acad\Plot Styles\0403 Blah Blah Library, etc. I also have a folder
for Office Standard CTBs.

Also on the S: drive I have a User folder, with a subfolder for each user,
each of which then contains a Plot Styles folder. Every user's Plot Styles
folder gets the shortcut to Office CTBs by default.

Then, on the P: drive I have a folder for all office standards files, with a
folder for shortcuts to Project CTBs. Thus P:\_Standards\Project CTBs. Here
I put a shortcut to each project CTB folder over in the S: drive.

Now for the fun part. AutoCAD will NOT let you use %USERNAME% in the Plot
Style Table Search Path, so for each user I had to go thru and manually set
each on to point to that users Plot Styles folder over on the S: drive.
AutoCAD looks in that folder, and follows any shortcut files placed there to
build a list of CTB files. So by default each user sees just the office
standard CTBs.
To add a project to their CTB list, the user follows the following process.
1: From the Start menu, open another Windows Explorer, go to
P:\_Standards\Project CTBs. Select the project they need CTBs for, and Copy.
Close Explorer.
2: In AutoCAD; File/Plot Style Manager... This opens the user's Plot
Styles folder on the S: drive in Windows Explorer. Right click and Paste to
place the project CTB shortcut. Close Windows Explorer.
3: Back in the Page Setup Manager in AutoCAD, the user now sees office
standard CTBs, and project specific CTBs only for those projects they have
added. The sort is not by anything rational, unless you are strict and
rename all project CTBs by project # & consultant name or something. To
remove a project from the list, they just delete the shortcut from their
personal Plot Styles folder.

Note that ALL folders other than the user's Plot Styles folder are READ ONLY
to the user. No chance of a user doing a Cut rather than a Copy on the
project CTB shortcuts.

Also, the shortcuts can point to a folder that contains more shortcuts. So
you could have a folder on the server for each consultant's CTBs, then add a
shortcut for appropriate consultants to each project folder, and a shortcut
to the project folder to the user folder. This means no duplicates of
otherwise identical CTBs. I found that our consultants often had different
in-house CTBs for every project, so I didn't bother to try to be clean about
it. CTBs are pretty small anyway.

Hope that all makes sense

Gordon

 

I also use folder shortcuts to redirect AutoCAD to several different folders
for CTB files.

One note to anyone using 2005 or is getting ready to upgrade to 2005. There
is a problem when you have over 50 ctb files. The dropdown list doesn't
select the file you think you are selecting, it will just 2 or 3 down the
list and there is a certain point where you can't select a couple ctb files
from the list. Autodesk knows about the problem and is looking into it. I
doubt there will be a fix for 2005, but hopefully this is fixed in 2006.
What I have done for a work around is to create another ctb file folder and
moved some of the older ctb files that are not used much into that folder.
If someone needs one of these files, they can create a folder shortcut to
plot the drawings and then remove the folder shortcut.

 

<<One note to anyone using 2005 or is getting ready to upgrade to 2005.
There is a problem when you have over 50 ctb files. The dropdown list
doesn't select the file you think you are selecting, it will just 2 or 3
down the list and there is a certain point where you can't select a couple
ctb files from the list>>

Ummm.. this is a problem all the way back to adt2000i for sure, as we deal
with this one every day right now.
And if Adesk is "looking into" this problem, how long is it going to take?
2000i has been out for how many years now?

Paul

 

There has also been a problem with large numbers of CTB (and STB) files and object selection. You click an object, and there is a delay of a few seconds before you can click another or enter a command.

This delay is negligible if you have a dozen plot style files, a couple seconds if you have 50-plus, and an agonizing 5-6 seconds with 150+. Well, it's agonizing when you consider it happens hundreds of times a day!

I don't know if it still happens with 2005, because I figured it out before the 2005 upgrade and keep that folder culled now.

 

great help gordon.. thanks. i realized the glut of CTB files would be a
problem.. i think even more that 10 is too many. the list just jumps around
as it is. your solution at least gives normal users the ability to use other
CTBs.

 

Anyone come up with a way to automate this? So perhaps, a user could click a
toolbar button and the shortcut is created for a specific client thereby
including their CTB files in the list... .And perhaps another button to
remove all the shorcuts and 'clear' the CTB list?

Casey

 

You could do it pretty easy with VBScript. Provide a list of projects in a
pulldown menu, and the menu just calls a VBScript routine, and passes the
requested project as an argument. Maybe no argument means clean out
everything but the office standards. That said, the users at my old office
are managing to figure it out, and they are at the "Automate it for them, if
you want it done at all" extream Of course they only need to do it once
in a while, every few months at best. If you have users jumping from project
to project pretty regularly, maybe an automated approach would save some
real time.
Come to think of it, you could even have some lisp look to see what job
number a newly opened DWG is from, then handle the CTB shortcut
automatically. The only thing done by the user is to clean out everything.
Then the next drawing opened grabs it's own CTB shortcut. Better yet, when
AutoCAD opens it cleans out all the shortcuts, then adds as you open files.
At the start of every session, you have a minimized list, and it grows only
as needed.
Hmm. I had planned to ride a century this week-end. Then again, maybe it's
raining and I don't want to ride, so I need something to do...

Gordon

 

Before you ruin your weekend just for me, Some of our users are using LT
which doesn't use lisp etc, so automation may not be the way to go.
Currently we are sitting at 48 CTB files so maybe we'll just live with it
untill it becomes a real problem.

Thanks,

Casey

 

Casey,
No, just self mutilation of the week-end. Also known as a perverse level of
curiosity. I may have been a cat in a prior life. Then again, the Cyclocross
Nationals are her this week-end. May be fun to ride up to the speedway in
the rain, whatch a bunch of nuts ride knobby tires road bikes in the slop,
then come home and make Irish Coffee.
As for LT, I think the manual method would work. My old office seems to be
doing fine with the manual method, takes maybe 30 seconds to add or remove a
project. And 5 or 6 CTBs are much nicer to browse than 48

Best,
Gordon