How many times has this happened to you?

1. A project was started in Land Desktop and contains xrefs.
2. The project name was changed mid-stream.
3. You now have the task of opening every drawing and changing all xrefs to the new path.
4. Repeat this for the 46 drawings.
5. Swear, cuss, scream..

Well Reference Manager to the rescue! An obscure program that resides in the Autodesk folder under the Start/All Programs.

This little gem has saved my butt countless times. You enter in the drawing(s), and let the program whirr a bit while it loads all of them (I would recommend doing one or two to begin with so you get the feel for what this program does).

The actual magic begins when you select a file. Or more specifically select the xref tab on the left and then click in the xref drawing name. You are given the choice of Editing Selected Paths or Find and Replace. In this scenario, I chose to edit the selected path since the project name and number has changed.

All drawings that use this xref will be updated to the new location. so you might be thinking what does this have to do with Civil 3D? Well, the entire hard disk xref locations are hard-coded into Civil3D also. So the same applies there too. Play with it and see if it simplifies your life and blood pressure.

I’m going through AU withdraw symptoms now as they are just starting up as I type. I have had the privilege the last couple years of attending Autodesk University. this year but with the economy the way it is – the powers that be said that I could not go. Yes the big hoopla and parties are nice, but what I really miss is the interaction with fellow Civil3d-ites and the plethora of learning and knowledge that is available there. So, hopefully next year will be a different story.