Edit Symbol window

The Edit Symbol window

The Edit Symbol window opens when you edit symbols with different file names. For example, this window opens when you Edit All Symbols and your current drawing has two different symbols. If the two symbols were the same, the X Edit window -- not this window -- would open

Also see :

Drawing Editor (where Edit Symbol is a window)
X Edit (window for editing symbols with same name, where X is that name)
Symbol Edit (opens this window when the symbols being edited have different file names)
Symbol Edit All (opens this window when the symbols being edited have different file names)
Undo (can undo Symbol Edit )
Symbols (topic)

page 1 | contents | symbol edit | symbol edit all | symbols

Scale: The scale of the symbols you are editing. When you first Add a symbol, its default " Scale " is the " Drawing scale " of the drawing that the symbol was created from.

When you change a symbol's " Scale ," the symbol's label is automatically scaled in proportion with other components of the symbol.

(Native: xxx) tells you the " Drawing scale " of the parent drawing (e.g., job standard detail) that this symbol was created from (using Save As Symbol ).

Rotation: Any positive or negative (-) number of degrees.

' 0 ' (zero) adds the linked copy of the symbol in the same orientation as the original symbol file it is linked to. A ' positive number ' rotates the symbol counterclockwise that number of degrees around its insertion point. A ' negative (-) number ' rotates the symbol clockwise that number of degrees.

The insertion point: Before using Save as Symbol to save a drawing as a symbol, confirm that the drawing's reference point is where you want it. To do this on a standard detail, use Verify Reference Point . This reference point is the symbol's insertion point.

Attached to view: A number designating the view that this symbol is attached to. This applies mainly to member details . For instance, a column detail may have a view of face A, face B and face C. It may also have various section views (Section A-A, Section B-B, Section C-C). All graphical objects that are in a particular view are assigned the same number. The only other type of drawing on which you might find multiple views is a submaterial detail .

Assigning the correct number to an object (line, weld symbol, label, etc.), prevents Shorten and Unshorten problems on submaterial details and member details . Automatically detailed submaterial details and member details are the two Drawing Editor drawing types that can have multiple views.

To show a view's number, you can add the X-Y-Z Display to your toolbar. An alternative decoration you can add to display view numbers is the X-Y Dual Show/True Display .

In the Drawing Editor , the X-Y-Z Display shows the view number that the point location target ( ) is over.

Troubleshooting: If you Unshorten a drawing then Shorten , only to find that objects are repositioned in a way that seems wrong, the problem might be that the objects are attached to a view that is not the view that they should be attached to. A good troubleshooting method is to select all of the objects that you believe should be attached to the same view, then right-click ( Menu ) and choose " Edit " on the menu . This will open the Multi-Items Edit window. Look at the " Attached to view " field on that window. If that field is gray (shows no view number), then that field has a mixed entry , indicating that objects in your selection have have two or more different view numbers. Entering the desired view number to the " Attached to view " multi-edit field assigns all objects in your selection that one view number.

View number assignment is fairly random. While view numbers assigned during auto detailing are generally the same as the numbers assigned to views in member isolation (or material isolation's edit views mode ), there are cases where that general one-to-one correspondence will not hold. Also, while the main view of a member detail is almost always view 0, the other views are assigned numbers as they are added, and since the order in which views are added is arbitrary, there is little correspondence between a view's number and its type.

How can objects be assigned wrong view numbers? When a user adds an object to a drawing on which there are multiple views (a member detail or a submaterial detail), it is the responsibility of that user to ensure that the object is attached to the correct view. That sounds like an easy thing to do, but it isn't always so simple. Take, for example, a pointer . When a user adds a pointer using Objects > Pointers > Add , the user does not see the Pointer Edit window and therefore does not see the " Attached to view " entry field. Pointers can also be added using Paste , Paste at Original Location , Paste Repeatedly , Paste Special , Paste to Several , Add Standard Detail , Add Standard Detail to Several , Add Weld Combo , Hole Sym Combo , Label Combo , etc. Each of these tools is a different way for users to add a pointer to a wrong view.

Layer: The drawing layer (any layer given a " Name ") that the symbols you are editing will be drawn on after you press " OK " to close this window. If that layer happens to be hidden (not marked " Show "), the symbol will disappear after the first Redraw .