918 Part V Organizing and Managing Drawings

The Set Default Plotter to ‘None’ check box removes the plotter information from the drawings, as it’s probably not useful to your recipient.

The Bind External References check box binds xrefs to their host drawings.

The Prompt for Password check box opens a dialog box (after you save the transmittal file) where you can specify a password. Be sure to tell your recipient the password.

At the bottom of the dialog box, you can add a description for the transmittal. Then click OK. The Transmittal Setups dialog box reappears, where you can choose the transmittal setup that you want. Then click Close.

You’re now back in the Create Transmittal dialog box. Click the Files Table tab to see the files that will be included in your transmittal. The normal files are acad.fmp or aclt.fmp (the font map that specifies font substitutions), SHX files (usually compiled fonts), and any xrefs, raster images, or standards files that are attached to the drawing.

To add files, click Add File, navigate to the desired file, select it, and click Open. To see the Transmittal Report, click the View Report button. The report includes your Notes and instructions to the recipient for using the associated files. For example, there are instructions for where to place SHX files and xrefs. Choose Save As to create an additional copy of the report for your own records.

When you’re done, click OK. If you checked Send E-mail, your e-mail program opens, and you can send an e-mail message and the files. Either way, eTransmit creates the type of transmittal files that you requested.

Opening Drawings from the Web

You can access drawings, blocks, and so on from the Internet in the same way that you currently access them on your hard drive or network. Sharing drawings around the world can be as easy as opening a drawing on your hard drive. You have two methods for bringing objects from the Internet into your drawings.

Using the Browse the Web – Open dialog box

You can directly open a drawing from the Web within the Select File dialog box (choose File Open) by using the Search the Web button. As long as you have an active connec-

tion to the Internet, the Browse the Web – Open dialog box opens and functions as a Web-aware Open dialog box, enabling you to access drawings and other files over the Internet.

Using i-drop to drag objects into a drawing

An i-drop-enabled Web site displays the i-drop cursor when you pass the cursor over an image, as shown in Figure 28-3. This cursor indicates that you can drag the object represented by the image into your drawing. For more information on creating i-drop-enabled Web

sites, go to http://idrop.autodesk.com. The Publish to Web feature, covered later in this chapter, also contains i-drop capability.

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Figure 28-3: Dragging an object from an i-drop- enabled Web site.

Thanks to Eric Stover of Autodesk for permission to display this i-drop example from the Autodesk i-drop Web site.

If you drag with the right mouse button, a prompt asks you whether you want to save associated blocks or data when you drag with the right mouse button. Also, inserted blocks automatically include a hyperlink to the source of the content.

Creating Object Hyperlinks

You can insert hyperlinks between objects in your drawing, and files or Web sites that may be located anywhere on the Internet, a network, or your own hard drive. A hyperlink creates a permanent connection between your drawing and other files that may provide supporting documentation or additional information.

When you follow a hyperlink, the appropriate application is opened with the specified file. For example, a Web site is opened in your Web browser, and a word-processing document is opened in your word-processing application.

Creating a hyperlink

Before you create your hyperlink, consider the environment in which it will be used. The file or Web page that you’re linking to must be available for the hyperlink to work. For example, if you send a drawing with hyperlinks to a colleague, be sure to include the files to which the hyperlinks refer. If you’re posting the drawing on a Web site as a DWF file, you need to upload the files that the hyperlinks refer to, along with the DWF file.

Here’s how you create a hyperlink:

1.Select one or more objects in your drawing. The hyperlink will be attached to these objects.

2.Choose Insert Hyperlink (or Ctrl+K) to open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box, shown in Figure 28-4. (If you start the command first, select objects at the prompt.)

920 Part V Organizing and Managing Drawings

Figure 28-4: The Insert Hyperlink dialog box attaches hyperlinks to objects in your drawing.

3.Use the Link To list to choose the type of hyperlink that you want to create. The central portion of the dialog box changes, depending on which of these options you choose: a Web page, named view, or e-mail address.

•Existing File or Web Page: Creates a hyperlink to another file (on your own computer, network, intranet, or the Internet) or a Web page. You can choose from Recent Files, Browsed Pages, or Inserted Links.

•View of This Drawing: Creates a hyperlink to a named view or layout in the open drawing. You can use this option to help viewers navigate to detail views or schedules (tables of data) in the drawing.

•E-mail Address: Opens the viewer’s e-mail program and starts a new message to the specified address.

4.To help you specify the file or Web page, click either the File button or the Web Page button at the right side of the dialog box. To specify a named view in a drawing, click the Target button. In the Select Place in Document dialog box, click the plus sign next to the layout and select a view. Click OK.

5.In the Text to Display text box, type a short description of the hyperlink. If you don’t create a description, when you pass the cursor over the hyperlink, the tooltip lists the URL or file name. If the URL or file name is confusing, use a description instead. The description is displayed as the tooltip.

6.Uncheck the Use Relative Path for Hyperlink check box if you want to use the entire path that you placed in the Link to File or URL text box. A relative path uses a base as a given, requires you to specify the only the part of the path after the base. Use relative paths when the hyperlinked file is in the same folder as the drawing.

7.Uncheck the Convert DWG Hyperlinks to DWF check box if you don’t want to convert drawing hyperlinks to DWF hyperlinks. For example, if this box is checked, a hyperlink to mydrawing.dwg becomes a hyperlink to mydrawing.dwf. If you plan to create a DWF file from the drawing that you’re hyperlinking to, then leave this check box checked.

8.Click OK to create the hyperlink.

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Check the hyperlink by passing the cursor over the object to which you attached the hyperlink. You see the Web cursor, as shown in Figure 28-5.

Figure 28-5: The Web cursor appears when you pass the cursor over a hyperlinked object.

Using a hyperlink

After you create a hyperlink, you can use it at any time to open the associated file or to move to the associated location within the drawing. If you use a dial-up connection to the Internet and open a drawing with hyperlinks to the Internet while not connected, you’re prompted to connect.

To open a file associated with a hyperlink, Ctrl+click any hyperlinked object. Remember that you can’t just click a hyperlink as you do on a Web site, because that just selects the object in your drawing.

Editing a hyperlink

To edit any feature of a hyperlink, select the hyperlinked object and choose Insert Hyperlink. You can also right-click and choose Hyperlink Edit Hyperlink. The Edit Hyperlink dialog box opens. This dialog box is the same as the Insert Hyperlink dialog box and lets you edit the hyperlink. Click OK when you’re done.

STEPS: Creating Hyperlinks

1.Open ab28-a.dwg from the CD-ROM.

2.Save the file as ab28-01.dwg in your AutoCAD Bible folder. This is a 3D drawing of a base assembly frame for an industrial washer, shown in Figure 28-6.

3.Copy ab28-a.txt and ab28-b.dwf from the CD-ROM to your AutoCAD Bible folder. (You can use Windows Explorer to drag the files.)

4.Choose Insert Hyperlink. At the Select objects: prompt, pick 1and 2in Figure 28-6. The Insert Hyperlink dialog box opens.

5.Click File. Choose ab28-a.txt in your AutoCAD Bible folder. Click Open. Click OK in the Edit Hyperlink dialog box.

6.Repeat the HYPERLINK command. This time, attach 3 and 4 in Figure 28-6 to ab28-b. dwf in your AutoCAD Bible folder. Click OK to close the dialog box.