violations:
1. On the ribbon, click Manage tab ➢ CAD Standards panel ➢ Check (or at the command prompt, enter checkstandards and press Enter).
The Check Standards dialog box (see Figure 1.10) is displayed. If no DWS file is associated with the drawing file, you will be presented with an error message. Click OK to configure the CAD standards settings for the drawing and then continue checking for standards violations.
2. In the Check Standards dialog box, in the Problem area review the first standards violation found. The Problem area provides you with a description of the standards violation.
3. In the Replace With area, choose one of the available fixes.
The Replace With area provides you with all the possible fixes that one of the plug-ins identified for the standards violation. A plug-in can recommend a fix that is indicated by a blue check mark to the left of the item. After selecting a possible fix for the standards violation, you can see an overview of the changes that will be made in the Preview Of Changes area. You can have AutoCAD automatically fix standards violations that have nonstandard properties by clicking the Settings button and enabling Automatically Fix Non-standard Properties in the CAD Standards Settings dialog box. If your DWS files offer more than one recommendation for a fix, you can specify the preferred DWS file that you want to use from the CAD Standards Settings dialog box as well.
4. Click Fix to correct or Next to skip the standards violation, and move to the next one found.
When you skip a standards violation, you can click Mark This Problem As Ignored to not have the violation show up the next time the drawing is checked. You can choose to display all ignored violations by clicking the Settings button and enabling Show Ignored Problems in the CAD Standards Settings dialog box.
5. Continue stepping through each standards violation until the Check Standards – Check Complete message box is displayed. Click Close.
The Check Standards – Check Complete message box (see Figure 1.11) provides you with a summary of the actions taken to resolve the standards violations found.
6. Click Close to close the Check Standards dialog box and return to your drawing.
Figure 1.10 Standards violation found
Figure 1.11 The check for standards violations is complete.
While working on a drawing with CAD standards configured, you might see the Standards Violation balloon (see Figure 1.12) come up. This indicates that something in the drawing conflicts with your company's standards. A custom routine might have caused the standards violation, or maybe you inserted a drawing that contains named objects that were not updated with the latest standards. Click the Run Check Standards link in the balloon to fix or ignore the standards violation.
Figure 1.12 Standards violation detected
Checking Drawings in Batches
The Check Standards dialog box is efficient for checking the standards of the current drawing, but it is not ideal if you have five, ten, or even hundreds of drawings in your project that need to be checked. When AutoCAD is installed, it also installs an external utility called the Batch Standards Checker. The Batch Standards Checker allows you to select a number of drawings and check them against the standards defined in a DWS file.
The Batch Standards Checker allows you to check the drawing files using the DWS files that are already associated with each file, or you can specify which DWS files should be used. This utility uses the same plug-ins that are available in the Configure Standards dialog box. The one feature that the Batch Standards Checker does not support is the ability to fix any of the violations found; that must be done by opening each drawing and using the checkstandards command.
The following steps explain how to use the Batch Standards Checker:
1. Do one of the following:
• (Windows XP and Windows 7) Click the Windows Start button ➢ [All] Programs ➢ Autodesk ➢ AutoCAD <release> ➢ Batch Standards Checker.
• (Windows 8) On the Start screen, right-click and click All Apps. Under the AutoCAD <release> category, click Batch Standards Checker.
The Batch Standards Checker dialog box (see Figure 1.13) is displayed.
2. In the Batch Standards Checker, on the Drawings tab click the + (plus) button.
3. In the Batch Standards Checker – File Open dialog, browse to and select the drawings and drawing templates you want to check for standards violations. Click Open.
Press and hold the Ctrl key when browsing to select more than one file.
4. Optionally, click the Check External References Of Listed Drawings check box.
When this option is enabled, the Batch Standards Checker will also check the external references attached to the listed files for any standards violations.
5. Click the Standards tab.
This tab is similar to the Standards tab of the Configure Standards dialog box in AutoCAD. The only difference is the two options located along the top of the tab.
6. Choose one of the two options along the top of the tab:
• The Check Each Drawing Using The Associated Standards Files option instructs the Batch Standards Checker to use the DWS files associated with each drawing file; if no DWS file is associated with a drawing file, the drawing is not checked for standards violations.
• Use the Check All Drawings Using The Following Standards Files option to specify which DWS files to use for validating the CAD standards. Click the + (plus) button to list which DWS files to use. If more than one DWS file is added, select an associated DWS file and click Move Up/Move Down to change the search order of the DWS files. Select a DWS file and click the X to remove an associated DWS file.
7. Click the Plug-ins tab.
This tab is identical to the Plug-ins tab of the Configure Standards dialog box in AutoCAD.
8. Specify which plug-ins to use when checking the drawings for standards violations.
9. Optionally, click the Notes tab and enter the text for the note.
You might want to list the project's name, your name, and any other information that could be useful to the next person who views the report generated after checking the drawing files for standards violations.
1. On the Batch Standards Checker toolbar, click Save.
2. In the Batch Standards Checker – File Save dialog, browse to a location and enter a name for the Standards Check (CHX) file. Click Save.
The CHX file contains a reference to the drawings you added to the list and specifies which drawing standards (DWS) files and plug-ins to use, along with the notes and other settings you included. You might want to create a CHX file for each one of your projects and then store them with the drawing files in your project.
1. On the Batch Standards Checker toolbar, click Start Check.
The Progress tab is displayed with the current progress of the standards violation check for the drawing files that were listed on the Drawings tab. Once processing has been completed, the Standards Audit Report (see Figure 1.14) is displayed in your default web browser. Use this report to view any standards violations found. The most recent report is saved with the CHX and can be viewed by clicking Check ➢ View Report on the Batch Standards Checker's menu bar.