What's wrong with my AutoCAD file?

AutoCAD used to have a reputation for crashing and corrupting files regularly.  Talk to any long time CAD user and you'll hear plenty of horror stories.

The program has gotten much more reliable, but it is still very complex, and there are a lot of moving parts, so I am often consulted on drawing problems.

There are a lot of tools for investigating what's in a drawing.  One of my favorites is the QSELECT command.

QSELECT provides a console to create a selection based on various criteria.

Certain objects tend to be problematic:

• Points
• Since they don't print, points can be placed anywhere.  They often throw off the drawing extents.
• Blocks
• Blocks are extremely useful, but blocks can also become corrupted.  It is worthwhile to keep track of your blocks and know what blocks are supposed to show up in your drawing.
• Attributes
• Attributes are ALWAYS supposed to be contained in a block.  If you have an attribute outside of a block, it should be deleted.
• Proxy objects
• Proxy objects are created by add-ons to AutoCAD.  They can become corrupted or they may not render properly in a version of AutoCAD that doesn't have the add-on.
• Splines
• Splines are not always rendered properly.
• 3D shapes
• 3D shapes add a lot of extra data to the drawing.  It is an extra burden that can cause a drawing to render slowly.  I prefer to remove them when possible.
• Empty text
• Text and Mtext containers without text inside can increase the size of a drawing with no benefits.  Recently the PURGE command was adjusted to deal with empty text objects.

By using filtering abilities in QSELECT you can find, adjust, and potentially delete individual items that cause drawing issues.


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3 Simple Steps to Improving your Reporting Accuracy

Let me guess, there has been a time or two where Reporting has made you feel a lot like this:

News flash: you are not alone!  If you've struggled with accuracy in reporting there is a light at the end of the tunnel -- and Robert Stephen Consulting, LLC will help you find it!  It's no surprise that many struggle with reporting accuracy.  There are many little pieces of the puzzle that all need to be correct in order to produce an accurate report.

So, we've identified the problem, but how do we fix it?

The solution is actually quite simple. In order to get at least 98% accuracy, it is essential you follow these three steps:

1. Have a regularly scheduled employee synchronization with the HR department.
• A regularly scheduled employee synchronization with the HR department protects your data.  It assures that all employees are up to date in the system and that employee location and assets are current and tracked accurately.
2. Have a single move process that is followed.
• Make no exceptions.  Period.  It doesn't matter how large or small the move is, if you ensure that one particular move process is followed every single time a move is made, your data is significantly more likely to come out accurate.
3. Walk the floors on a regular basis.
• That means committing to update your data by walking floors once a quarter or once a year.  Whichever you decide, please: keep it consistent!  The more consistent you are, the more accurate your data will be and thus the more accurate your reports will be.

Did you find this article helpful?  Let us know what you think!  Comment below with feedback or other ways you've found help improve reporting accuracy.

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