[email protected]www.imaginit.com 800.356.9050 TECHNICAL WHITEPAPER Drawing Clean-up: A Good Clean Purge AutoCAD based programs can use the PURGE command to eliminate certain unused objects that can be the cause of performance problems or crashes. This is the best way to PURGE a drawing. About the PURGE Command With time things change and this change is for the better! The PURGE command has always been handy but not always robust enough to clean up everything we need it to clean up. Now, with 2015, there are a couple more options. What is PURGE? It gets rid of “unused” objects in the drawing. For example, I create a layer but I don’t put anything on that layer, it is available to be purged. However, if I turn that layer OFF, then it’s in use and cannot be Purged. Why do I want to PURGE? It can speed up your drawings and possibly save a lot of disk space, and it can help avoid AutoCAD crashes. I’ve received 10+ MB files and sent them back around 2 MB, this can really speed up the drawing. How do I PURGE? You’ll see differing blogs/knowledgebase articles out there but this is what I find to be the best way to PURGE using AutoCAD. Preparing your drawing for the PURGE Preparation: 1. Save your drawing to a slightly different name (ex. Drawing1ForPurge). 2. Set a Layer State. In the Layer dialog click the layer state button. Table of Contents ■ About the PURGE Command ■ Preparing your drawing for the PURGE ■ The PURGE ■ About the Author: Jeff Lotan
AutoCAD based programs can use the PURGE command to eliminate certain unused objects that can be the cause of performance problems or crashes. This is the best way to PURGE a drawing.
About the PURGE Command With time things change and this change is for the better!
The PURGE command has always been handy but not always robust enough to clean up everything we need it to clean up. Now, with 2015, there are a couple more options.
What is PURGE?It gets rid of “unused” objects in the drawing. For example, I create a layer but I don’t put anything on that layer, it is available to be purged. However, if I turn that layer OFF, then it’s in use and cannot be Purged.
Why do I want to PURGE?It can speed up your drawings and possibly save a lot of disk space, and it can help avoid AutoCAD crashes. I’ve received 10+ MB files and sent them back around 2 MB, this can really speed up the drawing.
How do I PURGE?You’ll see differing blogs/knowledgebase articles out there but this is what I find to be the best way to PURGE using AutoCAD.
Preparing your drawing for the PURGE
Preparation:
1. Save your drawing to a slightly different name (ex. Drawing1ForPurge).
2. Set a Layer State. In the Layer dialog click the layer state button.
6. Now, turn On, Thaw and Unlock all layers. If it’s turned Off, Frozen or Locked, then it’s being referenced and cannot be purged.
Sometimes it’s easiest to just select all then click on the lightbulb that is turned Off to turn them all On, then click a Frozen layer to Thaw them all and click a Locked layer to Unlock them all.
The PURGEHere is some important information about the PURGE dialog and settings:
■ Confirm each item to be Purged: Just say no to this one, Unckeck this box if it’s checked. If there 1,000 objects to be purged, then you’ll have to press “Y” 1,000 times before it finished the Purge.
■ Purge Nested items: Say yes so you do not have to Purge multiple times to get rid of objects. For example: If you have a block that is not inserted into the drawing but is listed as a block you can insert and if that block has an object that is on a layer, then that layer cannot be Purged until after you Purge the block.
■ Purge zero-length geometry and empty text objects: Any time you can check this box do so, it means that there is something that can be Purged, otherwise it’s grayed out. lEmpty text objects can be created in some versions of AutoCAD by placing an MText window and then clicking OK to get out of the command.
lZero-length geometry, here are a few things that I’ve heard can cause it: 1) can be created when a BREAK command goes wrong or 2) sometimes during some LISP routines that have gone wrong. I’ve seen this one a long time ago: using the LENGTHEN command to make an object SHORTER.
■ Automatically Purge orphaned data: This is a new one! In the last few years there have been objects from DGN files that attach thousands of Linetypes to each object in your drawing. This makes the drawing grow really fast. If you copy/paste or drag-n-drop 1 single line into another brand new drawing, it can make the drawing go up to 7 MB with only that 1 line because it brings in all those thousands of Linetypes. Learn more about drawing bloat due to linetypes on our blog.
So instead of having to use the LISP routine or the hotfix, Autodesk built it into 2015! Take a bow Autodesk, well done!
■ The “Purge All” button. Use this so you do not have to specify what to Purge.
So that’s it right? No. The Purge dialog will not Purge Registered Applications. This one has been causing us problems for years and can cause some serious drawing bloat. The only way to really Purge the Regapps is using the command line. “–PURGE” put a dash in front of the PURGE command and it makes AutoCAD use the command line version of the command.
So it goes like this:
■ At the command line, type PURGE and hit Enter
■ Type R (for Registered Apps) and hit Enter
■ Type * for all and hit Enter
■ Type N for No and hit Enter
At this point it may quickly finish or you may need to go take a coffee break. I’ve seen AutoCAD Purge over 100,000 Regapps in one particular drawing and that takes some time, I’m just glad I said “No I do not want to verify…”.
Are we done now? No. Since we’re using the command line version, it won’t Purge nested objects. We need to run through the command line version of Purge again, then the dialog box again then back to the command line until everything is Purged once and for all.
I’ve created a toolbar button to turn on, thaw and unlock all layers then Purge All and Purge Regapps via the command line. This way all I have to do is click the button, several times and check the command line to see if anything was purged.
Once everything is Purged don’t forget to Restore your Layer State!
1. In the Layer Manager click the Layer States button.
About IMAGINiT TechnologiesIMAGINiT Technologies, a Rand Worldwide Company, is the world’s largest provider of enterprise solutions to the engineering community, including the building, manufacturing, civil and mapping industries. With over 25 years of experience, and 45 offices throughout North America, we provide the expertise, training and support to help companies realize the full power of design technology, maximize ROI and gain competitive advantage.
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Drawing Clean-up: A Good Clean Purge
About the Author: Jeff LotanAs the Senior Support Specialist in the North American Solution Center I provide technical support to clients, teammates, sales, and on occasion to Autodesk. I am changed with mentoring and training team members in the proper use of our systems and tools, documenting processes, and providing feedback and ideas to the management team towards improving the customer experience. I am also a contributor to our technical support blog and internal knowledge base.
I started my career in Product Support with Autodesk in 1992 where my primary responsibility was to support the core and network functionality of the AutoCAD-based products. While moving up the ranks, I was selected to provide mentoring and training to other support groups and had great success performing in roles that interfaced with development teams to test and develop new features before release. Also, as the Technical Account Supervisor and Support Analyst, I was charged with managing the service delivery to many major accounts. I joined Avatech Solutions as a Support Specialist in 2004 and was appointed a team mentor, trainer, co-process documenter, and escalation point for core and network functionality of the AutoCAD-based products, installation issues and licensing. I have continued in that role after the merger with IMAGINiT.
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