AutoCAD 2004 Customization Tutorial: Search
Paths
By Alireza Parsai,
May 2, 2003
If you attach a raster image or an Xref to a drawing, and later
change the location of the attached file, AutoCAD will search
for the file in its search paths. The same action applies for
locating a drawing file. In general, AutoCAD searches the
following locations respectively: current directory, drawing
directory, directory specified in the support file search path,
and directory containing the AutoCAD executable file, acad.exe.
Users are allowed to define or modify AutoCAD
Support File Search Path. This can be handled with OPTIONS
command.
1.
Download the following files:
►
R16
– 2D House.DWG
►
Farvahar.BMP
Note: If you are using AutoCAD
2002, 2000i, or 2000, download
R15
– 2D House.DWG.
2.
Open the drawing file in AutoCAD. Zoom into the lower-right
corner of the drawing [Figure 1].
Figure 1 - Click on image to
enlarge
3.
From Insert menu click Raster Image. The Select Image
File dialog box appears [Figure 2].
Figure 2 - Click on image to
enlarge
4.
Locate and open Farvahar.BMP.
5. The
Image dialog box appears [Figure 3]. Click OK.
Figure 3 - Click on image to
enlarge
6.
Locate and scale the image properly [Figure 4].
Figure 4
7.
Invoke IMAGEFRAME command. Select OFF to remove the image frame
[Figure 5].
Figure 5
8.
Save and then close the file.
9.
Start My Computer. Move the "Farvahar.BMP" to "Program
Files" folder on drive C (i.e. C:\Program Files).
10.
Back to AutoCAD, open the drawing file. The image is missing
[Figure 6].
Figure 6
11.
Invoke OPTIONS command.
12.
Select Files tab.
13.
Click the + sign to the right of Support File Search Path
option [Figure 7].
Figure 7 - Click on image to
enlarge
14.
Click Add button to add a new path.
15.
Click Browse.
16.
Locate C:\Program Files [Figure 8].
Figure 8
17.
Click OK in both dialog boxes.
18.
From Image menu select Image Manager. The Image
Manager dialog box appears [Figure 9].
Figure 9 - Click on image to
enlarge
19.
Select the image name in the list.
20.
Click Reload.
21.
Click OK. The image is now visible [Figure 10].
Figure 10
About the Author
Alireza Parsai is the founder of cadpanel.com. He is a
mechanical engineer with more than 12 years experience with
AutoCAD. Alireza is an Autodesk Authorized Author, the AutoCAD
consultant for Al Khawarizmi Institute, a contributing editor
for Augiworld magazine, a writer for CAD Digest, an instructor
for AUGI Training Program, and an elected speaker for Autodesk
University 2002. He has written 7 books in Farsi, 3 booklets in
English, and more than 30 articles for different magazines and
newsletters. You can reach him at
alireza.parsai@cadpanel.com or visit his website
www.cadpanel.com.
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