Shortcut Menus and Function Keys (External References Palette)

Provides an alternative way to access functions in the External References palette.

EXTERNALREFERENCES (Command) Find

When working in the File References pane, there are several shortcut menus that can be displayed when you right-click on file references or empty areas of the pane. The following tables show the shortcut menu items that you are presented under certain conditions.

No Reference Selected

When no file references are selected, the shortcut menu presents the following functions:

Menu Item

Description

Reload All References

Reloads all referenced files. (Unavailable if no file references are attached)

Select All

Selects all file references, excluding the current drawing. This item is not displayed in tree view.

Attach DWG

Starts the XATTACH command.

Attach Image

Starts the IMAGEATTACH command.

Attach DWF

Starts the DWFATTACH command.

Attach DGN

Starts the DGNATTACH command.

Attach PDF Starts the PDFATTACH command.
Attach Point Cloud Starts the POINTCLOUDATTACH command. (Not available in AutoCAD LT)
Attach Coordination Model Starts the COORDINATIONMODELATTACH command. (Not available in AutoCAD LT)
Tooltip Style

Modifies the tooltip that appears when you hover over an item in the list view of the palette.

Preview/Details Pane

Turns the display of the Preview/Details pane off and on.

Close

Closes the External References palette.

Reference Selected

When you select a file reference, the shortcut menu presents the following functions:

Menu Item

Description

Reference Status

Open

Opens the selected reference file in the original application in which it was created (specified by the operating system).

For more information, see the XOPEN command.

Available only for file references with a Loaded status - Unavailable when Unloaded, Not Found or Unresolved.

Attach

Allows you to change settings such as scale, insertion point, and path type. You can also attach a different page from the attached PDF file, a different sheet from an attached DWF file, or a different model name from an attached DGN file.

Always available - status has no affect on this function.

Compare Recent Changes

Compares the differences between the loaded xref and what is saved in the reference file on disk.

For more information, see the XCOMPARE command.

Available for DWG xrefs with a Loaded status only.

Compare Selected File

Compares the differences between the selected xref against a selected DWG file.

For more information, see the XCOMPARE command.

Available for DWG xrefs with a Loaded status only.

Unload

Unloads the selected file references.

Always available. Status has no affect on this function.

Reload

Reloads the selected file references.

Always available. Status has no affect on this function.

Detach

Detaches the selected file references.

Available for all file references except data link.

Nested xrefs can be detached only from within the drawing within which they're nested. You can use the Tree View control in the upper-right corner of the External References palette to see how xrefs are nested.

Bind

Displays the Bind Xrefs dialog box. Only available for referenced DWG files. This is not available for images and underlays.

Available only for file references with a Loaded status.

Unavailable when Unloaded, Not Found or Unresolved.

Xref Type Attach

Specifies that the selection is an attachment.

Available for DWG xrefs only.

Xref Type Overlay

Specifies that the selection is an overlay.

Available for DWG xrefs only.

Change Path Type Make Absolute

Changes a relative path of a reference to a full path.

Available for all file references.

Change Path Type Make Relative

Changes the full path of a reference to a relative path.

You can assign a relative path to a file reference even when the host drawing is unnamed. The Saved Path column displays a Full path, with an asterisk prefix to indicate that a change will take place on save operation, until the host drawing is saved.

Available for all file references.

Change Path Type Remove Path

Removes the file path from the name of the reference, for referenced files stored in the same location as the drawing file.

Available for all file references except data link.

Select New Path...

Allows you to browse to a new location for a not found reference file (fix one), and then provides you with an option to apply the same new location for other missing reference files (fix all).

Available for all file references.

Find and Replace...

Locates all references that use a specified path from all the references that you selected, and replaces all occurrences of that path with a new path that you specify

Available for all file references.

Function Key Access

Some tasks in the File References pane can be accessed with function keys.