To Fix Broken Drefs

Repair broken data shortcut references from the External References palette.

When you work in a Forma Data Management project, you can use Connected References for Data shortcuts (drefs) to repair broken references from the External References palette. You can repair a single reference by applying a suggested path, fix several references at once when they share a folder or source drawing, or update many references by replacing part of a path.

Note: Repair suggestions require the source drawing to be stored in the cloud, and access to Autodesk Collaboration for Civil 3D, which is available when you subscribe to Forma Design Collaboration.

To repair a single broken dref using a suggested path

1. Open the drawing that contains the broken dref.
2. Click View tab > Palettes panel > External References Palette. Alternatively, enter EXTERNALREFERENCES at the Command prompt. The External References palette opens.
3. Click the Dref tab.
4. Locate a reference with a Missing File or Missing Object status. To view details, hover over the status icon.
5. Review the path shown in the Suggested Path column.
6. To repair the reference, apply the suggested path.
   Note: If no suggestion is available, you can repair the reference manually by browsing to the source drawing.
7. Synchronize the reference to update it with the latest source data.

To fix multiple broken drefs by source

1. Open the drawing that contains the broken drefs.
2. Click View tab > Palettes panel > External References Palette. Alternatively, enter EXTERNALREFERENCES at the Command prompt. The External References palette opens.
3. Click the Dref tab.
4. Select a broken reference, and repair it by applying a suggested path or by browsing to the source.
5. If other broken references can be resolved by the same folder or source drawing, prompts you to fix them together. Confirm whether or not to repair the related references in the same operation.
6. Synchronize the references to update them with the latest source data.

To fix broken drefs by replacing part of a path

Use a string replacement to update many references that share a common path segment, for example when a project moves from one drive to another.

1. On the External References palette, click the Dref tab.
2. Start a path replacement, and then specify the text to find and the text to replace it with.
3. Apply the replacement to update the source paths of all matching references.
4. Synchronize the references to update them with the latest source data.