Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

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yogeshch
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Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by yogeshch » Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:57 am

I have a DWG file that contains multiple drawings inside of it, I want to convert this to as many dwg files as there are individual drawings in my original .dwg file. That is, each file should contain each of the drawings present in the original file. How do I go about doing that?

Thank you

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Husky
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by Husky » Sun Dec 05, 2021 7:59 am

Hi,

we are talking about that the one drawing contains 5 or 500 other complete drawings?
All drawings are placed in Model_Space or in Paper_Space?
Is it possible to define the boundary of each drawing within a rectangle?
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yogeshch
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by yogeshch » Sun Dec 05, 2021 8:28 am

Hello,

Yes, one .dwg file can contain X number of complete drawings. I haven't drawn any of these and I'm not sure if they are contained in model_space or paper_space. Could you guide me on how I can check?

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Husky
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by Husky » Sun Dec 05, 2021 8:44 am

yogeshch wrote:
Sun Dec 05, 2021 8:28 am
Yes, one .dwg file can contain X number of complete drawings.
I know. My question about how many drawings relates to how practical my solution is. If we are talking about 5, 10 or 20 drawings then it whould be easily doable. If we are talking about 500 then it makes no sense to do it regarding to my approach.
yogeshch wrote:
Sun Dec 05, 2021 8:28 am
I haven't drawn any of these and I'm not sure if they are contained in model_space or paper_space. Could you guide me on how I can check?
If you open this drawing in QCAD the first canvas you will see is the Model_Space. Can you see all drawings when you open the file?
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yogeshch
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by yogeshch » Sun Dec 05, 2021 9:11 am

It could contain at most 30 drawings, but it's more like 6 or 9 most of the time.

Yes, I can see all the drawings when I open the file.

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Husky
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by Husky » Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:08 am

Ok, thanks.

To separate the drawings you could:

Open the dwg in QCAD,
select (Rectangular area?) what has to be saved as the single drawing,
invert the selection (TI),
delete the selection (ER),
Save as (with a new name),
Undo (brings all deleted entities back),
Repeat this tool chain for the next drawing which has to be isolated ...

I recommend to work with a copy of the original dwg file. This task can be boring and confusing and it is always good to have the original drawing if something goes south ... :wink:
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yogeshch
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by yogeshch » Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:23 am

Thank you @Husky!

While that would be feasible for a few drawings, I was looking more for a command-line / scriptable solution because we're working with 10s of thousands of drawings of varying (rectangular) areas.

CVH
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by CVH » Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:47 am

yogeshch wrote:
Sun Dec 05, 2021 10:23 am
I was looking more for a command-line / scriptable solution because we're working with 10s of thousands of drawings of varying (rectangular) areas.
yogeshch wrote:
Sun Dec 05, 2021 9:11 am
It could contain at most 30 drawings, but it's more like 6 or 9 most of the time.
May I ask how one should tell the 'scriptable solution' what boxes to select ... :wink:
That are on average 8 to at most 30 boxes for '10s of thousands of drawings' ! :shock:

Regards,
CVH

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Husky
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by Husky » Sun Dec 05, 2021 12:15 pm

Honestly - something doesn't add up here!

@yogeshch

You has ask us first for a solution for one drawing - now we're talking about 10s of thousands of drawings? And ...
yogeshch wrote:
Sun Dec 05, 2021 8:28 am
I haven't drawn any of these ...
You are legit in possession of this 10s of thousands of drawings? You are copyright holder or has the permission to work on them? Those drawings could have a worth of millions of dollars - what make you chose QCAD that cost you less than $50.00 to tackle something of this volume and value?
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If a thread is considered as "solved" please change the title of the first post to "[solved] Title..."

yogeshch
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by yogeshch » Mon Dec 06, 2021 2:44 pm

@CVH, that was what I wished to have gotten some lead on.

@Husky, no, I do not own any copyrights to any of these drawings. Our client, who does own the copyrights, asked us to extract some key information from these drawings. While we did that for files with a single drawing in them, multiple drawings just are not working.

I started taking a look at QCAD because of its open-source (or freemium) nature and the community forums. I absolutely do not mind paying for better software, as long as it does the job for me.

Thank you,
Yogesh.

Panchdara
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by Panchdara » Mon Dec 06, 2021 4:42 pm

@yogeshch - I was thinking exactly what you just stated - you were presumed "guilty" of something without evidence. And, why can't a sub-$50 application be considered for such a task?
Windows 10

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andrew
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Re: Multiple drawings in one file to multiple files

Post by andrew » Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:20 pm

yogeshch: It sounds like a scripted solution to that problem is certainly possible as long as there is a logic or heuristic to determine what the boundaries of each single drawing is. A lot depends on the nature of your drawings and your willingness to develop (or have developed) a solution based on QCAD.

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