Author Topic: What is 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' !?  (Read 43512 times)

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craigr

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What is 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' !?
« on: August 04, 2004, 02:31:35 PM »
I recieved an AutoCad dwg of a bldg. Floor Plan. I need to insert it into our title block in mspace.

The way I typically do this is to turn off all layers I don't need in the floor plan, then copy the remaining to Windows clipboard. I then open our title block, go to mspace and pasteclip.

I tried this with this new dwg and it won't let me do this. It won't copy to Windows clipboard. So, I did the 'insert' command within AutoCadLT98, and brought it in that way, but when I 'explode' the inserted dwg, parts of it dissappear. So, I went back into the original dwg and tried to erase what I don't need from it, then 'insert' it into my title block. -

That's where I get the message - 'Cannot explode ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY'

Any ideas what's going on here?

craigr

Mark

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What is 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' !?
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2004, 02:35:15 PM »
Might help!

Quote

Issue

You are experiencing difficulties when attempting to view objects or entities created with one of the Autodesk Mechanical products in an AutoCADŽ product. Although the correct Object Enabler is applied, the display only shows an AutoCAD Proxy Entity Message that points to the missing objects--for example, [ACDmViewGeometry (AcMechDwgViewMgmt)]--or even just a blank page.
Solution

Object Enablers are not able to see vertical specific objects unless PROXYGRAPHICS is set to 1. Only then will you be able to view the drawing as originally intended.

A work-around for AutoCAD customers is to ask the originator of the drawing to save the same drawing again making sure that PROXYGRAPHICS is enabled.
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AVCAD

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What is 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' !?
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2004, 02:57:22 PM »
PROXY IMAGES...are the worst thing in the autodesk family!!

They are a bitch to work with. You cant edit them you cant change the color of most of them cause the color is imbedded into the actual object that can out of that even autodesk program and even if you change the layer color and set the proxy to bylayer it still doesnt change.

Proxy's can sometimes be bursted....but watch out they like to disapear on you or doors like to do a 180 on you. IF they do burst they will still be a block and if you burst them again you need to watch out for changing layer names....sometimes you need to explode the proxy...you may not see a change but after you explode it you can then burst it about 4 times before it becomes its most basic form.....some times you can explode them burst and then you have to explode it again then burst it again....they are a real pain in the butt. Expecially if you need lets say furniture to be a certain color so that they print correctly...and you cant change the color untill you get it down to the primary objects which are usually just lines.

Autodesk really needs to just fix this and get rid of Proxy images....

look for a lisp called ISOEX on this site. I created it. It isolates each layer and then explodes those ojects. and move to the next layer. Make sure you burst as much as you can before running it though. It may help out. It has saved my ass a few times now.

Have fun.

craigr

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What is 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' !?
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2004, 02:58:00 PM »
I got it!!

I back rev'd, (save as), the dwg to AutoCad LT R2/R12 dwg hoping that 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' wasn't around back then. - It worked!

I then went to the back rev'd dwg, copied it to Windows clipboard and 'pasteclip' it into my title block without problems.

I'm not sure what this 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' is all about, I couldn't find it in AutoCad's help menu, but as long as I go what I needed...

Hopefully won't have to deal with this again.

Thanks for your help anyway,  craigr

sinc

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What is 'ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY' !?
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2004, 04:21:56 PM »
Quote from: AVCAD
Autodesk really needs to just fix this and get rid of Proxy images....

Unfortunately, the only way to get rid of proxy entities is to also get rid of vertical products, and release only a single, all-inclusive version of Autocad.  A proxy entity is nothing more than an entity that encapsulates another entity that your version of Autocad doesn't know how to deal with.  For example, vanilla Autocad doesn't know how to deal with Land Desktop's Contour entities; therefore, if you don't have LDD installed, the contours show up as proxy entities.  The encapsulation lets Autocad work with the object on a basic level, allowing the users do simple things, like move the proxy entity.  Vanilla Autocad doesn't know anything about how the contour entity works, though, so it can't let you edit it.  It has no way of knowing what interdependencies the object may have.  Editing one aspect of the entity might require editing another aspect; without knowing the definition of the entity, Autocad's only safe option is to not allow you to edit it.

Autocad's solution to this problem is the Object Enablers.  These are extensions that "know" more about how to deal with these custom objects.  However, the enablers still don't know how to edit or create them - if you want to edit or create a Mechanical Desktop entity, for example, Autodesk wants you to buy Mechanical Desktop, not just download the free object enabler.

The only way around this is to explode the proxy.  This causes Autocad to explode the entity, keeping only the pieces it knows how to work with, and throwing the rest away.  You can now edit the pieces.  But of course, now your original entity is gone.  In the above example, if we now opened the file in LDD, the contour would be a polyline, and all the Contour information would be lost.

The confusion you're having might be due to the fact that many of these proxy objects are actually rather complex objects, consisting of blocks within blocks.  Sometimes you have to explode a number of times to get all the nested blocks exploded.  The peculiarities you mentioned - changing layer names, self-rotating entities, etc. - are due to the way nested blocks work.

However, I do agree with you that Autocad needs to fix their implementation of these proxy entities.  I, too, have had that problem of "disappearing entities", because proxy entities can't be WBLOCKed.  Autocad just silently filters them out of the operation.  That's annoying.