Layout - Leader Lines Moving Around


kylejmarsh
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My Leader Lines keep moving around in Layout any time I update the viewport, or even change the model. I've tried turning off 'object snaps' in layout to keep them from snapping to the viewport, yet they still continue to dance around erratically. The Arrow line does this as well. I feel like I've tried everything to keep it from happening, short of putting all my notes on the model itself instead of in Layout. Any ideas where I might be going wrong? Have tried 'Auto-Position Head/Tail' and all the rest.

 

 

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Look down at the bottom right of this file. Lines have moved all over. This was done using Arrow, not Leader Line, and text notes. But the Leader Lines do a similar dance. Originally these lines pointed to relevant parts of the drawing...

Screen Shot 2017-03-13 at 11.23.53 AM.png

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I used to put most of my notes in the Layout but stopped just for this reason. I posted on the forum then about this issue and was advised to put all notes, if possible, in the model views. I changed to that method and don't have to deal with this frustration any more. Now they just move if I change font or size or move the associated object. Come to think of it, I use to be able to turn off auto-association in othercad years ago - I think. Will have to check with Chief manual to see if that is possible as I very seldom need that feature.

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Kyle,   Sorry I missed your post, earlier.  I also like to put my notes in Layout and feel that it gives more flexibility for a hand drawn look and feel.  I used to have your problem all the time and finally figured it out that if you send all your views to layout as "Current Screen" the problem is solved and you can move on to other less aggravating things. B)

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1 minute ago, Joe_Carrick said:
50 minutes ago, Chopsaw said:

if you send all your views to layout as "Current Screen"

Then it's no longer an active view and any changes in the Plan will not be reflected in  the Layout.

 

Joe, I said "Current Screen" not "Current Screen As Image".

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NICE catch Chopsaw - I bet that's it. Because some viewports have that problem, while others do not. I'll check but I bet some are 'full model' send overs and some are 'current screen'. Will double check and post results.

 

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19 hours ago, Chopsaw said:

if you send all your views to layout as "Current Screen" the problem is solved and you can move on to other less aggravating things. B)

That never worked for me. I always sent "current screen" to layout and my leaders would still jump around if I placed notes in layout.

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Mike, This system is not completely tamper proof and things will shift if you resize the layout box but if I remember correctly the type of problems that Kyle is having are resolved by using this method.  Once I changed to "Current Screen" things seemed to resolve themselves.  I also have leader lines heads and tails locked and and that may also be factor.  Maybe Klyle can confirm if it works in his plan as I think I have done it this way since X6 and if I recall correctly the problem then would be after doing all your notes and saving the file you would open it back up to show a client or contractor and you could have a big jumbled mess of leader lines.

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It's a really bad practice to add notes with leaders to the Layout. The arrows attach themselves to whatever they are pointing to (and they cannot "see" any information in the view itself), so if you move a layout box or resize it slightly, not only are the arrows going to go all wonky, they probably will not be pointing to whatever you had intended them to point to in the first place.

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Attached is a test I made to check the following:

 

- Does the way a view is sent to plan change leader line behavior on viewport resize - is there any difference whether the viewport is sent as 'current screen' or 'full'?

- Does turning off the the 'object snap' option before placing leader lines allow them to float free of the viewport and therefore not get messed up when the viewport is resized?

 

IT appears that the answer to both these questions is NO - it doesn't make a difference.

 

I took the same model view, sent it to layout both ways, then made a leader text on each with the snap on and the snap off.

58d13c15188e3_ScreenShot2017-03-21at10_33_50AM.thumb.png.2529b06a18fa222a35da25291ba4b439.png

 

Then I resized the viewport from the bottom edge, and moved the bottom edge up to cut-off the deck slightly. All of the leader lines were messed up, equally.

 

58d13a95b1e5f_ScreenShot2017-03-21at10_35_07AM.thumb.png.d1e5382e37eee9f56574176d6b56fbe5.png

 

Finally, I tried using 'grid snaps'. The result was the same:

 

58d13c0846bee_ScreenShot2017-03-21at10_43_39AM.thumb.png.503fbe0529a2d52dd73b561c9ff5086c.png

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So this brings me to the following question:

 

CHIEF - what is going on here? Is there some functionality that is supposed to be helping us out by having the leader lines move around like this? IS this a bug or a feature - and if it's a feature, why are all these seasoned pros commenting with things like 'we don't use that'. Are we all missing something here? IF not, can you possibly review the code that is driving this issue? Even breaking the link between the viewport and the leader lines would be preferable to what is happening here. Thank you!

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WORK AROUND / FIX:

 

If the leaders are snapping to the viewport, we just need to give them something else to snap to. My idea was to use a 'box', which covers the viewport (actually would cover the entire sheet I guess and sits on some layer between the viewport and the leader line. IF the box was the sheet size, it would never need to be resized (maybe there's a way to put it on the 0 sheet? will need more testing...)

 

I think there needs to be a 'fill' in the box, so I added one and made it 100% transparent. Then put my leader lines on top of that, resized the viewport, and VIOLA! the lines stay put.

 

 

58d13e65ecf68_ScreenShot2017-03-21at10_51_55AM.thumb.png.1fc9cfca67f07c97e54de4142f57060a.png

 

PROBLEM SOLVED (KINDA)

 

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2 hours ago, kylejmarsh said:

So this brings me to the following question:

 

CHIEF - what is going on here? Is there some functionality that is supposed to be helping us out by having the leader lines move around like this? IS this a bug or a feature - and if it's a feature, why are all these seasoned pros commenting with things like 'we don't use that'. Are we all missing something here? IF not, can you possibly review the code that is driving this issue? Even breaking the link between the viewport and the leader lines would be preferable to what is happening here. Thank you!

 

Here's my take on this subject...

 

The leader lines moving around is simply a result of the intended behaviour of arrows...to "stick" to whatever you attach them to.  If you don't like that behaviour, it would probably be a good idea to post a suggestion...maybe a "Disconnect Arrow" toggle (or something along those lines).

 

The reason many of us suggest against notations in layout is not a result of the jumping leader lines but rather because we think it's bad practice anyway.  Notations placed in layout are not actually associated with or connected to the model in any way; move the layout box, delete the layout box, move something in the model, change the model, etc...and your notations are all wrong now.  You then need to go back and proof check all the various views and change things as necessary.  When those notes are right in the plan, you can see what's going on as you make changes and can adjust accordingly (if the adjustments aren't automatic).  Keeping those notes in the model is just where they belong IMO.  Again, not because of the leader line issues, but because you want to keep them with items you are actually notating.  Don't get me wrong.  I place notes like that in layout sometimes myself...just not very often. 

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  • 2 months later...

Kyle,  I finally have some leader lines detaching exactly like you first posted at the top of this thread.  Looks like there is a new issue or I will also have to make the transition to notes in plan as has been advised.  Any updates on your end?

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In the past , the leader lines have disconnected for no reason and I have sent in to T.S. . Although lately they have gotten a lot better and haven't noticed it misbehaving . It was really a problem if you had a macro attached. Working much better now depending on what version you are using.

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