AutoCAD 2008 User's Guide > Start, Organize, and Save a Drawing > Open or Save a Drawing > Open Part of a Large Drawing (Partial Load) > 
Open Part of a Large Drawing (Partial Load)
Concept Procedure Quick Reference
 
 
 

To partially open a drawing

  1. Click File menu Open.At the Command prompt, enter open.
  2. In the Select File dialog box, select a drawing.
  3. Click the arrow next to Open. Click Partial Open.
  4. In the Partial Open dialog box, select a view; the default view is EXTENTS.

    You can load only geometry from model space views that are saved in the current drawing.

  5. Select one or more layers.

    If you do not select a layer or layers to load, no layer geometry is loaded into the drawing but all drawing layers exist in the drawing. If no layer geometry is specified to load into the drawing, no geometry is loaded even if the geometry from a view is specified to load. If you draw objects on a layer that is not loaded, you may be drawing on top of existing geometry that is not loaded in the drawing.

    NoteXref-dependent layers are displayed in the Layer Geometry to Load list only if the selected drawing was last saved with the VISRETAIN system variable set to 1. Any layers created in the xref since the xref was loaded into the drawing are not displayed in the Layer Geometry to Load list.
  6. If the drawing contains a spatial index, you can select the Use Spatial Index option.

    A spatial index is a list that organizes objects based on their location in space. A spatial index is used to locate the portion of the drawing that is read; this minimizes the time required to open the drawing.

  7. If the drawing contains xrefs but you don't want to load them, select Unload All Xrefs on Open.
    NoteIf you partially open a drawing that contains a bound xref, only the portion of the xref that is loaded (defined by the selected view) is bound to the partially open drawing.
  8. Click Open.

    You can choose to load additional information into the current drawing as long as the drawing is partially open.

 Command entry: PARTIALOPEN