OLE in Details

The Detail Preview thing I was talking about was assigning photos to details:

https://www.landfx.com/docs/details/adding-placing/111-manager.html#photo

This could be done first, which copies the photo into a subfolder. If the phot was then inserted into the detail with a Relative path, it could withstand any number of detail category moves or number changes.

—J

Interesting Michael.
About Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) From Autodesk: "Object linking and embedding is a way to use information from one application in another application. To use OLE, you need both source and destination applications that support OLE. Both linking and embedding insert information from one document into another document."
It sounds like you may be using the "embedding" portion of Ole which sounds a lot like Cut-n-paste which works the way you describe it, but doesn't allow editing in a native format later.

But obviously there is no link so if the parent document (such as a specification or spreadsheet (MWELO) is modified the detail is not Updated. I believe that Amanda Marin (LandFX) once hosted a webinar showing us how to use our specifications (or common notes) in details so that they come in right every time. In this case, we would be using Ole (WORD).

That's good input Michael. Thanks. So many ways to pet a cat (PITA friendly).

The primary usefulness of OLEs in this context is that they allow the detail file to function independently of a reference link, i.e., there is no link to be broken. Structurally speaking, this method is objectively less complex than the image attachment method. I have used OLEs regardless of whether I anticipate the image changing because there are no separate folders or files to manage--the contents of the detail are self-contained. This means greater control over details and occasionally importantly the ability to send details outside of the local office and have everything display correctly for the recipient. There are factors to consider for each method. As Clay mentioned, OLEs don't work if they're over a certain size. From Autodesk:

"Issue:
After inserting or embedding an image into an AutoCAD drawing using the OLE object process (INSERTOBJ command), when reopening the drawing, the image does not display. The image shows after initially being inserted but disappears when the drawing is reopened.
Causes:
Resolution of the image is too high.
Solution:
Open the raster file in Microsoft Paint or another image editor and reduce the resolution of the image to something around 1600x1200 and then try to embed the image in AutoCAD. In Paint, this can be done by going to the Properties of the image and changing the Width and Height."

Aside from having to learn to keep the image size below 1600x1200, I don't think I've had problems with using OLEs.

I tried searching "detail preview" on the Land F/X website to test out the method Jeremiah suggested but it did not return any results. I'd be interested to hear more about that, but it sounds like it also would not allow all detail contents to be contained within one file.

We're using Amanda's suggestion and have titled the folder "DO NOT MOVE" and include subfolders under that labeled "Agency" and subfolders under that with the various agencies names and then some even subfolders into disciplines (planting, irrigation, etc.). These sub folders can store Tiffs, Jpgs or even PDF's. We use the External References tab to bring these all in. We typically only use Ole if we anticipate the element changing. Why else would we? It it's an agency standard detail, it shouldn't change. No need to Ole. California MWELO calculations spreadsheet changes during the design. So it is stored in the project folder and Ole'd in.

I'd recommend Amanda's system and not Oleing (weird turning that into a verb) unless you expect the imported element to change.

We recently had our servers renamed and our drive letters revalued. Guess what happened the next day when we turned on our systems? Nothing. It was seamless. Thanks Stantec IT!

At one point I found that the maximum DPI of an OLE image was 1600 (I think). I always take my images into paint and resize them if they are over 1600.

I can't get an OLE image to work at all. Even if I edit an existing detail, attach the OLE image, close and save the file -- when I reopen the detail, the OLE frame is there, but the image is missing. Maybe it's a proxy object setting? Just doesn't seem worth the headache to me.
Much simpler to attach the image normally from a fixed path. Or you could use our detail preview to attach the photo, which will be saved in a sub-folder with the detail. Then you could insert the image with a relative path, and it should always display.

--J

I have the same issue. Did this ever get resolved?

Clay, we'll look at this, but xref is the supported method for referencing jpgs in details.
You might consider creating a folder in your LandFX folder where the details folder is to store any images needed for details, and attach them relatively. That way they'll never get detached since they'll always move with the details folder.

Thanks,
Amanda