About Proxy Objects
Quick video
Some versions of CAD are unable to read certain items that are created in others. For example, we're able to make F/X CAD as efficient and affordable as it is by taking out the ability to read 3D renderings created in AutoCAD Civil 3D.
When CAD is unable to read one of these objects, it replaces that object with a Proxy Object – essentially an impostor that you may not even be able to see in your drawing.
Some Proxy Objects are essential to specific CAD functions. Others are destructive and can create chaos in your drawings, slowing their performance and bogging them down. That's why we recommend enabling the Proxy Information dialog box (pictured to the right).
With this dialog box enabled, you can see exactly which Proxy Objects are in your drawing.
We encourage you to look at the Proxy Information dialog box not as annoying, but instead vitally important, like the Properties panel.
Proxy Objects: A deeper dive
Proxy Objects, aka proxies, are a type of invisible datapoints on an object in CAD that manipulate how that object behaves with certain commands, or displays in relation to other objects with proxies. Some proxies have been created by Autodesk. For the most part, those proxies have been tested thoroughly and cause little to no issues. Other proxies are created by third parties and are tested less extensively, if at all. As a result, these third-party proxies usually react in an unexpected way to a command, and sometimes to an extremely common command or tool, such as Audit, Purge, or the Xref Manager.
Fun fact: Land F/X could have been created by using proxies, but our development team wisely decided against that. Proxies need their add-on in order to display and function as expected, which is why Civil proxies don't show unless the correct add-on or settings are applied to allow them to show.
Proxies can be attached to a physical AEC object, and will appear as green boxes in this case if you don't have the right add-on or settings. They can also just be present in the drawing and not selectable.
In one case handled by our technical support team, a user had proxies in their drawing, some of which were made poorly. As a result, their presence prevented the Purge command from working. In cases like this, the proxies are not selectable, so the only way to remove them is to use our Clean Export tool or the AECTOCAD command to remove all proxies from the drawing. For this user, removing the proxies in this way allowed the Purge command to work again.
How to enable the Proxy Information dialog box
To enable the Proxy Information dialog box, Type Op in the Command line and press Enter.
The Options dialog box will open.
Select the Open and Save tab. Then select the option to Show Proxy Information dialog box. Click OK to save the change.
Once you have this option selected, the Proxy Information dialog box will open each time you open a drawing.
We also recommend the other settings under ObjectARX Applications shown to the left. More information >
Identifying Proxy Objects
Each type of Proxy Object in your drawing will be identified with a Product Desc heading.
We recommend scrolling through and seeing which Proxy Objects you have in your drawing.
The following is a list of known Proxies, and whether they're good or bad:
Product Desc: AutoCAD Civil 3D (OK)
Not known to cause issues, but a good idea to save these down and remove them if you're not actively using Civil tools and it's not an in-house drawing – that is, it came from outside your company. Unfortunately, these frequently come hand-in-hand with 2007 Proxies, and there's no known way to remove Proxies selectively.
Examples:
- AeccBuildingSite100
- AeccBuildingSite110
- AeccHydrology100
- AeccHydrology110
- AeccLand100
- AeccLand110
- AeccNetwork100
- AeccNetwork110
- AeccParamPart100
- AeccParamPart110
- AeccPlanProd100
- AeccPlanProd110
- AeccPointCloud100
- AeccPointCloud110
- AeccPressurePipes100
- AeccPressurePipes110
- AeccRoadway100
- AeccRoadway110
- AeccSurvey100
- AeccSurvey110
- AeccvBase100
- AeccvBase110
- LAN_AECCPRESSUREPIPES
Product Desc: Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 (BAD)
Known to cause commands to misfire, drawing slowdown, crashing, freezing, Xrefs to not detach, units to change in the background causing scaling issues, and other major issues. Some are benign and are created when e-transmitting a drawing from a CAD platform that has an Object Enabler installed. All, benign and malicious, do not require an Xref or block insert link to a drawing in order to infect that drawing. These objects can travel through an instance of CAD. That means you can open an infected drawing, close it and not close CAD, and then open a clean drawing, and these Proxies can still jump. They are on the level of viruses and must be treated with immediate and thorough cleaning when they're encountered.
- AecArchBase70
- AecBase70
- AecBaseEx70
- AecSchedule70
- AecBase80
AecBase80 is a possible cause of corruption. We’ve noticed it can be created when changing the DWGUNITS. We have yet to see corruption caused only by this particular Proxy Object.
Product Desc: Object Enabler for WipeOut entity, WipeOut Dbx Application (GOOD)
This Proxy doesn't cause issues, and is vital for wipeouts functioning. It can stay in the drawing.
- WipeOut
Product Desc: AutoCAD MEP 2008 (OK) Not known to cause issues, but it’s a good idea to save these down and remove them if you're not actively using Civil tools and it's not an in-house drawing – that is, it came from outside your company.
- AecbBldSrv70
- AecbCol70
- AecbElecBase70
- AecbHvacBase70
- AecbPipeBase70
- AecbPlumbingBase
No Product Desc: (USUALLY GOOD)
Not known to cause issues, and can stay in a drawing.
- AcGeolocationObj
- ISM (These are Proxies that allow attached images such as JPGs and PNGs show – they are vital and can stay in the drawing.)
Contact
- Land F/X
Our software tailors AutoCAD® to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.