When on, displays a tree that shows the active file and references that are directly attached to it. References that have other references attached to them (nested references) are listed in black text, and references that do not have attached references are listed in gray text.

If a reference in the hierarchy has a nesting depth value of 1 or more, you can:

• click on the (+) sign and expand the hierarchy display.
• select the reference. When you do this, the References list box updates to include only the references that are attached to the selected reference.

When the tree is turned off, you can use the arrow button next to the Show Hierarchy icon to list the active file and any references that are directly attached to it. As in the tree, if you choose a reference that has attached references, the References list box updates to include only the references that are attached to the selected reference.

• None — Selected references are not highlighted in any way.
• Boundaries — Places a dashed border around selected references.
• Hilite — Highlights selected references.
• Both — Places a dashed border and highlights selected references.

• To change the columns of reference information displayed, right-click on the row of column titles. Use the menu to turn columns on or off.
• To sort the list by a column, click on the column title. For example, click on Slot to sort the list by slot number.

For each reference, these columns are displayed by default:

• Slot - A unique number assigned to the reference.

  To edit a slot number, slowly double-click on the number, then key in a new number. If you key in a slot number that is used by another reference, the slot numbers are exchanged.

• Status - Shows whether a reference has been modified by another user since it was read in. You may want to reload references that have been modified.
• Activate Status - Shows whether a reference is activated for in-place editing or is deactivated. A black dot indicates it is activated. A gray check mark indicates it is deactivated.
  • If the selected reference is neither activated nor locked, double-clicking in this column activates the reference.
  • If the selected reference is activated, clicking in this column deactivates the reference but leaves it locked.
  • If the selected reference is activated, double-clicking in this column deactivates the reference and releases the lock.
  • If the selected reference is locked but not activated, clicking in this column releases the lock.
  • If the selected reference is locked but not activated, double-clicking in this column activates the reference.
• File Name - The file containing the reference.
• Model - The model selected for the reference.
• Description - The description of the reference.
• Logical - The logical name for the reference.

  Since the same model can be attached many times, the logical name helps you distinguish between references.

• Orientation - The view of the attached model.

  You can change the orientation of the reference. On clicking this cell reference, a window similar to Orientation in Reference Attachment Properties dialog appears where you can change the view.

  The column turns red if the orientation is not available for the attached model.

  The clipping and clip mask settings of the previous orientation are saved for the next orientation. These settings are retained until you create a new Orientation setting.

• Presentation - The presentation method (for example, wireframe). The Reference Presentation dialog opens when you click the cell in this column.
• Visible Edges - (Drawing or sheet model only) Sets the visible edges display option. Clicking the cell in this column, opens a visible edges window. The Visible Edge drop-down list in it has following options:
  • Visible Edges - Sets the visible edges display option.
    • Dynamic
    • Cached — Clicking the Visible Edge Settings icon next to the drop-down opens the Cached Visible Edges Settings dialog. See the Displaying 3D Models on 2D Drawings section for further details.
    • Legacy — (Displayed only if MS_REF_ENABLE_LEGACY_VISEDGES is set to 1) Clicking the Visible Edge Settings icon next to the drop-down opens the Hidden Line Settings dialog.
  • Cache Synch (when Visible Edges is set to Cached) - Sets the synchronization option of the cache.
    • Manual - The cache is regenerated only when you manually reload the cached reference by either selecting the reload icon from the References dialog or by using the key in REFERENCE CACHED SYNCHRONIZE.

      Key-in: REFERENCE VISIBLEEDGES CVESYNCH MANUAL

    • Automatic With Alert - On file open, displays an alert window mentioning that the cached visible display is out of date and whether you want to synchronize the display now. Select Yes to regenerate the cache.

      Key-in: REFERENCE VISIBLEEDGES CVESYNCH AUTOMATIC

    • Automatic - The cache is automatically updated on file open. If you make changes to a reference when the file is open, the reload icon displays in the Status column. Clicking the icon reloads the cache.

      Key-in: REFERENCE VISIBLEEDGES CVESYNCH ALERT

    • Disconnected - Retains the cache in its state. This allows very fast file opening.

      Key-in: REFERENCE VISIBLEEDGES CVESYNCH DISCONNECTED

    To change the option for all the references in the active model, suffix ALL to the above key-ins.

• Display (icon) - If on, the reference is displayed.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET DISPLAY=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off|on” or “false|true”.

• Snap (icon) - If on, you can snap to elements in the reference.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET SNAP=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off|on” or “false|true”.

• Locate (icon) - If on, you can identify (select) elements in a reference for construction purposes.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET LOCATE=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off|on” or “false|true”.

• Treat Attachment as Element for Manipulation (icon) - If on, the reference can be manipulated with the standard manipulation tools.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET TREATASELEMENT=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off|on” or “false|true”.

The other columns that can be displayed are:

• Named Group - Identifies a named group used to limit the elements displayed in the reference.
• Element template - (Applicable to SHP file attachments only) Assigns the selected template to the attached SHP file.

  When this column is displayed, you can select a reference, then click on the column to open the Element Template window. Select the element template from this window. For further details, refer the Using GIS Files section.

• Revision - If Design History is on in the referenced model, lets you select the revision used for the reference. If the original revision of the reference no longer exists you must reattach the reference.
• GeoCS - The geographic coordinate system identifier, if the reference has one. The contents are red if a GCS exists but the reference is attached without a georeferencing attachment mode.
• GeoCS Description - Displays the description of the geographic coordinate system, if the reference has one.
• Transparency (icon) - Sets the degree of transparency to be applied to the reference.
  
  
  

  When this column is displayed, you can select a reference, then click on the column to open the Reference Transparency dialog. Select a preset value for transparency, use the slider, or key in a value to adjust the degree of transparency. The value may vary from 0% to 100%, with a value of 0% that indicates no transparency at all, while a value of 100% indicates almost complete transparency.

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET TRANSPARENCY=value from 0.0 to 1.0 <filename>

  For example, a value of 0.1 gives a transparency of 10%.

  When elements, references, and levels have different transparency values assigned to them, then effective transparency is calculated and applied on them.

  If elements, references, and levels are assigned different transparency values, then effective transparency is applied on them.

• Priority (icon) - If on, the units in the active model and those in the referenced model are used to calculate the appropriate scaling factor, so that the reference scale reflects a true real-world scale.
  
  
  

  Where 3D references are attached to a 2D model, this setting is disabled for the 3D references.

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET PRIORITY=value from -5 to 5 inclusive <filename>

• True Scale (icon) - If on, the units in the active model and those in the referenced model are used to calculate the appropriate scaling factor, so that the reference scale reflects a true real-world scale.
  
  
  
• Scale Line Styles by Reference Scale (icon) - If on, custom line style components (for example dashes) are scaled by the reference scale. If off, custom line style components are not scaled.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET SCALELINESTYLES=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off”, “on”, “false”, or “true”.

• Clip Back (icon) - If on, allows a back clipping plane to be applied to a 3D referenced model.
  
  
  
• Clip Front (icon) - If on, allows a front clipping plane to be applied to a 3D referenced model.
  
  
  
• Display Raster References (icon) - If on, raster references that are attached to the reference are displayed.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET DISPLAYRASTERREFS=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off”, “on”, “false”, or “true”.

• Ignore Attachment When Live Nesting (icon) - Lets you control the display of nested attachments when working in a DWG or DXF file, where live nesting is always on and there is no limit to nesting depth.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET IGNOREWHENNESTING=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off|on” or “false|true”.

• Use Lights (icon) - During rendering, the source lighting cells present in the active model are always considered. Any source lighting cells located in references are ignored unless the Use Lights setting is turned on for the reference.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET USELIGHTS=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off|on” or “false|true”.

• Plot As 3D (PDF) (icon) - (PDF printer driver only) When on and the PDF printer driver is used, the reference is plotted as 3D data in Universal 3D (U3D) format. The 3D content will contain any visualization data and settings that already exist within the design file such as lights, materials, and animations or flythroughs. When the PDF file then is viewed in Acrobat 7, the document contains a 3D view with controls that let you rotate, zoom in/out, or walk through the 3D model, as well as running an animation, if any.
  
  
  

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET PLOTAS3D=0|1 <filename>

  Setting 0 or 1 also may be input as “off|on” or “false|true”.

• Use Active Annotation Scale (icon) - If on, makes the reference's annotations use the active model's annotation scale.
  
  
  
• Application Locked (icon) - If on, the reference has been locked in place by the source application. The Move, Rotate, Scale and Mirror commands are disabled. By default it is off. Users cannot change this setting.
  
  
  

When you right-click a reference in the references list box, you can directly access options that are available in the Tools and Properties menus, as follows:

• Items from the Tools menu — Attach, Detach, Reload, Exchange, Open in New Session, Activate, Deactivate, Move, Copy, Scale, Rotate, Merge Into Master, Make Direct Attachment, Create Drawing Boundary, Clip Boundary, Clip Mask, Delete Clip.
• Item from the Properties menu — Presentation and (Attachment) Settings. Also contains Update From Saved View and Push to Saved View settings from the Set Reference Presentation tool settings window.

These right-click options, not available on the menus, are also available: Add Link to Element, Update From Saved View, and Push to Saved View.

Displays and controls settings for a selected reference.

• Scale — Displays and sets the ratio of master units in the active model to the master units in the attached model.
• Rotation — Displays and sets the rotation for the selected reference. In a 2D model, it is the rotation in the X-Y plane (z-axis). In a 3D model, it is the rotation about the axis of one of the following Standard Orientations: Front, Back, Right, Top, Bottom, or ISO. When you modify the rotation from the information panel, you set the value directly and you are changing the rotation about the current origin point of the reference. That origin point is:
  • The center point of the fence if the reference was clipped with a fence.
  • The center point of the view if the reference was placed using a saved view.
  • The origin if the reference was placed with either Coincident or Coincident World, and not clipped.

  The Rotation Reference tool allows you to specify an additional rotation to apply and the point about which the rotation is to be applied.

• Offset — Displays and sets the distance between the global origin of the reference from the global origin of the parent file, measured in units of the parent file. If the parent is 2D, Offset X and Y values are displayed. If the parent is 3D, Offset X, Y, and Z values are displayed.
• Attachment settings icons — The information panel icons correspond to columns in the References list box. Except the Application Locked icon and the Display Hidden Elements From Visible Edge Cache icon, the other icons also correspond to icons on the Reference Attachment Properties dialog. If an icon is pressed, the setting is on. Click the icons to switch the settings on or off. For more information on an icon, see the description for the corresponding column in the References list box.

  If you select multiple references that have different settings, the icons representing different settings are shaded. For example, if one of the selected references has True Scale enabled while the other selected reference has True Scale disabled, the True Scale icon is shaded.

• Display Hidden Elements From Visible Edge Cache icon — This icon is enabled only for cached references that contain hidden elements. If on, the hidden elements of the cached reference are displayed in blue color and the remaining elements are displayed in gray color.
  
  
  
• Nested Attachments list box — Displays and sets how nested references (references attached to references) are handled for the selected attachments.
  • No Nesting - Nested references are ignored for this attachment.
  • Live Nesting - The hierarchical structure of any nested references are maintained when attaching the reference. The child references are displayed if:
    • the Nesting Depth is set high enough
    • the child reference does not have its Ignore Attachment When Live Nesting setting turned on

    All of the nested attachments display in the view window; however you see only the parent reference in the References list box. To see the hierarchy of nested references, use the Show Hierarchy icon on the References dialog.

  • Copy Attachments - Models that are attached to the attached model are copied (referenced) directly into the active model, which flattens the hierarchical structure of the nested references.
  Note: When working in a DWG or DXF file, live nesting is always on, and there is no limit to nesting depth. Therefore the Nested Attachments and Nesting Depth controls are disabled. To control the display of nested attachments, you must open the reference as the active model and use the Ignore Attachment When Live Nesting setting for its attachments.
• Display Overrides list box — Controls how override settings are saved for nested references. For a specific nested reference, overrides let you control the settings for reference display, locate, snap, raster reference display, and level display.
  • Allow - If you change a nested reference’s settings in its parent file, those settings will override the settings that were set in its master file until those settings are changed in the master file. Once the nested reference’s settings are overridden in the master file, the file settings will not match and the files will operate independently from each other. The nested reference’s settings will be set one way in the parent file, and another way in the master file.

    Key-in: REFERENCE SET NESTOVERRIDES=allow

  • Always - A nested reference’s settings in its master file always override the parent file’s settings for the nested reference. If you change a nested reference’s settings in its parent file, those settings will not take precedence over its settings in the master file.

    Key-in: REFERENCE SET NESTOVERRIDES=always

  • Never - If you change a nested reference’s settings in its master file, those settings will never override the settings that were set in its parent file. After changing a nested reference’s settings in its master file, closing, and reopening the file, the settings will revert to the way they were set in its parent file.

    Key-in: REFERENCE SET NESTOVERRIDES=never

• Nesting Depth — Sets the number of levels of nested references that are displayed. Child references can have their own referenced models, which, in turn, can have more referenced models, and so on.

  If Depth is set to 0, only the selected model is attached to the master model; models referenced to the selected model are ignored.

  Not accessible when Nested Attachments is set to No Nesting.

  When working in a DWG or DXF file, live nesting is always on, and there is no limit to nesting depth. Therefore the Nested Attachments and nesting Depth controls are disabled. To control the display of nested attachments, you must open the reference as the active model, and use the Ignore Attachment When Live Nesting setting for its attachments.

  Key-in: REFERENCE SET NESTDEPTH=<integer between 0 and 99>

• New Level Display — Specifies whether a reference displays new levels. The setting also applies to new levels in nested references that are attached to the reference.
  • Config Variable - New levels in the reference are displayed according to the setting for the MS_REF_NEWLEVELDISPLAY configuration variable.

    Key-in: REFERENCE SET NEWLEVELDISPLAY=fromconfig

  • Always - New levels in the reference are always displayed.

    Key-in: REFERENCE SET NEWLEVELDISPLAY=always

  • Never - New levels in the reference are never displayed.

    Key-in: REFERENCE SET NEWLEVELDISPLAY=never

  The criteria for the level being considered as new is different for non-synchronized and synchronized saved views:

  • Non-Synchronized saved view case — A level is considered new to the reference if the time the level was created is newer than the time the reference was attached. This is called as time stamp. The time stamp of the reference is not changed until you do a save settings to the active model, that is the model containing the reference. Additionally, the New Level column in the Level Display dialog displays a check indicating the level creation time is newer than the time stamp of the reference model.
  • Synchronized Saved View case — In this case new level is not dependent on the time stamp of the reference model, but the time the saved view was created. The time stamp of the saved view is modified when the saved view is updated. You cannot view whether a level is new to the saved view.

  In each of the above cases once the time stamp of the container (reference or saved view) is equal to or newer than the level creation time, the level is no longer considered new.

• Georeferenced — Sets the georeference mode. When a reference is attached in Reprojected mode, the current Reference Reprojection Settings are copied into the reference attachment and stored so every user who opens the master file uses the same reprojection settings and thus, gets the same results.

  When a reference is attached in Geographic – AEC Transform mode, it calculates the linear transform that gives the best approximation to the results of performing the full reprojection algorithm, if the active model and the reference have geographic coordinate systems. For further information, see the Orientation setting in the Reference Attachment Properties dialog.

• path — Shows the full specification for the reference, including the directory.
• Right-click menu — Controls the display of items in the information panel.

When Rotate is chosen, the Rotate Reference dialog opens, letting you set the rotation angle(s).