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Most of the hard CAD standards work happens outside of AutoCAD — thinking, deciding, documenting, revising, and so on. AutoCAD 2004’s tools make it easier. Table 14-3 lists standards-related AutoCAD utilities.

Technical Stuff AutoCAD standards checking tools require an AutoCAD Drawing Standards (DWS) file. You create a DWS file from a drawing with all of the allowed layers, dimension styles, text styles, and linetypes; use FileðSave As to save it as a DWS (not DWG) file. The DWS file defines acceptable named objects for the Check Standards and Batch Standards Checker utilities. See “standards files, creating” in AutoCAD’s online help system for information.

New for 2004 AutoCAD 2004 monitors CAD standards compliance when you’ve specified standards for the current drawing. By default, a balloon notification appears from the right end of the status bar. CAD managers can trade the balloon for a message that offers to fix the mistake. To configure the notification level, click the Settings button in the Configure Standards dialog box.

Tip If your company does have CAD standards in place, there may be tools to help you comply with those standards. For example, the CAD manager may have put together template drawings with customized settings or block libraries of standard symbols. CAD managers sometimes create custom menu choices, scripts, or utility programs for the company’s CAD standards.