3D AutoCAD 2004/2005: One Step at a Time

25.5 Some Final Bits and Pieces about dbConnect

You've seen several ways to access the various dbConnect procedures – the dbConnect Manager, the dbConnect Manager's toolbar, the Data View window, the Data View window's toolbar, various cursor menus, and the dbConnect/Data View pull-down menus. Have you noticed the one AutoCAD tool (the one you've seen throughout this textbook) that you haven't used? You haven't used the command line to access a single dbConnect procedure! The reason for this is simple, although you may have trouble understanding it. The reason is that you haven't been using AutoCAD commands.

Let me explain.

You've been standing in a corridor (a virtual corridor for those of you who like that kinda talk). On one end of the corridor lies AutoCAD with its many capabilities (now familiar to you). On the other end lies a database (in our lesson, we've used an MS Access database). You've been running strings (creating links) from things on one end of the corridor to things on the other, sometimes touching AutoCAD objects, sometimes touching database records. But you haven't actually been using either application directly.

Living there in the corridor with you has been a quiet tool – a translator of sorts – designed by Microsoft to make running strings between applications. Microsoft called its translator Visual Basic and designed it to be one of the easiest programming languages on the market today. (AutoCAD also makes good use of the C++ programming language.) In fact, you've seen how easily it has integrated itself into AutoCAD and MS Access. It's responsible for many of those buttons and cursor menus you've been using.

Let's look briefly at three simple tools designed to make your corridor visit more comfortable.

• Use the Synchronize option to fix problems between the database and AutoCAD. It was designed specifically to deal with problems arising from moving a database from its original location (where it was when you configured AutoCAD to use it). It also works well when the basic structure of the database changes (for example, when you delete a field in the database). When Synchronize detects problems, it'll tell you what they are and help you fix them.

  Find the Synchronize command under the dbConnect pull-down menu or in a Data Source's cursor menu.

• The can import and/or export link templates, label templates, queries, and even links. Access the Import or Export options on the dbConnect pull-down menu or the cursor menu associated with the drawing name in the dbConnect Manager. These procedures work quite easily using Windows standard dialog boxes with which you are now quite familiar.