How can I use CADLock to protect drawings that use xrefs?
There are three approaches to creating locked files which contain xrefs.The following instructions describe the steps for each approach (the instructions are for a single ‘parent’ drawing with one or more attached ‘child’ drawings): 1. The simplest approach is to simply bind all xrefs before creating the locked file. This approach eliminates the need to deal with separate files altogether, but it may not be suitable for cases where xref “children” are attached to more than one parent drawing. To use this approach, do the following: a. Open the parent drawing b. Enter the command line version of the xref command (-XREF in R14 and later, XREF in R13). c. Select the Bind option. d. Enter an asterisk (*) to bind all attached xrefs e. Use the SAVEAS command to save the resulting file as a locked .dwx file. f. The saved .dwx file is now a standalone secured file with all xrefs bound into that one file. *Don’t* overwrite your original .dwg file after the xrefs are bound! 2. If binding is not
