Here’s my two cents on the topic of xrefs…
Attachment or overlay? I generally agree that overlays are the better method. This tends to allow greater control of referencing .dwgs if your project has multiple drawings (i.e. planting.dwg, materials.dwg, etc.). It’s also a nice courtesy if your drawings are being sent to other consultants, as otherwise your drawings would constantly attempt to load attached xrefs when other consultants attempt to work with them.
On the topic of relative vs. absolute paths, I always go with relative paths. As stated in the original post, the issue of network structure can affect absolute paths, but if you manage your project folder setup correctly, this issue can be avoided using relative paths.
All xrefs should be stored in an XREF folder located in the same folder as your .dwgs for the project. Using relative paths, any changes to the network structure won’t affect your .dwgs from searching for this XREFS folder and finding the relevant xref.
