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Dear Valued Customer:
Thank you for your interest in DataCAD 11. As part of our dedication to continuous improvement and to deliver the highest quality CADD products possible, this latest upgrade includes your most requested enhancements. Foundational changes incorporated into DataCAD 11 provide you with greater precision, comprehensive network awareness, dependable backup and recovery, compressed drawing files, a modern interface, improved DXF/DWG compatibility, new modeling tools, and productivity enhancements. These major new features will help you share drawing information with other Windows applications, work simultaneously with other designers, and save time. To get the most from DataCAD 11, please refer to the overview below. If you have any questions about DataCAD 11, contact our technical support staff at techsupport@datacad.com.
Thank you for supporting DATACAD,
Mark F. Madura
President/CEO
mark@datacad.com
How to access the new
feature
Helpful hints and tipsDataCAD 11 uses double-precision floating point math to calculate and store values in the drawing database. Prior versions of DataCAD had an effective accuracy of ~7 decimal places. DataCAD 11 has an effective accuracy of ~14 decimal places. That means DataCAD 11 is now as accurate as AutoCAD and you can work on much larger projects without running into rounding issues, especially when importing large drawings.
DataCAD files are
automatically purged of any unused data each time you exit and save your
drawing. In addition, a Purge dialog replaces the Layer Utility macro,
allowing you to create new drawings based on a sub-set of an existing
drawing.
To access Purge Drawing options, select Purge... from the File menu.
Selecting saved views or multi-scale plotting sheets will automatically
select corresponding layers.
To access Drawing Session options, go the Misc. tab of Program
Preferences.
A new drawing session is created only when you close and save your
drawing.
You can have a maximum of 10 drawing sessions per file.
DataCAD 11 features an
updated program interface that provides Windows 2000-style properties and support for Windows XP Themes and
"Skins". You can position toolbars and menus where you want by
tearing them off and
docking them to the top, bottom, left, or right side of the application
window. You can also place toolbars and menus outside
of DataCAD to "float" on the desktop, allowing you to resize the
drawing area without adversely affecting the user interface and to take advantage of
dual monitor displays. In addition, all of the interface elements in
DataCAD 11 will inherit the visual style of your current desktop theme.For more information about Windows XP Themes, go to http://www.themexp.org.
DataCAD 11 introduces an
easier way to browse, select, and manage symbols. The new Symbol
Browser allows you to rapidly find, place, customize, and manage symbols
that you use in your drawings.
Inserting a symbol into your drawing involves little more than selecting
it from the Symbol Browser and dropping it where you want it. With
just a few mouse clicks, you can open the appropriate folder, display the
symbols in the browser, and select the ones you want to use into your
drawing. If you developed custom templates with older versions of DataCAD,
you can open them in the Symbol Browser, too. In effect, the Symbol
Browser treats file folders as templates that contain collections of
symbols.
To access the Symbol Browser, go to the View pull-down menu and select
Symbol Browser.
You can use the [CTRL] + [T] shortcut to open and close the Symbol
Browser.
It's now possible to assign an unlimited number of user-defined fields
to symbols for enhanced reporting. You're no longer limited to the five
default fields.
To edit symbol fields, select Edit Fields from the Symbol Browser Options
menu.
We've enhanced symbol reporting so you can run reports on all symbols in
the drawing instead of just the symbols in the active template. A new
dialog gives you access to report forms and displays an on-the-fly preview
of the results.
To access symbol reports, select Reports from the Symbol Browser Options
menu.
You can run reports on any symbol you've placed in the drawing, not just
the symbols displayed in the Symbol Browser.
Text attributes can be
defined and added to symbols. This lets you use the same symbol multiple
times, supplying a unique text string for each one. For example, you
could use one desk symbol several times and label them Jims desk,
Nancys desk, and Bobs desk.
To create a symbol attribute, go to the Text menu and select Sym Attrib.
A symbol can contain an unlimited number of attributes.
Text attributes can be
defined and added to symbols. This lets you use the same symbol multiple
times, supplying a unique text string for each one. For example, you
could use one desk symbol several times and label them Jims desk,
Nancys desk, and Bobs desk.
To access symbol text attribute reports, select the Extract Attributes
option from the Symbol Browser Options menu.
A new option available for inserting symbols
allows you to drop any item such as a tree directly on the surface of a
polygon.
To insert a symbol directly on to a polygon mesh, select Z Offset, On
Polygon from the insert symbol menu.
Note: Z Offset settings Z-Base, Z-User 1, Z-User 2, and Z-Height are now
toggles. So you can easily insert symbols at the current Z-Base
without having to change the Z Offset value each time.
A
new TIN (Triangulated Irregular Network) surface modeler provides a comprehensive array of
three-dimensional site modeling tools.
The TIN modeler can
connect a random series of survey points (3D markers) with triangular
polygons. Once the polygons are generated, you can calculate the surface
area of TIN models, use the flip valley option to flip the valley
between coincident polygon edges, or create roads, foundation cuts, etc.
with the 3D Knife. The drop point option lets you place 3D markers on the
surface of inclined polygons. You can create polyline contours from
polygon site models.
To access the TIN surface modeler, go to 3D Entity, Polygons, TIN Surface.
To drop a 3D marker on a polygon, go to 3D Entity, Polygon, Drop Point.
To generate two-dimensional contours from a three-dimensional surface, go
to 3D Entity, Polygons, Gen. Contour.
A ruled surface function allows you to mesh
polygon surfaces between Polylines and Contours.
To access the ruled surface modeler, go to 3D Entity, Polygons, Ruled
Surf.
For the best results, draw a polygon boundary and use Geometry, Offset to
create two boundaries to mesh together.
A
three-dimensional knife allows you to interact with TIN surfaces to create
roads, sidewalks, and foundation cuts.
You can use the knife to
cut out, raise, or depress irregular areas and paths on the building site.
Since DataCAD also calculates the volume of the affected area, you can
estimate the amount of fill that must be removed (if you are digging for a
foundation or a roadway) or added (if you are building up part of the
site). To differentiate the cut area, you can specify a different color
from the rest of the TIN model. Further, you can select distinct colors
for each level and/or side of the cut area.
To access the 3D Knife, go to 3D Entity, Polygons, and select 3D Knife.
Note: You only have to select the polygons that will be effected by the
path to cut.
To access the sectioning tool, go to 3D Edit and select Section.
To access multi-view windows, go to the View pull-down menu and select
Toolbars...
You can use the [CTRL] + [W] shortcut to quickly turn multi-view windows
on and off.
To insert a bitmap into your drawing, go to the Insert pull-down menu and
select Bitmap...
To export your model to STL format, go to the File pull-down menu and
select Export STL File...
To import an STL file into your drawing, go to the Insert pull-down menu
and select STL File...
To import a 3D Studio file into your drawing, go to the Insert pull-down
menu and select 3DS file.
Select Explode, and toggle off Current Layer to distribute the objects
material definitions to individual layers.
To export your drawing to DWF format, go to File, Export, DWF.
To create a PDF file with layers, select Save As from the print preview
window and enable Drawing Layers.
To associate a toolbar with a DataCAD command, go to the View pull-down
menu, select Toolbars..., then Context.
A line type manager has been added to the Line Type menu. Select Line
Manage from the Line Type menu to access a dialog for loading or
re-loading external line type definitions into your drawing. You can
also set the End Correction and Default Spacing for embedded line type
definitions.
A hatch pattern manager has been added to the
Hatching menu. Select Manage from the Hatching menu to access a dialog for loading or
re-loading external hatch pattern definitions into your drawing. You can
also set the angle and scaling for embedded hatch pattern
definitions.
Using the Screen Calibration dialog, accessible from the Interface
Settings tab of Program Preferences, you can measure the test pattern in
either decimal inches or millimeters in order to adjust both the screen
scaling and aspect ratio.
An Identify section has been added to the
context-sensitive ([Ctrl] + Right-click) menu for quick access to Identify Set and Set All
options. XREF-related options have been grouped together in an XREF Tools fly-out menu that provides quick access to the following
options.