What features would you like to see added to a future version of DataCAD?

Which is your favorite idea?

15
25%
10
16%
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8%
27
44%
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7%
#35988 by joshhuggins
Tue May 13, 2008 5:33 pm
It would be handy if the Open Dialog remembered that last Files of Type setting in the drop down. Chances are if you change it to something other than AEC, you will want it to stay at that setting for a while. Maybe an ini option to enable it to remember or not for those who don't want it to remember at all.
Last edited by joshhuggins on Wed May 14, 2008 9:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
#35994 by Jsosnowski
Wed May 14, 2008 7:54 am
It would also be nice if the dialog box remembered the view settings such as thumbnails or details view as active
#35997 by joshhuggins
Wed May 14, 2008 9:39 am
V.12 does, but I did just notice that the thumbnail defaults back to Large Icons :?
#36180 by joshhuggins
Mon May 19, 2008 5:42 pm
It would be handy if we could Copy, To Layer, and be able to pick multiple layers. We could highlight multiple layers similar to how we can pick multiple mask options and then right click out of the menu and preform the edit.
#36528 by joshhuggins
Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:58 pm
Done for version 12!!!
Here is kind of a big one. Being able to bind self xrefs to symbols at export. This has many benefits IMHO.
:arrow: First, it saves time for the user not having open the reference manager, highlight all the xrefs or selecting just the individual self xrefs and clicking bind.

:arrow: Second, this is worth implementing around our office because as is often the case the user has just wrapped up some bit of work, proceeds to bind the xrefs, and then out of habit saves the drawing. Now the user either has to:
A: Close and cancel out of the drawing to regain their xrefs but loose any work they may have done between the previous save and the binding.
B: Try to undo the bind and pray the drawing doesn't crash, which often it does (no offense) and ends in the same result as option A.
C: Or before preforming the bind, preforming a Save As to make sure they do not mess up something.

I know the above is like baby sitting a bit, but I'm constantly dealing with these problems and having to recover backup files. With the binding processed moved to the export menu, the binding would be done externally during the export and not effect the current Datacad file (somehow) :wink:

:arrow: And a third benefit to this wish would be if implemented as shown in my mock up, if only the Self Xrefs could be bound during the export process, it saves binding time, and retains the "regular" xrefs mush easier. We can selectively do this manually via the reference manager now but with many "regular" and self xrefs mixed in the reference manager it's quite a task to sort them out, especially when their names have be changed. There seems to be some sort of self xref tag (like used when preforming a save as) that maybe these tags could be read when preforming the bind for the self xrefs.

When exporting to DWG, 99% of the time we want to bind xrefs to symbols and probably about 90% of the time only the self xrefs. Does all this make sense? Thanks
Image
Last edited by joshhuggins on Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#36666 by joshhuggins
Mon Jun 09, 2008 11:39 am
(Rubs lamp...) *POOF*
I wish there was an ini setting for Fix Text like the AndCopyRemembersStatus= but when the FixTextRemembersStatus= is set to False it should default to On instead of Off like the AndCopy option as most of the time we need Fix Text to be on.
#36950 by joshhuggins
Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:33 pm
I went thru and cleaned out a few old macros from our macro folder to remove a few duplicates, those that may have issues with newer file types and remove a few who's functionality has for the most part been added to the main program. One of the macros I removed was the Layer Off Macro by Patrick McConnell. It basically added the functionality of the implied layer select to earlier Datacad versions before this was added directly to the Datacad. I removed it from our macro list and lo and behold, someone says "Hey where did my $%^& Layer Off Macro go?" So after I shot a tranquilizer dart in him, I showed him, 'see this functionality is built right into Datacad now, it's called implied matching.' To which he replied, "Yeah but that doesn't let me pan around the drawing, it just comes up with that box to type in." Ah ha he's right!

Sooooooo, the wish would be for a ini option (surprise!) that would allow us to pan around the drawing while in the layer menu, even if at the expense of the text layer selection box which actually I've never used. Seems like that is probably all that is blocking the panning. Thanks.
#36951 by David A. Giesselman
Mon Jun 16, 2008 3:37 pm
Go one level deeper by selecting Match and you can pan.

Dave
#36953 by joshhuggins
Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:21 pm
Your right Dave, of course. :wink: I know he's gonna come back with "...but that's an extra click." and I'd have to say he's right in that turning off layers is done so much, that anything to save a click or two in a highly repeated command is always welcome around here. I just added the macro back for him, and for me right clicking out of the layer list, panning, then F1 seems faster, or at least just more familure than the S8 keystroke or mousing over to the button, so I'll stick with my methods for me. Lazy hands have I. Thanks Dave.
#36954 by David A. Giesselman
Mon Jun 16, 2008 6:20 pm
Should I look into enabling dynamic panning and zooming while in those layer menus? The numeric keypad/cursor keys are gobbled by the command line and I don't want to lose them as editing options.

Dave
#36972 by Dick Eades
Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:09 am
I think we could lose the command line. It would be my guess that very few people actually type in the layer name and those that want to could click on a menu selection to allow it.
#37007 by ticomccr
Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:21 pm
I have to admit that I do sometimes use the command line for turning on and off layers. Some that I use frequently and are very short names, this is an easy method. Having said that, I don't think that it would be a GREAT hardship to do without this. But I don't think that I have EVER needed to pan around to select a layer entity to click on when I want to do the implied match. I ALWAYS have already had entities of the layer already visible on the screen before invoking this command.

FWIW.
#37016 by Miguel Palaoro
Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:53 am
David A. Giesselman wrote:Should I look into enabling dynamic panning and zooming while in those layer menus?

Absolutely, Dave.

If this is possible, please do it. When you got a large drawing is usual to be required to pan around for finding a matching entity to use on implied Layers ON/OFF.

Have my vote for it.

Miguel
#37020 by Brian Engebretson
Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:45 am
Dick Eades wrote:I think we could lose the command line. It would be my guess that very few people actually type in the layer name and those that want to could click on a menu selection to allow it.


I agree.

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