Topic Title

The one thing that bothers me the most right now is not being able to remove something from a selection set.

If I am going to copy a few entities and I accidently select something I don't want I have to either copy it along with everything, then erase it or start all over again.

This is a big wish for me.

Thanks.

I assume you are talking about a selection set made on the fly, such as collecting entities for copy/paste. In that case, there is Del From at F8 which will allow you to deselect those entities. When you have finished deselecting, click F8 again to return to the Add To Set menu to complete the operation.

In the case of Sel. Sets made from the menu, the operation is the same.

There is no such command (Del From F8 ) for Copy or Move Multiple.
This is what I am speaking of.

In that case Selection Sets are not part of the picture. Those operations work directly on the entities as you select them. That's one fundamental difference between DataCAD and AutoCAD. If you are going to use DataCAD, you need to get DataCAD in your head. If the operation is going to be complicated, then there is the Selection Set method to make DAtaCAD work more like AutoCAD but those of us that have been using DataCAD for twenty years have learned how to do things the DataCAD way and many of those that have used AutoCAD know the difference and don't go back.

Hello Boof,

Perhaps you should take a look at another wish item, for using 'Control' key for partial selection/desselection.

http://www.datacad.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=1397

This can be part of the solution for your claims.

Thanks,
Miguel

Yeah... that is exactly what I am talking about.

AutoCAD has had this feature for years. Just hold down Shift and any selections can be deselected.

There is a lot of things Autocad has, that Datacad is working on creating equivalents to. We were all stuck in a several year worm hole called Datacad Plus, so we are playing catch up. Hang in there Boof (you mind us calling ya Boof ) Datacad works differently, like Dick E. mentioned & there are different ways of working in Datacad, so there is not always a 1:1 method equivalent for everything. I never use Selection sets anymore now that we have the Clipboard select, which has a Del From Set function.

Do you use the clipboard when you use the move command?

And I do not mind being called Boof, Red, Fred, Lay, or even Earwig (that was my dad's).

Hello Eric,

Are you using Move/Drag/Multiple? Why not use Move, pick distance, select by EGAFM? If you select something incorrectly (though this can be avoided by using the best selection tool?), then you just need to hit Control-Z to reverse the error.

I guess I have always been a fan of grabbing a group of entities and moving them rather than setting a move dist. first.
I also did not know about the ctl/Z function etiher. Thanks Neil.

And don't call me Redd... there is only one d in there...

No, the clipboard is not really for moving things, but I guess it could be used that way, just more steps. The whole selecting things before the command is most Autocad users biggest gripe. I've helped about 12 people switch from full time Autocad use to Datacad, and seems like once they get pass this mindset and a few others, then they start to realize that Datacad is just as powerful (if not more, for CD's) as Autocad, but different. Once they stop trying to make Datacad do it how Autocad does, then they start to learn more and want to learn more. I don't know what triggers it but it's like a actually measurable shift in gears towards using Datacad efficiently. Seems to take approx. 3-4 weeks with good guidance available. Please don't miss read this, as an Autocad bash, as that's not my intention at all. It's just that there is a clear improvement in production, ease of use and general enjoyment of using Datacad once, those who are switching to Datacad "un-learn what they have learned" to quote a wise puppet. That's were a this forum really come in handy as a good learning place. All though, if you have a in-office Datacad tech guy/gal, with a good personality, that helps ever more, as you can get more hands on help. We'll help ya get there, and hope you let us know when ya hit that shifting point!

So please keep the questions coming, as I'm sure others have the same questions too. I learn stuff almost everyday form this forum. It's very handy [/i]

Eric -

I feel your pain - having come from an Acad background (and still having to use it on a daily basis, now up to 2006), but I would also echo what's been said here before: This is not Acad and never will be (to which we'll hear a hearty "Amen" chorus - bet on it!).

There may be some features that will come close to matching or emulating an Acad command/feature, but there are some chasms that will never be crossed. You can bet on that, too.

I trust Mark, Dave and crew at DC LLC to give us what we clamor for - even if it's only one person, sometimes! The journey that I have traveled (starting in DC5) has seen DataCad go through apathy (V5 and V6), some nice movement (V7), a HUGE step (V8), some great enhancements (V9), a small stumble (DC+ though not entirely DC's fault), some great productivity movements (DC10) and (in my never humble opinion) a major homerun (V11 - current build, of course!).

If you always approach DC with the "But Acad will do ____ (you fill in the blanks)" attitude then DC will never be good enough for you. If you approach DC with an attitude of "I want to do ____ (you fill in the blanks) and I'm going to find out how to do it in DC!" then you will find the best way to get the job done. It may not be the way you would expect it, it might not be the (ultimately) best way to do it, but it will be A way to do it.

Though I don't know what's in store for V12, my gut guess is that most of what our gripes are (including us Acad users) will be addressed in new features and productivity strides - and that they will leaving us Acad'rs wondering "Why can't Acad do it this way!"

Please step back and give DC a chance ... and you may find that it's not as bad as you think!

But ... this is in my NEVER humble opinion!!!

This is not Acad and never will be (to which we'll hear a hearty "Amen" chorus - bet on it!).

AMEN Brother! !

Greetings Eric,

Brother Alan speaks my mind - amen! I have trained a few people in DataCAD, and they have had experience in AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, VersaCAD, and others -- and come to think of it, several people with experience with NoCAD! It is some of the latter folks that have the hardest time learning to use CADD -- it is a major shift of thinking, in some ways, from manual drafting. However, others w/o any CADD experience take to it like a fish to water! It all depends on your attitude.

The most important thing is to try to adapt your previous experience -- to understand the differences, and to use the common points as references to start the transistion.

DataCAD was designed by architects, for architects. AutoCAD seems to be designed by software programmers for just about everybody.

In DataCAD, you just click on the screen and draw. In AutoCAD you have to type something before you can draw, AFAIK.

The vectors in DataCAD are always the same size, no matter what the scale is -- changing the scale only affects the units used in reporting the size. In AutoCAD, the vectors change size depending on the scale used. DataCAD makes sense on this; AutoCAD does not.

There is the not insignificant issue of cost: AutoCAD is what, $5,000+/- for every seat, and $2,500 per upgrade? DataCAD is $1,000 for the first seat, $500 thereafter; and $300-400 for upgrades.

DWG's change with just about every upgrade (didn't v13 have about ten different files versions?); while DataCAD had one file type, DC5, from v5 to v10 -- about 12 years! One has to wonder how DWG could ever be considered "the standard" when they change the file type so often?

Try to keep an open mind, and relax a little.

Speaking of trainees, I can remember some choice exchanges:

Where's the Extend command? You use 1-line TRIM to extend a line?

Where's the Reduce command? ....

On these points, he didn't buy the idea of DataCAD being intuitive.