Topic Title

As an outlier looking in this caught my eye having just completed a step by step instructional for a company on how to define the floor layout for an elliptical staircase inside and outside definitions (a16 step process.) Now onto a 3D view of risers and treads - piece by piece.
Tigere
Roger Pingree

Would it be possible for future versions of the installer under Custom install, to be able to uncheck any of the included example files listed below?

Color Palettes
Dimension Styles
Door Types
Hatch Patterns
Linetypes
Pen Tables
Wall Types
Window Types

V18- I'll hoping for (in no particular order):

1. a fix to the xref issue after a file crash which causes the xref to steadily increase in size and simultaneously slow down the speed of the xref,
2. a fix to smart doors/windows so the stay fixed inside the wall they have been inserted into,
3. a Plot Sheet Manager allowing quick and easy reordering of MSP's and batch plotting (similar to the LM),
4. new parametric stairs as a step forward from the DCAD_AEC macro,
5. new parametric roofs as a step forward from the RF Tools macro,
6. smart dimensioning that auto adjusts (use with smart entities),
7. auto door/window scheduler that generates door/window schedule layout drawings,
8. auto door/window tags that link themselves to the door/windows (these would be databased and contain the product/detail info),
9. extra wall type definitions to the smart walls,. ie. more than 4 lines that can define a wall type,
10. ability to add a symbol to define the smart door/window jambs and door handles in plan view, ie, would allow the standard rectangle to be replaced with an actual jamb profile - this may even be set to display at certain plot/screen scales,
11. transparent fills,
12. improved plot sheet generator that is able to reduce the file size when images are added as well as binding pdf's to a single output file,
13. knockout that can ignore fills (user option),
14. sub-layers where a layer can be expanded to include its own layers, ie. a 3D model of a car could have 30-40 layers. These layers would sit inside the main layer (ex. CAR1) rather than clutter the main layer list,
15. smart walls than can have a tapered/inclined/stepped z-b/z-h,
16. Sunshader that can output a 3D model similar to O2C for external viewing,
17. Additional pen numbers that can be mapped to a color fill with pen density also applied - the current 15 is too restrictive,
18. Fence-line clipcubes as an improvement over the X x Y only clipcubes,
19. Allow covered polylines to be stretched in an elevation view (currently they only work in a plan view),
20. improved smart door/window options to include more commercial style product types, ie. 3 + 4 leaf glass sliding doors typical on high rise apartments, (or the ability to add more door leafs using what's existing)
21. improved smart wall cleanups, particularly with dissimilar walls that auto clean.

I have a new bottle of scotch ready to celebrate....

Great list, hopefully we'll get some of it at least. But since we haven't had any new smart entities since they were introduced in 2007 with version 12, I don't have a lot of hope for some of them.

I think I need to get back into joining the beta testing so I can add input along the way. It appears DataCAD is so close in a number of items and if these were progressed further the productivity enhancements would be huge. I'm sure it's the same over in the States where 'everyone' wants more for less and quicker. I think DataCAD is short selling itself and limiting its market presence by under estimating what it can do and refining some of the features that will streamline how we work. A lot of the consultants we work with use Revit and for all the hype it still takes just as long for them to get drawings out and often what they've done isn't right.

1. The issue with the xrefs after a file crash isn't new and first occurred with X3. The temporary work around is to go back through the files to the point the xref was originally created, save a DLF then re-import the DLF into the current drawing. This resets the file size and untangles the 'loop' it appears to get stuck in. The problem is with complex drawings with 40-50 xrefs and self xrefs is the time to go through and find which xrefs have been corrupted then go back through the earlier files to save out the DLF's then reload them.

2. The issue with smart doors/windows becoming loose from the smart walls is also an old issue so fixing this would be a good start to making the smart entities more workable/reliable,

3. Plot Sheet Manager - I guess this is most beneficial for offices that have to output larger drawing sets. I think this feature would also improve DataCAD's marketability to bigger offices as it's something they would soon realize they need,

4. -5. Improved parametric stairs and roofs - not immediately essential but an obvious progression to complement the current smart entities and streamline the design/documentation process,

6. smart dims - I would hope this isn't too difficult to implement. I think it was already there with DataCAD Plus and helps minimize errors when walls/doors etc. are moving around with last minute adjustment during architect-engineer coordination changes,

7. - 8. I'd like to see these developed sooner as the essential information is already present once a smart door/window is inserted into a wall. When you break down the main parts to a drawing set irrespective on how big or small a project is, a door and window schedule is part of the drawings required so it makes sense to develop this further,

9. The more we use the smart parametrics into documentation the more we are realizing the current 4 line definitions are too limiting. Some of the light weight steel stud partitioning is complex when including FRL's, acoustics and various finishes so having a higher number of wall/line definitions would certainly help,

10. With DataCAD's scale dependent symbols and using this method and applying it to the jambs/heads/sills of doors/windows will allow one object to be used for large scale plan drawings down to 1:10, 1:5 detail drawings where the level of detail can change from a rectangle to an actual manufacturer profile. The door/window/void smart entities have a lot of potential - they just need progressing,

May be DataCAD needs to set up a poll listing a range of proposed enhancements to develop then see what the feedback is?

I appreciate that Datacad is now letting us know about the different types of orphaned files better, but could the Orphaned Reference Files dialog box maybe just open up instead at start up if they are present? That would let people take care of the files if they want to right then, or they can just click Done and move on if they wish. Kind of getting a barrage of warnings now with some drawings, and we still have to access the manager if we want to take care of them. Seems like this would save a whole bunch of clicks all around. Maybe tabs could be added to the Orphan Manager to list Orphaned Nested References and Circular References also.

Listing the Orphaned Nested xrefs like the new popup does now on a Nested tab would be all that is needed on that tab. For circular xrefs, listing the name of the offending xref would help hunt it down. Right now as far as I know, finding both of these types of orphaned references is usually a slow hunt and peck process.

Could the Print Settings, Paper Orientation At Device have 4 options 0°,90°,180°, 270°? Would prefer not to have to use the Rotate option if possible.

Presently, when wanting to access the knockout menu to make changes you have to go through the Change / more / knockout etc.

Wishlist - add to the dimensions menu / change / S3 Knockout so the menu can be quickly accessed for changes to dimension text whilst still being in the dimensions menu.

When grouping entities, I often forget that it is going to move the entities to active layer. 99% of the time the entities are already on the layer they should be on and often I am on a different layer and I don't need it to move them to my active layer. Could we get a button/toggle in the Group menu or an ini setting to use the layer of the first selected object instead?