MLeader in 2010

You may notice the Mleader command changes the order of text placement. If you want to adjust this do the following:

Type MLEADER
Specify leader arrowhead location or [leader Landing first/Content first/Options] : Type L for the arrow first. Type C for the annotation first. Try both and you will see what they do.

AutoCAD & SSE2 Technology

AutoCAD & SSE2 Technology

If you look at the minimum hardware requirements for the Autodesk 2010 products, you’ll find they’re similar to the requirements for the 2009 products, with one exception - Autodesk is now requiring SSE2 technology.

In a nut-shell, SSE2 technology was introduced with the Pentium IV in 2001 and the AMD Opteron and Athlon 64 about 2 years later.

When code is, or was, written in earlier development platforms (like Microsoft Visual Studio) it was written in a particular format that older processors understand. But as processor architecture changed, somewhat of a translation had to take place in order for the same instructions to be carried out on newer processors. In effect, instructions sent to a processor of old, using a language of old, could result in numbers being improperly truncated and stored for future use when completed on newer processors. The greater the number of calculations, the greater the possibility for error - and not because of AutoCAD or Civil 3D per se, but simply because of the architecture of the processor and the platform used to develop the software.

Autodesk development platforms are catching up with processor architecture, mathematical computations in programs such as Civil 3D are becoming more complex, and Autodesk is simply hoping you have kept up with the trends.

CPUs supporting SSE2
AMD K8-based CPUs (Athlon 64, Sempron 64, Turion 64, etc)
AMD Phenom CPUs
Intel NetBurst-based CPUs (Pentium 4, Xeon, Celeron, Celeron D, etc)
Intel Pentium M and Celeron M
Intel Core-based CPUs (Core Duo, Core Solo, etc)
Intel Core 2-based CPUs (Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, etc)
Intel Atom
Transmeta Efficeon
VIA C7
VIA Nano

You can type DXdiag into the run/search on the Windows Start button to see what you have.

AutoCAD Pline Widths in Revit

You want to Import or link an AutoCAD file with plines representing walls. The plines are set to the actual thickness of the wall. When this is imported into Revit the plines lose their thickness.

Changing the Revit lineweight is not the greatest solution because the lines change thickness based on scale. Also, you would have to do some calculations to get the corresponding width right.

You would be best to make the change in AutoCAD before you bring the file in. To that end I've attached a lsp routine which will convert plines to mlines with the corresponding width. You might want to add another string of code which explodes the mlines into lines because mlines don't come into Revit either.
Here's the thread where I found the lsp file written by Joe Burke...(note: this code leaves out closed segments, you will need to change the plines to 'open'.)

http://discussion.autodesk.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=1163735

Here's a cut and paste of the code...

;;;thanks Joe Burke
; CHANGE LINE/PLINE TO MLINE
(defun c:lml ()

;returns list associated with a DXF code
;arguments key: DXF code, alist: object data list
(defun massoc (key alist / x nlist)
(foreach x alist
(if (eq key (car x))
(setq nlist (cons (cdr x) nlist))
)
)
(reverse nlist)
) ;end

;(setq s (ssget))
(setq s (ssget '((0 . "LINE,LWPOLYLINE"))))
(setq teller 0)
(repeat (sslength s)
(setq en (ssname s teller))
(setq ent (entget en))
(if (= "LINE" (cdr (assoc 0 ent)))
(setq PtLst (list (cdr (assoc 10 ent)) (cdr (assoc 11 ent))))
) ;if
(if (= "LWPOLYLINE" (cdr (assoc 0 ent)))
(setq PtLst (massoc 10 ent))
) ;if
(command "mline" (foreach pt PtLst (command pt))) ;point list fed to
mline
;(command "erase" en "")
(entdel en)
(setq teller (1+ teller))
) ;repeat
(princ)
) ;end

Express Tools in AutoCAD LT 2009

Of the 122 separate tools in the Express Tools collection, only the 19 tools listed below are active in AutoCAD LT 2009. (the comparison matrix provided by Autodesk shows the Express Tools as being checked, or included, in AutoCAD LT 2009.)

· CHSPACE
· CLOSEALL
· COPYTOLAYER
· LAYCUR
· LAYDEL
· LAYFRZ
· LAYISO
· LAYLCK
· LAYMCH
· LAYMRG
· LAYOFF
· LAYON
· LAYTHW
· LAYULK
· LAYUNISO
· LAYVPI
· LAYWALK
· REVCLOUD
· WIPEOUT

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=11680974&linkID=9240817 Express Tools in AutoCAD LT 2009Published date: 2008-Aug-14 ID: TS1088646 Applies to:AutoCAD LT® 2009

Add on utility to expand LT...
http://www.globalcad.com/products/toolboxlt.htm
(this is unsupported by autodesk)

Slow Startup of AutoCAD 2008 files

If AutoCAD is slow to open on one file but not another it may be attributed to the annotation scale list. This can be fixed by typing scalelistedit in the command line of the offending drawing, then deleting the extra scales. This would also have to be done in any xrefs as well. The creation of extra annotation scales has since been addressed by Autodesk.

AutoCADLT Won't Launch

Issue: After installing AutoCAD you click the icon and get nothing.

Try this:
Control Panel
System
Advanced Tab
Performance Settings
Data Execution Prevention click on "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select:" Add acadlt.exe to the list, check the box and restart your computer.
Click on the icon....

FlexLM Timeout on Slow Network

I'm starting to think that this blog should be called FlexLM in Plain English...I don't usually just cut and paste but this time I will. Another reason why you might not be getting a license...

Autodesk Support Number: TS1057817

Issue

When you tried to obtain a license remotely for a network-licensed AutoCAD® 2007-based product from the license server, you could not. However, you were able to obtain a license for a previous version of the product.
You were first presented with the FLEXlm License Finder dialog box, and then you received the following error message:
A valid license could not be obtained by the network license manager.
Error [1.5.-15]

With some products, you may also receive the following error message:
A valid license could not be obtained by the network license manager.
Error [1.5.-18]

Solution

This situation can occur when you access the license manager through a VPN, dial-up or a slow DSL/ISDN link.
AutoCAD® 2007-based products contain licensing enhancements that increase network bandwidth and latency requirements. To resolve this problem, it is strongly recommended that you increase network bandwidth or reduce latency to an acceptable level so the license management technology can function correctly.
If increasing network bandwidth is not an option, you can increase the amount of time the program waits for a response from the license manager by configuring an environment variable at the client workstation. Follow these steps:

1. Right-click My Computer. Click Properties.
2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
3. On the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
4. In the Environment Variables dialog box, under System Variables, click New.
5. In the New User Variable dialog box, enter FLEXLM_TIMEOUT for the name and 1000000 for the value.
6. Click OK to close each dialog box.
7. Launch the Autodesk application.

If you are able to obtain a license, the value of 1000000 microseconds (1 second) is sufficient. If you still cannot obtain a license, repeat the procedure; increasing the value in 1000000 microsecond increments until you are able to obtain a license from the license server.

Multiple Windows Open in AutoCAD

Enter 'SDI' and choose '0' as the setting. This will enable multiple drawings open in one session.

LMTools and Firewalls

When everything else is working and the Client Deployment (AutoCAD, Revit etc...) still can't get a license, try turning off the Firewall. If that works, you can turn it back on but specify the port/program that needs access.

New and Good in 2008

Here are two features that I think are both great and a long time in coming.

Linking AutoCAD tables to Excel and back.

Over the years this has been one of my top requests from clients. It's not extremely intuitive but at least it's there.

'Automatic' scaling of annotation and other objects.

Now we don't have to do the cumbersome scaling to match our printed scale. It's not quite as easy as Revit but it's nice to have.

Lic file containing two identical products

You cannot have a lic with two 'increments' of the same product. As an example:

10 AutoCAD 2007 under serial number xxx-xxxxxxxx
10 AutoCAD 2007 under serial number yyy-yyyyyyyy

these would have to be combined into one serial number for a total of 20 or put on a separate server (distributed model).

Draw Order Not Working

Problem: Solid Hatch keeps displaying on top even when draworder is set to back.
Solution: Type TREEDEPTH in the command line and type 3020 as the variable.

Network Deployment Suggestions

Here are a few suggestions:

Every time you upgrade/redeploy you should:

Stop licence service

Uninstall LMTools and the Deployment Wizard

Install the latest LMTools and Deployment Wizard from the new discs. (you should check with tech support to see if the version on the discs are in fact the latest. You may have to download a newer version)

Call Autodesk authcodes dept. (get the number from your reseller) and have your lic file emailed. It works much better than the 'automatic' function.

Force Server Shutdown

No, this will not shut down your server. It will force a shutdown of your LMTools license service when you press 'Stop Server'. Just check it.

LMTools
Start/Stop/Reread
Force Server Shutdown (checkbox)

LMTools Restarts if Server Reboots

LMTools can be set to automatically restart the license service when the server is rebooted.

Here's how:

Open LMTools
Go to Config Services tab
Check 'Start Server at Power Up'.

AutoCAD won't get a license from network

One morning you fire up your AutoCAD and it tells you it can't obtain a license from the network. What happened?

Usually this occurs when the server machine has been restarted. Automatic updates from Windows, power outages or someone just plain turning off the machine could be the culprit.
Here's what to do:

1. On the server go to Start-All Programs-Autodesk-Network License Manager-LMTools

2. Go to the Server Status tab and press the 'Perform Status Enquiry' button. This will give you a readout telling you whether there are errors. If there are errors...

3. Go to the Start/Stop/Reread tab and press the buttons in the following order; Stop Server then Start Server.

4. Go Back to the Server status tab and press the 'Perform Status Enquiry' button. This will give you a readout telling you whether licenses are available and how many.

Cascading Licensing in 2007 and Revit Series 9

This applies to network versions only.

When the AutoCAD license pool is exhausted the Revit Series (which includes AutoCAD) licenses will be used. This is automatically written into the .lic file as the 'plist increment'. You will need to download the latest build of Revit for this to work. In a distributed model each servers licenses will be exhausted completely before going to the next server.

Distributed Licensing

When installing you can choose a single server, distributed servers or redundant. For a business with multiple server locations 'distributed' is the way to go. This will allow users across the business to access the entire license pool.

Note that each server must be individually authorized.

Here's what you do at each machine after installing to add or remove server locations. (If it's already there then it did it automatically when installing.)

1. In Control Panel, double-click Performance and Maintenance.
2. Click System.
3. On the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
4. Under System Variables, click New.
5. Enter the new environment variable name, ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE.
6. In the Variable Value field, enter an at sign (@) followed by the host name of each license server to which you want to point the client. Use a semicolon (;) to separate each server name or IP address. (This line has to be less than 256 characters.) For example:
   
   @server1;@server2;@server3
   
   
7. Click OK in each dialog box to close all open dialog boxes.

What's New in AutoCAD 2007

I like this version. It's quite obvious that Sketchup scared Autodesk. Fear is a good thing when it produces the 3D modelling tools that are now in AutoCAD. 'Who'd a thunk' that AutoCAD would become a leading 3D modelling tool useful for sketch-like abilities?
Besides some minor interface changes there's not much more, but that's fine with me.

Greatest Tools Never Used

When teaching AutoCAD I realize that there are many tools in AutoCAD which are underutilized. Here's my ongoing list:

Otrack (around since 2000i)
A button to the right of the OSNAP button. This tool uses your current osnaps to create alignment lines. Master the art of the "acquire" meaning to hover over the osnap point without clicking. Then return to you initial point to discover an alignment line!

MText (around since 2000)
Okay, with AutoCAD 2006 there is very little reason not to use MText. They have listened to our cries!

Fields (around since 2005)
Finally we can make a plotstamp that works! These are also useful when linked to a polyline and the area is displayed.

Tables (around since 2005)
Make a style. Make a table. That's the process. Remember that the size of the table is determined by the text size. Right clicking will give you many excel-like functions

Dynamic Blocks (around since 2006)
Don't think 'all or nothing' when it comes to this new tool. Just use the alignment and flip parameters and you'll be flying. Plus, the block editor is great for editing any blocks.