Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Red ‘X’ symbol error after updating to Windows 10 October 2018 Update version 1809

After installing Windows 10 October 2018 Update version 1809 you might get a problem with a white box with red borders and a red ‘X’ like below screenshots show.

UPDATE January 22, 2019: KB4481031 Preview of Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.7.2 for Windows 10, version 1809 and Windows Server 2019 seems to solve this issue.

In SSMPropEditor it can happen using some of the commands that will open a file dialog box like open, export, import.

Visual Styles-related operation resulted in an error because visual styles are currently disabled in the client area.

It can also happen in JTB FlexReport and other apps both by us and others.

Visual Styles-related operation resulted in an error because visual styles are currently disabled in the client area.

Clicking on Details in the error dialog box may show something like this.

“System.InvalidOperationException: Visual Styles-related operation resulted in an error because visual styles are currently disabled in the client area.
   at System.Windows.Forms.VisualStyles.VisualStyleRenderer.IsCombinationDefined(String className, Int32 part)”

Technical problem description

“WinForms applications may have problems rendering the application UI and instead may render a white screen with a red ‘X’ symbol. The issue is caused by a change in Windows 10 October 2018 Update that exposed a bug in .NET Framework 4.7.2. The issue is caused by a change in Windows 10 October 2018 Update that exposed a bug in .NET Framework 4.7.2. The Windows 10 October 2018 Update adds a new flag to VisualStyle state when the application UI launches a child dialog (i.e., a FileSaveDialog or PrintpreviewDialog) that causes .NET Framework to fail its VisualStyleState check and thus throw an exception while rendering the application UI.” ref

Solution

Microsoft’s .NET Framework 4.8 Early Access Build 3707 fixes the problem.

“Fixed VisualStyle property in Winforms, is checking for supported values (by Winforms) and any value that goes outside of this range, Winforms throws an exception. Winforms also checks if the VisualStyle property set is supported by Winforms when it is using this property and does no-op if it is not supported. Underlying native method we use to set visual styles does not care what the value for visualstyle is being passed to it. Making this change will align Winforms code with windows and does not throw exception but still validate supported visual styles when using this property. Removing the validation condition while setting this property. [578093, System.Windows.Forms.dll, Bug, Build:3621]”

Download links for .NET Framework 4.8 Early Access Build 3707 can be found here.

A .NET 4.7.2 servicing fix for this will be released by Microsoft in near future and will also be included in the next version (4.8) of .NET Framework.

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

No more 32-bit AutoCAD from AutoCAD 2020 and on

According to this knowledge base article AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 32-Bit will be discontinued in upcoming AutoCAD 2020.

“Over the past several years, Autodesk has reduced its support for 32-bit systems which are low in memory and result in a poor drafting experience and high crash rates. Starting with the next annual release of AutoCAD, there will no longer be a 32-bit offering for AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT and Developer Products.

By eliminating use of this outdated technology (and focusing on 64-bit solutions), we will be able to provide our customers a better AutoCAD experience and focus on delivering more value to our subscribers.

If you are currently running 64-bit AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT: There is no action for you to take and you will not be impacted by this change.

If you are currently using 32-bit AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT: Customers who are currently using 32-bit AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT can continue using their current software without any issue.

You can choose to stay on your current version of AutoCAD and/or AutoCAD LT or upgrade your OS and hardware (to take advantage of future releases of AutoCAD and LT that will only be available as 64-bit).”

Monday, December 17, 2018

JTB BatchAttEdit 2.5.2 - Batch Attribute Editor for AutoCAD

JTB BatchAttEdit 2.5.2 has been released.

This batch attribute editor app for AutoCAD collects attributes in all blocks of specified name patterns in multiple drawings and display in a wide spreadsheet. Then you can edit attribute texts as easy as working with Excel. Once done, click "Apply Attribute Changes" to update values to drawings.

This makes it a great app to for example edit title block attributes across many drawings instead of having to do it one drawing at a time.

JTB BatchAttEdit

If you want to export the attributes to Excel use the "Export - Import" button. Optionally you can make modifications in Excel for example with help of functions and formulas and then import back.

Try it for free by downloading from JTB BatchAttEdit.

JTB Layout Palette 2.1 released

JTB Layout Palette 2.1 is released.

Manage drawings with many layouts easier in a palette.

Run command LAYOUTPALETTE or click to the ribbon panel to Show or Hide the Layout Palette. You can quickly browse for layout, add, delete or edit name like working on a spreadsheet. This app is for you when there are too many layouts, or the layout names are too long to effectively work with out-of-the-box in AutoCAD or BricsCAD.

Quickly show only the layouts you want to see with filters.

Edit layout names

Moving and Sorting layouts

Free trial version available that works for 30 days.

JTB Sheet Set Publish 2.2.1 released

JTB Sheet Set Publish 2.2.1 has been released. It is an app for AutoCAD that publishes sheets in Sheet Sets, layouts in other drawings, folders or drawings in DSD files to files like PDF and DWF. The files created are named as you want based on a naming formula that you specify. Use date fields and/or sheet properties of your choice to build up the output filename.

JTB Sheet Set Publish

Thursday, December 13, 2018

JTB FlexReport 11.2 released

JTB FlexReport 11.2 is released. There are a few new features as well as a bunch of bug fixes. See the version history for details.

The upgrade is free of charge for customers with active maintenance. If the maintenance has expired please contact us to renew.

Free trial of JTB FlexReport is available.

Do you wonder what JTB FlexReport is? JTB FlexReport is a license usage report tool for applications licensed using network license systems like FlexNet, IBM LUM, DSLS, SPLM, Sentinel, LM-X, RLM among others. Track usage over time, hours used and much more.

If you have FlexNet licenses check out our JTB FlexReport LT freeware that has been updated to version 1.7.

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

SSMPropEditor 7.0 released

SSMPropEditor 7.0 is now available.

For details on this release see the revision history.

You find the download here. If you purchased on or after November 1, 2017 the upgrade is free of charge. Trial for 30 days is available.

Edit properties on multiple sheets belonging to Sheet Set Manager (SSM) for AutoCAD, GstarCAD and BricsCAD, NanoCAD Plus/Pro or AutoCAD Architecture's Project Navigator (PN) Sheet Set View with ease. If you want to change properties like a revision, date or name on two or more sheets at the same time SSMPropEditor is for you. Your productivity will increase and you will save time avoiding a lot of manual work.

Sheet Set Properties, Sheet Set Custom Properties, Sheet Properties and Sheet Custom Properties can be edited and bulk updated.

If you are using Sheet Sets you can create new Sheet Sets including drawings based on an Excel template with our JTB Sheet Set Creator or make merge, purge and convert with JTB DST Tool, DST Converter, or publish with JTB Sheet Set Publish.

JTB Sheet Set Creator 2.4 released

JTB Sheet Set Creator 2.4 got some improvements and fixes.

JTB Sheet Set Creator is an app for AutoCAD that creates new Sheet Sets and Sheets based on an Excel template.

If you are using Sheet Sets you can make batch edits of properties with SSMPropEditor or make merge, purge and convert with JTB DST Tool, DST Converter, or publish with JTB Sheet Set Publish.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

JTB FlexReport LT 1.6 FlexNet current usage HTML report for free

JTB FlexReport LT 1.6 is here, fixing /h command line argument problem making it not always work as expected so you can have the HTML report being created automatically.

If you look for a freeware to show what users are currently using FlexNet licenses JTB FlexReport LT is for you. With it you get a nice looking HTML report. Click here to see a sample HTML report.

JTB FlexReport LT

JTB FlexReport LT 1.6 as an Autodesk App will be available within a few weeks.

If this is not enough and you also want historic usage reports and much more take a look at our JTB FlexReport product.

Monday, November 12, 2018

Autodesk University 2018 Sheet Set Manager classes

At JTB World we have found the usefulness of the Sheet Set Manager available in CAD applications like AutoCAD and BricsCAD. But there has been room for improvements and usage strategies that we like to provide and share. During AU there will be two classes on the subject. 

6 Sheet Set Manager Strategies for Success

Managing Your Sheets with the Sheet Set Manager: An Advanced Guide

If you can’t attend AU you can still access some of the material for these and other classes if you are logged in on the AU site.

If you make use of the Sheet Set Manager you might find our apps SSMPropEditor, DST Converter, JTB DST Tool, JTB Sheet Set Creator or JTB Sheet Set Publish useful.

AreaText.lsp updated to add text with area on multiple objects

The freeware AreaText.lsp by JTB World now has two more commands added, ATC and ATM. You can easily modify the LSP to show the area with different units, settings, suffix, etc. The area is using a field so it is updated when the geometry is update.

Works with CAD applications supporting AutoLISP like AutoCAD and BricsCAD.

AT command: Select a polyline and where to place the text

ATC command: Select a polyline and add the text at the geo center of the selected object

ATM command: Select multiple objects and add the text at the boundary box center

AreaText.lsp

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

JTB Sheet Set Creator 2.4 released

JTB Sheet Set Creator 2.4 for AutoCAD is released with these new features and fixes.

  • Upgraded Excel reader: the app no more requires Microsoft Excel installed.
  • Fixed keywords in Excel to non case sensitive.
  • Error messages are collected to 1 place
  • Fixed bug when sets up "Template" and "Template Layout" for sheet and subset, in "Sheets" tab.
  • Remove error messages when empty subset created.

Trial download is here.

The upgrade is free for existing customers of this app. If purchase was done via Autodesk App Store the download is available on My Downloads page. Sign in with the same account used when purchasing. Otherwise contact and let us know you want the update and we send the link to the full version.

JTB Sheet Set Creator is an app for AutoCAD that creates new Sheet Sets and Sheets based on an Excel template.

  • Sheet Set Properties can be populated.
  • Sheet Set Custom Properties can be defined, created and populated.
  • Sheet Properties can be populated.
  • Sheet Custom Properties can be defined, created and populated.
  • Sheets (drawings) can be defined, created and have their properties populated.

If you make use of the Sheet Set Manager in AutoCAD you might find our other apps SSMPropEditor, DST Converter, JTB DST Tool or JTB Sheet Set Publish useful.

Bricsys and BricsCAD now in the big Hexagon family of companies

Swedish Hexagon AB has acquired Bricsys and with that its BricsCAD and other software. Intergraph, Leica Geosystems and MSC Software are some other companies that Hexagon earlier acquired. Bricsys will be fully consolidated as of today, operating within Hexagon’s PPM division. Let’s see how this will affect the growth of BricsCAD.

bricscad-interface-laptop

At JTB World we develop apps for BricsCAD among other CAD platforms and welcome customers with need for either our existing apps or any custom development to further automate their design work.

Monday, October 22, 2018

JTB BatchAttEdit 2.5.1 - Batch Attribute Editor for AutoCAD

JTB BatchAttEdit 2.5.1 has been released and got some bugs fixed and improvements.

This batch attribute editor app for AutoCAD collects attributes in all blocks of specified name patterns in multiple drawings and display in a wide spreadsheet. Then you can edit attribute texts as easy as working with Excel. Once done, click "Apply Attribute Changes" to update values to drawings.

This makes it a great app to for example edit title block attributes across many drawings instead of having to do it one drawing at a time.

JTB BatchAttEdit

If you want to export the attributes to Excel use the "Export - Import" button. Optionally you can make modifications in Excel for example with help of functions and formulas and then import back.

Try it for free by downloading from JTB BatchAttEdit.

Friday, October 5, 2018

Hold updating to Windows 10 version 1809

You might want to think twice about updating Windows 10 to the latest version 1809 released October, 2018.

I run into problems with Excel’s TEXT function not being able to convert year and month correctly.

I also got problems with some VBA code I use for Outlook, causing out of memory errors. The code got stuck on this row:
Set wdDoc = objOpenInspector.WordEditor

After going back to previous Windows 10 version 1803 things are working again. Office version (Office 2016 or Office 365) 16.0.10827.20138 and 16.0.10730.20127 both work fine on Windows 10 1803.

Have you upgraded and run into any issues?

UPDATE:

Microsoft has pulled Windows 10 version 1809 from the Software download page, Windows update and update assistant as of October 6.

Known issues updating to Windows 10, version 1809

“We have paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809) for all users as we investigate isolated reports of users missing some files after updating.”

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

LMTOOLS VD is starting, please check vendor daemon's status in debug log

If you get this message in LMTOOLS there is probably an easy solution. This is something I run into with the Autodesk Network License Manager version 11.14.1.3.

“VD is starting, please check vendor daemon's status in debug log”

VD is starting, please check vendor daemon's status in debug log

Trying to start the license service (the service name is shown in LMTOOLS > Config Services > Service Name) manually in Windows Services (run services.msc) can give this error:
”The Autodesk Licenses service on Local Computer started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs.”

image

The last row in the FlexNet debug log may be:

(lmgrd) SLOG: Summary LOG statistics is enabled.

Perform status enquiry could show something like this:

lmgrd is not running: Cannot connect to license server system.
  The license server manager (lmgrd) has not been started yet,
  the wrong port@host or license file is being used, or the
  port or hostname in the license file has been changed.
Server name:   SERVERNAMEHERE
License path:  @SERVERNAMEHERE;
FlexNet Licensing error:-15,570

Solution

Right click on the service and select Properties followed by the tab Log On and note that Local Service account may be used. Change that to the Local System account and then start the service.

Not sure why the wrong account is used when creating the service with LMTOOLS but it sounds like a bug.

image

If still not working there are some other solutions to try:

  • Check the Server Status. If you see FlexNet Licensing error:-1,359.  System Error: 2 "No such file or directory":
    • Make sure the license file path in the Config services tab is correct.
    • Make sure to click the option "LMTOOLS ignore license file path environment variables", and then try to restart the service.
    • Make sure your antivirus software is not modifying the Windows services, e.g. "Sophos Endpoint Security" has been reported to cause the -1,359 error.

If you now got it working and also would like to create license usage reports head over to JTB FlexReport.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

JTB Sheet Set Publish 2.2

JTB Sheet Set Publish 2.2 has been released. It is an app for AutoCAD that publishes sheets in Sheet Sets, layouts in other drawings, folders or drawings in DSD files to files like PDF and DWF. The files created are named as you want based on a naming formula that you specify. Use date fields and/or sheet properties of your choice to build up the output filename.

Here are the news in version 2.2:

  • Upgraded the app to publish layouts in drawings and dsd files
  • Fix of error when plotting in MSPACE

JTB Sheet Set Publish

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Autodesk AutoCAD 2019.1.2 Update

AutoCAD 2019 has been updated. AutoCAD 2019.1.2 Update is available through Autodesk Account or Autodesk Desktop App. But the update is not available for customers with maintenance. The Autodesk® AutoCAD® 2019 Internet Security Hotfix is available for all though.

Here’s what the readme says:

Important: The AutoCAD 2019.1.2 Update includes all the updates previously released for AutoCAD 2019.

Security Update: As part of Autodesk’s ongoing efforts to provide the best security possible to our customers, we are proactively applying security updates to our products. The 2019.1.2 Update must be installed by October 17th, 2018, in order to maintain access to the following features:

  • Plant Collaboration Project for the Autodesk AutoCAD Plant 3D toolset;
  • Autodesk Rendering;
  • Shared View

AutoCAD Updates can be applied to AutoCAD including specialized toolsets installed standalone as well as Autodesk Civil 3D and Autodesk Advance Steel. You can install the AutoCAD update in addition to any applicable updates for your toolsets, products and services listed below.

AutoCAD products and services:

  • AutoCAD 2019
  • AutoCAD Architecture 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Electrical 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Map 3D 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Mechanical 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD MEP 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Plant 3D 2019 specialized toolset
  • Autodesk Advance Steel 2019
  • Autodesk Civil 3D 2019

After applying this update, the Product Version in the About box will be listed as P.161.0.0 AutoCAD 2019.1.2. If you use one of the other products above, the Built On version will be listed as P.161.0.0 AutoCAD 2019.1.2

Fixed bugs:

General

  • Crashes when repeatedly loading and unloading the Standards ARX files.
  • Crashes when pasting from the clipboard as an OLE object.
  • Object selection completes when the mouse is still moving.

Display

  • Arcs and circles within dynamic blocks display correctly at large coordinates.
  • The Unisolate operation on layers is faster.

Xref

  • Xref highlight works when using the arrow keys to select the Xref from within the External References palette.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

Autodesk AutoCAD 2019.1.1 Update

AutoCAD 2019 has been updated. AutoCAD 2019.1.1 Update is available through Autodesk Account or Autodesk Desktop App. But the update is not available for customers with maintenance.

Here’s what the readme says:

Important: The AutoCAD 2019.1.1 Update includes all the updates previously released for AutoCAD 2019.

Security Update: As part of Autodesk’s ongoing efforts to provide the best security possible to our customers, we are proactively applying security updates to our products. The 2019.1.1 Update must be installed by October 17th, 2018, in order to maintain access to the following features:

  • Plant Collaboration Project for the Autodesk AutoCAD Plant 3D toolset;
  • Autodesk Rendering;
  • Shared Views

AutoCAD Updates can be applied to AutoCAD including specialized toolsets installed standalone as well as Autodesk Civil 3D and Autodesk Advance Steel. You can install the AutoCAD update in addition to any applicable updates for your toolsets, products and services listed below.

AutoCAD products and services:

  • AutoCAD 2019
  • AutoCAD Architecture 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Electrical 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Map 3D 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Mechanical 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD MEP 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Plant 3D 2019 specialized toolset
  • Autodesk Advance Steel 2019
  • Autodesk Civil 3D 2019

After applying this update, the Product Version in the About box will be listed as P.152.0.0 AutoCAD 2019.1.1. If you use one of the other products above, the Built On version will be listed as P.152.0.0 AutoCAD 2019.1.1

Enhancements

Drawing Compare has been improved to support objects that were created with the AutoCAD Architecture specialized toolset, such as wall objects

Icon refresh: The new and remaining icons on the Ribbon and the Quick Access toolbar have been updated to the new icon style. The Command window now supports the light and dark themes

Fixes:

As a result of the detailed information that we received from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting Utility, we were able to identify and fix several defects with the following results

Display

  • Occasional crashes stemming from a computer’s graphics processing unit (GPU) under some conditions no longer occur.

Import and Export

  • Occasional crashes when importing DGN files with certain types of objects no longer occur.
  • Occasional crashes when importing the layer state with FILEDIA set to 0 no longer occur.

General

  • Occasional crashes when panning while multiple drawings are opening no longer occur

Several additional defects have been fixed with the following results

Display

  • A raster image with non-zero transparency displays correctly within a polygonal or a clipped viewport.
  • The REGEN and REGENALL commands display linetypes correctly in all drawings.
  • The drawing order displays correctly when inserting a block into a drawing template (DWT) file.

Dimension

  • The DIMORDINATE command displays the correct coordinates in model space when the cursor is moved to a new location.

Performance

  • The performance is improved when panning or zooming drawings containing transparent hatches.
  • The performance is improved when using the Multileader Style Manager within specific drawings.

Xref

  • The properties for external references display correctly in the Details panel of the External References palette.

General

  • A drawing file can be saved to a folder path that contains some special characters such as a percent sign (%).
  • Line and polyline objects maintain the correct lineweight after running certain commands.
  • An external reference filename path can be stored without converting characters to lowercase.
  • The FILLET command works as expected in special cases that involve splines.
  • Unicode text in a multiline text object is handled correctly in AutoLISP.


Previous update AutoCAD 2019.1.

Friday, July 27, 2018

AutoCAD 2019.1 Update

AutoCAD 2019.1 Update is available through Autodesk Account or Autodesk Desktop App. But the update is not available for customers with maintenance.

image

Readme found here. Main things are:

The AutoCAD 2019.1 Update contains all of the updates previously released for AutoCAD 2019. AutoCAD 2019.0.1 Update, AutoCAD 2019.0.1 Update Draw Order Hotfix and AutoCAD 2019 User Data Hotfix - GDPR

AutoCAD Updates can be applied to AutoCAD including specialized toolsets installed as a standalone app’s as well as Autodesk Civil 3D and Autodesk Advance Steel. You can install the AutoCAD update in addition to any applicable updates for your toolsets, products and services listed below.

AutoCAD products and services:

  • AutoCAD 2019
  • AutoCAD Architecture 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Electrical 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Map 3D 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Mechanical 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD MEP 2019 specialized toolset
  • AutoCAD Plant 3D 2019 specialized toolset
  • Autodesk Advance Steel 2019
  • Autodesk Civil 3D 2019

After applying this patch, the Product Version in the About box will be listed as P.103.0.0 AutoCAD 2019.1. If you use one of the vertical products, the Built On version will be listed as P.103.0.0 AutoCAD 2019.1.

Feature Enhancement Summary

Drawing Compare - Drawing Compare has been improved to support objects that were created with the AutoCAD Architecture specialized toolset, such as wall objects.

Icon Refresh - The new and remaining icons on the Ribbon and the Quick Access toolbar have been updated in the new style. The Command window now supports the light and dark themes.

Problems Reported Through the Customer Error Reporting Utility

Display

  • Occasional crashes when editing revision clouds no longer occur.
  • Occasional crashes when editing xrefs and blocks in-place when ATTDIA = 0 no longer occur.

Editing

  • Occasional crashes when using the INTERFERE command in certain drawings no longer occur.
  • Occasional crashes when zooming in certain drawings with images when hardware acceleration is turned off no longer occur.

Import and Export

  • Occasional crashes when exporting a layout to model space no longer occur.

General

  • Occasional crashes when right-clicking the Copy to Clipboad or using Ctrl+C in certain drawings no longer occur.
  • Occasional crashes when using the HATCH command in certain drawings no longer occur.
  • Occasional crashes when clicking the Insert button on the ribbon for certain drawings no longer occur.
  • Occasional crashes when changing the default pointing device to another option no longer occur.
  • Occasional crashes when changing an object’s layer while UNDO is turned off no longer occur.

General Update Content

Display

  • Xref-dependent blocks in the bind status with certain linetypes display correctly with 3D visual styles.
  • Draw order is maintained correctly when modifying objects in paper space.
  • Hatch colors in blocks display correctly in paper space.

Text

  • Multiline text objects display normally in all drawings.
  • Updating the multiple line attributes of an annotative block works correctly after the block has been moved or modified.
  • The text imported into multiline text from rich text with subscript and superscript text displays correctly.

User Interface

  • The icons in customized toolbars display correctly after restarting.

General

  • The SHAREVIEW command can be completed successfully when the network username includes spaces.
  • An xref opened by the XOPEN command correctly maintains its file name capitalization.

More can be found about AutoCAD 2019 here.

Monday, July 9, 2018

License Borrowed Dialog Closer 1.3 for AutoCAD released

Our freeware app License Borrowed Dialog Closer has been updated to close the License Borrowed Dialog box “Lizenz entliehen” in German AutoCAD. If you don’t want to see the License Borrowed dialog box this app is for you and if you want support for other languages just send us a screenshot of the dialog box.

Lizenz entliehen

If you want to monitor borrowed network licenses take a look at our JTB FlexReport product.

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Working with SSMPropEditor in AutoCAD

If you are new to the Sheet Set Manager and Sheet Sets this tutorial is for you.

CAD applications supporting Sheet Sets are AutoCAD and its verticals, BricsCAD, GstarCAD and NanoCAD Plus/Pro.

This is a Guest Article by Acuity Training. See also the previous article: An Introduction to Working with Sheet Sets

SSMPropEditor is a third-party appl that you can install from the Autodesk App Store. It costs $50 but there is a free 30-day trial available as well. The purpose of SSMPropEditor is to automate tedious tasks like updating drawing properties when working with a Sheet Set or with multiple sheet sets. It displays Sheet Set and Sheet properties in a far more effective manner than the default AutoCAD Sheet Set window. As such, SSMPropEditor takes the concept of Sheet Sets a step further giving us previously unavailable automation options. AutoCAD is not the only program that is compatible with SSMPropEditor, it also works with GstarCAD and BricsCAD and AutoCAD Architecture’s Project Navigator.

AutoCAD doesn’t come with SSMPropEditor pre-installed, so before you can use it, you have to download it–which you can do here. Remember, you must have an Autodesk account to download this (or any other) appl through the Autodesk App Store. Make sure before you download it, that AutoCAD is not open. After you’ve gone through the installation process, you can open AutoCAD. Once open, you should see a dialogue pop up in the top-right corner that looks like this:

Image 1

(Figure 1)

If you navigate to the Add-ins Tab on the Ribbon, you will now see a new icon. The SSMPropEditor icon. Click it, and the SSMPropEditor applet will open.

You immediately notice the user-friendly interface and the ease of accessibility

Image 2

(Figure 2)

If you would like to follow along with this tutorial, you should download these files. 

In the SSMPropEditor window, click File, then Open. Navigate to the Tutorial Folder, then the Sheet set dst folder, and then double-click on the file SheetSetTutorial.dst.

Let’s do some bulk-editing of these files. Select the 3 Plans by clicking on the first one, holding down on SHIFT, and clicking on the last one.

Image 3

(Figure 3)

Click the fill box next to the “Category” Property, and type “Plan.” Click anywhere in the Navigation Browser (White box on left) and a dialogue will come up asking you if you want to apply your changes. Apply these Changes, and remember to always apply changes in this tutorial unless told otherwise.

Now all 3 Sheets are identified as the Category of “Plan”. We can even see this on AutoCAD. Before you can view any Sheet Properties on AutoCAD however, you have to unlock them. Click “Sheet Set Tutorial” in Navigation Browser, then click Unlock.

Image 4

(Figure 4)

Go to SheetSet in AutoCAD. If you right-click on any of the plans and click Properties, you will see that the word “Plan” is in the Category Property.

Image 5

(Figure 5)

You can use this method for bulk-adding your name or other similar properties.

It can become really tedious having to retype the same properties across multiple Sheet Sets. This is where SSMPropEditor comes in. We can use the applet to transfer properties from one Sheet Set to another Sheet Set.

Go back to your SSMPropEditor window, and re-lock the Sheet Set. Afterwards, type this in the Description Property box of the entire sheet set: “ This Sheet Set is for the purpose of tutorials.”

Image 6

(Figure 6)

Click Copy Properties.

Image 7

(Figure 7)

After you’ve applied your changes, save everything and go to File>Open. Open the other Sheet set file, Sheet Set Prop Tutorial.dst.

Click Paste Properties. The description will have transferred, along with other Properties.

You can even use SSMPropEditor to choose which Sheets will and will not be printed. This is really useful in the instance you are sending the sheet set to multiple people for print, but only want certain people to print certain sheets. In the past you would have had to create custom files for each person, but now you can send the same file to multiple people with only a property changed.

Go back to the previous Sheet Set. Click on 1 - Floor Plan and change the “Include for Publish” property to No.

Image 8

(Figure 8)

After unlocking, go back to AutoCAD and open up the Sheet Set Print dialog. As you can see in Figure 9, only Sheets 2 and 3 have been marked for print.

Image 9

(Figure 9)

SSMPropEditor has other useful features not available in AutoCAD. You can select any Value and by clicking “Increment Value”, increment that value by one.

Image 10

(Figure 10)

In our tutorial, the Foundation Plan is a different .dwg file than the other 2 Plans. But what if someone drew up a Foundation Plan on the other dwg? Well you could easily change the File Name by making it the same as the other ones (houseonedone.dwg). In 3 – Foundation Plan, change the File name Property to houseonedone.dwg. Apply and Save. In the future, opening the Foundation Plan Sheet won’t open the foundation drawing.

Tip: make sure that you are hitting Apply, and also Save as frequently as possible

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial. See also the AutoCAD course for Architects with some free chapters.

JTB World also has several apps that further helps working with Sheet Sets.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

JTB BatchAttEdit 2.3 - Batch Attribute Editor for AutoCAD

JTB BatchAttEdit 2.3 has been released and got some bugs fixed and performance improvements.

This batch attribute editor app for AutoCAD collects attributes in all blocks of specified name patterns in multiple drawings and display in a wide spreadsheet. Then you can edit attribute texts as easy as working with Excel. Once done, click "Apply Attribute Changes" to update values to drawings.

This makes it a great app to for example edit title block attributes across many drawings instead of having to do it one drawing at a time.

JTB BatchAttEdit

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Sheet Set Manager shows up blank in AutoCAD

Have you run into a problem in AutoCAD where the Sheet List is empty in Sheet Set Manager? This may only happen when trying to open certain Sheet Set DST files.

Empty Sheet Set Manager

Autodesk Support has posted about this problem in this article here.

The solution is to fix a problem in the Windows registry at the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\ObjectDBX location. In the article there is a download for it. Another solution is reinstall of AutoCAD. Not sure if repair option will fix it or not though.

Thursday, May 31, 2018

An Introduction to Working with Sheet Sets

If you are new to the Sheet Set Manager and Sheet Sets this tutorial is for you.

CAD applications supporting Sheet Sets are AutoCAD and its verticals, BricsCAD, GstarCAD and NanoCAD Plus/Pro.

This is a Guest Article by Acuity Training.

Sheet Sets are used to provide automation and synchronicity when working with a multiple of drawings. This is particularly important when each of those drawings has multiple layouts.

The Sheet Set Manager is also popular in corporate environments because of its collaborative capabilities. Knowing how to use Sheet Set Manager will save you time and make your life much easier when working on lengthy, complicated projects.

For this tutorial we’re going to look at a simple house drawing I’ve created. Between 2 files, we will use Sheet Set Manager to create different plans. These 2 files have everything we need to make several plans, including a Foundation Plan and an Electrical Plan.

If you would like to download these files to follow along please find them here.

To start we need to split our drawing into several layouts. We start by opening my drawing which is called houseonedone.dwg.

Then use the LAYER command to open up the Layer Properties layer. Turn on any Layers that are off. You can tell which layers are off because there will be a blue lightbulb instead of a yellow lightbulb next to the layer’s name. You can change the color of the lightbulbs by clicking on them.

1

(Figure 1)

Now that all of our Layers are on, we are ready to make our first SheetSet. Type SSM into the command line and hit ENTER. This will bring up the Sheet Set Manager Panel. Open the drop-down and select ‘New Sheet Set…”

2

(Figure 2)

Select ‘Existing drawings’ and then click Next.

3

(Figure 3)

In the next window, name your Sheet Set as “Sheet Set Tutorial” and once again hit Next.

Now the next screen is important. Click “Browse…”. A Windows Explorer applet will open. Use it to navigate your way to the “untouched” folder that was part of the Tutorial download. After selected, click Next, and Finish.

You’ll notice that the Sheet Set we have made is not visible in the Sheet Set Manger Panel. That’s because we have to open it. So once again open the drop-down, and this time click “Open…”

4

(Figure 4)

Now open the dst file we made (Sheet Set Tutorial.dst).

This is what should be visible now in your Sheet Set Manger Panel:

5

(Figure 5)

You’ll note that you can double-click any of the layouts to open it up.

Now that we have our Sheet Set, let’s go to the Layout 1 tab. It looks messy, right? We’re going to clean it up, and then make Layout 1 into our Electric Plan. If you wish to rename it to Electric Plan, you can.

6

(Figure 6)

What we want to do is get rid of all the layers except for Walls, Doors, and Electrics, but we want to do this only on THIS layout.

It’s pretty simple. Double-click the border of the viewport to open it. Then follow these steps.

1. Type LAYFRZ, hit ENTER.

2. Type S, hit ENTER.

3. Type V, hit ENTER.

4. Type V, hit ENTER.

Now you can select whatever layers you want to hide in this viewport. Be sure to get rid of the roof, room names, and anything else that doesn’t belong on an Electrical Plan. Obviously keep switches, outlets, walls, windows, and doors.

This is how mine ended up. When you’re ready to leave the Viewport, double-click the blue border circled in red in Figure 7.

7

(Figure 7)

If you open the Sheet Set Manger Panel again (the command is SSM), you will see that Layout 1 is still named ‘houseonedone - Layout1’ and not ‘Electric Plan’. This is because we made the Sheet Set before renaming the Layout. There’s a simple fix. Right-click it and click on ‘Rename and Renumber…’

8

(Figure 8)

Now this is a pretty important Panel, there’s a lot we can do here. Besides Renaming, we can also Renumber the sheet. For the purpose of this Tutorial, leave it at 3. After you’ve made your changes, click OK to leave the window.

Sheet Set Manager allows you to make subsets of your Sheet Set. We are going to make 2: one will be named ‘Models’ and the other ‘Layouts’. To do this, right-click the Sheet Set name and then click “New Subset…”

9

(Figure 9)

Do this twice, naming one subset ‘Layouts’ and the other one ‘Models’. After that, drag the Electric Plan onto Layouts.

10

(Figure 10)

There is another layout in the houseonedone file named Layout 2. We can make it into a floor plan, getting rid of Layers using the method previously discussed in this tutorial.

The ceiling fans and white lines are on the same layer as the text, and while we want to get rid of them, we want to keep the text. So move them to a different layer. Selecting all ceiling fans at once is pretty simple. You click on one, right-click, and then choose “Select Similar…” Then, move them to a new layer, or one of the electric ones.

Note: If you like, you can get rid of the grid by pressing Ctrl-G.

11

(Figure 11)

After Leaving the Viewport, and opening the Sheet Set Manger Panel, you will notice that the Floor Plan Layout isn’t shown. Drag in onto the Layouts subset. You may have to rename and renumber it to your liking.

Now double click on ‘finalversionoffoundation - Arch D (2)’ to open that layout. This is our Foundation Plan. Do all the renaming and renumbering necessary, and then drag it onto the Layouts subset.

After that, you can delete the other foundation Layout from SSM, titled ‘finalversionoffoundation - Arch D”. To delete sheets, you can’t just click them and press the delete key. You have to click, right-click, and choose “Remove Sheet”.

Once all of that is done Sheet Set Manger Panel should look like this:

12

(Figure 12)

Without getting too much into fields and title blocks, which is an entire tutorial in and of itself, we can have the pages numbered very easily and they will also update automatically based on any changes. We can also have automatic naming.

Click on your Foundation Plan Layout in the Sheet Set Manger Panel. It has a Title Block, but for the purpose of our tutorial, we will ignore this.

Type MTEXT, hit enter, click on an empty space above the viewport, type ‘Sheet Number:’ and then click the Fields icon in the Text Editor Tab of the Ribbon.

13

(Figure 13)

Pick the options circled in Figure 14.

14

(Figure 14)

After clicking OK, a 1 in a gray box will show up next to what we typed. Hit ENTER, and click the Fields icon again. Use Figure 15 this time to make your selections.

15

(Figure 15)

You may need to play around with the text to make it look right. However, after setting up the fields, if there are any number or name changes, all you have to do is type REGEN and hit Enter and it will automatically update.

16

(Figure 16)

You can get as fancy as you want with fields and Title Blocks. The options are limitless.

This was a very brief introduction to the use of Sheet Set Manager. Hopefully by using what you learned here you will be able to get started with the basics.

One final tip for working with Sheet Sets. Hovering over a Sheet in the Sheet Set Manager Panel will show all sorts of great information about the sheet, including live updates of who is working on it at that moment.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial. See also the AutoCAD course for Architects with some free chapters.

JTB World also has several apps that further helps working with Sheet Sets.

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