AutoCAD 2013 Service Pack 2

AutoCAD 2013 SP2 is now available to download here. You don’t need to install earlier SP before installing SP2. If you have AutoCAD LT 2013 the download is here.

I and other beta testers have used SP2 for some time but if you don’t want to be the first to run into any unexpected problems you might want to wait a few weeks. (remember SP1 that quickly was replaced by SP1.1) Other than that there are a lot of fixes in SP2 making it worth installing.

This Service Pack can be applied to AutoCAD 2013 installed as a standalone application as well as AutoCAD 2013 installed from the following Autodesk Design Suites.

• AutoCAD Design Suite 2013
• Autodesk Building Design Suite 2013
• Autodesk Factory Design Suite 2013
• Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite 2013
• Autodesk Plant Design Suite 2013
• Autodesk Product Design Suite 2013

The following operating systems are also now officially supported for 32-bit and 64-bit AutoCAD 2013 with Service Pack 2.

• Windows 8 Standard edition
• Windows 8 Enterprise edition
• Windows 8 Professional edition

_VERNUM (product version) details:
AutoCAD 2013 SP2: G.204.0.0 (UNICODE)
AutoCAD 2013 SP1.1: G.114.0.0 (UNICODE)
AutoCAD 2013 SP1: G.112.0.0 (UNICODE)
AutoCAD 2013: G.55.0.0 (UNICODE)

As a result of detailed information from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting Utility, a number of problems were identified and fixed. Updates have been made in the following commands and features:

3D Navigation Tools

• Occasional crash related to navigation tools.

Autodesk 360

• Crash with long file path in the Autodesk 360 folder.
• Occasional crash when opening AutoCAD with the InfoCenter off.

Block

• Occasional crash when clicking a block table grip with only one row of values available.

Command Line

• Crash when switching Input Method Editor (IME) after canceling a command when DYNMODE is set to 0 and the command window is docked.

DGN Support

• Fatal error when scrolling the DGN linetype in the Properties Palette.

Dimensions

• Occasional crash when grip-editing annotative dimensions.

External Reference (XREF)

• An OLE Object in an xref was not correctly set before the xref was detached. This crash issue has been resolved by opening the xref before erasing it.

MLEADER

• Occasional crash when using MATCHPROP with multileaders.

OLE

• Occasional crash when closing the application with a drawing that contains an OLE object.

OPTIONS

• Occasional crash when changing or switching profiles in Options.

Plot

• Occasional crash when plotting with a wipeout in the drawing.

PDF Underlay

• Crash when specifying other PDF file from Saved Path field in External Reference palette.

General

• Occasional crash when opening AutoCAD drawings in Windows 8.
• Occasional crash due to using Intersection object snaps on lightweight polylines.
• Some corrupt drawings crash when opened or saved and are not fixed automatically.
• Exiting the Text Editor while previewing text style causes a crash.

The following defects have been fixed:

3D Navigation Tools

• Zoom speed varies with 3Dconnexion device in perspective view.

3D Modeling

• Issue with the MASSPROP command with sliced 3D solids.

Block

• Issue with the display of the Block Property Table cascading menu.

CUI (Customize User Interface)

• Missing checkboxes in the Customize User Interface (CUI) dialog box when NET 4.5 is installed.

DGN Support

• Issues with exporting files to DGN, even after exploding contents of file.
• Import of a DGN arc as an Ellipse.

Dimensions

• Radial dimensions for regions can become associated to wrong arc.
• Dimension text background fill cannot be reset in Properties.
• Jogged radial dimensions in paper space may reflect the wrong value of an extruded cylinder in model space.

Image

• MONOCHROME BITMAP attached in DWG file is not shown correctly.

INQUIRY

• MASSPROP reports an incorrect mass and centroid for a solid swept along a planar spline.

MLeader

• Multileader scale is not always updated when multileader style is changed.

Model Documentation - Detail View

• Changing the Hatch property of a Detail view derived from a Section view sometimes causes AutoCAD to hang.

Modify

• Ellipse is sometimes distorted during stretching.

MTEXT

• The font doesn't match the setting in -STYLE command in Windows 8.

Plot

• There is a black stripe when plotting some drawings with a clipped image.
• A printer cannot be added after adding multiple driver folders in the Options dialog box.
• Drawings cannot be plotted with the oversized paper size and transparency on.

Selection

• Grips for attributes of blocks are not automatically made hot upon sub-selection.
• Selection preview is reset to off when IntelliMouse^® zooming is ended.

Visual Lisp

• DCL files whose code page matches the system but not the product are not recognized and loaded properly.

General

• Saving some DWG files that contain 3D solids is slow.
• A UCS other than the World UCS results in an incorrect location for the wipeout frame.
• Prompts to save are not displayed when closing a hyperlink drawing that has been changed.
• Performance is slow when saving the drawing created with Release 2010 and earlier.

Fixes in the previous AutoCAD 2013 Service Pack 1.1 are included.

See also more details in the posts AutoCAD 2013 SP1 & AutoCAD LT 2013 SP1 and AutoLISP and VBA Security Controls in AutoCAD 2013 SP1.

Autodesk 2014 products and Windows 8 Support

According to this update KB we can see what Autodesk says about if Autodesk products are supported on Microsoft Windows 8.

Please check the system requirements for your product to verify compatibility and specific details (for example, some products are supported on the 64-bit version of Windows 8 but not the 32-bit version).

Unless noted otherwise in the system requirements for an individual product, Autodesk 2014 products are supported on the Windows 8 operating system.

For example I found that for example Revit Architecture for Citrix 2014, Autodesk Navisworks 2014, Simulation Moldflow 2014, Autodesk Maya 2014, Autodesk Inventor 2014, Autodesk Alias 2014, 3ds Max 2014, AutoCAD Civil 3D 2014, AutoCAD Plant 3D only mentions Windows 8 64-bit. But who would really use Windows 8 32-bit anyway?

Microsoft Windows Vista: Here’s what Autodesk says: Beginning January 1, 2012, Autodesk will have formally ceased support of the Microsoft Windows Vista Operating System for all new (and upgraded versions) of its products and services released in 2012.

Microsoft Windows XP: Why are you ending support for Windows Vista when XP, an older operating system, is still supported? Through Autodesk’s research and customer engagement, there is still a large population of customers utilizing this Operating System in their work environments. We will work with our customers in the coming 12-24 months to understand their transition plans and make a support decision about Windows XP when it is appropriate to do so.

See also: Autodesk’s Official support for Windows 8

AutoCAD 2014

AutoCAD 2014 will soon be available and you might wonder what’s new.

Command Line Enhancements

Yes, the command line does not go away soon, but rather has been improved quite a lot with AutoCorrect, AutoComplete, Adaptive Suggestions, Synonym Suggestions, Internet Search and more. Unfortunately not everything is yet included if you prefer to use the dynamic input only.

Binary Security

Remember AutoLISP and VBA Security Controls in AutoCAD 2013 SP1? Further work has been done to improve on the security to avoid DWG viruses, AutoLISP worms and the like.

File Tabs

Finally file tabs are included in the core.

Design Feed

Design Feed, accessible from the Autodesk 360 ribbon tab, displays a palette in which you can enter text messages and attach images to be shared online with colleagues, clients, and consultants through Autodesk 360. Posts appear with related drawings on the desktop, on the web, and across mobile devices.

Geolocation and Live maps

Support for Geographic locations has been significantly enhanced. It includes the same Coordinate System Library as AutoCAD Map 3D and new Autodesk Live Maps.

Reality Capture

Reality Capture enables you to take a 3D laser scan of an object, topography, a building or even an entire town and attach it to an AutoCAD drawing as point cloud data. You can then use it as a real‐world reference for your design work. This point cloud data is stored as thousands, even millions, of points in 3D space.

Point Cloud

Point cloud functionality is enhanced in AutoCAD 2014 to support inserting of Point Cloud Project (RCP) and Scan (RCS) files produced by Autodesk ReCap.

Finally there are also several minor updates like Arc Creation, FILLET and CHAMFER on Polylines and Xref Manager.

AutoCAD for Mac 2014 is not yet available.

Most of JTB World’s software just works with AutoCAD 2014 with no upgrade needed.

Autodesk Network License Manager downloads for 2014 product line

Autodesk IPv4 Network License Manager for Windows is found here and Autodesk IPv6 Network License Manager for Windows is found here. Supported operating systems are:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 32-bit and 64-bit
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 32-bit and 64-bit
Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit
Windows 8 32-bit and 64-bit

FlexNet version and version of all .exe files is 11.11.

Autodesk IPv6 Network License Manager for Windows supports mixed IPv4/IPv6 and IPv6-only environments. It does not support network license checkouts in an IPv4-only environment.

If you have multiple servers you can install on one of them and then grab lmtools.exe, lmutil.exe, lmgrd.exe, and adskflex.exe and copy to the others, just stop and start the FlexNet services in between.

Upgrade your license servers if you plan to support Autodesk’s 2014 products.

JTB FlexReport fully supports Autodesk Network License Manager and usage monitoring of all products licensed with FlexNet including version FlexNet 11.11.

For the FlexNet (FLEXlm) executables there is a newer version available FlexNet 11.11.1.

How to pin any document to the Start screen in Windows 8

Windows 8 comes with a completely new Start screen that replaces the start menu. After having tried some freeware that try to mimic the old start menu (that I were not that satisfied with) I have instead started to use the Start Screen and even though I don’t have a touch screen I find it quick and easy to use.

In Windows 8 you can by default pin only some things like programs (.exe) to the Start screen using Windows Explorer. But what if you want to pin a document? It can be done with a simple registry hack. Here is how I right-click on an Excel document and have the Pin to Start option.

When ready you will find the document or file as a tile on the Start screen.

Copy the text in the box below into Notepad and save it as pintostart.reg. Then double click on pintostart.reg and accept the dialog boxes.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\pintostartscreen]
"MUIVerb"="@shell32.dll,-51201"
"NeverDefault"=""
"Description"="@shell32.dll,-51202"
"MultiSelectModel"="Single"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\pintostartscreen\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{470C0EBD-5D73-4d58-9CED-E91E22E23282}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shell\pintostartscreen]
"MUIVerb"="@shell32.dll,-51201"
"NeverDefault"=""
"Description"="@shell32.dll,-51202"
"MultiSelectModel"="Single"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shell\pintostartscreen\command]
"DelegateExecute"="{470C0EBD-5D73-4d58-9CED-E91E22E23282}"

Another alternative is Pin to 8 that is a nice freeware with more features:

With our Pin to 8 you will able:

• to pin ANY file regardless of its type;
• to pin ANY folder;
• to pin drive;
• to pin Control Panel items, all them including some hidden like God Mode/All Tasks, Network Connections;
• to pin Libraries;
• to pin Shell Objects like Run command, "Show Desktop", Window Switcher;
• to pin any folders or files with drag and drop. Drop them on application window.

There is also a manual way by adding a shortcut in this folder:

%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

When expanded it may look like this except jtb would be your login name: C:\Users\jtb\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Only thing is that you need to also pin it. Say you create a shortcut named “Windows 8 manual test” and put it in the folder above. Now press the Windows button and start writing the name of the shortcut and it should show up in the search result.

Right-click on the shortcut and select Pin to Start at the bottom of the screen and the tile should show up on the Start Screen.

AutoCAD Architecture Classification Definitions Export/Import

How can AutoCAD Architecture Classification Definitions be exported and imported?

With JTB World’s ClassificationDefinitionTools this can be done. I’ve now updated the tool for AutoCAD Architecture 2013 and AutoCAD MEP 2013. Windows 8 is also supported as long as you are able to run the Autodesk product in question on it.

Here is the program’s import form where the first column defines the level in the resulting classification tree. This will also work fine with thousands of classification items.

After importing this definition the result in the Style Manager is as below.

One user is using ClassificationDefinitionTools to add OmniClass Construction Classification System (known as OmniClass or OCCS) classifications to AutoCAD MEP drawings. “There are over 10,000 of them so this tool makes it easy.”

Trial is available at here.

Autodesk’s Official support for Windows 8

Have you started using Windows 8 or plan to do it? If so you may wonder what Autodesk says about support for their products.

Is compatible with ?

Windows 8 Support for Autodesk products

According to KB id TS19048377

Issue

You want to know which Autodesk products are supported on Microsoft Windows® 8.

Note: Unless indicated otherwise, this information applies to the 2013-2010 versions of all Autodesk products. Autodesk product versions of 2009 and earlier are no longer supported and are not included in considerations of Windows 8 compatibility.

Solution

Autodesk intends to support many of our key products on Windows 8 and will add additional products to the list of products supported on Windows 8 as updates and future versions are released. Product Support will provide its best effort to assist customers who have issues with products that are not currently supported.

The Autodesk products listed below have been tested and are confirmed as working correctly on Microsoft Windows 8 operating system:

• Autodesk 3ds Max 2013
• Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2013
• Autodesk Maya 2013
• Autodesk MotionBuilder 2013
• Autodesk Mudbox 2013
• Autodesk Softimage 2013
• Autodesk SketchBook Designer 2013

Note: This technical solution will be updated as new Windows 8 compatibility information becomes available.

See also Windows 8 and Autodesk product compatibility

Windows 8 and Autodesk product compatibility

If you like to know about Microsoft Windows 8 compatibility of Autodesk products you can visit the Windows 8 Compatibility Center and search for your product.

What does Microsoft say?

Here are a couple of examples:

AutoCAD 2013 is compatible with Windows 8.

Autodesk Revit 2013 is compatible with Windows 8.

But what does Autodesk say?

This is according to TS19048377

You want to know if you can run AutoCAD, AutoCAD LT, or AutoCAD-based vertical products on Microsoft Windows 8.

At this time, Windows® 8 and the Windows® 8 Consumer Preview are not supported operating systems for any AutoCAD versions.  The AutoCAD team is investigating compatibility with these new platforms, but we do not have any further information at this time. In the meantime, please refer to Operating system compatibility for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT for details on currently supported operating systems.

Windows 7 was released July 22, 2009 not a long time after AutoCAD 2010 was released in March 24, 2009. In the case with AutoCAD 2010 Windows 7 became supported by Autodesk. We have to wait and see if Autodesk officially will support some or all of their 2013 products on Windows 8 or not.

UPDATE: Autodesk’s Official support for Windows 8

JTB FlexReport 7.3 Released

The license usage report solution JTB FlexReport has been updated to version 7.3.

Downloads here. See also the Upgrade tips. Customers with maintenance have access to this release at no extra cost.

See the revision history for more details on this release.

Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 are the new supported operating systems.

Contact us to get a time limited license file for free. You can try it in your environment with your real data for a few weeks with full functionality.
Full support is provided during trial period.

About JTB FlexReport: JTB FlexReport from JTB World is a report and monitoring tool for applications using the FlexNet / FLEXlm (flexlm license manager), IBM LUM (IBM License Use Management), SPLM (Intergraph SmartPlant License Manager), SLM/Sentinel LM/Sentinel RMS, LM-X, Solidworks SNL License Manager, T-Systems license manager product LICMAN, Vertex Systems, MathLM (Mathematica), Primavera from Oracle or 12D software licensing. With Process Monitor any Windows application like Acrobat, Visio, Bentley MicroStation, single licensed AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT can be reported usage of.

See also: Autodesk Network License Manager for 2013 products and Software Vendor Audits are Increasing as well as the guide to Autodesk Network License Manager (FlexNet).