Issue: When launching Revit you are unable to obtain a network license on a specific workstation but other workstations can obtain a license.
Solution found in Knowledge Base document: Revit network license troubleshooting
Applies to:
Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010
Revit Architecture 2009
Revit Architecture 2008
Autodesk Revit MEP 2010
Revit MEP 2009
Revit MEP 2008
Autodesk Revit Structure 2010
Revit Structure 2009
Revit Structure 2008
Knowledge Base document: Updated BIN file for Autodesk Product Manager Utility
This version updates the Autodesk Product Manager to detect new Media & Entertainment products that are now shipping. Instructions for replacing the previous BIN file with the new one are included in the readme.
Via Without A Net
One new thing that comes with AutoCAD 2010 is that you now can automatically publish PDF files. Previously only DWF files were supported.
Taka look at Options>Plot and Publish
and you find Auto Publish Settings
You can auto-publish on Save and Close as well as get a prompt before the publishing.
The location for the PDF files can either be the drawing folder, a sub-folder relative to the drawing folder named “DWF and PDF” or any other specified folder.
Other settings are if you want to include Model, Layouts or both, creation of single-sheet or multi-sheet files, inclusion of layers, lines merge control and so on.
The AUTOPUBLISH command can also be used to specify some of the settings on the command line.
Friday fun. Remember good old Pipes screensaver? Here is AutoCAD Plant 3D.
Download the screen saver at In the Pipes.
AutoCAD Plant 3D is soon available.
Update time if you are using AutoCAD 2010!
AutoCAD 2010 Update 1
AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 1
This update is only for AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT and cannot be applied to vertical products that are based on AutoCAD 2010.
Installing Update 1 will increment the product version to 2, e.g., "AutoCAD 2010 - English Version 2".
Thanks to detailed information from customers who used the Customer Error Reporting (CER) Utility, problems were identified and fixed in more than 30 commands and features. – Without A Net
Updates have been made in the following commands and features:
The following defects have been fixed:
2D Drawing
- If the PLINETYPE system variable is set to 0, STRETCH does not work as expected on arc segments of polylines.
- When the PLINETYPE system variable is set to 0, the closing point of a polyline with segments of different widths do not display correctly.
- If you use the JOIN command on splines, a duplicate control point is inserted.
- When you use the JOIN command on multiple polylines, AutoCAD may crash.
3D Modeling
- When you open a drawing that contains solids, some solids display briefly and then disappear.
- If a grip on a mesh face, edge, or vertex is highlighted and you use the ViewCube, AutoCAD crashes.
3D Navigation Tools
- When you use the 3DORBIT command, you cannot orbit correctly. You can only orbit around a single pivot point and you cannot orbit around a specific object in a large group of objects.
Action Recorder
- An Action Recorder macro created in AutoCAD 2009 may fail to run in AutoCAD 2010.
Annotation Scaling
- When there are xrefs in a drawing, changing annotation scales takes a long time.
- When an annotative style multiline text (mtext) is rotated or surrounded by a hatch, the boundary box does not display correctly.
Blocks
- When you turn off the display of an attribute with a visibility parameter in a dynamic block, the Enhanced Attribute Editor lists attribute prompts incorrectly.
- You cannot copy an object from an AutoCAD 2009 drawing and paste it as a block into an AutoCAD 2010 drawing.
- You cannot use the Properties palette to set the value of a action parameter to 0.
- When you delete a constraint parameter from a dynamic block, AutoCAD may crash.
- You cannot stretch some dynamic blocks as expected.
Check Spelling
- When you run spellcheck on uppercase words, AutoCAD may crash.
CUI
- When you save a workspace, if the Enterprise CUIx file is read-only, AutoCAD crashes.
- Toolbar flyouts close unexpectedly.
Data Extraction
- When you use Data Extraction to extract the value of a block's multiline attribute into a table, text formatting code displays in the table.
DGN Support
- When a DGN file is imported, some attributes are missing.
Digital Signature
- When you open a drawing, the Invalid signature dialog box may display even if the digital signature is valid.
Dimensions
- You cannot create an angular dimension between two lines in different XY planes.
DWF
- When the background color in AutoCAD is black, some DWF underlays do not display correctly.
Dynamic Dimensions
- When you use the COPYBASE command with Dynamic Input on, AutoCAD crashes.
Export Layout
- When you use the EXPORTLAYOUT command on files in which Standard styles have been renamed, AutoCAD crashes.
External References
- You may not be able to bind multiple xrefs that include nested xrefs.
File Open
- When you try to open a drawing file from a FTP site, AutoCAD may crash.
Find and Replace
- If you use Find and Replace, autonumbering is deleted.
General UI
- On the status bar, the model or paperspace button may be missing, even after you have repeatedly turned it on.
Graphic System
- When the background color is changed in an active paperspace viewport, the cursor disappears.
- After you plot a drawing in AutoCAD, if you lock Microsoft Windows and then unlock it, AutoCAD may crash.
Hatch
- When you turn off the current layer while grip editing a hatch boundary, AutoCAD crashes.
- When the UCSVP system variable is set to 0, hatched objects align with the WCS rather than the UCS.
- When you grip edit a hatch with an elliptical boundary, AutoCAD crashes.
Image
- When you attach some TIFF images, AutoCAD crashes.
- TIFF images may not display correctly.
Inquiry Tools
- The AREA command fails on some polylines.
Keyboard Modifiers
- When temporary overrides are enabled, keyboard input using the Shift key may not display on the command line.
Layers
- Xrefs on locked layers do not display faded as expected. The LAYLOCKFADECTL system variable fails to alter them.
- When you delete a certain layer, all layers may be deleted.
- On the ribbon, the Layer drop-down does not display layers based on the current layer filter.
Licensing
- When you set your system time back more than 2 days, your license is broken.
- When you use a proxy server for internet access, the License Transfer Utility fails.
LiveUpdate
- When you have Autodesk 2009 and AutoCAD 2010 installed side-by-side, LiveUpdate does not work in AutoCAD 2009.
Measurement Tools
- When you use the MEASUREGEOM command, the tooltip and command line results are different. The tooltip result is incorrect.
- When you use the DIST command in model space, the results at the tooltip and the command line are different. The tooltip result is incorrect.
Migration
- When you export certain profiles, AutoCAD crashes.
- When you save certain profiles migrated from AutoCAD 2009, AutoCAD 2010 crashes.
Multileader (mleader)
- When you mirror mleaders that contain blocks with multiline attributes, the mirrored attributes are incorrectly justified.
- When you plot a drawing as a PDF file, the layer order is not alphabetized as expected.
- When a drawing that contains layers with names that include special characters is exported as a PDF, it cannot be opened.
- When you attach a large PDF file to your drawing, or try to attach it and then cancel the operation, performance is slow.
Publish
- When Windows XP is set to Windows Classic theme, on any Asian language version of AutoCAD 2010, if you use the PUBLISH command, AutoCAD freezes.
Purge
- On Windows Vista, in the Purge dialog box, when you attempt to use the Ctrl or Shift keys to select multiple items, the first highlighted item is de-selected.
QUICKCALC
- Calculations performed by the QUICKCALC command may be incorrect.
Recover
- When you use the RECOVER command on a AutoCAD 2000 formatted drawing file, polylines and splines in the drawing are deleted.
Reference Edit
- When you use the REFSET command, you can only add one instance of a block to the reference set. Other instances are rejected and an error message displays.
Ribbon
- Text styles from an attached xref display in the Ribbon text style control.
- When you switch between AutoCAD Classic and other workspaces (for example, 2D Drafting & Annotation or 3D Modeling), performance becomes slow.
- Layers with a VP Freeze for a viewport indicate the VP Freeze status even when the viewport is not active.
- When you click the File menu in the zero doc state, AutoCAD freezes.
- After you unload a partial CUI file, a tab remains on the ribbon. If you click the tab, AutoCAD crashes.
Section & Flatten
- When you section solids through API, multiple memory leaks occur.
Seek
- The SHAREWITHSEEK command may not work if the port used to communicate with Seek is blocked by a firewall.
Snaps
- When you snap to the grid, there may be a slight offset from the grid.
Visual Lisp
- When you use the CECOLOR system variable, the value returned by using the Getvar function is incorrect.
UCS
- In AutoCAD 2010 German, you cannot use ribbon controls to modify coordinates.
Xrefs
- With the XATTACH command, you cannot select multiple xrefs.
See the details on the problem AutoCAD 2010 .NET API: eFileSharingViolation in Database.SaveAs that Nikolay Poleshchuk found.
That's why AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide uses more reliable acDoc.Database.SaveAs(acDoc.Name, True, DwgVersion.Current, acDoc.Database.SecurityParameters) instead.
Steve Johnson made a safer version of the AutoCAD virus protection that was posted in this Knowledge Base document: Acad.vlx Virus Cleanup.
The clean_virus_safe.lsp checks for existence of acad.vlx and logo.gif files, which are associated with virus AL/Logo-A, also known as ACAD/Unexplode, ACAD/Agent.A or ACM_UNEXPLODE.B. Written as a safer alternative to Autodesk’s code which deletes suspect files without prior warning. This code renames the files instead.
On the topic of viruses: AutoCAD virus and AutoCAD Adware Trojan
Knowledge Base document: Scale List Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD 2010
When a file contains excess scales, performance may be negatively affected. Eventually, the file may become unusable. To use the file, some scales must be removed. This utility repairs affected files by removing excess scales.
Knowledge Base document: Regapp ID Cleanup Utility for AutoCAD 2010
When you delete an object with Extended Entity Data (xdata), a regapp ID remains in the application ID (APPID) symbol table. When a file contains excess unreferenced regapp IDs, performance and file size may be negatively affected.
This utility removes excess unreferenced registered application (regapp) IDs from multiple files simultaneously.
Knowledge Base document: Installing the Autodesk Network License Manager with video for a walkthrough of installing and configuring the Autodesk Network License Manager (FLEXnet/FLEXlm).
I think this was interesting to share with you.
Vela Systems is a provider of mobile field-automation software for the AEC industries. Autodesk has collaborated with Vela System to integrate Vela System’s Field BIM Software Suite into Autodesk Navisworks, a software tool for aggregating various project contributions into a single, coordinated 3D building information model. This integration of Autodesk and Vela Systems technology extends the building information modeling (BIM) process to the field by enabling Autodesk Navisworks 3D project models to reflect the actual status (delivered and/or installed) of objects within the design.
Via Vela Systems software on mobile tablet computers, jobsite users can access the Autodesk Navisworks project model on-site during the construction phase helping to better track material production and installation, manage commissioning, conduct inspections, do punch lists and create electronic owner-handover documentation. In essence, the single model captures all of this essential field information to ensure project accuracy and efficiency.
Here is the press release
Autodesk and Vela Systems Collaborate to Provide Building Information Modeling for the Field
Vela Systems Field BIM Software Suite Bi-directionally Integrates with Autodesk Navisworks Software
SAN RAFAEL, Calif., August 5, 2009—Autodesk,Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK), a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, has announced that it has collaborated with Vela Systems, Inc., a provider of mobile field automation software for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, to integrate Vela Systems Field BIM Software Suite with Autodesk Navisworks. Navisworks is a software tool for combining project contributions into a single, coordinated 3D building information model. This technology integration extends the building information modeling (BIM) process to the field by making it possible for Autodesk Navisworks 3D project models to reflect the state of objects within the design based on field-gathered data.
Using Vela Systems software —including bar-coding and radio-frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology—builders on-site can access a data-rich Autodesk Navisworks project model during the construction phase. Instead of leaving the Autodesk Navisworks model and its data behind in the office or job trailer, jobsite users can work with Vela Systems software on mobile tablet computers to access the intelligent model on-site. This makes it possible to track material production and installation, manage commissioning, conduct quality assurance/quality control inspections, do punch lists and create electronic owner-handover documentation. Autodesk Navisworks users may designate which information will be managed in Vela Systems and, as a result, the Vela Systems software enables this data to be properly managed and used in the field. The integration between the products is bi-directional and automated. The result is that the information from the field connects the “should be” state-of-design to the “as-is” state-of-construction.
New Solution Applied to Autodesk AEC Headquarters in Waltham, Mass.
During the construction of Autodesk’s new AEC headquarters on Trapelo Road in Waltham, Mass., Tocci Building Corporation utilized Vela Systems Materials Tracker and Issues and Punchlists software products. By combining Vela Systems software with Autodesk Navisworks, all parties were able to monitor and track office workstations at the new Autodesk facility. Vela Systems Materials Tracker pulled objects from the Autodesk Navisworks model through an automated integration, and then captured their status information (for example, delivered, ready-to-install, installed or damaged) from the field. This field gathered data was then deposited into the Autodesk Navisworks model. Tocci and subcontractor Creative Office Pavilion were then able to visualize and monitor the installation and quality status of workstations in real-time, making it possible to plan for shortages or discrepancies accordingly.
The benefits of extending BIM to the field on the Autodesk headquarters project were threefold. First, upon delivery, the inventory of available workstations was confirmed against the model – this revealed that all necessary components were on-site ahead of the actual delivery manifests so the next phase of work could begin sooner. Then, the staging, assembly and installation processes for workstations were tracked from Vela Systems back into the Autodesk Navisworks model through color coding of model elements. This enabled the team to visualize available inventory and coordinate installation processes more efficiently. Last, the quality control processes of final inspection and owner punch lists were automated in the field with Vela Systems and linked back to the Autodesk Navisworks model, improving team communication and project delivery.
“Tying together field data with the model creates new opportunities for construction delivery methods and oversight,” said Tocci Building Corporation general superintendent, Bob Tierney. “By using the integrated Autodesk and Vela Systems solution on this project, we demonstrated how we can connect the ‘virtually built’ building to the ‘physically built’ one. The model gives us better oversight because everyone can instantly visualize problem areas as ‘hot spots’ with live data from the field. It is the obvious next step for contractors looking to maximize the value of BIM.”
“The combination of using 3D modeling tools and practicing BIM is helping to transform the building industry,” said Tim Douglas, Autodesk industry solutions manager, construction. “The integration of Vela Systems Field BIM solution into Autodesk Navisworks software provides our customers with better accuracy and efficiency for the duration of the project—beginning in the design phase and continuing through field implementation and handover.”
“By integrating Vela Systems and Autodesk Navisworks, our joint customers can leverage the transformative power of BIM beyond design into the construction process,” said Tim Curran, CEO, Vela Systems. “By leveraging the model in the field, contractors benefit from greater efficiencies and owners get a better end product.”
BIM is an integrated process that allows architects, engineers and builders to explore a project digitally before it’s built. Coordinated, reliable information is used throughout the process to design innovative projects, accurately visualize appearance for better communication, and simulate real-world performance for better understanding of important characteristics such as cost, scheduling and environmental impact.
About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a world leader in 2D and 3D design and engineering software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art Digital Prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.
