Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Update Autodesk Network License Manager for 2011 release of Autodesk products

This is how to update Acresso’s FlexNet from a Previous Version according to AutoCAD Installation/Licensing Help:

The 2011 release of Autodesk products and later require FlexNet version 11.7.0.0 or later. If you are currently using a version of FlexNet that is earlier than 11.7.0.0, you need to upgrade to version 11.7.0.0 or later.

Note: If the server where you plan to install the Autodesk Network License Manager has FlexNet installed for another product, make sure that the version of lmgrd.exe is the most current version.To determine what version of FlexNet is installed, you need to verify the version of the following files: lmgrd.exe, lmtools.exe, lmutil.exe, adskflex.exe

To verify the version of lmutil.exe, lmtools.exe, or adskflex.exe (Windows)

You should be logged in with Administrator rights when working with the LMTOOLS utility.

  1. Click Start > All Programs > Autodesk > Network License Manager  LMTOOLS Utility.
  2. In lmtools.exe, click the Utilities tab.
  3. On the Utilities tab, enter the location of the file, or click the Browse button to locate the file and click Open. The file location should look something like this:
    C:\Program Files\Autodesk Network License Manager\lmutil.exe
  4. On the Utilities tab, click Find Version.
    The version number of the file you selected is displayed. If necessary, use the following procedure to update your version of FlexNet.

To update FlexNet

You should be logged in with Administrator rights when working with the LMTOOLS utility.

  1. Back up your license files.
  2. Click Start > All Programs > Autodesk > Network License Manager  LMTOOLS Utility.
  3. In the LMTOOLS program, click the Start/Stop/Reread tab.
  4. On the Start/Stop/Reread tab, click Stop Server.
  5. Close lmtools.exe.
  6. Note the location where the Network License Manager is installed and then uninstall the Network License Manager.
  7. Install the Network License Manager.
  8. Do one of the following:
    •(Windows XP) Click Start > Programs > Autodesk > Network License Manager  LMTOOLS.
    •(Windows Vista) Double-click the LMTOOLS icon on the desktop.
  9. In the LMTOOLS program, click the Start/Stop/Reread tab.
  10. On the Start/Stop/Reread tab, click Start Server.
  11. Close lmtools.exe.

Monday, March 29, 2010

JTB FlexReport 6 beta 3

The beta of JTB FlexReport 6 is no longer available as JTB FlexReport 6 have been released.

Autodesk Asset Locator

With AutoCAD 2011 and other 2011 product comes the Autodesk Asset Locator (previously known as Autodesk Product Manager) with updated bin file to find all 2011 products. Autodesk Product Manager is no longer supported by Autodesk.

AAL 1.0 was released earlier this year searches a network and reports information about each Autodesk product installed, including programs, service packs, extensions, and object enablers. You can save the results of the search in a file for use in a spreadsheet or database application.

Knowledge Base document: Applications searched for by the Autodesk Asset Locator

As before "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Tools and Utilities\Autodesk Asset Locator\AdpmProducts.bin" can be modified in Notepad or an XML editor to support other products, even non Autodesk products. If you made modifications you will find them in the Help menu and Products Searched.

There will probably soon be possible to download just the updated AdpmProducts.bin.

The Autodesk Asset Locator is available for download at the following link:
Autodesk Asset Locator

UPDATE: The Autodesk Asset Locator and its follow up product Autodesk Inventory Advisor have both been retired by Autodesk. See also our SAM product JTB FlexReport.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

AutoCAD 2011 Discussion Group

The Autodesk discussion group is now available to visit for discussing AutoCAD 2011.

Earth Hour 2010

The hour for the Earth Hour 2010 has started already in some parts of the world. I have a count time clock at the right side of the blog right now.

Here’s from Stockholm, Sweden:

Soon time to switch off the lights, take a break from email, internet information flow and the like.

Nature by Numbers

Robin said “I should be doing other things but this film, Nature by Numbers by Cristóbal Vila, is a beautiful way to spend a few minutes (watch full screen):”

I cannot agree more. Things like these and the sunflower below where showed me when I was very young and got me started loving math and creating computer programs.

Nature by Numbers from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.

A SHORT MOVIE INSPIRED ON NUMBERS, GEOMETRY AND NATURE.
Go to www.etereaestudios.com if you are looking for more information: the theory behind the movie (Fibonacci, Golden Ratio, Delaunay, Voronoi…), stills and screenshots showing the work in progress. There are lots of training materials and 3D workshops, too ;-)

In principle, all the sunflowers in the world show a number of spirals that are within the Fibonacci Sequence. You could go out to the countryside and look for a plantation to be sure :-)

Via RobiNZ CAD Blog

Friday, March 26, 2010

AutoCAD Architecture 2011-AutoCAD MEP 2011 Object Enabler

The AutoCAD Architecture-MEP 2011 Object Enabler makes AEC objects come to life in 2011 releases of AutoCAD, AutoCAD Electrical, AutoCAD Mechanical, AutoCAD Map 3D, AutoCAD Civil 3D, Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk 3ds Max Design, Autodesk Navisworks Manage, and Autodesk Navisworks Simulate.

Renovation Documentation

View and modify AEC objects using AutoCAD commands such as MOVE, COPY, and STRETCH.
Improved object snap support.
Elimination of proxy graphics messages.

Additional commands supplied with the AutoCAD Architecture-MEP Object Enabler

  • DisplayManagerConfigsSelection allows you to specify the display configuration that will be used in the drawing. Depending on the settings used in attached drawings, this may or may not affect the display of the xref drawing. On the Model tab, or with a Model Space viewport active on a Layout tab, selecting this toolbar button will display a list of available display configurations, with the current one indicated by a checkmark. Selecting a different configuration will cause a full regen of the drawing, so there may be some delay. For example, if a DWG file is saved in AutoCAD Architecture or AutoCAD MEP with only a reflected ceiling and render display configurations, those are the only ones supported by the AutoCAD Architecture-MEP Object Enabler. Users planning on sharing their files must enable layouts and viewport configurations to meet the needs of their partners.
  • -AecExportToAutoCAD allows you to convert an AutoCAD Architecture or AutoCAD MEP drawing to AutoCAD entities. The command gives you the ability to bind xrefs and save the file in 2000, 2004, 2007 or 2010 drawing format. The result will be exported to a new DWG file with all AEC objects exploded. The new version of the drawing loses the intelligence of the custom AEC objects, but the resulting basic objects can be displayed and accessed in earlier versions of AutoCAD when object enablers are not available for those versions. Any subsequent changes you make to this new drawing file do not affect the original drawing file.

    Command line entry: -aecexporttoautocad

      Export options [Format/Bind/bind Type/Maintain/Prefix/Suffix/?] <Enter for filename>: Enter an option or press ENTER to specify a file name

    Enter for Filename - Creates a new drawing file with the specified name. You can use the Prefix or Suffix option to create a unique file name for this drawing and prevent overwriting the existing drawing file.

      Export drawing name <current>: Enter a file name

    Format - Determines the drawing file format for the resulting drawing file.

      Enter file format [r14/2000/2004/2007/2010] <2007>: Specify the drawing file format

    Bind - Determines how xrefs are treated when creating the new drawing.

      Bind xrefs [Yes/No] <Yes>: Enter y or n

        Yes - Binds all xrefs to the drawing. Layers and other xref-dependent named objects are merged into the new drawing.

        No - Maintains the xrefs as links to other drawings.

        Note:  The appearance of the combined drawing may differ if the xrefs are not bound.

    Bind Type - Determines how xref-dependent objects are treated when the Bind option is turned on.

      Bind type [Bind/Insert] <Insert>: Enter an option

        Bind - Maintains the names of layers and other xref-dependent objects when binding xrefs.

        Insert - Merges the names of xref-dependent objects into the new drawing without including the original file name.

    Maintain - Determines how objects within custom AEC objects are treated.

      Maintain resolved properties [Yes/No] <Yes>: Enter y or n

        Yes - Explodes all custom AEC objects into separate basic AutoCAD objects. The resulting basic objects revert to their original properties rather than the properties of the block definitions. For example, if a component of a custom object has the color specified ByBlock, and the object has the color specified ByLayer and resides on a layer with the color 50, the resulting AutoCAD object will have color = 50.
        No - Creates a block from each custom AEC object. The properties of the block instances are determined in the usual way, depending on how the objects in the blocks were created and the property settings of the layers on which the blocks are inserted.

    Prefix - Specifies the prefix to be added to the current drawing file name.

      Filename prefix <>: Enter the characters to be added to the beginning of the current file name

    Suffix - Specifies the suffix to be added to the current drawing file name.

      Filename suffix <>: Enter the characters to be added to the end of the current file name

    ?- Lists the current settings for the command.

      File format: current setting

      Bind xrefs: current setting

      Bind type: current setting

      Filename prefix: current setting

      Filename suffix: current setting

  • SetXrefConfig allows you to specify the display configuration that will be used in an xref drawing.
  • AecFileOpenMessage allows you to disable or enable the dialog that appears when drawings from previous versions of AutoCAD Architecture or AutoCAD MEP are opened.
  • AecFileSaveMessage allows you to disable or enable the dialog that appears when drawings are saved to a previous drawing format.
  • AecObjectCopyMessage allows you to disable or enable the dialog that may appear when copying AEC objects from future version drawings.
  • ObjRelUpdate causes AEC objects to be completely reconstructed, which may be necessary to resolve display issues.
  • AecVersion displays the file version of files that comprise the AutoCAD Architecture-MEP Object Enabler.
  • -DwgUnits allows you to specify the drawing units that will be used with the current file. This affects how drawings are combined when inserting drawings that use different units. For example, to combine a Civil 3D drawing that uses feet with an AutoCAD Architecture drawing using inches, you would first change the units in the AutoCAD Architecture drawing to feet, and then insert it into the Civil 3D drawing.

    An AecArchXOE.cui file will be copied to the user's AutoCAD Support folder for any user who runs the host application after the AutoCAD Architecture-MEP Object Enabler is installed. This file contains a toolbar (AEC OE) with three buttons, which run the following commands: DisplayManagerConfigsSelection, -AecExportToAutoCAD and SetXrefConfig. To add this toolbar to your workspace, use the command MENULOAD, browse to the location referenced above, select the file, and then click Load and Close.

Knowledge Base document: AutoCAD Architecture & AutoCAD MEP 2011 Object Enabler (32-bit and 64-bit) and readme

Applies to:
AutoCAD® 2011
AutoCAD® Civil 3D® 2011
AutoCAD® Electrical 2011
AutoCAD® Map 3D 2011
AutoCAD® Mechanical 2011
Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2011
Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2011
Autodesk® Navisworks® Manage 2011
Autodesk® Navisworks® Simulate 2011

Thursday, March 25, 2010

AutoCAD 2011 quality tested

Here’s some interesting figures that should give you confidence to go ahead and use AutoCAD 2011 right away and not waiting for Update 1 (SP1). I personally found AutoCAD 2011 to be a very stable release but of course you should do your own test in your environment and with your addons.

  • 76,000 man hours spent on Q/A of the new release
  • 6,000 total code reviews of new release
  • 2,000 commands tested
  • 4,600 Beta customers involved in AutoCAD 2011
  • 1.4M lines of old code were removed

Via CADman-Do

JTB World products and AutoCAD 2011 compatibility

As AutoCAD 2011 is binary compatible with AutoCAD 2010 most applications just works and here are some of JTB World’s products that works with AutoCAD 2011 based products:

  • JTB FlexReport works also with latest version of FlexNet
  • SmartPurger
  • AutoCAD Automation Tools
  • SSMPropEditor
  • DimNotes
  • DwgInfoTip
  • DWG Explorer Column Handler
  • Sheet Set Manager Path Edit
  • XClipClean
  • I’ve also tested quite a few of the free AutoLISP commands and code snippets and have not found any issues.

    AutoCAD 2011

    AutoCAD 2011 is now released. The big news are:

    • Surface Modeling - NURBS surfaces
    • Point Cloud Files
    • Materials Browser
    • Parametric Drawing - Infer Constraints
    • Object Transparency
    • Polylines - multi-functional grips

    AutoCAD 2011 Help online: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2011/ENU/landing.html
    New Features Workshop: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2011/ENU/NFW/nfw.htm

    The AutoCAD 2011 page will continually be updated as well as posts made on this blog.

    Wednesday, March 24, 2010

    Autodesk Event Thursday, March 25

    Thursday, March 25 at 9:00 PDT/12:00 EDT/16:00 UTC/17:00 CET we can join Autodesk CEO Carl Bass and Senior Vice President Amar Hanspal for a live webcast.

    AutoCAD 2010 training video

    Looking for great AutoCAD training for yourself or your users? No previous AutoCAD knowledge and experience needed.

    AutoCAD 2010 training videoIn this video training, expert author Brian Benton takes you through the fundamentals of AutoCAD 2010 and gives you the tools you need to be on your way to becoming an fully functioning AutoCAD user. Starting with the basics of installation, Brian quickly teaches you the basics, and then dives right into applying them, with a chapter project that reviews everything you have learned in each section. Using a hands on approach, Brian allows you to more quickly learn how to apply the material, increasing your retention and understanding of AutoCAD 2010. By the completion of this over 9.5 hour tutorial, you will be familiar and comfortable with AutoCAD, and capable of drawing, decorating and annotating an AutoCAD project. Also included are work files to allow you to work along side the author, and further understand what he is showing you, step by step. The training consists of 97 mini-lessons. The video is available as download or DVD.

    Brian Benton has done a great work putting together this educational material. Check out Brian Benton’s blog CAD-a-Blog as well.

    But what if you want to learn older versions like AutoCAD 2009 or newer like soon to be released AutoCAD 2011. Don’t worry you will find good use of this training anyway.

    Here are the main chapters of the AutoCAD 2010 Fundamentals Video:

    • Getting Started
    • Interfacing With AutoCAD
    • Basic Operations
    • Drawing & Drafting Tools
    • Editing Tools
    • Utilities: Tools To Know What's Going On
    • Precision Tools: Tricks To Help You Draw Accurately
    • AutoCAD: Using Layers
    • Annotations
    • Blocks
    • Model Space And Paper Space
    • Plot & Publish
    • Final Project
    • About The Author

    If you would be interested in doing a similar training video about Revit please contact me and I can get you in contact with the video producers.

    This is an affiliated ad blog post but I do recommend this product. I try to avoid random ads like Google ads that I cannot stand behind and control.

    Monday, March 22, 2010

    Internet Explorer 9 and CAD

    Ted Johnson, the founder of Visio is Product Manager Architect for graphics and rendering on IE. HTML5 applications that IE 9 will support are a lot richer and demanding, in terms of graphics and speed than Ajax applications. Will IE 9 be better for CAD in the cloud solutions?

    Via All About Microsoft

    Automate path type in xref and image attach dialog box

    In the post How to preset the path type in the xref attach dialog box there are some tips but what if you want it further automated and force the AutoCAD attach dialog box to be changed whenever the command is run? Here is one way to do it if you want to automatically get relative path. If you want something else just change the PathType and ImagePathType to 0 for absolute path or 2 for no path.

    Here’s the AutoLISP code that creates a command reactor that makes the needed setting in the Windows registry before running XATTACH or IMAGEATTACH. To have this loaded in all drawings add to acaddoc.lsp.

    (vl-load-com)
    (defun activatePathTypeReactor ()
      (if (not PathTypeReactor)
        (setq
          PathTypeReactor (vlr-command-reactor
    	       nil
    	       '((:vlr-commandWillStart . reactonxattach))
    	     )
        )
      )
    )
    
    (defun reactonxattach (event parameter)
      (if (= (car parameter) "XATTACH")
        (vl-registry-write
          (strcat
    	"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\"
    	(vlax-product-key)
    	"\\Profiles\\"
    	(vla-get-activeprofile
    	  (vla-get-profiles
    	    (vla-get-preferences (vlax-get-acad-object))
    	  )
    	)
    	"\\Dialogs\\XattachDialog"
          )
          "PathType"
          1
        )
      )
    
      (if (= (car parameter) "IMAGEATTACH")
        (vl-registry-write
          (strcat
    	"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\"
    	(vlax-product-key)
    	"\\ISM\\"
          )
          "ImagePathType"
          1
        )
      )
    )
    (activatePathTypeReactor)

    If any of the readers want to find out or know where the settings are for DWF, DGN and PDF please feel free to add a comment. But I think they are not persisted neither in the registry nor in any other settings file so the way to work around that would require another solution.

    Thursday, March 18, 2010

    JTB FlexReport 6 beta 2

    The beta of JTB FlexReport 6 is no longer available as JTB FlexReport 6 have been released.

    Wednesday, March 17, 2010

    BIM Deployment Plan

    Autodesk BIM Deployment Plan can be useful if you manage processes and collaborate during building information modeling (BIM) projects.

    “New technology is creating enormous opportunities for the building industry to improve processes and outcomes, and many organizations still need guidance on how to share information as well as streamline project communications,” said Phil Bernstein, FAIA, Autodesk vice president of building industry strategy & relations.  “The Autodesk BIM Deployment Plan was designed to help companies navigate the entire process via one collaborative framework and subsequently deliver projects faster, more economically and with reduced environmental impact.”

    About BIM

    BIM is an integrated process for exploring a project’s key physical and functional characteristics digitally before it’s built, helping to deliver projects faster and more economically, while minimizing environmental impact.  Coordinated, consistent information is used throughout the process to design innovative projects, better visualize and simulate real-world appearance, performance and cost, and create more accurate documentation.

    Via an Autodesk press release.

    Saturday, March 13, 2010

    JTB FlexReport 6 beta 1

    The beta of JTB FlexReport 6 is no longer available as JTB FlexReport 6 have been released.

    UNSUPPORTED, License server system does not support this feature

    Messages similar to below are logged in the FlexNet (FLEXlm) network license debug log file every minute:

    11:36:33 (adskflex) UNSUPPORTED: "57600ACD_2009_0F" (0D1B EB53 6325 5C0C ) user@computer  (License server system does not support this feature. (-18,327:10054 ""))
    11:37:33 (adskflex) UNSUPPORTED: "57600ACD_2009_0F" (0D1B EB53 6325 5C0C ) user@computer  (License server system does not support this feature. (-18,327:10054 ""))

    Explanation and resolution is found in this AutoCAD Knowledge Base document:
    UNSUPPORTED, License server system does not support this feature

    Saturday, March 6, 2010

    Autodesk Network License Manager IPv6 Support

    This update enables the Autodesk Network License Manager to support IPv6 networks using Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008, Windows Vista® 32-bit and Windows Vista® 64-bit, Windows 7 32-bit and Windows 7 64-bit.

    Important:

    • This version of the Autodesk Network License Manager does not support early return of borrowed licenses.
    • This implementation only supports a mixed IPv4 and IPv6 environment. This implementation does not support network license checkouts in an IPv6-only environment.

    Knowledge Base document: Autodesk Network License Manager IPv6 Support for Windows

    Now we have the better solution for this: Licensing error 1.5.-15 in Network License Manager

    Monday, March 1, 2010

    How to use unsupported characters in Sheet Set Manager

    For SSM Sheet title and Sheet number not all characters are supported.
    These characters are not supported by Autodesk: \ < > / ? " : ; * | , = `

    The character names are backslash, angle brackets (less than and greater than), slash (forward slash), question mark, double "straight" quotation mark, colon, semicolon, asterisk, vertical bar (pipe), comma, equality sign (equals sign) and grave accent.

    There are workarounds to use similar characters like the solution to Add a comma to the sheet title of a sheet in AutoCAD.

    It uses a workaround by using a Unicode character very similar to the unsupported character.

    Copy any of these examples:

    ⧵ ⧹ \ ⑊ ‹ › ˂ ˃ ⁄ ⁄ ∕ ∕ ̷ ﹖?︖❓ ʺ “ ” ː ˸ ꞉ ꞉ ː ; ;⁎ ∗ ✱ * ǀ ı ‚  ,꞊ ═ ꞊ ˋ ՝

    Run the program CharMap.exe found in Windows Accessories>System Tools and there you can find special characters and copy them to use.

    I’m working on a new release of SSMPropEditor and considered to add a test to warn the user but still allow these characters. In the current version there is no test for these characters and they do show up in AutoCAD’s Sheet Set Manager if they are entered within SSMPropEditor.

    Unsupported characters showing in SSM

    The only problem I’ve seen is that if you in AutoCAD try to edit the Sheet Properties you will not be able to make changes and still keep these characters there.

    Update: Have you got “The name cannot be longer than 64 characters”? This can also be worked around using SSMPropEditor.

    Please comment in below if you think I should remove the ability to enter these characters as it might have unexpected side effects. Or do you think this can be a useful workaround?

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