AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 2

Still using AutoCAD 2010 or AutoCAD 2010 LT? Then put your hands on Update 2 with a bunch of fixed defects. Make sure as always to try it out in your environment first before rolling it out to all your users. Keep sending in all those CER’s and remind your users about it. It makes a difference.

Here’s the fixes in Update 2:

• When drawing  a closed heavy weight polyline with different width for each segment, the polyline cannot be closed properly.
• AutoCAD may become unstable while dragging the cube and releasing the cursor at the top of the canvas. - 2D Drawing
• Exploding a block using "NetExplode" API modifies the "Global width" property of the polyline. - API
• AutoCAD may fail to start up on Windows 7 workstations with Windows 2008 Server on the same subnet. - Customer Involvement Program
• Constrained attribute values may not extract properly based on drawing order. - Data Extraction
• Restores the ability to use any extension when attaching DGN files. DGNIMPORT command with "Ignore all external references" option may not work. - DGN Support
• AutoCAD may become unstable when stretching multiple dimensions with dimbreaks applied. Cyrillic characters in dimension text may cause AutoCAD to incorrectly report that the drawing is corrupt after running RECOVER. – Dimensions
• When opening some DXF Files, you may receive a DXF error. - DXF
• AutoCAD may become unstable when using eTransmit. – ETransmit
• AutoCAD may become unstable when editing height values for arc-aligned text in the Properties Palette. - Express Tools
• Xref's with true color gradients now display properly in 2D graphics modes. AutoCAD may display an error message about logic color -5 when attaching an xref. AutoCAD may become unstable when binding an xref. AutoCAD may become unstable when using right-click menu on an xref. - External References
• After applying Vista SP2 or on Windows 7 it is not possible to double click and open a folder that is using DFS Namespace.  AutoCAD drawings saved in Vault may not display 2010 properties properly.  Opening drawing files from older releases of AutoCAD may take a while to open.  Unable to use asterisk "*" symbol on wildcard searches. - File Open
• AutoCAD may become unstable when using older version ".SHX" fonts. – Font
• AutoCAD may become unstable when more than one bubble is displayed and then closed. – General UI
• AutoCAD may become unstable when double clicking on hatched areas in a drawing. – Hatch
• Rotating an image with plines may appear to offset from the image.  AutoCAD session may hang when plotting drawings with rotated Mr SID images attached. – Image
• Balloon notification in InfoCenter is blank when Windows 7 display Theme is set to Classic. – InfoCenter
• Layer groups may not remain deleted after reopening the Layer Manager.  AutoCAD may become unstable when switching layouts if the Layer Description column is frozen.  Objects on "layer 0" in an external reference do not display when the layer is turned on from the current drawing. – Layers
• Some of the linetypes with text do not display correctly. – Linetype
• AutoCAD can be slow when updating OLE objects in Microsoft Word 2007. "Paste to Original Coordinates" is disabled in right-click context menu after copying objects from another open drawing. AutoCAD may become unstable when pasting drawing files into Microsoft Word. – OLE
• Gizmo may not display while in 3D Orbit. - Organic Modeling
• 64-bit AutoCAD may become unstable when using PRESSPULL on mesh object. – Osnap
• AutoCAD may hang when plotting large images to PDF. – PDF
• AutoCAD may become unstable when using the Property Palette. - Property Palette
• Opening a linked drawing from a Microsoft Office product may cause the Quick Access Toolbar to no longer display. - Quick Access Toolbar
• Opening drawings with dense hatch appear to hang at 31%. Some older drawings containing 3DSOLIDS do not display. – Recover
• AutoCAD may become unstable when switching to the Render tab of the Ribbon when .NET 4 is on the system.  Legacy menu bar may display over the Ribbon when AutoCAD is not responding while opening large drawings.  AutoCAD may become unstable when using Clipping Boundary control in the Ribbon.  AutoCAD may become unstable when dragging a Ribbon Panel on Windows 7 64-bit operating system. – Ribbon
• SECTIONPLANETOBLOCK  may not work correctly when the sectionplane is not intersecting an object.  After using the command SECTIONPLANE AutoCAD may become unstable.  SECTIONPLANE may not display all cutaway geometry. - Section & Flatten
• Bigfont may not be converted properly when saving a DWG to 2004 file format. – Text
• May not be able to restore minimized AutoCAD with VBA loaded. – Visual Basic
• LISP incorrectly converts some Japanese characters to CIF. - Visual Lisp

After uninstalling Update 1 or Update 2 for AutoCAD 2010 or AutoCAD LT 2010, you will need to repair your AutoCAD 2011 or AutoCAD LT 2011 install.

After installing Update 2 the AutoCAD About dialog box will say “AutoCAD 2010 - English Version 3”.

Downloads found here:

AutoCAD 2010 Update 2
AutoCAD LT 2010 Update 2

Via Without A Net and Between the Lines

AutoCAD 2011 CHM Based Help Files and Wiki

Between the Lines mentions about AutoCAD 2011 CHM Based Help Files Available for Download. Only fully functional for 32-bit though. This is a good thing as search in the online help is not primetime.

Knowledge Base document has the download: AutoCAD 2011 CHM-Based Help.

AutoCAD Wiki Help Beta is work in progress and you can participate too. This wiki is also less formal than the encyclopedia styled AutoCAD Wikipedia page.

See also 2011 Autodesk product manuals.

JTB FlexReport 6 beta 4

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

Thanks a lot for all testing done with previous beta versions.

AutoCAD Freestyle released - 2D drawing and sketching

Autodesk Labs had a a technology preview known as Project Cooper that now is graduated and named AutoCAD Freestyle.

AutoCAD Freestyle is built on the AutoCAD platform and is compatible with AutoCAD’s DWG file format. This means that in AutoCAD Freestyle you can open a file created in AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT add sketches, notes, and drawing enhancements and save completing workflow and round-trip with other DWG-based applications.

But while AutoCAD requires quite a lot of training most anyone can get started using AutoCAD Freestyle right away thanks to its Integrated learning tools.

"Many people--from do-it-yourselfers to home contractors to landscape designers--still use pen and paper or software that does not enable accuracy and is hard to use," said Amar Hanspal, senior vice president, Autodesk Platform Solutions and Emerging Business. "AutoCAD Freestyle  has been created to meet the needs of these users and anybody else who  needs to generate quick, accurate and professional-looking designs  without the need for or learning curve of industrial-strength CAD  software."

Right now you can get 81 copies of AutoCAD Freestyle for the price of AutoCAD 2011. At the introductory price of $49 and later suggested retail price of $149 AutoCAD Freestyle is the first and for many the only step needed into the CAD world.

AutoCAD Freestyle is now available for download from the Autodesk eStore at www.autodesk.com/estore.

Some limitations to be aware of and that AutoCAD users might wonder about:

When a DWG file from another application is opened in AutoCAD Freestyle, the original objects cannot be edited. That is, all geometry and text are on a locked layer.

AutoCAD Freestyle only opens one paper space layout at a time. If a DWG file created in another application contains multiple paper space layouts, the user can select a single layout to use.

DWG files created in other applications that contain 3D views may be somewhat limited in their functionality when opened and viewed in AutoCAD Freestyle.

All text, geometry, and fill elements added to a file using AutoCAD Freestyle are automatically placed on new, AutoCAD Freestyle-specific layers.

If you are an AutoCAD (or other DWG-based software application) user, and you plan to send a DWG file to a user who is unfamiliar with DWG drawings, the best approach is to create a DWG file with a single viewport in a paper space layout.

There is no way to add new symbols (blocks) to the library within the application. But the ToolPalette file AcTpCatalogacadfs.atc can be manually edited to achieve this. Dynamic blocks are supported.

AutoCAD Freestyle saves to AutoCAD 2007 DWG file format but can open AutoCAD 2010 DWG file format files. It looks like this first release is based on AutoCAD 2010 as 18.0 is the interval version number and not 18.1 as in AutoCAD 2011.

Will this product eventually replace AutoSketch?

Autodesk Sustainable Design Center

On Earth Day Autodesk released the new Autodesk Sustainable Design Center. We all know the big need for sustainable design and this new site will help in general and especially if you want to know how Autodesk’s products can fit in. Lear too from several interesting customer stories like how AutoCAD and Civil 3D are butterfly-friendly.

Here are some of the links from the Autodesk Link List.

Page Name	URL
Autodesk Sustainable Design Center (landing page)	www.autodesk.com/sustainabledesign
Autodesk Carbon Footprint	www.autodesk.com/carbonfootprint
Green Leader Perspectives	www.autodesk.com/greenleaders
Sustainable Design Resources	www.autodesk.com/sustainabledesignresources
Key Issues	www.autodesk.com/keyissues
Clean Tech Development	www.autodesk.com/cleantechdev
High-Performance Buildings	www.autodesk.com/greenbuilding
Autodesk Clean Tech Partner Program	www.autodesk.com/cleantech
Green Manufacturing	www.autodesk.com/greenmanufacturing
Green Consumer Products	www.autodesk.com/greenconsumerproducts
Green Vehicles	www.autodesk.com/greenvehicles
Roads and Transportation	www.autodesk.com/greenroads
Smart Utilities	www.autodesk.com/greenutilities
Greening Government	www.autodesk.com/greengovernment
Sustainable Urban Development & Design	www.autodesk.com/greencities
Teaching Sustainable Design	www.autodesk.com/sustainabledesigneducation

See also these related blog posts:

Retrofits game by Autodesk for Greener Buildings

Guide to Sustainable Design for Architecture, Engineering & Construction

How to change the Title in AutoCAD

This program is used to change the text in the title bar of the AutoCAD application Window. It works for AutoCAD 2011 as well as older AutoCAD versions too.

I had an older version but never had any reason to update it for AutoCAD 2010 and AutoCAD 2011 but instead of reinventing the wheel when I was asked about an update for 2011 I got ok from Lee Ambrosius, HyperPics: Beyond the UI so here is ChangeTitleForAutoCAD.zip that he made.

Before

After

Change of highlight or select 3D subobjects in AutoCAD 2011

Rollover highlighting and selection of 3D objects in AutoCAD 2011 is not affecting subobjects or the hidden faces of 3D objects like it did in AutoCAD 2010.

AutoCAD 2011 introduced the CULLINGOBJ system variable that controls whether 3D subobjects that are hidden from view can be highlighted or selected.

Left image shows AutoCAD 2011 default behavior and right image AutoCAD 2010.

      

CULLINGOBJSELECTION is another new variable that controls whether 3D objects that are hidden from view can be highlighted or selected. This makes life easier working on complex 3D models.

Knowledge Base document: Unable to highlight or select 3D subobjects in AutoCAD 2011

AutoCAD 2011 object selection made easier

AutoCAD 2011 comes with a new useful and helpful feature.

Easily select overlapping objects using the new selection cycling functionality. You can enable selection cycling from a control on the Status bar (right click to access the Selection Cycling options). When you try to select an object that overlaps other objects, AutoCAD displays a list of all the overlapping objects. This works for both 2D and 3D. As you pass the cursor over an object in the list, the relevant object in the drawing highlights, click on any object in the list and it gets selected. You can also click on the same location multiple times and the objects with be selected one at a time. To filter the type of subobjects displayed (vertices, edges, or faces) use the SUBOBJSELECTIONMODE system variable. You can also set this option with the SELECTIONCYCLING system variable.

Wish for AutoCAD 2012: Selection cycling should benefit from also be able to show layer of objects. Imagine if you have two identical objects and only the layer is different.

Another thing that might be helpful is to be able to use the up and down arrows on the keyboard to activate the Selection dialog. Now you have to either stay still and click multiple times or to move the mouse to the Selection dialog box.

2011 Autodesk product manuals

As default when you access Help in AutoCAD 2011 or other 2011 Autodesk products you might be surprised that it opens up in your web browser. See here what it look like if you press F1 for help: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2011/ENU/landing.html

But what if you for some reason don’t want to use the online help from Autodesk website?

In Options>System you have the option to “Use Online Help from Autodesk Website When Available” that specifies whether Help is accessed from the Autodesk website or from locally installed files. It says “when available” but it does not work so that if there is no internet connection it instead uses the local help. You have do decide either or.

Help Browser setting let you specified whether to use Microsoft Internet Explorer or the default Web browser for viewing Help. Not all functionality is supported with other browsers. Not sure what that is though.

If you want to know know the settings there are three system variables available:

WBDEFAULTBROWSER = 0 (read only)
WBHELPONLINE = 1 (read only)
WBHELPTYPE = 1 (read only)     Can anyone shed a light on what this is?

One good thing about this change is that it is easier to always have an up-to-date help. Another one is that it is easy to send a link to someone else instead of trying to describe where to find the location in the previous help file.

Express Tools Help is still not online.

Is it possible to get a printed manual for AutoCAD 2011 or other 2011 products?

No it is not, according to this Knowledge Base document: Printed Manuals or Help for Autodesk 2011 Products

Update: PDF manuals are now available.

SSMPropEditor sneak peeks

Here’s some sneak peeks of features included in the next version of SSMPropEditor. You will be able to easily renumber most any Sheet Property or Sheet Custom Property in a Sheet Set.

The File Path, File Name and File Layout will also be possible to edit on one or multiple sheets at a time.

There will also be easy to add Sheet count to a property so you can have text on the drawing showing for example “Sheet 5 of 18”.

All AutoCAD based products and versions with Sheet Set Manager are supported from AutoCAD 2005 up to the latest AutoCAD 2011. You can even let your non AutoCAD users run SSMPropEditor as it does not need AutoCAD to run.