AutoCAD 2012 SP 2

AutoCAD 2012 Service Pack 2 is available now.

You can apply this update to AutoCAD 2012 running on all supported operating systems and languages. Consult the readme file for installation instructions and be sure to install the correct update (32-bit or 64-bit) for your software and operating system.

NOTE: You can also use Autodesk Exchange to install the Live Update Maintenance Patches, which will automatically show the correct Service Pack for your product.

The AutoCAD 2012 and AutoCAD LT 2012 Service Pack 2 Readme has not yet been updated to include what updates and bug fixes SP2 includes. UPDATE: See details further down.

AutoCAD 2012 Service Pack 2
AutoCAD LT 2012 Service Pack 2

This is one way to verify that AutoCAD 2012 SP 2 is installed.

Command: _vernum
_VERNUM = "F.205.0.0 (UNICODE)" (read only)

AutoCAD 2012 (shipping):    F.51.0.0 (UNICODE)
AutoCAD 2012 Service Pack 1:    F.107.0.0 (UNICODE)

Another way is to run the ABOUT command and it will say Product Version: F.205.0.0, AutoCAD 2012 – English SP2.

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:

• 2D Display
• General Editing
• Model Documentation
• Open/Save
• Startup

The following defects have been fixed:

3D Navigation Tools

• AutoCAD may become unstable after switching between a 3D Viewport to a 2D Viewport.
• "Keep Scene Upright" in 3DConnexion Settings dialog cannot be changed.
• Unknown command "SPACEMOUSEACTION" and device is not working when using 3DConnexion device.

3D Surface Modeling

• AutoCAD may become unstable after using SAVEAS on some drawings that have been run through recover.

Annotation Scaling

• MTEXT column width can collapse to zero when XREF is bound to the parent drawing.
• Annotative MTEXT column width can collapse to zero when drawing is saved and reopened.

Array

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using the ARRAYCLASSIC dialog with solid entities selected and clicking on the preview button.
• On a 32bit Operating system using the ARRAYCLASSIC command preview with a large number of items selected, you may get a warning "Too many objects would be created."
• On a 32bit Operating system using the ARRAYCLASSIC command you may encounter objects on locked layers being removed without a warning dialog.
• Array blocks may not display when attached as an XREF.

ASM

• AutoCAD may become unstable when drawings contain loft surface on different layers and saved to older drawing versions such as 2004.

Autoloader

• The AutoCAD options paths may become shortened when the Inventor Fusion Plugin is installed.

• Autoloader fails to load a modified CUIx file.

• ACFusion.cuix keeps getting added back to AutoCAD even when unloaded.

Blocks

• AutoCAD may take a long time when inserting an external block that contains a large number of layer filters.
• Dynamic Blocks may not be updated when the Property Palette is visible.
• AutoCAD may become unstable after changing the view during ARRAYCLASSIC or Hatch preview.

CUI (Customizable User Interface)

• Context menus are different based on how you have loaded the Main and Enterprise menu.

DGN Support

• DGN linetypes may display inconsistently.
• Imported text of a dimension in a DGN file is not submitted to the dimension style.

Display Drivers

• When using COPYCLIP and PASTECLIP on a 64bit Operating System, you may see the object color change from the original color.

DRAW2D

• AutoCAD may become unstable when autosave runs with an attached PDF file that is an extremely small scale.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when using commands that modify one of the dimensions with the cyclic dependency.  

Export to Layout

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using the EXPORTLAYOUT command.

External Reference (XREF)

• DGN files ½become scaled by a factor of 1/12 after an xref bind.

Fields

• Field for viewport scale is displayed as "Custom" on opening legacy files such as AutoCAD 2009.

Inquiry

• AutoCAD may become unstable when grip editing a PLINE with the Properties Palette open. 

Layouts

• Error message appears in command line after renaming the layout tab when sheet set manager is opened.

MLeader

• The landing on mleaders can change unexpectedly when certain LISP routines are run.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when using Check Standards on drawings with leaders.

Model Documentation

• Temporary IDW files with "dwg.tmp" extension are created when a file with model documentation drawing views from AutoCAD 2013 is opened in AutoCAD 2012.
• AutoCAD may become unstable after clicking the Publish button for drawings with AutoCAD 2013-created drawing views.

Mtext

• AutoCAD LT may become unstable when setting the Mtext direction to vertical in the Property Palette.

OLE (Object Linking & Embedding)

• AutoCAD may become unstable when using OLE to copy and paste Excel content.

OSNAP

• The final value for the line is using the total length instead of stretch/extension.
• When using Osnap, then selecting a line with a grip, then stretching by entering an exact distance may not yield the expected length.

Other

• AutoCAD may become unstable when opening drawings with possible corrupt array entities.

Performance

• With DUCS turned on, the cursor may have been freezing after closing the block editor.

Plot

• CTB, STB, PC3 and PMP files may not have been added to etransmit list when additional plot search paths were added.

Publish

• AutoCAD may become unstable when publishing to DWF.

Ribbon

• AutoCAD may become unstable when exiting on Microsoft Windows 8.

Selection

• AutoCAD may become unstable when copying large selection sets.
• AutoCAD may become unstable when working with joined splines.

Sheet Set Manager

• You may notice high network utilization with SMB V2 (Server Message Block) while working with the sheet set manger.

Startup

• AutoCAD may not start if the Operating System path is not able to be found.

Tables

• When editing an Excel Data Links not all the information is displayed.

Tool tips

• Customized Tooltips fail to be aligned by rows.

Visual Basic for Application (VBA)

• On a 64bit Operating system with VBA loaded, you may not be able to restore AutoCAD after minimizing it.

Visual Styles

• Visual Styles may become lost when saving back to a previous drawing version such as AutoCAD 2007 file format.

Ports for network licenses based on FlexNet

This post should cover all you need to know about FlexNet/FLEXlm ports being used by vendors like Autodesk.

Port 2080 is used for by the vendor daemon, for example adskflex.exe
Port 27000-27009 is used for the lmgrd.exe

The first lines in an FlexNet license file look like this.

SERVER LABSERVER 03D054C0149B
  USE_SERVER 
  VENDOR adskflex port=2080

LABSERVER is the host name of the server where the Network License Manager resides.

03D054C0149B is the Ethernet address/Host ID of the server where the Network License Manager resides.

adskflex is the name of the server-side vendor daemon. In this case Autodesk’s.

2080 is in this example the network port number reserved and assigned for use only by Autodesk products running the Autodesk vendor daemon. Normally there is no need to change this port.

The port lmgrd.exe uses can optionally be changed.

SERVER LABSERVER 03D054C0149B port=27000
USE_SERVER
VENDOR adskflex port=2080

It’s good practice to specify the port for the vendor daemon in the license file. Specifying a port for each vendor if multiple vendors exists on the license server will help to avoid conflicts if the license server is restarted. To keep the port fixed helps if you want to report on it using lmutil.exe or the license report solution JTB FlexReport.

If you have a firewall between the license server(s) and the client computers, you need to open some TCP/IP ports on the server for license-related communication. Open port 2080 for adskflex, and open ports 27000 through 27009 for lmgrd. If these port addresses are restricted by a router or firewall software, users on the remote side of the router will not have access to licenses controlled by the Network License Manager. The Autodesk Network License Manager needs unrestricted access to the two TCP ports used. Ping Firewall rule called "File and Printer Sharing (Echo Request - ICMPv4-In)" might need to be enabled.

When you set up clients to find network licenses it is good practice to include the port otherwise all ports between 27000 and 27009 will be tested until the license server is found and if you have many license servers this can take some time.

Bad example: ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE=@server1; @server2

Good example: ADSKFLEX_LICENSE_FILE=27000@server1;27000@server2

FlexNet debug log can be used to find out what the License Manager and vendor daemon ports being used are.

According to Autodesk’s TS67745: “Note: Specifying a port outside of the 27000-27009 range should be avoided unless the vendor specifies that a particular port outside of the range should be used instead.”

But on the other hand “Do not use the default 27000 TCP port.” according to Potential Security Vulnerability in FlexNet license manager and according to FlexNet Version 11.10.1 download available “Note! For security purposes, best practice is not to use a default port for the license server. Instead, specify a port number outside of the range 27000 through 27009.”

More about Autodesk Network License Manager can be found here and if you want a solution to report on the license usage JTB FlexReport will help.

OsnapzBG freeware now for AutoCAD 2013

OsnapzBG is a background color changer app that now also supports AutoCAD 2013 and is now also available as AutoCAD app on Autodesk Exchange Apps site making installation easy and having it show up on the Ribbon Plug-ins tab. This also gives quick access to easily set OSNAPZ on or off.

OSNAPZ set to 1 (on) makes anything you snap to only use the current elevation as z value. OSNAPZ controls whether object snaps are automatically projected onto a plane parallel to the XY plane of the current UCS at the current elevation.

Download available here.

FlexNet License Server Manager lmgrd.exe Security Vulnerability

FlexNet License Server Manager version 11.9.1 and others earlier have a bug in lmgrd that can cause a stack overflow.

“The server is affected by a classical stack buffer-overflow in the
function that copies the data received after the header in a buffer
smaller than the needeed bytes. … lmadmin is not affected.” Ref. lmgrd advisory that was made public 13 May 2012 by Luigi Auriemma but found already back in 26 Oct 2010.

Recommendation is to make sure to use the latest lmgrd.exe that comes with FlexNet Version 11.10.1 or at least a version newer than 11.9.1.

Related post: Potential Security Vulnerability in FlexNet license manager

To monitor and report on usage of FlexNet based applications use JTB FlexReport.

LAYERSTATESAVE - saving or replacing layer state in AutoCAD

The LAYERSTATESAVE command was added to AutoCAD 2010 but has since then been an undocumented AutoCAD command. Use it to quickly save a new layer state or replace an existing layer state. Here is what the online help says and also if you click on help in the dialog box, but no mention of the actual command name.

New Layer State to Save Dialog Box

Specifies a name and a description for the layer state defined in the Layer States Manager.

The following options are displayed.

New Layer State Name: Specifies a name for the new layer state to be saved.

Description: (Optional) Provides a description of the layer state that is displayed in the Layer States Manager.

This New Layer State to Save dialog is also available in the Layer Walk feature. Just click the "Save Layer State…" option in the right-click context menu.

Via Without A Net

Autodesk DWG TrueView 2013 Download and Install Tips

Autodesk’s DWG Viewer freeware DWG TrueView 2013 is built on the same viewing engine as AutoCAD 2013 and enables you to open and view DWG and DXF files, just as you would in AutoCAD.

DWG TrueView supports side by side with other Autodesk products. However, TrueView does not support side by side install with other versions of TrueView. As with the System Requirements for AutoCAD 2013 Windows Vista is not a supported operating system but you probably will have no problem running TrueView on it.

• Open and view DWG and DXF files
• Support for visual styles and views in both 2D and 3D
• Support for layers
• Obtain geometric information from drawings such as distance, mass, and volume
• Plot DWG files to a plotter
• Create DWF, DWFx, PDF, JPG, and PNG files from DWG files
• Publish sets of drawings or sheets to a plotter, or DWF, DWFx, and PDF files
• Convert DWG files forward and backward with versions as early as AutoCAD Release 14

When you want to download visit DWG TrueView click on Download DWG TrueView and on Download Now.

Or you might see this message.

If you don’t want to install the Akamai NetSession Interface download manager there seems to be no alternative. Reason to not install Akamai is that their program (C:\Users\<your user name>\AppData\Local\Akamai\netsession_win.exe) will keep running all the time on your machine and take up resources.

But here you can find direct download links for DWG TrueView 2013.

DWG TrueView 2013 32-bit (233 MB)http://download.autodesk.com/esd/dwgtrueview/2013/SetupDWGTrueView2013_32bit.exe 

DWG TrueView 2013 64-bit (304 MB)http://download.autodesk.com/esd/dwgtrueview/2013/SetupDWGTrueView2013_64bit.exe

Or in this window click on “click here” at the bottom.

Click on OK

Click on here to download using your browser.

Similar tip to avoid Akamai works with download of the trial for the full version of AutoCAD 2013.

To install DWG TrueView 2013 you must first install Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 Update 1 on your system.  Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Update 1 (available from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/net/Download.aspx) Make sure to select one of the downloads that are for server and development as it is not enough with only the Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 Client Profile, you need the full version. When you check what programs you have installed you must be able to locate Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 Extended. Strange thing though is that full AutoCAD 2013 does not require the Full .NET Framework.

Now you’re ready to install.

If you don’t have Microsoft .Net Framework 4.0 Extended installed you will after some minutes get this error message: “.NET 4.0 is not installed. DWG TrueView 2013 cannot be installed without this component. See your system administrator for more information.”

Here is what DWG TrueView 2013 look like when installed and having a drawing opened.

Ribbon with Files, Output, Navigation, View

Layers and Measure

Object Snap and User Interface

DWG Convert

Access to basic Options like Files

Display

and Plot and Publish

Known Issues and Limitations

The following are known issues with this release:

Platform

Installing the 32-bit version of DWG TrueView 2013 on a 64-bit platform is not supported.

DWG Convert EXE's and ZIP's Fail

When you use DWG Convert to create an EXE or ZIP file, the file is not created. This usually occurs if you are using multiple languages. The names of the files generated by AutoCAD-based products use Unicode standards and can be shared internationally. However, WinZip and EXE use a technology that is currently not Unicode-compliant.

ZIP files with non-ASCII characters cannot be exchanged and unzipped between systems with different code pages. That should not prevent using accented or Asian characters that match or are included on the current code page (German characters on English or German operating systems should work. Japanese characters on Japanese operating systems - or where the code page is set to Japanese - should also work).

Opening Damaged Drawings

When opening a damaged drawing, a dialog box appears asking the user to fix the file with the Recover command. This command is not implemented in TrueView. Instead, use the Check and fix errors option as follows:

1. Click the DWG Convert button.
2. Select the damaged file.
3. Click Conversion Setups.
4. Select "Standard" and click New.
5. Name the new setup (for example, Recover).
6. In the Modify Conversion Setup dialog box, set the Conversion packaged type to Folder (set of files).
   Note Do not select In-place (overwrite files) as this may result in conversion errors.
7. In the Action area, select Check and fix errors, and click OK.

With this new conversion setup, you will be able to recover your drawings.

Related post: .NET Framework requirements and versions

More Autodesk Blogs

Autodesk Customer Care on Twitter started last year and now it’s time for AutodeskCare - The AutodeskCare Customer Service Blog.

And there are more…

ADN DevBlogs

• AutoCAD
• Infrastructure
• Manufacturing
• AEC

Other Autodesk Developer Blogs

• Through the Interface - Kean Walmsley's AutoCAD developer blog.
• The Building Coder - Jeremy Tammik's Revit developer blog.
• Mod the Machine - Brian Ekins' and Wayne Brill's Inventor developer blog.
• Civilized Development - Isaac Rodriguez's AutoCAD Civil 3D developer blog.
• Its All Just Ones and Zeros - Doug Redmond's Vault developer blog.
• Dancing with Elephants - Jim Quanci's blog on partnering with large companies.

And here are all blogs on Autodesk.com ...

Autodesk Support Offerings and Price Changes

For the latest updates on the type of support you can get from Autodesk visit www.autodesk.com/support and specifically http://usa.autodesk.com/support-offerings/. The new terms are Effective May 7, 2012.

Speaking of Autodesk there are also price changes: Upgrade now to help protect your software investment, and help maximize your return with the many benefits offered through Autodesk® Subscription and Autodesk® 360 cloud-based services. Autodesk currently anticipates changes to its upgrade options next year, so take advantage of existing upgrade pricing and paths today to move to the current release—and you could additionally save up to 20%* off SRP when you act before July 13, 2012. If you have Autodesk 2007 products or older they cannot next year be upgraded but you need to purchase a complete new license at full price.

Below is the support offerings can be found:

Autodesk Enterprise Priority Support

What is it?

Autodesk® Enterprise Priority Support is only available to Autodesk Subscription customers. It is a comprehensive program of proactive support services designed to meet the needs of direct, large enterprise customers who use Autodesk software on complex multisite projects. Enterprise Priority Support is the highest level of support that Autodesk offers.

The short of it

• Priority 24x7 access to Autodesk global product support for authorized callers with severity 1 issues
• 24x5* access to Autodesk global product support for authorized callers for severity 2 and 3 issues
• Assigned support account manager who expedites requests, manages escalations and oversees account needs
• Proactive services including operational assessments and health checks
• Roadmap meeting with Autodesk developers
• Participation in beta programs
• Access to senior Autodesk leadership
• All the benefits of Autodesk Advanced and Autodesk Basic Support

How do I purchase it?

Autodesk Enterprise Priority Support is available for purchase only if you have an Autodesk Subscription and is only available direct from Autodesk.

The short of Advanced Support

• Unlimited, priority, one-to-one, extended hour global phone support in English
• Phone support in a number of local languages during local business hours
• Access to senior Autodesk support specialists
• One named contact per ten software seats (minimum of two contacts)
• Remote desktop assistance
• Access to online, moderated community support forums
• Option to escalate forum question to a one-to-one support request
• Access to automated email updates and response options for incidents
• Access to a wide range of online help and exclusive training webcasts
• Access to API support

The short of Basic Support

• Access to expedited community forum support. Forum posts are automatically escalated to the Autodesk product support team if the community does not respond to the question within 24 hours. If you do not mark an issue as solved, Autodesk will contact you
• Access for authorized persons to one-to-one Autodesk support for issues requiring privacy
• Access to Autodesk online support, including a knowledge base with help documents, tutorials, training videos, and an extensive collection of Autodesk technical solutions and community support forum threads

Autodesk Per-Incident Support and Up-and-Ready Support is available without Autodesk Subscription.

How to add dimension notes in AutoCAD 2013 - DimNotes

DimNotes has been updated to support AutoCAD 2013 and verticals and is also available as an AutoCAD app so it is easy to install and will show up on the Plug-ins Ribbon tab in both AutoCAD 2013 and AutoCAD 2012.

With DimNotes you can quickly add predefined dimension notes to dimension objects in AutoCAD.

• The list with notes is saved to a file and can easily be edited.
• The note can be added to different locations, before as prefix, after as suffix, above and below existing dimension text.
  
• Existing notes can be replaced.
• Multiple notes can be added.
• Associative dimension value is retained.

Visit DimNotes for free trial, download and documentation.

TimberTool for AutoCAD Architecture 2013

TimberTool has been updated to work with AutoCAD Architecture 2013 and AutoCAD MEP 2013. For AutoCAD Architecture 2013 you can download TimberTool as an AutoCAD app.

TimberTool makes it easy to convert closed polylines into mass elements and makes the bounding box width and depth correct for scheduling purposes. The product was initially created for usage with timber but works with lumber, structural steel or concrete shapes.

This tool overcomes the problem when extruding a mass element using ExtrudeLinework where the bounding box width and depth is not correct.

AutoCAD 2013 Updated System Variables

Here are updated system variables in AutoCAD 2013 and how they have been changed.

Updated system variables	Description	How changed
BINDTYPE	Controls how xref names are handled when binding xrefs or editing xrefs in place.
POINTCLOUDDENSITY	Controls the percentage of points displayed at once for all point clouds in the drawing .	The system variable value is a percentage of the maximum number of points that can exist in a drawing which is defined by POINTCLOUDPOINTMAX, regardless of the number of point clouds attached to a single drawing. Available for viewing drawings w/point clouds in LT.
POINTCLOUDRTDENSITY	Controls the percentage of points displayed during real time zoom, pan, and orbit functions.	Improves performance by degrading the number of points displayed during zooming, panning, or orbiting in real time. Set this system variable to a value less than the value of POINTCLOUDDENSITY in order to improve performance.
SUBOBJSELECTIONMODE	Filters the 3D subobject types that are selected with CTRL+click.	Adds a value (5) that specifies that only components in a drawing view are available for selection.
THUMBSIZE	Controls the maximum size of thumbnail preview which can be stored.	Now accommodates higher resolutions for thumbnail sizes.
XDWGFADECTL	Controls the dimming for all DWG xrefs.
XFADECTL	Controls the fading intensity percentage for references being edited in-place.	Controls the degree of fading when editing a reference in place or when in a view sketching state (editing view-specific geometry).
XREFNOTIFY	Controls the notification for updated or missing xrefs.	Now communicates with the Inventor Server to check for updates to Inventor models placed in Model Documentation views.

AutoCAD 2013 Updated Commands

Here is a list of updated commands in AutoCAD 2013 and how they are changed.

Updated commands	Description	How changed
ACISOUT	Exports solid objects to an ACIS file.	Saves SAT files as Version 7.0.
ADCENTER	Manages content.	Updated to support Section View and Detail View styles.
ARRAY	Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern.	Displays contextual tab during array creation.
ARRAYEDIT	Edits multiple copies of objects in a pattern.	Path array automatically calculates the item count based on the item spacing and length of path curve.
ATTACH	Allows the user to insert various file types as attachments or underlays into a DWG file.	Now attaches point clouds files (PCG and ISG).
-ATTACH	Allows the user to insert various file types as attachments or underlays into a DWG file from the command prompt.	Now attaches point clouds files (PCG and ISG).
CLIP	Allows the user to clip viewports, xrefs, DWF, DWFx and DGN underlays, PDF underlays and point clouds.	Now creates clipping boundaries for point clouds.
-HATCHEDIT	Modifies an existing hatch object from command line.	Now allows multiple-hatch selection.
LIST	Displays property data for selected objects.	If the command window is not docked, displays object information in the extended command history. If the command window is docked, information is displayed in the text screen.
MLEADER	Creates a line that connects annotation to a feature.	Now supports strikethrough formatting.
MOVE	Displaces objects a specified distance in a specified direction.	Now supports section view and detail view types.
MTEDIT	Edits multiline text.	Text style drop-down list display changed to show more options.
MTEXT	Creates multiline text.	Text style drop-down list display changed to show more options.
POINTCLOUDINDEX	Creates a point cloud (PCG or ISD) file from a scan file.	Supports additional types of scan files.
PRESSPULL	Dynamically modifies objects by extrusion and offset.	Provides additional visual display support for the presspull operation.
PURGE	Removes unused named items, such as block definitions and layers, from the drawing.	Now purges Detail View styles and Section View styles.
-PURGE	Removes unused named items, such as block definitions and layers, from the drawing.	Now purges Detail View styles and Section View styles.
RENAME	Changes the names of objects	Now supports renaming of Detail View styles and Section View styles.
-RENAME	Changes the names of objects from command line.	Now supports renaming of Detail View styles and Section View styles.
ROTATE	Moves objects about a base point.	Now supports rotation of section views and detail views.
STYLE	Creates named styles.	Text style drop-down list display changed to show more options.
TABLE	Creates an empty table object in a drawing.
TEXT	Displays text on screen as it is entered.
TEXTTOFRONT	Brings text and dimensions in front of all other objects in the drawing.	Now supports leaders.
UNDO	Reverses the effect of commands.
VIEWBASE	Creates a base drawing view from model space or Autodesk Inventor models.	Supports the creation of drawing view objects from model space or Inventor models within a layout (paper space).
VIEWEDIT	Edits an existing drawing view.	Supports the editing of drawing view objects regardless of type: base, projected, section and detail views.
VIEWPROJ	Creates a projected view from an existing drawing view.	Now supports section and detail drawing view object types.
VIEWSTD	Configures the drafting standard used by new drawing views.
VIEWUPDATE	Updates selected drawing views that have become out of date because the source model has changed.

Any more commands you found have been updated?

FlexNet Version 11.10.1 download available

The updated FlexNet (FLEXlm) version (based on Flexera Software’s FlexNet Publisher Licensing Toolkit 11.10.1) was released in February 2012 but first now available for public download as well as the updated License Administration Guide.

Here are the news in 11.10.1:

• Full support for Mac OS X 10.7.x
The following features were introduced for trusted-storage-based licensing:
• Support for prepped trusted storage
• Hybrid license information displayed on lmadmin dashboard
• New options keyword (DAEMON_SELECT_TIMEOUT) to support for activations against license servers in bandwidth-restricted environments
• New function flxActTransactionGetResponseXML used to retrieve response XML from online activations

lmgrd.exe version is 11.10.1 and lmutil.exe version is 11.10.1 while lmtools.exe is still version 11.10.

I found this addition in the documentation. “Note • For security purposes, best practice is not to use a default port for the license server. Instead, specify a port number outside of the range 27000 through 27009.” Anyone know why? (Other than what is mentioned in this post Potential Security Vulnerability in FlexNet license manager, but should this not be fixed?)

I tested to use the new lmgrd.exe version with my Autodesk network licenses but when starting the service I get this error below and no log file created. Eventually I found that I had used the 32-bit version of lmgrd.exe while it was the 64-bit version that should have been used.

Flexible License Manager status on Fri 5/4/2012 13:08

[Detecting lmgrd processes...]
License server status: 27000@SERVER
    License file(s) on SERVER: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Autodesk Network License Manager\Autodesk.lic:

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:   192.168.1.1
License path:  27000@SERVER
FLEXnet Licensing error:-15,10.  System Error: 10061 "WinSock: Connection refused"
For further information, refer to the FLEXnet Licensing documentation,
available at "www.flexerasoftware.com".

JTB FlexReport license monitoring tool has been tested with and support this new version.

Related links:

Autodesk Network License Manager

Instructions on how to Update FlexNet from a Previous Version.

Software Vendor Audits are Increasing

Autodesk Network License Manager for 2013 products

JTB FlexReport 7.0 Introduces Automatic Chart Creation

SSMPropEditor as AutoCAD app

SSMPropEditor (Sheet Set Manager Properties Editor) is now available as an AutoCAD app on Autodesk Exchange Apps site both as a trial and to purchase.

Direct links to the apps:

• SSMPropEditor trial
• SSMPropEditor 1 license
• SSMPropEditor 5-pack (discounted)
• SSMPropEditor 10-pack (discounted)

When SSMPropEditor as AutoCAD app (or AutoCAD plug-in) has been used for installation the application will automatically load in AutoCAD and also add the SSMPropEditor panel to the Ribbon tab Plug-ins. In AutoCAD 2013 if a drawing has an associated sheet set it will be opened in SSMPropEditor and if pressing F1 while hovering over the icon on the Ribbon the help file is opened. Commands defined for AutoCAD are SSMPropEditor (starts the application), SSMPropEditorAppShortcuts (will create shortcut to the program in the Windows Start menu or on the desktop) and SSMPropEditorHelp (opens the local help file).

Contact us to get a time limited license file for free.

See also SSMPropEditor 4.5 released

AutoCAD 2013 New System Variables

In AutoCAD 2013 I have found these 40 new system variables.

New system variables	Description
ANNOMONITOR	Turns the annotation monitor on and off.
ARRAYASSOCIATIVITY	Sets the default behavior of new arrays to be associative or non-associative.
ARRAYCREATION
CACHEMAXFILES	Sets the maximum number of graphics cache files saved in the local configured temporary folder for the product.
CACHEMAXTOTALSIZE	Sets the maximum total size of all graphics cache files saved in the local configured temporary folder for the product.
CLIPROMPTLINES	Sets the number of lines displayed in the temporary prompt history when the command window is set to display one line.
CLIPROMPTUPDATE	Controls whether the command line displays the progress as a command or script is run.
CVIEWDETAILSTYLE	Sets the name of the current detail view style. The current detail view style controls the appearance of all new model documentation detail views, detail boundaries and leader lines you create.
CVIEWSECTIONSTYLE	Sets the name of the current detail view style. The current detail view style controls the appearance of all new model documentation detail views, detail boundaries and leader lines you create.
DGNIMPORTUNITCONVERSION
DISPLAYVIEWCUBEIN2D	Controls the display of the ViewCube tool when the 2D Wireframe visual style is applied to a viewport.
NOPREVIEWGRIP
NOPREVIEWHIGHLIGHT
ONLINEAUTOSAVEPATH
ONLINEDOCMODE	Indicates whether a copy of a new drawing is saved automatically to your Autodesk 360 account.
ONLINEDOCUMENTS	Stores whether you can open and save drawing files directly to your Autodesk 360 account.
ONLINEFOLDER
ONLINESETTINGSSYNC
ONLINESYNCPROVIDER
ONLINESYNCTIME	Controls the time interval for synchronizing current customization settings with a local cache, which then stored in your Autodesk 360 account.
ONLINEUSERNAME
PALETTEICONSTATE	Indicates whether palettes are in icon state.
PLINEREVERSEWIDTHS	Controls the appearance of a polyline when it is reversed.
POINTCLOUDBOUNDARY	Turns the display of a point cloud bounding box on and off.
POINTCLOUDCLIPFRAME	Controls whether a point cloud clipping boundary is visible on the screen and when printed.
POINTCLOUDPOINTMAX	Sets the maximum number of point cloud points that can exist in a drawing.
PREVIEWDELAY
PROPERTYPREVIEW	Controls whether in-canvas preview of property editing, through object or style, is enabled.
PROPPREVTIMEOUT	Sets the maximum number of seconds for a property preview to display before the preview is automatically cancelled.
SELECTIONPREVIEWLIMIT	Limits the number of objects that can display preview highlighting during a window or crossing selection.
SNAPGRIDLEGACY	Specifies whether the grid snap is active only when specifying a point, or also during object selection. (Came with AutoCAD 2012 SP1)
SUPPRESSALERTS	Controls alerts about potential data loss when opening and saving newer drawings in older versions of the product.
THUMBSAVE	Controls whether BMP preview images are saved with the drawing.
VIEWDETAILCREATION
VIEWDETAILEDITOR
VIEWSECTIONCREATION
VIEWSECTIONEDITOR
VIEWSKETCHMODE	Turns the view sketching state on or off.
VIEWUPDATEAUTO	Specifies whether Model Documentation views are updated automatically when changes are pending.
WIPEOUTFRAME	Controls the display of frames for wipeout objects.

At first I found SPLINEREVERSEWIDTHS but now I’m not sure where it came from. Maybe mixed up with PLINEREVERSEWIDTHS.

Have you found any more?