By Alignex Application Engineer Paul Beseman
AutoCAD Architecture and MEP users, have you ever wanted to put a Tool Palette Command on a Ribbon?
Well you can with this hidden gem of a command: AECribbonTool!
This little secret command stops just short of being very cool because it only works with AEC objects and can’t run an AutoCAD command such as Hatch or insert block. BUT this is a must have in the “tool box” of anyone developing custom tools. You can review some Out of the Box examples of how the tool works if you switch your Tool Palettes to the All Palettes group (right click over the Tool Palette titlebar) and then go to a Palette called Ribbon Tool – XXX (where the XXX is Autodesk product, AMEP, or ACA)
In the example below I will create a Ribbon command to add Supply Duct. Keep in mind the steps are the same whether you are adding duct of a specific system, or a wall of a give type. This example also assumes that you have the Tool Palette already available. If you would like more information about creating Tool Palette please leave a comment on this article.
- Review the Tool Palette command and make note of its exact name.
- Once you have the tool name you would like to use, start the CUI by typing CUI and enter at the command line.
- Create a new command, and give it a name. In the Macro section you can call out your Tool Palette command by using the AECRibbonTool command. The syntax is the same as all macros so you will want to use a semicolon ( ; ) to represent a enter key. ^C^C cancels an active command so the example would look like this ^C^CAECRibbonTool;Supply; you could substitute the Word Supply for ANY tool Palette command name. Create a Button Image for your new command so when you put it on the ribbon it is easy to find. To do this expand the Button Image section in the CUI and select an existing image to edit.
- Once you have the Command you can create a Ribbon Panel and place the command on the panel. To do this go up to the Ribbon section and expand it out, Highlight the word panel and right click and pick New Panel. Once the panel is created you can drag the new command up to this panel.
- After you have created all of your commands, and organized them onto a Panel you can create a Ribbon Tab to place the panel on, or put the panel on any existing Tab. This is done simply by dragging your Panel up to the Ribbon Tabs section and dropping it on to the desired tab. You can create tabs from the right click menu.
- Finally you can add you new Ribbon Tab to the Current WorkSpace by scrolling up to the Workspace section, and highlight the current workspace then pick the Customize Workspace button in the right hand area. Expand the Ribbons section and make sure to “check” the ribbon tab that you would like to add.
There we have it a new ribbon command which works exactly like your Tool Palette command, and the best part is if you need to make changes to any of the setting you can simply modify the Tool Palette and the Ribbon will instantly update. If you have additional question about this process or any other please leave a comment on this article and we will be happy to help. Enjoy your new found power, and remember ALWAYS customize responsibly…
By Alignex Application Engineer Bill Gramowski
We HIGHLY recommend NOT adding Updates (Service Packs) to computers that have a borrowed license of an AutoCAD based product.
If the user profile is removed or significantly altered while a license is borrowed, you may lose access to the license for the duration of the borrow period.
When a service pack is applied often times it is enough to cause this lose of license access. If this does happen follow the directions below:
Erase the knowledge of the borrowed license from the client machine, borrow it again, and then try to return it using the procedure below. Note: This procedure resets all borrowed licenses for this user/computer.
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On the client computer, log in as the user who borrowed the license.
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On the Start menu (Windows), click Run (Windows 2000/XP) or StartSearch (Windows Vista).
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Enter regedit, and then click OK.
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In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\FLEXlm License Manager\Borrow
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In the Registry Editor, on the File menu, click Export to create a back up of this key.
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Delete this registry key.
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Close the Registry Editor.
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Borrow the license again for the product(s) and version(s) that you could not return.
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Return the license(s) for each product.
By Alignex Application Engineer Bill Gramowski
People often wonder how they know if they are on the latest service pack. Typically if you have a subscription login you will be notified when updates are available. Otherwise Communication Center is the answer to see if your software is needs to be updated or currently up to date:
How to check to see if you're on the latest service pack:
Use Communication Center to do so (Communication Center must be enabled during the install).
Go to your InfoCenter Settings and make sure Live Update Maintenance Patches is selected under Autodesk Channels
Now pick on the Communication Center icon (satellite dish looking icon) and listed under Autodesk Channels will be patches available if any (otherwise it will say your product is up to date as it does in the screen capture).
IssueYou were able to load and save layer filter groups in previous AutoCAD® vertical products such as Civil 3D, AutoCAD MEP(Building Systems), AutoCAD Architecture (ADT). However, you noticed that this option was not available in the Layer Manager in AutoCAD (vertical_name) 2010.
Solution
This option is not available because the Windows Registry entry required to load the necessary dialog box into Land Desktop 2008 is missing. To add the required Windows Registry entry
1. Click Start menu (Windows) > Run.
2. In the Run dialog box, enter regedit and then click OK.
3. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.0\ACAD-8xxx:409\Applications\Aclayer\Extensions
4. Double-click the ADT String Value.
5. In the Edit String dialog box, in the Value Data box, enter AecLayerManagerEx.dll and then click OK.
The next time that you start 2010, the Layer Manager will be displayed instead of the AutoCAD Layer Properties Manager.
Warning! Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft provides a wealth of critical information that you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support.
Use the Microsoft® Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined for your operating system in the Microsoft Knowledge Base and in the solution, TS66513. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topic.
Issue:You installed Civil 3D 2010 from a deployment created using DVDs. However, when you start the product, you noticed that the Tool Palettes Civil 3D subassemblies were missing.
When Civil 3D 2010 is installed as standalone, everything works as expected.
Solution:
One way to resolve this issue is to copy the content of all the DVDs to new directory and create a new deployment by running setup.exe in the new directory on the hard drive. This will ensure that the deployment contains all files copied and the installation will be quicker.
If you prefer to not create a new deployment, you can manually copy the missing files and modify the deployment:
1. Copy the entire i.e. D:\x86\C3D\CONTENT directory from DVD 2 into the ....AdminImage\x86\C3D directory to overwrite the existing Content folder.
2. Modify the deployment and proceed through the configuration steps to update your deployment.
3. Repair your installation of Civil 3D 2010, using Add or Remove Programs in the Control Panel (Windows). Select the Reinstall option.
4. Start Civil 3D 2010 and confirm that tool palettes have subassemblies.
Here is a handy tip from Autodesk that we've seen pop up from time to time:
Issue
In Revit 2010 when printing directly to HP® plotters, you notice image files are not included in the resulting print.
Solution
Disable the option for SpoolSmart® if it is present in the HP print driver preferences. This option is typically located in Printing Preferences > Services > Troubleshooting Menu > Enable SpoolSmart.
Un-check the box to disable this feature. Subsequent prints should properly include images from Revit 2010 products.
Several of our customers have been wondering about using the sheet set manager (SSM). Doug Benoit, PE, explains:
The Sheet Set Manger (SSM) is a very nice to tool for managing your projects plan set and populating your sheets with project information. If you take full advantage of the capabilities of the SSM and set up fields and the sheet set and sheet properties appropriately, it will automatically populate the title block information including but not limited to:
• Project name
• Sheet specific information
• Sheet name
• Drawn by
• Engineer
• Engineer #
• Sheet #
• # of sheets
Another nice feature of the SSM is its ability to modify sheet numbers in the event that a new sheet is added anywhere within the plan set.
A simple example: you're using PUBLISH and you have 100 sheets in a plan set. A simple modification is made to the project name. Without the SSM it will be necessary to open/access all 100 sheets and revise the name. However, if that particular value has been added as a property/field, the revision is made in a single location and the SSM will automatically apply the new project name when the plan set is published. No need to open/access all 100 sheets to make the change.
It is a very powerful tool. It requires a little bit of setup, but if you want to reap the benefits then you have to spend some quality one-on-one time with the SSM. Sort of sounds like the dating process
Personally, I like the SSM and believe that once you use it you'll wonder why you didn't start sooner.
If you want to improve your efficiency using Civil 3D and an operating system or hardware change is not plausible, the following best practices can help to
optimize performance.
Maintain master drawings of common design objects
For all but the smallest projects, it is best to maintain master drawings of objects
such as existing ground surfaces and alignments. These objects can then be
referenced into other drawings as lightweight copies of the original, requiring very
little space.
Stop Caching Layouts
When set to “2”, AutoCAD will store a copy of the graphics for each layout that is
opened in a drawing session. This is especially problematic if you are plotting a
series of layouts. Research indicates it is best to set AutoCAD layout regen
setting (LAYOUTREGENCTL) to 1 so that the graphics of modelspace and the
current layout are cached allowing faster switching between the two. We have
also found that even when you switch between multiple layouts, the performance
is equivalent, and in some cases better, than caching the graphics. The setting of
0 will disable the cache.
Reduce the frequency of automated operations
These operations include rebuilding surfaces, saving drawings, and virus
scanning.
Limit surface size
Civil 3D can build and store surfaces created from millions of points, but
performance can be an issue for surfaces containing more than a million points.
Such surfaces take a long time to build, edit and draw. Methods to reduce
surface size include 1) simplifying the surface, which reduces the number of
points on a triangulated irregular network (TIN) and 2) using a data clip
boundary, which defines a region of interest, so only points that fall within the
boundary are added to the surface.
Avoid surface snapshots
With large surfaces, avoid creating surface snapshots; instead, retain the active
links to point files, XML files, or other input data. The drawback of a snapshot is
that it uses system memory, so it can double the amount of memory required for
the surface.
Minimize the number of open drawings
In a single session of Civil 3D, each open drawing is loaded into the same 32-bit address
space. When working with multiple drawings simultaneously, it is more optimal to open
different documents in different sessions of Civil 3D.
Use minimal object styles
For the most efficient processing, use styles that have very little or no displayed
elements. Minimal display styles draw faster, and are especially relevant for
large objects such as surfaces, point groups and corridors. Only display what
you need to help streamline the design process. Display styles necessary to
create construction documents can be assigned to the pertinent elements in the
sheet file when design is complete.
Remove or simplify profile views
When drawings contain several profile views, this adds significant time to the file
size and processing time. To minimize these effects, keep each profile view as
simple as possible, with minimal labels. Delete profile views from corridor
drawings after designing the proposed profiles. The profile objects remain in the
drawing, but the rebuilding operations are faster without the profile views.
Turn off labels
As with object styles, different label styles can be used during different stages of
a project. An empty ‘No Label’ style allows you to quickly turn off object labels to
help reduce clutter and drawing time.
Turn off corridor regions
As the design gets more detailed, it is best to turn off corridor regions you are not
working in to experience faster rebuilds.
Set assembly frequency and section swath to minimum values
In each corridor region, set the assembly frequency to minimum values to avoid
loading the design with unnecessary data. For example, assemblies can be
widely spaced along a straight roadway across flat terrain, but may need to be
placed more closely in regions with frequent topography changes. Section swath
width should be set to a value not much wider than the maximum corridor width
between the daylight lines on each side to avoid taking in excessive amounts of
existing ground surface beyond the corridor boundary.
Create separate drawing for section views
After corridor design is complete, create a separate drawing for the section
views, to keep the drawings at manageable sizes. Use a data reference to bring
in the alignment and use an external reference (xref) to bring in the corridor
drawing.
Suppress tooltips
Your computer can use a lot of resources to display tooltips for each location of
the cursor in the drawing window. Reduce the number of tooltips by changing
the tooltip settings at the appropriate level.
Optimize AutoCAD system variables related to 3D display
The display of a complex surface in 3D is memory intensive. You can improve
the performance of 3D display at the expense of graphic detail, a trade-off that
may be acceptable during the design process.
- Adaptive degradation
Depending on the data you are displaying and the graphics card in
your computer, you may get better performance by turning off
adaptive degradation.
- Dynamic tessellation
Turn off dynamic tessellation to significantly improve the display
speed of pipe networks as 3D solids. By doing this, system
resources will not be used to store surface tessellation in memory
for different zoom levels. To compensate for this setting,
regenerate the display (REGEN) after you have set your 3D display
to the desired zoom level.
Minimize the use of viewports in working drawings
Similar to the layout cache, each time a viewport is created in a drawing, a
separate display list for all the objects in the drawing is added to memory so they
can be quickly displayed. The quick viewing/pan/zoom takes system memory to
execute, reducing the amount you have left for the model, so if you aren’t using
the extra viewports, turn them off.
Revit Warning & Fixes By Alignex AE Phil Charlson
If you receive the "Revit cannot import because it will create a Revit model that is larger than 2 miles across" warning and the CAD file contents are within 2 miles in size, there are 3 items to verify:
1. Turn on all layers in the AutoCAD file and zoom extents to ensure there are no stray objects.
2. Not only check a top view in AutoCAD but also open an elevation and 3D view to ensure the entire model placement is within a 2 mile area.
3. If the CAD file contains AEC objects, ensure to set PROXYGRAPHICS to 1 in the CAD file. This can reduce the occurrence of this warning when these objects are present to ensured they are properly displayed.
The second service packs for Revit Architecture, Structure, and MEP are now available from Autodesk! Use the links below to go to the respective download page and make sure to download the correct version (32-bit or 64-bit) of the service pack.
Download Revit Architecture 2010 Service Pack 2
Download Revit Structure 2010 Service Pack 2
Download Revit MEP 2010 Service Pack 2
Stay tuned for the next updates of all your favorite Autodesk software! We post all updates to our Twitter Page as well.