January 2012 DBUG Meeting

Dongles and DWGs

Managing the dongle-less installation:

  • Installation
  • Install like any other DataCAD installation
  • Can be installed in parallel with any other DataCAD version. It is installed in its own “DataCAD 14” folder, so will not interrupt any other DataCAD version.
  • If desired it will automatically pick up all your current DataCAD setting, toolbars, shortcuts, etc, and use those to set up DataCAD 14.
  • Once installed you will be prompted for a registration # and a password that were emailed to you when you purchased DataCAD 14 (we bought 8 copies of DCAD 14 so got 8 different registration numbers all operating under a single password).
  • DataCAD will go online to validate the registration and password. Once validated, DataCAD 14 is set to run.
  • Day-to-Day Use = no different than a hardlock version
  • Moving Between Computers
  • Deactivate

  • Activate
  • DataCAD remembers the last serial # and password used on the computer, so you don’t have to remember it.
  • What if I Forget to Deactivate Before Moving?
  • Essentially it’s the same as if you forgot the dongle. There is no immediate way to resolve the problem.
  • Send DataCAD tech support an email and they can get you going. This happened recently on the DBUG forum.
  • DataCAD LLC suggest that you establish a remote desktop connection so you canaccess your computers from multiple locations. Otherwise, you'll need tocontact technical support for assistance. If it's after hours and you haveInternet access, send an e-mail message to often respond to messages at night and on weekends.
  • How often does the program checks over the internet for a valid license?
  • The first time you run DataCAD each day, the program attempts to validatethe license by communicating with the license server over the Internet.Each time the license validation is successful, the license expiration timeris reset to 45 days. So at a maximum, you can run DataCAD for 45 days without access to the Internet.
  • What happens if I'm in Antarctica and have no Internet connection when the software wants to check in?
  • If DataCAD has not been able to validate your license for more than 38days, you will receive a warning message letting you know that your licensewill expire in 7 days (or less). In the event you are unable to run DataCADdue to a license validation failure, you'll need to contact technicalsupport for assistance. If you don't have Internet access, we can activateyour license by exchanging codes over the phone. If you have Internetaccess, we can reset your activation directly on the license server.
  • What happens if, God forbid, DATACAD LLC doesn't exist sometime in the future?
  • From Mark Madura: Of course I cannot say for certain, but I would guess we would remove thelicense expiration from all active licenses on our license server and issuea corresponding update since a new executable would be required.
  • Is a Hard Lock Dongle an Option?
  • Mike was told “yes” though it’s not advertised. For a $75 fee. Contact DataCAD LLC directly.

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DataCAD New Pricing

  • What is different?
  • From Mark Madura:

The DataCAD Subscription & Priority Service Plan is $299 for a pre-paid, one year subscription, or $29.95 per month ($359.40 per year). We offer a $50 discount off the regular price of the plan when it is purchased at the same time as DataCAD. There was a typo on the product page, it should have read “1 Year Plan ($299.00)” and “Monthly Billing Plan ($29.95)”. In your case, we would honor the $249 price given the purchase timing and number of licenses you own. The subscription period begins at the time of purchase and you are eligible to receive priority support and product enhancements in addition to fixes for twelve months.

Just as we offer a $50 incentive to purchase a subscription with DataCAD, we will likely offer an incentive to renew your plan before it expires.

  • See DataCAD web page…
  • The cost is in addition to the cost of a seat of DataCAD.
  • The cost is per user, not per seat of DataCAD (with 8 seats of DataCAD 14 our office would still pay only $249/year).
  • Why?
  • DataCAD LLC can no longer support the previous model of purchase-only-upgrades, and then free features throughout the life cycle of that version.
  • A subscription model gives DataCAD LLC a way to have a more predictable revenue stream and to actually support the addition of new features.
  • What if you don’t subscribe?
  • Fee-based, per-incident support is available ($50 per incident).

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Revisions to “Remember Layer Settings” in Goto Views

  • XREFs linked to GoTo Views now remember layer highlight settings and clipping boundaries.
  • The ability to save the status of XREF layers with a GoTo View in the host drawing has been enhanced to include the highlight settings on the layers in the XREF.
  • The ability to save the status of XREF layers with a GoTo View in the host drawing has been enhanced to include XClip boundaries.
  • The toggle "Remember Layer Settings for GoTo Views" has been removed from the "Reference File Management..." menu in the "Insert" pull-down. [Note: Our copies STILL have the old setting. Not sure if it’s because we have not yet purchased the support subscription.]

  • The new option "GTV Link" has been added to the Insert XRef menu, the RFM, the XRef Properties dialog and the [Ctrl]+Right-click context menu for XRefs.
  • This setting is remembered on a per-XRef basis. Note: Even if this option is Off, the GTV links are still remembered for the XRef. However, the XRef's layers will not be toggled on and off in response to changing GTVs unless this option is subsequently toggled on.
  • Problems we had (Neil Blanchard’s comments):
  • The problems we had were all in v13, and I have not tried this in v14 yet.
  • The main problem was when the layer with the XRef on was locked. If you tried to update the GTV, then it crashed.
  • Another problem was in MSP, it would "forget" the layer settings on the XRef and it would always load the layers as they currently were in the source file.

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DataCAD 13/14 Saving MSP Sheets to DWG Format

  • Why?
  • To give drawing sheets to AutoCAD users (or any other CAD program that reads .DWG files) that look like your own MSP sheets.
  • How is that different than a PDF of my sheet?
  • A PDF is not editable.
  • I thought MSP and Paper Space (ACAD) were not transferable…
  • They are not. This is a pseudo way to share your MSP sheets.
  • For the ACAD user what are the down sides?
  • Many or most of the “details” in the .DWG sheet are saved as symbols, rather than straight drawing entities. That means they can be edited, but only after exploding the symbols in ACAD. That essentially destroys the sheet you sent, making round-tripping difficult to impossible.
  • XREFs…
  • So what is it good for?
  • You will need to make that determination. It isn’t useful for everyone or for every situation.
  • One possibility is that it ‘technically’ allows you to give the client .DWGs of your drawings so you can claim that you present the final work in .DWG format. This is usually a requirement for Federal projects, and often for State or other municipal projects.
  • STEP BY STEP (use 20805 Wall Details.AEC example)
  • Print/Plot > Multi-Layout > Sheet
  • Select the MSP (multi-scale-plotting, otherwise known as multi-layout) sheet
  • Bind One
  • Shortcut says: “Select sheet to bind to new layer”
  • Select the MSP sheet
  • Prompt says “Select the detail to act as the master scale for this sheet OR…”
  • Or set manually with the Scale button
  • Pick the detail or use the Scale button. This will set the scale that WHEN DISPLAYED in the drawing window.
  • The DataCAD message displayed is “1 Sheets bound to new layers.”
  • A new layer with the name of the MSP sheet is created at the end of the current layer list.
  • Exit MSP.
  • Go to the Layer Manager and turn on ONLY the new layer.
  • Note that each “detail” is now a symbol.
  • Since the symbols are being displayed in the Drawing Window, all of the “details” at the selected scale will measure properly. All the details that were at a different scale in MSP will not measure to scale.
  • The “detail” symbols do retain their clip cubes.

To see what your ACAD user will see:

  • Double click (or Ctrl+Rt Click) on a “detail” symbol to open it in the Symbol Editor.
  • This will be what the ACAD user will see if they explode the detail in AutoCAD.
  • Entities ARE at the proper scale
  • Correct layers for the detail
  • NO clip cube