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Pharr

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  1. Hi everyone, We are a couple of weeks behind our anticipated schedule on the 2009 SP5 release. Every aspect of changing and releasing older software is more labor intensive and prone to error because it is not the project everyone is working with on a daily basis. We are taking the time to make sure this final VW 2009 release is high quality. We expect this release to be out the door the first week in December, but we will release it earlier if possible. Sorry if this delay has affected your Snow Leopard plans. Thanks, Paul Pharr CIO NNA
  2. The gory details from the NNA intranet: Vectorworks 2009 System Recommendations Last Modified: 9/22/2008 For changes, contact: Paul Pharr Status: Approved Approvals: Paul Pharr Applies to VW version: 2009 Please note the title change from Requirements to Recommendations. We now specify a hardware andsoftware configuration for real-world use. There are notes belowdiscussing tradeoffs which can be expected if users decide to use Vectorworks with other hardwareor software configurations. The following are real-world system recommendations for running Vectorworks 2009. In some demandingcases, we would suggest a more capable machine than is described by these recommendations. Likewise,there are some less demanding situations where Vectorworks will perform well on older hardware.The Vectorworks user experience is always improved by faster processors and additional RAM. General Recommendations Macintosh Windows Operating System Mac OS X 10.4.11 or laterMac OS X 10.5.4 or later Windows XP SP 3Windows Vista SP 1 Other Software QuickTime QuickTime 7.2 to 7.5 (higher versions not recommended) Processor PowerPC G5 2GHz or betterIntel Core 2GHz or better Pentium 2GHz or better Other Hardware DVD-ROM drive (dual layer) DVD-ROM drive (dual layer) Screen Resolution 1024 x 768 (XGA) 1024 x 768 (XGA) Display color depth 15 bit or higher 15 bit or higher VectorworksRAM 2GB Hard drive space 10GB free Vectorworks plus RenderWorksRAM 4GB Hard drive space 10GB free Vectorworks DesignerRAM 2GB Hard drive space 10GB free Vectorworks Designer plus RenderWorksRAM 4GB Hard drive space 10GB free Additional Details Strict Minimums The absolute software version requirements in order for Vectorworks to launch are oftenbut not always more relaxed than our recommendations. Vectorworks 2009 requires the followingas an absolute minimum: Windows:Windows XP or Vista or later QuickTime 7.2 All attached video monitors set to 15 bits per pixel or higher Macintosh:Mac OS X 10.4.0 or later QuickTime 7.0 All attached video monitors set to 15 bits per pixel or higher We do not currently have strict runtime checks of other aspects of the machine configuration such as the processor architecture. Remote and Virtual Machines We do not consider remote login environments such as Remote Desktop, Terminal Services and VNC or virtual machine environmentssuch as Parallels and VMware to be appropriate for regular work, so Vectorworks performance in these situationsis not of primary concern to us. They may be appropriate for administrative testing or utility purposes, and Vectorworks is fully functionalin these environments. You should not expect high performance - especially with interactive screen feedback. We do support Vectorworks running under Bootcamp on Intel Macs. As long as you have appropriate and current drivers for the hardwareon your machine, you can expect fast and reliable Vectorworks behavior. Maintenance Releases Unless there is a known problem with a maintenance release of the operating system, werecommend the latest maintenance release at the time we ship a new release of Vectorworksas a minimum because that is what we test with. If you have problems withan earlier maintenance release, we will often ask you to update as an initial troubleshootingstep. On Windows, we recommend against updating QuickTime primarily because most Windows users are not awarethat Vectorworks depends on QuickTime and can possibly change behavior when QuickTime is updated. We have never hadproblems, however, which were traced back to bugs in newer releases of QuickTime, so updating QuickTime onWindows is not a risky choice. 64 Bit Windows On the Windows platform, the user must choose whether to run with a 32 bit or 64 bitoperating system. Vectorworks runs well and is fully supported in either environment, and we have no known problemsin Vectorworks 2009 caused by running under a 64 bit operating system. Having said that,the following are also true: Vectorworks 2009 does not use 64 bit addressing and does not benefit from running in a 64 bit environment. Vectorworks does run about 5% slower in a 64 bit environment due to a 32 bit emulation layer. We have noticed that drivers for 64 bit Windows are somewhat more problematic than those for the more mainstream 32 bit versions of Windows.Should you choose to run 64 bit Windows you should make sure you carefully choose your hardware and driver versions to avoid problems. Optimizing Performance Newer processor architectures often bring substantial improvements in performance. Mac IntelCPUs are substantially faster than G5s and we recommend using Intel based Mac hardware in allperformance-sensitive applications. Faster or slower processor clock speeds have a predictable impact on Vectorworks performance.We choose our recommendation based on our perception of mainstream needs and the current availablehardware. RAM requirements are usually driven by performance considerations. Large files and especiallycomplex rendering modes such as HDRI and radiosity consume large amounts of memory. WhenRAM runs out, Vectorworks usually continues to function, but is slowed significantly by the need toaccess the hard drive to provide virtual memory. Extreme lack of RAM maycause operations to generate errors in cases where given sufficient RAM they would otherwise succeed. Fasterhard drives can have an unexpectedly large impact on system performance especially when virtualmemory is actively being used. Hard drive size requirements are driven by the total size of Designer with Renderworksincluding all content files. You can easily reduce this size by opting to not installsome Vectorworks content files. Video Cards IMPORTANT - Vectorworks 2009 has a completely new document interaction interface whichdepends on a high bandwidth interface between the CPU and the screen. This has thepotential to provide a very fast and fluid screen interface if used on appropriatehardware or a noticeably slower interface if used on the wrong hardware. It is especiallyimportant to choose a CPU and video card which are current-generation if you useVectorworks on a very high resolution 30" monitor. Some users may be dissatisfied with30" monitors when used with older generation processors or video cards. We strongly recommend that all users check that their video drivers are current. Mostfunctional problems have been traced to older video drivers during our testing. More Information For the latest information on our video card recommendations for Vectorworks 2009, go to the Vectorworks Knowledgebase and search for "opengl". For the latest support information on Vectorworks 2009 go to the Vectorworks Knowledgebaseand search for "2009".
  3. We have moved from past practice of trying to identify a true minimum configuration to more recently specifying a recommended configuration. (We need to adjust some of our terminology on the web site to reflect this.) 2GB is perfectly fine for most Renderworks users, though for larger models and especially when using HDRI rendering we recommend supplying 4GB as you will see benefits in speed and rendering capability. Paul Pharr CIO NNA
  4. I personally don't disagree (& please forgive my morning sarcasm). I like those details as well, but we are just trying to prioritize the work we do so we are as effective as possible. We'll continue to make those judgments in the future, but your opinions will be considered. Thanks!
  5. Good morning, Mr. Scott. I'm glad you have given us a straightforward to restore your confidence. We have in fact fixed many more than 5 bugs for SP3. And the ad/PR hacks at NNA can be held blameless in this decision as it was made by the CTO hack. If you can stretch your imagination a little, you may be able to understand there are other things that I prioritize over documenting all of the details of every change we make to the software for a maintenance release sufficiently that they can be posted on the download page. This can easily consume 25% more time overall which results in 25% fewer things getting attention, and we are forced by our competition to be as efficient as possible. Here is the unedited list - I hope it proves useful and brings back your confidence. [if I included the full descriptions, this document would run 50 printed pages.] B059244 unneccessary regen - on Viewport - when opening old WGR dialog B061104 Heavily referenced document has issues. B061887 OpenGL creating strange artifacts when rendering extruded objects B062347 There is a trouble ?i Round Wall ?jM&W . B063534 VW2008 SP2 -All Section VPs require regeneration when a new SVP is created B063546 OpenGL Shading inconsistent with Shadows on : JBC B063616 Deleting data from database cell also deletes column formula : JBC B063691 Text is disappearing B064059 Can't correctly print this file B064123 SLVP allows only one use of Flyover tool at a time B064130 VW 2008 cannot export as DXF/DWG in Vista 64 B064195 "Export DXF/DWG" and "ImportDXF/DWG" do not work on 64bit OS. B064209 Layer options affect active layers display especially for DLVP B064280 13.0.x IFC-DEV Branch -Space object error -GSA Space Data B064303 Import a long list of Design Layers (with their objects) VW crashes. B064316 File saved on networks using SMB connection becomes invisible B064342 "CreateText" makes a "mojibake" string. B064365 13.0.x IFC-DEV Branch-IFC import errors: Space Names and Numbers B064392 Plant Reports imported from 12.5 refer to Botanical name -should be latin B064393 Plant Record Quantity field is the wrong type B064400 File sizes are getting huge if files have references B064401 Unneccesary layers are being referenced if file has multiple levels of reference B064417 Plant Tag goes blank after editing Plant Definition B064422 Plant Tag goes blank after editing Plant Definition B064436 AHA: Walls can not be joined in plan rotation B064449 Text disappears in text blocks B064450 Application title bar flickers and OIP takes time to update B064454 Batch convert problem with slash character B064459 Plant Graphics Disappear in Rotated Plan View B064468 Contents of SLVPs of DLVPs are rotated incorrectly after a reference update B064474 VW Crash on Hide Class in Viewport : JBC B064477 Updating one section VP marks others out-of-date B064480 VW Crashes when cancel button clicked in light properties dialog box B064524 Move by points tool changes stacking order of objects B064557 Plant Placement from Resource Browser is Miles Away B064580 VW on Win Crashing when saving, "VW Backup" folder to mapped network drive B064590 AHA: Viewport on sheet layers become empty when deleting the reference B064597 Change Plant Grouping Moves Plants in Rotated View B064604 KLS: Import Shape causes crash in SP2 B064608 Import shapefile: Last character of each data base line lost. B064624 Vectorworks crashes when trying to import a test file. B064637 VW Crashes when attempting to simultaneously delete multiple items from a wall B064648 Texted and Zoom affected when exporting image file B064650 "GetFolder" seems not to work correctly. B064651 The multiple Volume Server descriptors causing open files no longer to be saved B064657 Double byte characters disappear (True Type to polyline) B064675 Print Problem(Japanese Student Version) B064682 ATH: When importing a shape with a DBF then VW crashes B064685 Show other objects while in groups preferences messing up plant graphics in 2d B064691 Worksheet database rows cannot "see" a window in a dormer B064698 Deleting a cell's contents in a 2-way worksheet deletes the database formula B064703 KLS: Symbol must not be related to a class with umlaut at creation B064742 Dormer Windows do not show up in Window Schedule B064768 PS printer does not work(GDI Image is turned on) B064809 In some case, "HAngle" doesn't return object's angle. B064838 VW 13.0.1 crash on Mac Intel B064860 Referenced file causes the target file to crash on open B064872 DLVP Referenced file update is moving the 2d origin in the file having the updat B064896 Wish:Duplicate along path command lacks previous feature of the old tool B064903 Move by Points tool creates a copy of the Section Viewport Section Line marker. B064919 Colored texts are printed as black. (GDI) B064920 The colored texts become black.(PDF) B064925 VW12 doc, exported from VW2008 doc with external references, crashes VW2008 B064928 Viewport Cache not effective B064981 Space nav: Control panel doesn't come up when the focus is on VW document B064993 Old style reference fails if special character appears in folder name B064994 VW-2008 when exporting a file to VW-11 file size increases B065018 AHA: Umlauts (??? etc) in relative paths are not supported on Windows B065032 Clip tool is haphazard after issuing an undo/redo and frequently crashes VW B065063 Crash when trying to edit definition of a plant. B065071 Problem with Line Markers opening a VW 9 file B065079 "Batch Convert..." doesn't work with folders with a "/" B065096 MAC: "Batch Convert..." doesn't work with files with a "/" B065115 Obj Info > VP > Set View: no preview of settings if "Parameters are absolute..." B065123 Multiple volumes folder being created B065146 VW crashes in TDFileGet tdPort is nil B065155 Transparent Bitmap Images randomly print without Transparency : JBC B065159 DOM: Changing User Origin with Referenced Viewports and rotated Plan B065182 Unexpected shift of user origin by DWG export while Rotated Plan is TRUE B065189 User Origin Shift - Total Attack (commands run while Rotate Plan = TRUE) B065196 Custom Radiosity color-coded preview doesn't work in viewports on Windows B065197 Round wall texture code misidentifies the wall as a straight wall B065201 OpenGL shadows get washed out as white when set at "High" B065255 Viewport Referenced Material Shifting B065262 List Browsers whose columns are set to zero crash VW or dialog un-exitable B065265 Plant Tool crashing when French library file is translated. B065292 Booleans(Add, clip, intersect) fail when the objects are far away from origin. B065321 Revision Marker: resets document's text vert. alignm. without restoring prev val B065322 Data Stamp: resets document's text vertical alignment without restoring prev val B065323 Scale Bar: resets document's text vertical alignment without restoring prev val B065325 Slope Dimension: resets doc text vertical alignment without restoring prev val B065326 Grid Bubble: resets doc's text vertical alignment without restoring prev val B065331 MAC: Copy - Paste create a hatch with the name NNA#..... B065333 The VectorScript procedure PopAttrs is not resetting text vertical alignment. B065340 File save fails and creates tmp file without warning B065350 Export PDF and Transparent Images B065360 Operations in SVPs take too long, maybe forever B065380 MAC: Lost objects in referenced viewports B065390 MAC: Class of new referenced symbol is not visible B065401 Objects are being deselected when zooming out B065415 3D Analysis tool Interrogation Mode Crashes VW B065420 CreatePaintFromImage BIG Memory Leak in PIO's B065440 Import of this shape file cause vw to crash B065443 The folder name of Japanese becomes "Mojibake".(Choose VW Plants) B065454 Shape import crashes VW B065458 Vectorworks 2009 error message. B065483 Batch Convert failing to convert a handful of files from a large selection B065496 Rotated Plan inside of symbols has problems with rectangles B065504 Rotate Plan and the Origin Shift is not fixed B065508 Class View Failure after reference update B065550 Open a file that contains references to other files on the server is slow B065554 KLS: Objects in Ref. viewport get displaced if source file have rotated plan. B065571 Batch Convert breaking referenced files, VW is still looking for .mcd files B065596 649 - Rotated plan - Repositioning rectangle goes wrong B065736 DLVPs shifting under crop B065759 Wall Join within a symbol crashes VW everytime. B065775 DLVPs moving after Rotate View B065793 Interrupting Lighting Device placement causes origin shift B065839 MAC: Crash if change hatch in wall B065937 Referenced files cause crash in SP3 B065939 IFC export - Wall geometry errors B064658 Plant tool reacts badly to origin change : JBC B064677 MAC: Convert of unsaved walls is broken B065319 Storypole: resets document's text vertical alignment without restoring prev val B065501 AHA: Shifted origin when using references and plan rotation B065502 AHA: Referenced objects have wrong positions when using plan rotation B065503 AHA: Referenced objects have wrong positions when using plan rotation 02
  6. We sometimes post detailed lists of fixes, but this time we posted more general information. This is from the Check For Updates page: NNA has released Service Pack 3 for VectorWorks 2008. It contains improvements to a broad array of VectorWorks functionality. File referencing, design layer viewports, modified user origins, and plan rotation (especially when used in combination) saw a concentrated series of fixes and improvements. VectorWorks 2008 SP3 is now a certified application for use with the 3D Connexion Space Navigator 3D controller. VectorWorks now supports DXF/DWG import/export on machines with 4GB of RAM when running nuder 64 bit Windows operating systems.
  7. You should Check for Updates in the About VectorWorks dialog for complete information.
  8. I am told that our posting of the Windows updater omitted a few Adobe support files required for GDI+ printing. We will post info tomorrow on a simple way to resolve this for those who have already updated to SP2 on Windows. For now, SP2 users on Windows should turn off GDI+ in the VectorWorks preferences in order to print successfully.
  9. Hi Peter, What you mailed me before was unfortunately not the complete dump we need to investigate, but I see that QA is in contact with you. I hear that the NVIDIA Desktop Manager may be the root of your problem. I hope it is, but if not we will investigate any crash dump you send us. If your crashes have been eliminated completely by turning off the NVIDIA Desktop Manager, I'll ask that you turn it back on long enough to get one log per Gunther's instructions so we can see if there is anything we can do within VectorWorks to better identify or handle this case. Thanks, Paul
  10. Hi Peter, As I hinted earlier this month, VW 2008 SP1 no longer has a problem running in a 4GB environment. You can get the update on our web site. I have asked our QA staff to contact you with a procedure for reporting these crashes so we can better understand their origin. Vista video drivers are a frequent culprit, but it sounds like yours are the newest available. That does not mean they are not to blame, but we need to get a little more information to take the next step toward resolving this for you.
  11. While walls have a lot more functionality in Architect, Fundamentals supports viewing, and editing walls in 2D and 3D, though in VW 2008, the new 3D wall creation functionality is only in Architect. Paul
  12. I believe most or all of these problems are addressed by the VW 2008 Service Pack 1 release. Please try that if you are having difficulty and let us know the result. Thanks, Paul
  13. We are still testing VectorWorks 12.5 as we only recently received our latest seed of Leopard. We are not in a position to make a statement yet that we can confidently stand behind, but we will be by the time Leopard is released. I'll update you soon.
  14. I'm glad you are pleased with this small victory, but I can say that 3 crashes in a morning is still quite atypical (and unacceptable) in our experience, and I think there may be more to find. The primary reason we hesitate recommending XP 64 is that the drivers are generally a little more fragile & this may be involved here somehow. Keep me updated.
  15. Katie is correct in that before we have final software to test against, we cannot assume that something will not change in the final release of Leopard which somehow breaks VectorWorks. I can say, however, that we have fixed all significant problems we have had when testing against our latest seed versions of Leopard and we expect VectorWorks 2008 to work when Leopard is released. Further, we can unambiguously commit to fully support Leopard with the VectorWorks 2008 product even if it requires us to release a maintenance release after the final release of Leopard.
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