Art V

Then @zoomer's reference to cached items in the file needing to be processed may still apply. Without a sample file to see how the document is constructed it is hard to tell what might be the exact cause of this issue but the above explanation sounds reasonable to me for now. Especially if there might be nested references as it may cause other objects trying to find the just deleted reference again. Can't you delete the broken references all at once? (I rarely had to deal with broken references and if I had to it was usually 1 or 2 and I never really noticed an impact on deleting them in the past).

In that case... if you are really really adamant about not having emojis then there is still the option of switching to Windows 😁 Though it will probably be a matter of time until they copy this from Apple. 🤔

Now that I'm almost exclusively into mechanical CAD kind of work I'm basically not using VW Landmark anymore so I've decided on selling my license. It is an US International version E-series license (i.e. Internet activation, no dongle) and has been upgraded every year since VW2015 when I switched to an E-license. If it is possible/allowed to tranfer them together with the 2022 license the serial numbers for VW 2015 and later will be included as well. If you are interested please get in touch.

I've been told that, depending on country/region the time frame may vary, dongle licenses will be phased out and be replaced by internet activation. Is this information correct?

Short answer... it hasn't been resolved at all. Not that lang ago I needed to reinstall the entire system after a windows update completely broke the OS. So I made a phone call and they did reset it, but... while on the phone I was told this could be done only once a year per machine (i.e. with a max of two if I understood it correctly, one reset for each machine it was installed on IF it didn't expire because of not using it for three months). Compare this to my other CAD program where I can deactivate from within the software and if that is not possible because of a major computer crash that requires reinstalling everything then I can still deactive from within my customer account, though they do ask to specify why you are using the account instead of the regular way, had to use it twice and not a single problem. Even worse, I sometimes need to run it on a 2nd desktop computer besides my main desktop one and my laptop so I simply deactivate it on the main desktop, activate it on the 2nd desktop and by the end of the day do the reverse routine. Not a single glitch. And this has been possible since I started using it 15+ years ago. This activation/deactivation thing really needs to be solved, if only to be able to deactivate and install/active on a restored machine while the support department is not available (e.g. weekends, holidays etc.) and because of e.g. an important deadline you can't afford to wait until they are available again.

It is probably created with MC5 or earlier, I have a conversion program from the local distributor to convert MC4/5 - MC7 files to MC8 (the converter is basically a stripped down version of MC8), but it does give the beta version error as well or the message that the file was created with an older version of MiniCAD or that it may not be a MiniCAD file. Maybe VW tech support can still open the files assuming they are not corrupted, otherwise as @MullinRJ mentioned your only hope may be a backup copy of those files that we could try to convert.

The answer to both is yes, I know it works with with regular objects and symbols and just tried it with PIO's (never had to use to do that with PIOs so far with what I use VW for) and it worked on the PIOs I tried. You may have to create an additional data sheet though to which you add the additional records. Then you can add multiple fields in one go to multiple PIOs at the same time. There could be PIOs where it may not work for some reason because I didn't test with each and every PIO available. I have Landmark so e.g. Spotlight may have PIOs where it might not work.

This seems to become a bumpy topic 🙁 I do realise things may take some time to implement, but 7 years is stretching it a bit too much to considerably improve text handling in VW, good text handling should be considered a necessity and not a luxury feature.

You may want to contact your local distributor's phone support to obtain an offline activation code if possible, in case the issue hasn't been resolved yet. It could also be that there is a connection issue (e.g. too much latency/slow connection) or the activation server having issues.

@TID Regarding the healing, some CAD programs have a repair function though it can be named differently that checks the geometry and fixes it where possible so that it become usable again. Sometimes it is possible to "dissolve" and object to make it a generic solid and then convert it back to a mechanical object again and parametrize it to make it a fully functional mechanical object. What STEP version did you use for export? Can you share an example STEP file that would show the issue? ODA is working on a STEP engine that should allow for sharing of mechanical models with functionality more or less intact, somewhat like what IFC is for BIM. Until then you have to expect that functionality that you have in one program may get lost when exchanging to another program through STEP if it cannot interpret it. For more info on ODA's plans with STEP you can read this article: https://www.upfrontezine.com/2021/11/upf-1111.html

That would be nice, especially on high DPI monitors set to 100% display scaling it would be nice if e.g. the object info palette could display text a bit larger for e.g. 27" 4K displays whereas it will probably look ok on 32" or larger monitors.

This is true to some extent, except that Bezier control points in DTP software have point/handle manipulations options that Vectorworks doesn't (yet) have and are therefore easier/smoother in use whereas it is a more tedious experience in VW. E.g. where in DTP software things can be accompished by rotating and extending the control points you have to move the control point in VW until it matches what can be achieved quite a bit easier in DTP software. Especially with curved lines a bezier pen tool with associated controls like in DTP software would be really nice to have as you can create curved lines quite a bit more efficiently, not just for those coming from a DTP background.

Not a braceworks user but I did have a similar issue of differences between calculated and real world. One thing to check with the manufacturer's tables is whether these are calculated or measured data. In my case the supplier was using calculated data and there was a rather significant difference with measured data in this particular case even though their and my calculated data (based on theoretical values) were basically in agreement. With things like trusses I would assume that the manufacturer has done load tests etc. and use that for their tables but you never know for sure until you ask.

So far I'm not noticing much difference compared to V21 when it comes to stability. Are you perhaps using add-on applications? Sometimes those can cause some stability issues with BC by itself or conflict with another add-on application and then cause stability issues. Or it could be something from other installed software/OS updates that is causing a glitch. Refreshing the OS install may get rid of some of those things causing problems. I know it did solve some issues in the past on my Windows machine, including issues with VW This might be worth trying if you have done update over update over update on the OS and/or software.

@Martyn Horne Thanks for the invite. I noticed you are using zoom for this summit which unfortunately is a bit tricky to use on my setup as it seems to confict with some other installed software. By the time that gets solved the summit is probably over so I'll use the forum roadmap section for this 3D constraints topic.

Didn't get to it last time but this time I did an audit with fixing errors in the drawing and that solved the dependencies viewing issue. This basically requires having a DWG based CAD program because VW cannot do this upon import as far as I am aware. ODA (Open Design Alliance) has a viewer and converter on their website for Win/Mac/Linux, if I recall correctly the converter can do an audit to fix issues when converting to a different dwg version (or even the same dwg version). https://www.opendesign.com/ @Olivia-OBryan maybe this ODA viewer and/or converter might be an option to install on your machine to view/fix DWG files if they cause issues upon importing in VW2020.

@Olivia-OBryan Attached is your uploaded dwg file with the self-referenced dwg xref removed and the drawing file audited (169 errors fixed). It is now also possible to look at the dependencies without freezing BricsCAD so it was probably some corrupted data inside the DWG file that may have been causing issues during import in VW2020. Could you try importing this file to see if it works now? LENXR1 (audited).dwg

@zoomerRemoving the self-referenced xref worked just fine on my measly Windows laptop. Did you try it on your Mac or on your Linux machine?

Doesn't crashing imply that it is lost so that in essence you did get rid of it? 😁

Or... VW could license the Parasolid kernel 3D constraints/parametrics so that it is a bit easier to create straightforward parametric objects without having to get into Marionette or scripting. For more complex objects scripting will still be necessary though.

As well as OpenType feature support for e.g. real fractions beyond the standard 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 etc. that even not every font has.

This is one of several reasons why, as I already mentioned, I don't like using viewport annotations. I'd classify the OP's issue as a bug in this case as it is not working as it should. Even if it would align with the design layer and stakes would report correct coordinates anything that would extend the viewport size would then alter the coordinates and when one is not aware it is a recipe for trouble.

You would need either a DWG based CAD program to view, and fix if necessary, these things or a viewer that can do the same. I doubt that VW would recognize a self-referencing dwg file upon import. Regarding the depencies, it could be anything from fonts to textures, (missing) external references etc. and with 400k+ objects it will take time to find out what object(s) might be causing the issue. Generally speaking any non-readable (or corrupted) data should simply be skipped on import and a message should be shown that data/objects were skipped on import because it couldn't be read/interpreted, without crashing the program. VW does tell things didn't get imported but that is usually non-compatible things or missing references etc. If it crashes VW but opens apparently ok in a DWG viewer/CAD program then it is most likely that some geometry or data is at fault and then having a DWG based program would be handy to have to be able to dive into the file and fix it. It is too bad that there is no longer a free version of Draftsight as that might have been a suitable option to have alongside VW.

There is at least one issue with the dwg file, it is referencing to itself twice With the bind external references it will import 900k+ objects, with ignore external references it will import 475k and something and at first overall glance both imports look the same. Both imports hang a little while around the 80-88% mark but complete the import. The 2nd import is faster than the 1st import though. What happens if you import with the ignore external references selected instead of binding external references? Another possible issue is with the dependencies, Vectorworks might be ignoring those but BricsCAD becomes "not responding" when trying to list them in the drawing explorer. All of us who have replied so far are at least on VW2021 and those of us who could import the dwg are all on VW2022. VW2022 has apparently better dwg/dxf import than VW2020 so it could be that there is something in the file that causes VW2020 to not complete the import and/or crash where VW2022 will continue.

Of it also happens on your windows machine (the Alienware 17") what you could try is to refresh Windows. I had a program that wouldn't even start up properly and another one crashing quite often. Because of a big crash causing Windows to become unstable I did a refresh and sudden that one program could be installed and run properly and the other one had far less crashes. All those windows updates and semi-annual upgrades do create quite a bit of junk, include software updates etc. and there may be clashes in the background. Or it could be just one program that you use that just throws a wrench into the VW operations, that is also possible. The refresh basically creates a clean slate to start working from. I assume it is possible to do something similar on your Mac as well. You could try this if you don't find hardware defects, it might be just one driver causing issues but it can be hard to find out which one or it could be a combination as described above and a refresh might solve this.