macOS Catalina (10.15) Compatibility

[Andrew Pollock]

I'm still waiting to for SP2 before I switch my main machine (at least)

[Alvar]

Hello,

 

I'm new to the Forum. 

 

Just wanted to report that I have just downloaded Catalina and it has made Vectorworks 2018 pretty much unusable. The main problem is that drawn information is not visible in the design layer on most drawings I open, although it is visible in the sheet layers. Occasionally when opening an existing drawing no information appears at all - not even the editing window. 

 

I'm using a 2019 iMac, 3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 with 128mb of Ram. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thank you 

[Alvar]

Thank you Rob,

 

This is disappointing to know as VW 2018 isn't that old !

 

I did do some reading before installing Catalina but I could only find information on compatibility with 2019. I guess I will have to revert back to Mojave. 

 

 

[shorter]

Alvar,

 

Hopefully you are on Service Select and therefore will not be adversely affected by the new OS release.

 

Service Select gives you huge freedom particularly on the Mac platform to jump on to the latest version that is supported on Catalina and not be inconvenienced by the additional cost.
 

[Alvar]

Shorter,

 

Thanks for your response. I am not on Service Select, I will look into it. 

 

Just by way of an update, I have removed all of the cache and plists and rebooted VW (the uninstall function will not work). This has improved things slightly, the design layers are working now. It's a little slower than it was previously and drawings cannot be opened from VW only from the Finder. It appears to be be just about useable but its not ideal.

Edited October 19, 2019 by Alvar

[mpalin1943]

There is no way that I can afford to update from 2018.  Will it work with Catalina?  

 

This does annoy me.  I spend thousands of pounds on Vectorworks and after 2 years they don't care anymore about keeping up-to-date with current OS.  Should have a life span of at least five years.

Edited October 25, 2019 by mpalin1943

[Alvar]

It does work but not very well. Some files won’t open from VW only finder. Sometimes design layers do not show any content. 
 

I agreed it’s disappointing. I am a small practice and I can’t afford new CAD software every year. I’m currently looking for CAD alternatives now.

 

 

[herbieherb]

The question is why Apple isn't able to release a new operating system version without everyone having to change their software. Have a look at the compatibility table of Vectorworks and Windows. Windows 7 will soon be phased out after 10 years, but Vectorworks 2020 still runs on it!
One could now argue that Apple does well to keep their code clean from legacy issues. But then you have to live with the fact that software life cycles on this operating system are shorter. If you can't afford it, you take the alternative. I think it's unfair to hold the software developers responsible for this Apple-caused circumstance.

Edited October 25, 2019 by herbieherb

[B Cox]

On 10/16/2019 at 6:40 AM, DMcD said:

 

 

Fortunately 2019 works well and 2020 doesn't appear to have enough new features that make it worthwhile changing. I just wish I didn't have to pay for being a beta tester.

 

Exactly this--everyone in my office knows not to upgrade until 6 months in. VW's timing of their releases so close to annual OSX refreshes in a guarantee that we'll likely have compatibility problems. Unfortunately these forums are only used by a handful of people so the depth of the problem is probably not well represented (like I know i'm the only person in my organization that bothers to read posts on here.)

 

Every refresh cycle I look at the list of unrepaired bugs that i've reported in every release since 2016 and the relative cost of a Rhino license. All that 2019 introduced for us was it broke all of our organization wide title blocks. I'm not looking forward to exploring the issues of 2020.

 

[DMcD]

I have been using VW2020 Sp1 on Mojave for most of last week and most of the problems I saw with the initial release have been fixed. Under Mojave it's quite usable now. No noticeable improvement o 2019 as far as my work is concerned and the only feature which appeared to be interesting, 3D modelling history, doesn't appear in my workflow. So 2020 SP1 is vastly better than 2019 at the same point in 2019 but more or less the same as 2019 functionally. I'm not sure whether anyone deserves congratulations for standing still 🙂

[FORM-DesignStudio]

Preliminarily, I am having big problems.  Settings are reverting without being manually input and, more nefariously, I have some files that simply won't show up--models I had been working on for over a year that are loading, but nothing is visible.  

I can't say it is not some other issue--such as a suddenly corrupted file--but the timing is fairly odd.  This is brand new to a Catalina update.  Hopefully, I'll find something ELSE to be the issue.

 

Anyone else?

[Jeremy Best]

On 11/12/2019 at 10:14 AM, FORM-DesignStudio said:

Hopefully, I'll find something ELSE to be the issue.

 

Seeing as you're (also) getting functional issues unrelated to files ("settings are reverting without being manually input") then I'd consider the following likely contenders, in order of likelihood: 

1. You've migrated your Workspace and/or Settings from a prior version of Vectorworks. (Usually okay, but I've encountered a few users for whom this has caused issues). 
2. Your installation is compromised. If this is the case: 
   • If you have antivirus installed and if it was active during installation this could be cause. 
3. Conflicting software (when concurrently open). 
   • Historically Sketchup has caused interference with keyboard hotkeys and commands but I've encountered one or two others that do this as well. 

💊

If you want an almost certain fix for this, skip to the third option. If you want to try the easier ones first I've listed them in order of ease. 

• Try using an alternate workspace - preferably a default one (Tools > Workspaces). If you can't discern if it's a default one or not, quit Vectorworks and delete the Workspace folder.
• If this doesn't resolve the issues; Quit Vectorworks, delete the entire Vectorworks User Folder, reopen Vectorworks. 
• If that doesn't work, perform the Resetting Vectorworks Preferences process. 

[SVA Architects]

We are being offered massive discounts to upgrade to 2020/resubscribe to VSS. 

 

I am pleased I unsubscribed. Otherwise I would have been gutted to see the 40% off promotions two months after the deadline. 

 

Last year’s issues were too much time, trouble and stress for me. A year on, I have to say that Mojave and the current 2019 SP are working fine so that will be the status quo for me for a good while yet...

[shorter]

You get bigger discounts if you stay on VSS... 

[SMS]

What do I do if I have upgraded to Catalina but have VW 2018?  I can't currently open the application.

[shorter]

Buy a nice new shiny copy of Vectorworks 2020 with VSS.  It really is rather good.

[Nicolas Goutte]

1 hour ago, SMS said:

What do I do if I have upgraded to Catalina but have VW 2018?  I can't currently open the application.

 VW2018 does not support macOS10.15. So you will have to downgrade to macOS10.14 or update to VW 2019 or 2020.

 

 

[zorkonius]

On 10/10/2019 at 9:00 AM, JuanP said:

 

If you are using Vectorworks 2018 or before, I will not recommend upgrading to Catalina. Even though it seems like version 2018 opens and performs okay in our low-level testing, in the event of a possible compatibility issue on the current released version of Catalina or any future, we do not have any plans on releasing any service pack to address any problems.
 

Been using VW since MiniCad days and have always admired its backward compatibility. Indeed, I've always spoken highly of your software to others interested in it.

But the fact that you've abandoned VW 2018 after two short years is not acceptable. You're quick to blame Apple but the fact remains I've been a loyal VW user for more than 20 years through uncounted OS upgrades, and now you've dumped me after two. My recommendation of VW stops here.

 

Ross M Colquhoun [kuhoon]

Origami inc. Seattle WA.

[shorter]

Ha! Good one! I assume this is a joke...?

[B Cox]

7 minutes ago, shorter said:

Ha! Good one! I assume this is a joke...?

 

Is it really so much to ask that Nemetschek works to make sure that this very expensive piece of software functions for more than a year? planned obsolescence much?

[Jeremy Best]

@zorkonius, @B Cox, 

 

May I offer you an alternative perspective of the situation with regard to support for prior versions of Vectorworks. This is my personal view based on my 35 year history with Macs and being in the world of Vectorworks in varying degrees since 1997. 

• Vectorworks have not changed how long they deliver support for versions of Vectorworks. Certainly not at least since 2014.
• Good fortune is the only reason prior versions of Vectorworks and other applications have continued to work on subsequent releases of Mac OS X and macOS, as prior versions didn't receive updates to ensure compatibility beyond ~1 year (same as now).
  • You can see evidence of compatibility issues: In VW2016 (2015 - 2016) on macOS High Sierra (2017): If the 'File > Open' dialogue window is resized it displays solid grey in the new/expanded area). 
• This trend of good-fortune stopped when Apple released macOS Mojave which included major caveats for software developers. Further significant changes have been introduced with Catalina. This situation is similar to other big changes Apple has made in the past all of which warranted adjustments by developers:  
  • Moving to move to 32-bit in 'System 7' in 1991. 
  • When they changed from PowerPC processors to Intel CPUs in 1994. 
  • Replacing their Classic 'System' operating systems with the Unix-based Mac OS X in 2001. 
• Updating the legacy versions of Vectorworks to accommodate these big changes would be costly. Investing resources to enable compatibility would drive up the price of subsequent versions of Vectorworks. 
• For 7 of the last 8 versions Apple has provided updates to their operating system for no more than 1 year after release. 

You can always remain on prior versions of macOS at no cost - except the cost of missing out on helpful new features and contemporary bug fixes. 

 

9 hours ago, zorkonius said:

Been using VW since MiniCad days and have always admired its backward compatibility.

 

'Backwards compatibility' is a seperate matter. It refers to the capability to open files made by prior versions of the software concerned. This capability persists in the current version. Vectorworks 2020 (2019) can open files from the first version carrying this name, Vectorworks 8 (1999). 

[RafaelPernia]

Hi I'm having a problem with Catalina but it might be related to PDF file handling. When I publish from Vectorworks (2020SP2) the file automatically opens PDF Reader and it looks as intended. If i open them in Preview, they put color when there's not color. For example, an insulation hatch appear brown even if the VW document is black and white and the viewport is set to black and white only. After opening the PDF file with preview, the same doc won't open again in PDF reader.

 

I'm not sure what's the role (if any) of Vectorworks in this issue but this only happens with VW produced PDF files. 

 

As a side note, I'm getting humongous amounts of RAM being used by VW specially when publishing, (climbing even to 40gb) and that has led me to encounter "Your system has run out of application memory" messages. Could it be that VW is using so much ram that the published PDF is somehow corrupted? 

[RonMan]

21 hours ago, RafaelPernia said:

Hi I'm having a problem with Catalina but it might be related to PDF file handling. When I publish from Vectorworks (2020SP2) the file automatically opens PDF Reader and it looks as intended. If I open them in Preview, they put color when there's not color. For example, an insulation hatch appear brown even if the VW document is black and white and the viewport is set to black and white only. After opening the PDF file with preview, the same doc won't open again in PDF reader.

 

I'm not sure what's the role (if any) of Vectorworks in this issue but this only happens with VW produced PDF files. 

 

As a side note, I'm getting humongous amounts of RAM being used by VW specially when publishing, (climbing even to 40gb) and that has led me to encounter "Your system has run out of application memory" messages. Could it be that VW is using so much ram that the published PDF is somehow corrupted? 

 

I can respond to your first paragraph; Vectorworks has created PDF files with these kinds of problems for years. Adobe's Reader program renders them correctly but Apple's Preview does not. I have spent time changing fonts, simplifying hatches, and more. I have never found a consistent reason for the problem. 

 

You can print to Preview, and get a correct PDF, but the extra steps are not worth the effort for a large project. I have never had a problem with Reader gagging on something after Preview opened it. That is a new problem. 

 

VW may have some blame here, if their PDF generator does not stick with the standard exactly. Preview is very strict, while Reader is extremely forgiving. If your workflow can accommodate it, use the PDF generator in macOS rather than the one in VW. You will then get consistent results.

Edited December 4, 2019 by RonMan

[RafaelPernia]

27 minutes ago, RonMan said:

 

I can respond to your first paragraph; Vectorworks has created PDF files with these kinds of problems for years. Adobe's Reader program renders them correctly but Apple's Preview does not. I have spent time changing fonts, simplifying hatches, and more. I have never found a consistent reason for the problem. 

 

You can print to Preview, and get a correct PDF, but the extra steps are not worth the effort for a large project. I have never had a problem with Reader gagging on something after Preview opened it. That is a new problem. 

 

VW may have some blame here, if there PDF generator does not stick with the standard exactly. Preview is very strict, while Reader is extremely forgiving. If your workflow can accommodate it, use the PDF generator in macOS rather than the one in VW. You will then get consistent results.

 

Thanks a lot. I had never experienced those issues, even with the same file until this week. I can say now that the problems are in some hatches and patterns. Those hatches and patterns will look brown in preview even if the file is black and white. The problem is that I use preview to "merge" pdfs and reorganize sheets (two documents that are too heavy to merge) and now what I'm doing is merging them in Photoshop which works but it's a much slower process.

 

The other weird thing is that after opening those files with preview, Acrobat Reader no longer can read them properly, so there is a destructive issue.

[E|FA]

I've stopped using Preview because of a variety of issues.  I've been using PDF Expert to view & annotate and PDF Toolkit+ to merge & reduce file size instead:

 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pdf-expert-edit-and-sign-pdf/id1055273043?mt=12

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pdf-toolkit/id545164971?mt=12