Older ConnectCAD Files Broken in 2020

[mcschaefer]

Hi All,

 

Long time ConnectCAD user here. I finally dove into VW and ConnectCAD 2020, and am excited to set up my workflow in the new version!

 

Right off the bat, I opened one of my 2019 files to test it out and it doesn't work properly. In reference to the attached screenshot, if I modify an existing circuit or create a new circuit, it shows up as "Disconnected". Also, connecting circuits behaves strangely. I have to click well inside the device in order to make the connection.

That's all I've found so far, but I'd say that's pretty important. Is there any way to fix this? I have a bunch of different designs in progress right now and would hate to have them break, not to mention how important it is to be able to update older as-builts. Currently keeping 2019 alive so that I'm able to continue to work, but that isn't a viable long term solution. Sooner or later an OS update or the like will invalidate my old ConnectCAD license. 

 

Is there anyone at VW who knows ConnectCAD 2020 inside and out who I can hire to do a few Skype training sessions with me while I make the leap from 2019 to 2020? I'm going to rebuild my template and workflow around this new version and due to the current lack of documentation on the VW website It would be incredibly helpful to be able to do a Q&A session from time to time. 

 

Thanks for your help!

[Conrad Preen]

Hi Matt

 

Conrad here - now part of Vectorworks and still going strong!

 

First off, please send me the 2019 file in question so that I and my colleagues can investigate and resolve the issue. You can either post it here or mail it to me at cpreen@vectorworks.net.

 

Second happy to conference with you - these days I'm using Zoom rather than Skype. Send me an email and we'll set that up. I'll be happy to talk thru the latest with you. We have made quite a few changes to integrate better with Vectorworks but it's not as big a leap as it seems.

 

Best

 

Conrad

[mcschaefer]

Hi @Conrad Preen ,

 

Great to hear from you again and happy to see you still involved. 

 

I'll send that file to you today. Excited to hear your thoughts. 

 

Thanks for offering to Zoom with me. I'll be in touch in the coming days to set something up once I've had a chance to take a deeper dive and can come up with a more specific list of questions. I'll also make an effort to share Q&A with the community here. 

 

Matt

 

[Conrad Preen]

Hi Matt

 

This one is quite easy to fix - in fact we already did so... what's happening is that the symbols Chuck made have no geometry in the center ( because they are circles ) and they have "fooled" our object detection functions. So, I just fixed that by editing the symbols like Niko did below for Scott. Just add line going thru the center and everything works again. The symbols in question are skt_con_IN, skt_con_IO and skt_con_OUT. Attached a file with the edited symbols.

 

Best regards

 

Conrad

 

On 3/23/2020 at 4:34 PM, Nikolay Zhelyazkov said:

Hello @Scott Waller,

 

First, the disconnected devices, this is happening because you have circuits on the layer Room 8.10 Audio connected to devices on the layer Room 8.8 Audio. These circuits are not working in the VW2019 ConnectCAD too and that is why they are not working in VW2020.

About the disconnected circuits when creating new circuits. The problem here is that the symbols for sockets that you are using are tricking our detecting functions and we are not detecting the devices from the centers of the sockets. However, there is a workaround to that, if you simply add a line that intersects the socket symbol center and make it the same color as the background so that it is not visible, the connect tool will handle the sockets correctly. I am attaching a file with the fixed symbols that you can import and replace in your file and the Connect tool will start working again for these socket symbols.

 

Let me know if there is anything else.

 

Best Regards,

Nikolay Zhelyazkov

Fixed socket symbols.vwx 439.67 kB · 1 download

SocketSymbols.vwx

[mcschaefer]

Thanks Conrad!

 

That fixed it. I'll keep playing with it and will let you know if anything else comes up. 

 

By the way, I'm impressed with how fast and smooth ConnectCAD seems now.