Comments from PowerCADD User Group

Q: Your web page says I can send files using PDF format. I have PowerCADD 4.0 and PowerDWG 2.0. I can't figure out how to create a file in a PDF format. I can make the file PD6 but Acrobat3.0 won't open it. What do I do? A: The creation of PDF files requires the purchase of the Adobe Acrobat Distiller package. There are also shareware methods, and the capability will be an integral part of OS10.

Q: I sent an E-mail a couple of days ago asking how to tell the layer location of an object like ClarisCAD. It tells the layer location in the edit box. Can I tell in PowerCADD without having to turn off "Edit All Layers" and using the process of elimination? A: There is a very good method of identifying which layer an object is on. If you show the Status Window, notice that if you select an object the layer name will appear at the bottom of the Status Window. Additionally if you click on the layer name you make that layer active.

I am not aware of any speed / performance difficulties with PowerCADD. Using virtual memory or anything that modifies any menus will decrease the performance on a more global scale. I would suggest trying to start the 5300 with no extensions and see if the performance improves. This will at least give some indication as to where the problem might reside. Yes, the problem was with Adobe Type Reunion - when I removed it the pull down menus in the demo version of PowerCADD behaved normally, rapidly like in other applications.

I have had indication (here on AOL) that ATM version 4. (deluxe) may cause the missing rotating text when plotted via PowerPlot. I get low level occurrences (random) with ATM 4.0 installed, but haven't verified that this is the culprit. this is not a case of the text too close to the side of the page. ATM 4.0.2_ standard_(NOT Deluxe) has worked fine for me with PC3/4 and PPlot 2.0.2a/2.0.3 (don't use 2.0.3 tho with a DJ350C because the RTL driver is flawed in other ways) on System 7.6.1. Just a few days ago I installed OS8 on my backup machine and so far no problems in terms of printing out rotated text in PC4, ATM4.0.2 and PPlot 2.02a. I do not have ATR (Adobe Type Reunion) installed and use Now WYSIWYG Menus (6.0) for that function instead. Just noticed on your website in Q&A's that some people have strange characters showing up in the Macro menu. You have attributed the problem to Adobe Type Reunion. I have noticed the same problem but do not have ATR on my machine. I have found that holding down the Shift key while selecting the Macro menu makes everything OK. Hope this helps.

I just brought in a DXF file from another architect who uses Acad-there must have been over 200 layers, all with arcane names like ARPL, of course all caps. I just don't get it-you would have to have a code book handy to know what is on a layer. A purge left about 20 layers with info on them. BTW Prior to purging the layers mentioned above, this file had a great delay when clicking on a menu. After deleting these empty layers it returned to normal ( a barely noticeable delay).

The G3 machine is, without any question, the best Mac I've ever owned. It's simply unbelievable how fast it is at everything. And I've had no problems with PowerCADD at all.

I have used the survey macros to do lot plans. A survey with the bounds info is where I start. I roughly sketch the property line on the computer using the polygon tool. Then I export it to a survey text file using the macro. I open that up in a text editor and correct all of the info from the survey. Save and import back in with the macro, and - ta - da - I've got property lines correctly drawn!

I have never, not once, ever had the "file busy" problem with 4.0. I won't guarantee it's fixed because I don't recall any conversation about it during the beta process, but it hasn't happened to me at all. We at Engineered Software think and certainly hope it is gone forever.

Text on screen looking scrunched together until I deselect it? That's part of the new improved text feature. Here's the problem, nad how they solved it: Most programs only have to deal with text on even increments of zoom, such as 100%, 200%, 50%, etc. Even graphics giants such as Illustrator only have fixed levels of zoom. This apparently is no problem for text. Zoom in 1% increments, however, is a different story, and was a real problem in everything before PowerCADD 4. Text in edit mode often didn't resemble the text you got when you deselected: it had something to do with the way the Mac renders text onscreen in selected & deselected mode: I don't think it was entirely a PowerCADD issue. Anyway, v4 kinda slices and dices the text in selected mode so that it will almost always match what you're gonna get when you're done. It's not always very pretty, but it IS much more accurate than before, so it suits me fine.

When I open several files at once on PC4.0 it will quit as soon as I mouse click anywhere. If I open only one file and then open the related files via the menu all is fine. PC4.0 seems more stable than 3.0 but I can't open my Master file and all the related files at one time. Am I alone on this one? I suspect you've got a memory problem. How much do you have on your machine? How much do you have allocated to PCADD? PCADD itself takes more memory, and the preset configuration out of the box ( is it 8 megs ) is very minimal. I always run with at least 16-20 megs allocated to PCADD.

One other caveat with getting r-13 drawings from a client is the text being "GIANT" on your drawing... is the way the newer versions of AutoCAD deals with text.... AutoCAD has two different text commands A) MTEXT is the default in AutoCAD r-13 and R-14. It basically saves the text as a "block" so that it can be justified easier... B) DTEXT... is the old style text command...text is saved one line at a time...you have probably wondered why when AutoCAD text show up in your drawing all of the lines are separate intities to themselves...this is why. NOTE: BLOCKS WITH EMBEDDED TEXT( AND MTEXT) IS PROBLEMATIC FOR THE TRANSLATOR AND CAN SOMETIMES RESULT IN THE "GIANT" TEXT THAT WILL SHOW UP IN A DRAWING. WORK AROUND : Have your clients send you drawings saved as AutoCAD r-12 drawings and make sure they "explode" all the "blocks in their drawing before saving them for you. This is only a couple of keystrokes for an AutoCAD user, and we have had no problems getting our clients to do this for us.

I have a feeling I may have asked this question a long time ago, but one of my customers has remarked how all of his PowerCADD files seem to have become DXF files which won't open PowerCADD when double clicked from the desktop. The files open normally from within PowerCADD. He would like to know how he can open his files from the desktop. Rebuild the desktop file perhaps? If you have the user move PowerCADD to the desktop, drag a file to it to open, quit, put PowerCADD back in it's folder all will be fine in my experience here. It seems that this operation sets the Finder default for the files.