DBUG> Dcad Improvements

[spk <sean@apparch.net>]

Hi again Forum, thanks for the MSP suggestions.  Sorry for the long post 
but I know the bigwigs are watching, so it's better to do this all at once 
than in pieces.

<DISCLAIMER>  I love DataCAD. </DISCLAIMER>

However, in an effort to better the product we all love so much, I have 
some wishlist items which I will compare to the 900 lb gorilla (getting 
hungrier all the time, I heard it made an offer to REVIT).

1.  Integrate the ability to draw on Multi-Scale Plotting sheets, even if 
it is only text, even if it is only on one special layer or 
something.  (see gorilla's "paperspace")

2.  Fix the ACAD translation bug that interprets underlined text 
improperly.  In Gorillaland, people type a keybd shortcut to activate 
underlining.  When Dcad reads this in, it translates as "UMAIN FLOOR PLAN" 
and "UWALL SECTION."  Strip these codes at least;  or offer underlining 
functionality by either adding a drafted line under the text or actually 
integrating the same kind of underline codes.  DCAD "gorilla block" reading 
isn't 100% either;  blocks with text inserted into symbols will lose the 
text upon import.  I'll be happy to provide Dcad & co. with a .dwg file 
showing this.

3.  Incorporate standard ASCII codes.  Why?  Because it would help the 
translation process, and it would also eliminate bugs/issues with Text 
Imports.  I recently did a text import for a finish schedule where the only 
thing on some lines was an MDash.  DataCAD replaced them with a typical 
dash (not a big deal) but also, on some lines, it added a "tabbed" indented 
space to the front of the line, causing me to rejustify to correct.

4.  Make linetypes explodable for export to Gorilla. Most of the linetypes 
in the Productivity Pack are useless because of this.  Why draw Metal Deck 
with a linetype if, when I send it to my Structural Engineer, he has to 
erase what I drew and redraw it?  I've actually used dcad linetypes only to 
have to TRACE OVER them with individual entities.  Tell me that's productive.

5.  Another translation fix:  add a subroutine for inverting text 
aspects.  The gorilla has the right concept here - higher numbers of text 
aspect should mean *wider* text.  This makes sense because you can increase 
text width a great deal before it becomes illegible;  however, you will 
quickly reach the narrowness limit within a factor of 10.  Therefore, .5 
aspect text should be 1/2 as wide, not 2x as wide.  Since we cannot 
implement this without screwing up all our older .dc5 files, leave as is 
and incorporate a subroutine to correct the A.R.

6.  Text boxes, not just Text entities.  I want to draw a rectangle, start 
typing, and have the text auto-wrap to fit the box.  When I edit this text, 
I should be able to change words, copy and paste phrases from one section 
to another, and add more text, all while it automatically reflows the 
characters (if polylines can't handle this, do it within a popup window).

7.  Datacad was built on QuickKey functionality.  Please make a 
standardization, and put all these parameters on common function keys:

"Entity" F1
"Group"  F2
"Area"   F3
"Fence"  F4
"SelSet" F5
"LyrSrch" F6

"NewDist" F8
"Invert"  F9

"ToLayer" S1
"AndCopy" S2

When I go to stretch, you should just omit "group" and leave a space 
there.  Don't slide everything up, as is done in 3D menu!  All day long I'm 
using commands to MOVE or DRAG... About 20% of the time when I try to use 
"S2" to "AndCopy" out of habit (thats how quick keys are supposed to work, 
by habit), I'm in the DRAG submenu and suddenly I'm doing MULTI instead, 
and by the time I notice it I've already clicked something, the MULTI 
toggle has gone away, the ANDCOPY is still red so I click it... Then I 
realize that MULTI is toggled and have to right-click to get out, click 
DRAG again, click MULTI off and start over.  How many wasted clicks/keys is 
that because I thought "AndCopy" was S2?  Seven.  So what have I 
done?  I've retrained myself to never use Function Keys because my little 
mind doesn't nest changes like that when I'm drafting - it takes longer for 
me to think about it & press the key than it does to slow down, look over 
at the menu, and find the appropriate toggle.  Either way, it's less 
efficient.  There is no reason MULTI couldn't be at S3 instead.  S3 is 
"MOVE Z" on the move menu.  Since you cannot Drag by Z values, this would 
create no inconsistency.  Besides, people who use Datacad for 3D rarely use 
the 2D menu for setting or moving Z-heights of lines, therefore this is a 
moveable, non-critical item.

8.  Reconfigure the "Enlarge" function's latest features, Cal, to work 
entirely by mouse clicks as well as by entering distances by hand.  It was 
a great idea to add the Cal function, now let's make it more useful.  If I 
want to scale one rectangle up to the size of another rectangle which is 
not similar to it, here's how it should work:  1) I move one rectangle to 
share a corner point with the other.  2) I select "Cal X-Y".  3)  I 
snap-click the common corner.  4) the prompt tellse me to "Enter Second 
Point" and I choose the opposite corner of Rectangle A.  5) At the prompts 
"Enter New [x,y] Distance"  I should now be able to snap-click the opposite 
corner of Rectangle B. 6) This should set the x and y enlargements to 
convert Rectangle A to Rectangle B.  You could do the same for "Cal Dist", 
"Cal X", and "Cal Y".

9.  Change ->  Color -> Custom should have another text box in the popup 
window where I can TYPE "37" or "252" rather than having to hunt and peck 
until I find the color.  What happened?  If I try to enter "37" into the 
box it CHANGES the color name of the active color in the picker to 
"37"!  This will not do.  Why would I want to rename "White"? (No political 
correctness jokes here please)

10.  When I click FILE --> SAVE... If I click on any other pulldown menu 
before the save is complete, DCAD hangs.  The Pulldowns all start flashing 
quickly at me and I have to right-click on the taskbar and select 
"minimize" just to get it out of the Recursive Loop it started.  This is a 
bug, and it also occurs when clicking any pulldown menu while performing 
any disk R/W function.

That's all.  Otherwise, I'm very happy w/Dcad.  Version 10 is a true 
champ.  I can't really see improving its other internal features, unless 
you move to NURBS, Intersection/collision detection, solids modelling, or 
parametrics (last of which I guess is DC+).

Sean P. Krause
Appalachian Architecture
sean@apparch.net
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