DBUG> Early Bird Editorial for Cheap Tricks May 2008 Issue

["Cheap Tricks Newsletter" <evanshu@comcast.net>]

From the Editor:

At the last DBUG meeting held at Milford High School on April 16th, DATACAD
President and CEO Mark Madura not only showed us what was coming in DataCAD
12.07, but he also gave us a "show & tell" on his new Smart Car (the Smart
Fortwo model). So small that he could have driven it through the double-doors
into the Milford Computer Lab, the car is surprisingly roomy inside for two
passengers, along with plenty of room for the dog in the back. Extremely
compact, efficient, handy, inexpensive, easy to drive and environmentally-
friendly, the Smart Car is perhaps a direct metaphor of DataCAD itself. We’d
like to think so, anyway.

With DataCAD 12.06 released last month (click on Update from your Help pull-down
menu), you may want to know what the folks down in Avon are now working on for
the next free update, DataCAD version 12.07. They are primarily working on smart
wall cleanup issues — namely around small segment walls. Imagine a
stair-stepping (in plan) wall with many short returns. Now, previously, if you
tried to intersect a new wall into one of those short returns, DataCAD would
simply refuse to handle such a condition. With 12.07, that issue should be
greatly improved. Anybody want curved smart walls? With 12.07, you will be able
to do so via the use of curved polylines. You will also be able to fillet a wall
corner with a curve. Other niceties to be added are the ability to use CTRL-A to
select all entities on display (Layer Search on/off will work just fine) for
deleting, moving, copying or whatever other operation you had in mind. You will
also be able to rotate Paragraph text before placement using the implied match
angle feature. You will be able to choose to have the results of a Hidden Line
processing go to your Clipboard (to place on a layer of your choice or to
another program). The Rendering interface will be much better organized into
three categories (assignment, settings, properties) and with 12.07 all materials
used will be embedded into the drawing file.

In this issue, we have explored the special topic of "Sections" particularly as
it relates our continuing series on the historical development of architectural
drawings. A number of you have told us that you have been enjoying our series
because you also happen to be reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, a
compelling novel which recounts the building of a cathedral in England during
the Middle Ages. (In our Architips column this month, we explore the historical
accuracy in this novel regarding its depiction of architectural drawing
methods.) We wondered about this happy coincidence until we discovered that this
almost-20 year old novel was selected as a recent Oprah Book Club selection!
Happy to help you out there, Oprah!

We were also happy to hear from the original author of the DataCAD software
program, Eric Smith, who prototyped the first version of what would become
DataCAD for his Apple II computer in 1981. He wrote:

"Yesterday I saw the obituary of Livingston Davies, one of the founders of
Cadkey [owners of DataCAD from 1989-1996 <http://tinyurl.com/4o3gfz>] . . .
Also, I’m sorry to hear of Geoff Langdon’s passing. As long as we’re depressing
each other,  I assume you know Lou Bodnar died a number of years ago. She, Griff
Burgh and I were the first 3 employees of what became Microtecture. . . . It got
me on a "memory lane" google expedition, and I [was] shocked to see that there
are still DBUG meetings going on [and Cheap Tricks is still being published].
Wow, I’m impressed! . . . I just thought I’d drop a line and say "hi". I’m
living in Maryland, just outside of DC. I have a company doing IT support for
financial services firms, True Blade Systems Inc. . . . <www.trueblade.com/>.
Wife and 2 girls, ages 10 and 12. I write a lot of software (probably not
surprising) for various clients, usually dealing with multi-hundred gigabyte
databases or web sites . . . Maybe someday I can make it up and be a fly on the
wall at a DBUG meeting."

Or, with any luck, maybe we will see Eric next year to help celebrate his
"baby's" 25th birthday at DataCAD’s anniversary party next year!

Hopefully, we will also see some "out of towners" at our DBUG meeting scheduled
during the AIA convention this month in Boston, Massachusetts. It will be held
at the Boston Society of Architects Building (50 Broad St.) in downtown Boston
on Friday, May 16th. The program will start at 6 pm, but if you have a conflict
with another evening event, you can also stop by during an informal reception
and demo time from 4 to 6 pm. The agenda has not be finalized at this point but
it will certainly include a presentation on 3D printers by ZCorp, the latest on
the coming DataCAD 12.07, as well as another special topic or two. Those of you
who may have heard about our famed DBUG meetings (in our 21st year!), now have
the opportunity to experience one yourself. We hope we won’t disappoint and we
hope to see you there! +		-- Evan H. Shu, FAIA

Also in the May 2008 Issue of Cheap Tricks 
(posted for subscribers on May 1, 2008 by 10 am):

* Cutting Through the History of the Section: a look at how and why section
drawing were conceived and became one of the foundations of architectural
documents;

* The Tracing Floor: with paper yet to be invented in the Middle Ages, how were
construction drawings made and communicated via the Tracing Floor? Find out the
details of this interesting invention.

* DataCAD Tutor: Cutting Sections in DataCAD. There is an easy way and a hard
way of creating sections in DataCAD. Find out when you will want to use the easy
way and when you might still want to do it the hard way, but with some extra
timesaving tips.

* Quick Tips on breaking and adding a vertex an open polyline end, copying
overwrite "No to All" in Windows Explorer, getting o2c viewer to remember last
view, source for SketchUp Pencil Style, MText multicolor changes;

* Dr. OPs: the Vista Disaster. Microsoft's latest operating system has been
nothing but trouble and a source of humor for Mac advertising. Find out what the
plan is to transition to the next "7" OS and whether Microsoft has learned its
lesson or not.

* Q & A: Changing all of one linetype to another in a drawing file, getting over
fear of DCADWIN.INI, finding topics in past issues of Cheap Tricks, forcing a
center in a model, DataCAD 12's Layer Utility, disposing, recycling and reusing
old diskettes and floppies. 

* A Historical Review: the Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. This novel is
getting renewed life among readers. We look at how historically accurate it is
from the point of view of the state of architectural drawing during the Middle
Ages.

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http://world.std.com/~eshu/cheap.htm
or e-mail <evanshu@comcast.net>.
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