IMAGINiT Technologies Support Blog

IMAGINiT Revit Utilities: Renumber Element - Adding Custom Parameters

I have done another blog on how to customize the config file in the IMAGINiT Revit Utilities to add a category with parameters that already exist in Revit, but if you have custom parameters the process is just a little different so I thought I would share that with you.

Let's say, for example, we have created a new Generic Annotations family (which has no pre built parameters) and I want to add a Number label and a Note label.  In this example I am using this for sheet notes and I want to be able to renumber the notes if I remove one.

If I look at the family, you can see that the parameter name is Number (default just indicates it is instance based)

In the ElementRenumber.config file we need to add the following line in order to add this category and parameter.

 

You will notice a couple of things in this line...the Name has to match the Family Category exactly, but the Category OST does not contain the "s" at the end.  Also note that the other ParameterToSet all equal "BIP.ALL_MODEL_PARAMETERNAME" because they are all built in place parameters that already exist for Revit.  The parameter (label) I created in the Generic Annotation does not exist, so the formatting is different.  Had I used the label Mark instead of Number I could have used the same formating as the other categories.

Reminder:

The complete IMAGINiT Revit Utilities are Free to IMAGINiT's Autodesk Subscription clients via the Client Portal or they can be purchased from the IMAGINiT eStore.  

A Navisworks 2014 service pack that you really do want to install.

This service pack (sp 1) applies to Navisworks Manage 2014, Simulate 2014 and Freedom 2014.

This fixes quite a few crash and interoperability problems. 

Here are just a few things that are resolved:

• Crash caused by model refresh
• NWC files are created repeatedly when opening or appending native Revit models in Navisworks
• The Memory Limit global option was using the wrong limit for any value greater than 4096MB
• Crash when signing out of Autodesk 360
• Crash if Navisworks could not write information about the ribbon state due to user permissions
• Crash when working with DWGs in Navisworks 2014. These issues were reported via the
  Customer Error Reporting (CER) system
• A number of positioning / rotation issues when opening Reality capture models
• Crash when selecting a steering wheel for navigation

Readme to see the complete fix list:

http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Navisworks_2014_Service_Pack_1_Features_Readme.pdf

 

To obtain the service pack: 

http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL22003207

 

Readme for install/uninstall instructions:

http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_Navisworks_2014_Service_Pack_1_Installation_Readme.pdf

 

Crash/Fatal Error launching Autodesk 2014 programs.

 

When launching an Autodesk 2014 product, the user sees an error dialog such as the following during initialization, and an Autodesk Error Report dialog, and the product does not launch:

Title:  "AutoCAD LT Error Aborting"

Message:  "FATAL ERROR:  Unhandled Access Violation Reading 0x0000 Exception at eaf28ea0h"

Note: this applies to all Autodesk 2014 programs.

To find out if you have this problem, or to download the hotfix go to:

http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL22165868

This is another manual hotfix.  You will need to exit the program, rename some files and extract the updated files into the correct location.

 

The AutoCAD FILLET command changed...

 Yes it did.  In 2011 when you used FILLET on a line and a wide pline it would join the two objects together and made the line the same width as the pline.

 

Ok, so draw a line and a wide pline.

next enter FILLET at the command line, pick the wide pline then the line and voila!

Just what we wanted and expected...

 

and now in 2012 and higher the same sequence in the FILLET command gives:

Ok, so the FILLET command has changed.  How can we workaround it? 

I found an AUGI blog that gives us a short lisp routine you can use or just copy/paste (or type) the following in the command line:

(command "fillet")

Lisp:

(defun C:ff()
(command "fillet")
)

 

 This was a cool little thing to find and test.  Thank you Kevin Busacker for calling it in to me.

Is your AutoCAD 2014 Open command failing on certain drawings?

If you have custom objects embedded in the drawing, then there's a hotfix for that! 

AutoCAD 2014 Custom Entity Hotfix

This hot fix addresses an issue with the file open command failing when a drawing is opened that contains custom entities with embedded 3D solids.

This hotfix applies to the shipping version of Autodesk AutoCAD 2014, and AutoCAD 2014-based vertical products. Please refer to the readme file for installation instructions.

To obtain the hotfix:

http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL21484847

View the Readme:

http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_AutoCAD_Custom_Entity_Hotfix_Readme.pdf

 

AutoCAD 2011-2014 CEV security hotfix!

 CEV is for Code Execution Vulnerability.  This applies to AutoCAD 2011-2014 drawings.

Autodesk® AutoCAD® Code Execution Vulnerability – Security Hotfix

This hot fix addresses a vulnerability that could lead to an arbitrary code execution when loading specifically crafted DWG files. The vulnerability has a Common Vulnerabilities Exposure (CVE) ID CVE-2013-3665. For more information, please visit the CVE dictionary at http://cve.mitre.org.

This Hotfix works with supported versions (see readme) of AutoCAD 2011-2014, AutoCAD LT 2011-2014, DWG TrueView 2011-2014, and associated verticals.

To download the hotfix:

http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL21972896

 

To view the Readme (yes please do):

http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_AutoCAD_Code_Execution_Vulnerability_Hotfix_Readme.pdf 

 

Capture this Hotfix

ReCap 2014 has a memory leak using the Point Clouds feature.  This hotfix plugs that leak!

 

AutoCAD Reality Capture Memory Leak Hotfix

This hotfix addresses a memory leak issue when using the Reality Capture (Point Clouds) feature.

This hotfix applies to the shipping version of Autodesk AutoCAD 2014, and AutoCAD 2014-based vertical products. Please refer to the readme file for installation instructions.

To download the hotfix: 

 http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL21475673

 

View the Readme:

http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/Autodesk_AutoCAD_Reality_Capture_Memory_Leak_Hotfix_Readme.pdf

 

Note:  as mentioned in the readme, this is a manual hotfix so you will need to extract the file(s) and rename file(s).

 

AutoCAD 2014, Certain Crashes fixed by a hotfix

There is a hot fix that resolves some graphics related crashing problems.  This hotfix applies to AutoCAD 2014 and many AutoCAD 2014 based vertical programs.

Autodesk® AutoCAD® Graphics Hotfix

This hot fix addresses crash issues when viewing DWG files on machines with certain Intel® graphics cards. It also fixes another graphics-related crash that occurs while switching between drawings.

See the download and readme's at :  http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=DL21960228

Be aware!  There is a separate download for AutoCAD LT at the same location.

 

Why is my cursor very slow or jumpy in AutoCAD?

In AutoCAD whenever moving the mouse over objects the cursor slows down or seems jumpy like a mystery snap setting is on.  Of course snap is turned off.

It's always a good idea to make sure you're using a graphics card driver that has been tested and recommended by Autodesk for the AutoCAD or AutoCAD based product.  To verify what driver you should be using, type in the 3DCONFIG command.

The View Tune log will indicate the graphics card you have and what driver version is installed. Verify it against what is the recommended and install if needed:

http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard

While you're in 3DCONFIG go to Manual Tune and make sure that 'Enable hardware acceleration' is selected.

There are also a couple of settings that can be changed that can help:

In the tray settings disable Selection Cycling, Quick Properties and Dynamic Input(set DYNMODE to 0).

If this doesn't improve the situation then go to Tools>Options (or type in Options at the command line) and on the Display tab uncheck 'Show Tooltips' and  ‘Show rollover ToolTips’ option.

Also try the Selection tab and uncheck 'When no command is active' under Selection Preview.

With all these changes you should notice an improvement and your mouse will no longer "snap" and cause a delay.

See these Autodesk documents for more suggestions:

How to optimize Windows 7 for AutoCAD performance

Cursor performance issues in AutoCAD

Update 2 for Autodesk Vault 2013 Service Pack 1 is now available

Autodesk has released a second update for the Service Pack 1 for Vault 2013 products for the server and client.

This Update 2 for Autodesk Vault 2013 Service Pack 1 addresses the following issues as detailed in the Readme file for Autodesk Vault Basic 2013, Autodesk Vault Workgroup 2013, Autodesk Vault Collaboration 2013 and Autodesk Vault Professional 2013.

Please refer to the Readme for installation instructions.

 

Known Issues Resolved

1. The Change Order Approval dialog now supports Windows authentication.
2. Resolved a revision sorting order that resulted in the 'attach file' and 'edit item BOM' features to be non-functional.
3. Certain workflows would result in a 'DXperience' trial version dialog pop-up.
4. Resolved multiple content source property provider issues to prevent DWG check in problems and IIS worker process crashes.
5. Solved a Vault configuration import issue.
6. Item numbering using a mapped numbering scheme to a UDP would instead use the default sequential numbering.

 

Note: From the Readme file:

• The ‘Update 2 for Autodesk Vault 2013 Service Pack 1’ installer is cumulative and includes all updates for Vault 2013. It can be installed on all releases of Vault 2013 including;
  • Autodesk Vault 2013 SP0
  • Autodesk Vault 2013 SP1
  • Autodesk Vault 2013 SP1, Update 1