• Q:  How do I customize the new toolbar in v2000?

• A:

1.   To initiate the customization either right click on any area within the menus or bars, or click on the little down arrow at the right end of each bar. 

•       In the first case you will get a popup menu showing available toolbars with the ones currently displaying checked.  You may check or uncheck any bar(s) or you may click on the Customize menu entry. 

•       In the second case you will get a popup menu with “add or remove buttons”.  If you click on this a second popup menu will appear showing all buttons possible on the toolbar.   You may check or uncheck any buttons you want to add or remove or you may click on the Customize menu entry. 

2.    Upon selecting “Customize”, the Customize dialog box will appear.  Any time this dialog box is displayed you can drag and drop commands until you have the toolbar(s) configured to your liking.  Tab 1 in the dialog box is Toolbars.  It shows a list of available toolbars with those that are displayed checked.  You may check or uncheck as many as you like (the menu buttons may not be changed).  The four buttons in this box allow you to create a new toolbar, rename an existing toolbar, delete an existing toolbar or reset the toolbars.  Tab 2 is Commands.  It shows a list of command categories on the left, and a list of the commands in the selected category on the right.  It is from this box that you can drag and drop as many of the desired icon(s) onto your toolbar.

3.   You may also dock the toolbar(s) and menu bar by using the grab handle on the    left of each  bar.  If you float them over the drawing, they will take on any shape you want by moving the right border.  

4.    When you have all the toolbars set up and in the position that you want them saved as, select CADVANCE Options/Miscellaneous and then press “Save to INI” button.  Press “Yes” on “Create a Toolbar file” message.  This will create a “cadvance.tbf” file, which now contains all the information on the toolbar that you just customized.  NOTE:  From this point on, the Toolbar program will read all information from “cadvance.tbf” file.  Any modification on “toolbar.txt” file will not affect the customized toolbar.  If you want to update the toolbar from “toolbar.txt” file, you have to delete “cadvance.tbf” file from the CADVANCE directory first, then start the customizing process again.

• Q:  I am trying to run a macro from a toolbar button in CADVANCE V2000 or V2002 but the button is not responding. 

   A:  Verify the path for your macro.  Make sure it is located in the Macro Path in Options/Path/Macros, and make sure there is a "check" in the "Search" box next to that path in Options/Path/Macros.

• Q:  My toolbar is not working properly in AE Tools Lite 99.
• A:  For proper operation of the AETools LiTe 99 toolbar the following modifications need to be made to the file Aetbar.txt, which is located in your CADVANCE LiTe 99 home directory. Using any text file editor (e.g. WordPad, NotePad) to open the file Aetbar.txt.

  Locate entry item number 35. This entry will read:

  35=AET1.BMP     IDM_3RD_PARTY_82     "AE Project Open"

  Change this entry to:

  35=AET1.BMP     IDM_FILE_LOAD     "Open Drawing"

  Locate entry item number 41. This item will read:

  49=DRAW3.BMP     IDM_3RD_PARTY_77     "AE Text"

  Change this entry to:

  49=DRAW3.BMP     IDM_3RD_PARTY_90     "AE Text"

• Q: When we try converting a drawing from VWF to DWG we get the error message "Couldn't save new file aderror is 3: Can't open file".  What happened?
• A: If the conversion procedure was done correctly, then verify the following:
  
  1. Date/Time of the DWG file just translated
  2. Is reference file correct and current (if any)?

  Or, file privileges are not allowing to write a new file.  Check to see if: 

  1. the file is opened by another user
  2. the User has the right to overwrite or create an output file.

• Q:  What version of CADVANCE can read the latest versions of AutoCAD?

• A:  AutoCAD R2000, R2000i and R2002 are all in the same R2000 DWG format, and are readable and writeable with CADVANCE v99.5, CADVANCE 2000 and CADVANCE 2002.

  Note:  The primary exception is Proxy objects.  CADVANCE does not support Proxy objects (objects not in the standard library of AutoCAD).  If the drawing was created with Mechanical Desktop or Architectural Desktop, it probably contains Proxy objects.  You may request the Proxy Objects be removed, then saved as an R14 DWG or DXF file before being sent to you.  Or, you may download IntelliCAD 2001 at www.cadopia.com then open the DWG file and use Tools/IntelliCAD Explorer then highlight the entire drawing path and select Edit/Purge.  Save as R14 DWG or DXF.

• Q: When I attempt to open a .DWG file I receive the following message:  "AD init failed, error is: Unable to open init file".  When I press OK, I get this additional message "Translation error occurred".

• A: This is because of a corrupted or missing ADINIT.DAT file.  Reinstall CADVANCE to restore  a good copy of ADINIT.DAT.  Note:  CADVANCE V2002 Service Pack 4 (SP4) Update includes an ADINIT.DAT Update.

• Q: When I import an AutoCAD file, the CADVANCE Status bar indicates "Cannot Create TEXT" or "Cannot Create NODE" or Cannot Create ARC".
• A: This is likely because of Associative entities or Rotated Dimensions in the .DXF or .DWG file.  You may wish to To import  Associative entities in the .DWG file, such as Associative Hatch, must be converted to non-Associative, and Rotated Dimensions in the DWG must be exploded.  The drawing should then be purged completely for best results.  You may wish to download IntelliCAD at www.cadopia.com and load the .DWG with IntelliCAD, then convert the Associative entities to Non-Associative, and explode the Rotated Dimensions in the .DWG.  Then, for best results, the drawing should be completely Purged before importing it with CADVANCE.  

• Q: Are there any recovery tips for a drawing that crashes or hangs when translating from VWF to DWG?
• A: First, try to compress the file by doing a File/Pack.  If this doesn't work, try the following:
  
  1. Open the drawing and turn all layers on
  2. View/Redraw, then window the entire drawing
  3. Copy/Paste to a new drawing with the same scale and smallest unit (select them in Options/Unit)
  4. Save the new drawing under a new name
  5. Expand all symbols.
  6. File/Pack the drawing and Save as VWF
  7. Now File/Save as a DWG

  If these procedures do not work, please note the error message (if any) and report the problem to FIT at support@fitinc.com.  If possible, please also send the drawing (zipped) so we may test it.

• Q:  I am unable to open a DWG/DXF file.

• A:  There could be one of various reasons for this.  Make sure the AutoCAD user, before sending you the file, Purges the file.  If he has already purged, please send the DWG to FIT and we will examine it, and in many cases, correct it for your use.

• Q:  When I import a *.dwg, I lose linestyles.
• A:  In importing a *.dwg, Line types are created and added to the CAD.INS file if line types are not found in CAD.LNS during importing.  If the total number of line styles translated is greater than 16, any object drawn with an overflow line type is assigned line type 0 (CONTINUOUS).  Linetype names are preserved, with the following exceptions:
  
     - CONTINUOUS --> SOLID
     - DASHED --> DASH
  
  For more information, see the CADVANCE Manual.  For versions 8 and later, the manual is located in the Manuals folder inside your CADVANCE program directory.

• Q: My client says that he cannot use AutoCAD to save the .DWG or .DXF file that was created by CADVANCE translation.
• A:  Have your client use AutoCAD's RECOVER command to recover the drawing, then have him use the AUDIT command to fix all errors, then have him use the PURGE command to purge the entire drawing database, then save.

If AutoCAD cannot recover the drawing, then the client can download and install IntelliCAD from www.cadopia.com.  Then open the drawing and Purge the entire drawing, then save as .DXF or .DWG for use with AutoCAD.

• Q:  Why do I not get a dialog box for DWG translation in v99.5?

• A:  The default translation setting is "off".  To turn it back on, go into Options/Miscellaneous/Switches and turn Translation Options "ON".  Then save to INI.

• Q:  In v99.5, what are the default path settings if translation option is off?  Is there any way of changing these defaults?

• A:  When you are presented with the translation options window, select your settings and click "Save".

• Q:  Sometimes my Area Fill in v99.5 doesn't translate well with AutoCAD.

• A:   When creating CADVANCE, we wished to be user-friendly to the user, to optimize area fills.   CADVANCE uses sets of 4 vertices (nodes) when drawing a continuous line segment or polygon.    But AutoCAD only supports 3 vertices (nodes) when drawing a continuous line segment or polygon. Thus AutoCAD's area fill algorithm is not compatible.

• Q:  Why do TIFF images and bitmap images not appear when I translate from VWF to DWG or vice-versa?

• A:  Image files such as BMP, JPG and TIFF translate from CADVANCE v2000 and v2002 to AutoCAD, but only if the image file was inserted using File / Open / BMP (or JPG, etc.)  To determine whether your raster image was inserted with File / Open, select the object and use Utility / Query / Object.  If the object returns the dialog "Auxiliary Object Raster Image" and indicates a filename, it was inserted with File / Open.  Otherwise it will not translate.

• Q:  I received an AutoCAD file from someone, and when I try to open it in CADVANCE, I get the message "Cannot find file c:\program files\cadvance99\samples\9034" (or something similar).  Why is this?

• A: The error message refers to an AutoCAD reference file.  Whoever supplied you with the .dwg should have also given you the AutoCAD reference file to go with it, but they didn't.  Just tell them to give you the reference file and the drawing should open fine in CADVANCE.  In this case, 9034 is the reference file they should have given you.

• Note:  CADVANCE V2002 is improved to import DWG XRefs.

• Q:  In File/Open DWG, is it possible to import 2D and 3D at the same time?

• A:  This feature is supported in v2002, but not in earlier versions.

• Q:  I am trying to import an AutoCAD file but in both DXF and DWG, it gives me (upon import) the error message "Cannot create file -5-.S\\box1.sym"

• A:  The AutoCAD symbol it's referring to is either bad (corrupted), or during the save/send of the DWG or DXF, someone on the AutoCAD user's network was using the symbol at the same time.

• Q: I am running a 16-bit version of CADVANCE (v5, v6x or v7x) on Windows 2000 and I am trying to use Utility / Translate / .DXF or Utility / Translate / >DWG but I am getting an error "Cannot find file".

• A: Utility / Translate / .DXF and Utility / Translate / .DWG are not supported under Windows 2000.  If you are running Windows 2000 you will need to translate to .DXF or .DWG by using the command File / SaveAs...(then select .DXF or .DWG file type).  This command cannot be run in batch.

• Q:   I work with someone who uses a more current version of CADVANCE than I do.  How can I read their CADVANCE drawings?
  A:  Have the user save their VWF file to DWG as an AutoCAD release version that can be read by your version of CADVANCE.

• Q: I created a DWG drawing but someone with AutoCAD 12 in my office is unable to read it. Also, when I created the DWG, I get a message "Warning: drawing creates auxiliary objects". Also, when I attempted to create a DXF drawing, it stopped about halfway through.
• A: When creating the DWG or DXF, expand all the symbols first. Then run the macro TT2CAD.CBX which we provide to convert all your True Type text to CAD text.  With continued problems, send drawing by e-mail to technical support at support@fitinc.com

• Q: When I convert a drawing to DWG format and someone works on it in AutoCAD, then I import it back into CADVANCE the units and World size are changed.
• A: At importation of a DWG file there is an option for entering the smallest unit. Set this to match your original world size.

• Q: I purchased a new computer with Windows 95 and   installed  V6.0 on it. Now, when I try to open a DWG file which I could open in my previous Windows 3.1 computer, I get the message, 'Unable to load DWGXVWF.DLL'.
• A: You didn't copy all the files from your translator disk. If you do the copy operation in Windows 95 Explorer, be sure to have "show all files" selected under Options. Alternatively, you can do the copy operation in DOS.

• Q: After a translation, my symbol files appear to have changed.
• A: The first symbol directory listed in Options/Paths/(Symbol Paths) is the directory used for translations. This means that when importing a drawing, if you choose to recreate symbols, the translator will create symbol files with the names of symbols in the incoming drawing. It will place these newly created files in the translation directory. If any of the incoming symbols have the same name as a currently existing symbol in this directory, the existing symbol files will get overwritten. Thus, the next time you access this symbol file you will be surprised to see that your symbol has changed. The solution is to set this first symbol path to a special directory which you clean out just prior to translations.

TRUETYPE TEXT

• Q: The TrueType Text will not rotate in CADVANCE Lite 99.

• A: To remedy, use the following procedure:

  • Turn All Layers On

  • Type "o", then "r" to get the "Object Selection" dialog box

  • Click "Object Type" then click "TrueType" then click OK.  This will select all your TrueType

  • Do an Edit / Text / Words.  The TrueType window will open.  Click OK and keep clicking OK until The TrueType window closes

  • Do a File / Pack and Recalculate extents, "Yes"

• Q: True Type text is too small when using V99 or higher.
• A: In V99, CADVANCE converted to Microsoft Windows Rich Text Format. In V99 and higher, the True Type text size onscreen is controlled by the Drawing Scale. Click Options/Unit (ALT, O, U) and increase the Drawing Scale. A larger ratio will draw the text at larger scale. Default Drawing Scale in standard CADVANCE is 1"=4' and Default Drawing Scale in AETools is 1"=8'. You may want to use 1"=8' or larger to draw TrueType text.

   

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