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Gambling with the versions...

16 REPLIES 16
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Message 1 of 17
DeaconDave
648 Views, 16 Replies

Gambling with the versions...

I'm a CAD services provider and I'm subject to working with several different versions of Civil 3D, in particular.  Completely depending on what the client requires.  As the number of employees increase the odds of a project being created or edited in the wrong version increases and thus far I have been very fortunate.  Besides limiting myself to a single version of C3D has anyone developed a full proof way of eliminating the gamble of working in the wrong version?  I have people that double click on the drawing name in windows explorer to open the file and, as you may already know, it will open the file in the last version of C3D utilized.  Yea, you get the notification if the drawing file was created in a newer version but not the other way around.

 

What I think would be interesting is if there was a way to implement a watermark.  A non-printable watermark that upon opening a new session of C3D, regardless of the method, that identifies the version.

 

I hope this spurs some thought and if you have any ideas for version control I am open to all.

 

Thanks in advance!

David King
Civil Designer
C3D 2014 SP2
C3D 2015 SP3
C3D 2018 SP2
Win 7 Pro - 64 Bit OS
Intel Xeon CPU E5-1603 @ 2.80 GHz
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 600
Tags (2)
16 REPLIES 16
Message 2 of 17
AllenJessup
in reply to: DeaconDave

Sincpac has THIS.

 

Allen Jessup



Allen Jessup
Engineering Specialist / CAD Manager

Message 3 of 17
Lisa_Pohlmeyer
in reply to: DeaconDave

I've been wishing for something that would work in Windows Explorer that would change the icon for the various software versions, not just the drawing version (since 3 versions of the software use the same drawing version). I found an add-on that tells you what drawing version through the properties (you can add the column to Explorer) but not the software version.



Lisa Pohlmeyer
Civil 3D User
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Message 4 of 17
tcorey
in reply to: DeaconDave

I have some code that will tell you the dwg version, but it makes no distinction between Civil 3d versions.

 

For example, dwg version 2010 is used by AutoCAD 2010, 2011, 2012, but Civil 3D objects are different in each.

 

That's probably not going to help you, right?



Tim Corey
MicroCAD Training and Consulting, Inc.
Redding, CA
Autodesk Gold Reseller

New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. -- Kurt Vonnegut
Message 5 of 17
DeaconDave
in reply to: tcorey

Unfortunately, that wouldn't do much good. However, Tim, I appreciate the response and idea.

David King
Civil Designer
C3D 2014 SP2
C3D 2015 SP3
C3D 2018 SP2
Win 7 Pro - 64 Bit OS
Intel Xeon CPU E5-1603 @ 2.80 GHz
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 600
Message 6 of 17
DeaconDave
in reply to: AllenJessup

Richard has thought of just about everything and implemented it all in Sincpac, hasn't he?  It's sad that he's no longer with us.  I keep putting it off but I may just have to buy Sincpac.

 

Thanks Allen, for the heads up!

David King
Civil Designer
C3D 2014 SP2
C3D 2015 SP3
C3D 2018 SP2
Win 7 Pro - 64 Bit OS
Intel Xeon CPU E5-1603 @ 2.80 GHz
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 600
Message 7 of 17
Joe-Bouza
in reply to: DeaconDave

you can put a no plot water mark in ypour files on a no plot layer. another method that may work is to add the c3d version to your file naming template.
Thank you

Joseph D. Bouza, P.E. (one of 'THOSE' People)

HP Z210 Workstation
Intel Xeon CPU E31240 @ 3.30 Hz
12 GB Ram


Note: Its all Resistentialism, so keep calm and carry on

64 Bit Win10 OS
Message 8 of 17
Neilw_05
in reply to: DeaconDave

For your solution you'll need to cover Sheet Set Manager as well. Not only can a user open files from SSM, but a more serious issue is SSM can upgrade a file even if it is not opened at all.

 

This can happen if call out and detail blocks that are in the sheet set definition are edited in the SSM. I've had this happen and it was a disaster.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 9 of 17
Lisa_Pohlmeyer
in reply to: Neilw_05

I started a new dwg in 2014, xreffed a corridor that was done in 2012. My alignments are dreffed into the corridor.  Does the attached screen shot now mean that my drawing that has the alignments in it has been upgraded to 2014, even though I haven't opened it in 2014?

 

Thanks for the heads up about the SSM, I haven't upgraded a project between versions before, so I had forgotten about that little "gotcha".

 



Lisa Pohlmeyer
Civil 3D User
Website | Facebook | Twitter

Tags (1)
Message 10 of 17
jmayo-EE
in reply to: Lisa_Pohlmeyer

I'm betting so but can you confirm by trying to open the file in the lower version?

John Mayo

EESignature

Message 11 of 17
david.zavislan
in reply to: DeaconDave

We use a front end utility to launch Civil 3D.  It checks a text file in the project folder for the assigned version of Civil 3D and compares it against the registry value of the version of Civil 3D that is being opened.  If they do not match the user is warned against continuing.  This has been sufficient enough to keep users from accidentally opening files in the wrong version, and is much easier than trying to read the version of Civil 3D from the drawing files.

 

You could do something similar in with lisp code in the acaddoc.lsp file that can check the current version against the version assigned to the project.  Use (getvar "ACADVER") to read the version of Civil 3D.  For 2013 it will return "19.0s (LMS Tech)".  Save the same value in the project's version text file.

David Zavislan, P.E. | Wood Rodgers, Inc.
Message 12 of 17
Neilw_05
in reply to: david.zavislan

Does your LISP code work when opening files via SSM? I assume yes as long as it is set up in the ACADDOC.lsp for each version of ACAD.

 

That would leave the problem where files can be modified in SSM itself. This one is especially insidious since most users aren't aware of it.

 

Of course there is no fool proof solution but the LISP idea is nice. Ultimately users need to understand the issue and be aware of what it means when they see the warning about an older version when opening a file.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 13 of 17
Neilw_05
in reply to: AllenJessup

Having a safeguard at file save is very good. I've opened files, accepted the startup warning, and later instinctively hit the save button.

 

Another option could be to set up some kind of permissions scheme to make files read only when opened by users on newer versions.

Neil Wilson (a.k.a. neilw)
AEC Collection/C3D 2024, LDT 2004, Power Civil v8i SS1
WIN 10 64 PRO

http://www.sec-landmgt.com
Message 14 of 17
tcorey
in reply to: david.zavislan

Going off what David suggested, if you paste this code into your acaddoc.lsp file, and place a text file called C3DVersion.txt in the folder with the drawing(s) being opened, it will read the version text file and display that against the AutoCAD version in an alert box.

 

The contents of the text file will be simply 2013 or 2011, etc.

 

You will have to manually create the text file and place the proper file number.

 

The routine will display a warning if no version file exists in the same folder as the drawing.

 

 ;begin version checking

  (setq des_verFil (strcat (getvar "dwgprefix")"C3DVersion.txt")
	des_fil (open des_verFil "R")
	)
(if (not (= des_fil nil))
(progn
  (setq des_ProjVer (read-line des_fil))
  

  (setq des_version (substr (getvar "ACADVER") 1 4))

  (cond ((= des_version "19.1")
	 (setq des_vers "2014"))
	((= des_version "19.0")
	 (setq des_vers "2013"))
	((= des_version "18.2")
	 (setq des_vers "2012"))
	(t nil)
	)
  (princ)

  (setq des_pmpt (strcat "Your Project Version is " des_ProjVer "\nYour AutoCAD Version is " des_vers))
  (alert des_pmpt)
  (princ)
);end progn
(alert "Warning: No version file exists for this project")
);end if

(setq des_verFil nil
      des_fil nil
      des_ProjVer nil
      des_version nil
      des_vers nil
      des_pmpt nil
      )
(princ)

;end version checking


      
      
      
  
 

 Tim

 



Tim Corey
MicroCAD Training and Consulting, Inc.
Redding, CA
Autodesk Gold Reseller

New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. -- Kurt Vonnegut
Message 15 of 17
tcorey
in reply to: tcorey

Also, as you see in the code, I only go back to 2012. If someone wants to open 2011, 2010, etc and let me know what they get when they type acadver, I can update the routine to go back as far as you want.

 

Tim



Tim Corey
MicroCAD Training and Consulting, Inc.
Redding, CA
Autodesk Gold Reseller

New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. -- Kurt Vonnegut
Message 16 of 17
DeaconDave
in reply to: tcorey

This is awesome!  I appreciate everyone's responses.

 

Tim, this is the response to ACADVER in v2011:  18.1s (LMS Tech)  and v2009 is: 17.2s (LMS Tech)

 

I have 2010 and 2011 on my personal machine at home.  I'll try to get that to you quicker than this response. Smiley Embarassed

David King
Civil Designer
C3D 2014 SP2
C3D 2015 SP3
C3D 2018 SP2
Win 7 Pro - 64 Bit OS
Intel Xeon CPU E5-1603 @ 2.80 GHz
8 GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 600
Message 17 of 17
tcorey
in reply to: david.zavislan

Dave, here is the code updated with the other versions, back to 2007. If someone want to confirm 2006, 2005, etc., I can add that code or you can.

 

Tim

 

 

  (setq des_verFil (strcat (getvar "dwgprefix")"C3DVersion.txt")
	des_fil (open des_verFil "R")
	)

  (setq des_ProjVer (read-line des_fil))
  

  (setq des_version (substr (getvar "ACADVER") 1 4))

  (cond ((= des_version "19.1")
	 (setq des_vers "2014"))
	((= des_version "19.0")
	 (setq des_vers "2013"))
	((= des_version "18.2")
	 (setq des_vers "2012"))
	((= des_version "18.1")
	 (setq des_vers "2011"))
	((= des_version "18.0")
	 (setq des_vers "2010"))
	((= des_version "17.2")
	 (setq des_vers "2009"))
	((= des_version "17.1")
	 (setq des_vers "2008"))
	((= des_version "17.0")
	 (setq des_vers "2007"))
	(t nil)
	)
  (princ)

  (setq des_pmpt (strcat "Your Project Version is " des_ProjVer "\nYour AutoCAD Version is " des_vers))
  (alert des_pmpt)
  (princ)

 



Tim Corey
MicroCAD Training and Consulting, Inc.
Redding, CA
Autodesk Gold Reseller

New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. -- Kurt Vonnegut

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