The basics of AcadE are not that complicated. I produced a complete drawing set after two months of purchasing then Toolbox WD, and most of that time was spent modifying my existing AutoCAD symbols (about 2500 of them) for use with AcadE. And Toolbox WD did come with a manual. But there wasn't any training class available, and the technical support was mainly for mechanical, with little knowlege of Tollbox WD. And we didn't have a nice discussion group, either. So I learned by doing. I think that the "Newbies" to AcadE need to jdo less whining, use the available help files (which cover the basics), and just do their work. We all have made the early mistakes, fixed them, and went on. We all have learned by doing (OJT is the best education there is). However, last May, we conducted our own 4 day in-house training class on ACE2005 (we were too chicken to use 2006!). But this was more for how my company uses AcadE then it was for the basic stuff.
The help files with AcadE are very good with the "how to" basic stuff. AcadE get more complicated when you go to customize it, especally now with the PLC parametric build, terminal editor, report generator, and CUI for the menus. Back in the "good ol' days" of AutoCAD a customization manaul was included with the software. It would be nice if we could have that with AcadE, espeically for the things listed above. We paid $$$$ to have someone come spend a day with us explaining the "how to" of the parametrci build and report generater (we gave up on the terminal editor), so a manual for this would be very nice.
Martin Lee
ACE User since 01/99