AutoCAD Electrical

[#1]

Kevin,

I installed the hotfix this morning. So far, so good. I appreciate your attention to this issue.

Regards,

David Brude

[#2]

Thank you Kevin for the hotfix.  Applied in a 'snap' !  Thanks for listening and the quick fix.

[#3]

The snap works only if you select a command. How can i turn it on permanent , like before, so i dont need to activate a command to check if a customer drawing is in snap or not?

[#4]

Hi,

I need to clarify the scope for this hotfix, it will not fully revert back the behavior to old AcadE2011, it restores snap behavior during netsel/nentsel/nentselp operations based on AcadE domain customer experience. We do not change the cursor movement behavior with this fix, so when no command is active, the cursor moves freely regardless of SNAPMODE and this is actually an enhancement by AutoCAD 2012 Team.

Regards,

Kevin Li

[#5]

Ok, then we just continue to use AcadE 2011. For me and my collegues, this new snap is just extreme irritating, and it should be an option if we customers want this snap behaviour or not.

[#6]

I started using AutoCAD in April of 1984 on a machine with 8" floppy discs and a CPM86 operating system.  Snap has worked the same way since then, UNTIL NOW.  WHY???  How difficult can it be to provide snap with three options, OFF -- "PART TIME" -- FULL TIME?  Let those who want to use it "part time" do so and let those who want to use snap full time do so.  What is so difficult about that?  If Autodesk wanted to, one of their "smart" programmers could do this in a half an hour or less.  It would stop all the bitching and restore faith in the product.  Maybe Autodesk just wants to see how much aggravation they can cause in the workplace while raking in all the subscription fees.  I asked for a full description of how snap is now working through "feedback" some time ago and never received a responce.

[#7]

The current snap behavior works like this -

If no command is running the snap is not active.

If you are running a command and you are selecting components the snap is not active. This is seen as an improvement because many times when you are trying to select a component and the snap is active it is difficult to select right on the component.

If you are running a command and you are selecting a location, the snap is active.

In AutoCAD Electrical there are some commands that your one selection is used for BOTH selecting an object and a location at the same time, for example the multiple bus command. The hotfix supplied addresses these situations so that during these selections the snap is now active.

[#8]

Hi Pat!  Great explanation!  I like the new snap function, after the patch.  It is convenient that the snap stays off until I invoke a command.  It does make it easier to select smaller drawing elements for edits or moves.  Yet when I click to insert a wire, the snap engages according to the snap settings I have set.  I can see that this is intended as an improvement.  With previous versions I would find myself needing to manually turn off snap to select a drawing element and then turn snap on again so I could execute a move and remain on the grid.

I do see where some customers could become frustrated, if they are trying to use Electrical for a mechanical drafting task that requires a constant snap function.  Perhaps there needs to be a toggle to allow us to disengage this new snap behavior when not desired.  For example, when Dynamic Input was first added, it annoyed me.  I would immediately turn it off when I started Electrical.  Now it defaults to off and that is good for me, since I am not a fan of Dynamic Input.  But for those who prefer Dynamic Input, they have the opportunity to toggle it on. 

I would hate to see this new snap behavior eliminated altogether but I think there should be a toggle to turn it on or off according to user preference.

[#9]

Doug,

I meant to add to my explanation that we do understand now the need for a switch or system variable so you can control this a little more. This has been logged.

Sorry for any inconvenience,

Pat

[#10]

Doug and Pat seem to put in some long hours (11:57 & 04:14)!  Is late-night e-mail sending is good for insomnia?

I thank you both for the SNAP explanation, originally requested from "Feedback" on 04Apr.  I agree that with the hotfix, ACADE2012 functions a lot better.  As stated earlier, I do everything on snap and have always used the crosshairs to locate things via the coordinate window.  Some of my drawings visually continue (line up) on to other drawings, so alignment is critical.  Without "full time" snap, I have to enter the Line command to activate snap and get the coordinates.  I agree the "new" snap has a lot of benefits as many times I have to toggle F9 (snap) in order to select an object.  As for structural switchgear enclosures designed in ACAD (in millimeters and ON SNAP), I will continue to use ACAD2011 as without full time snap I just can not function in ACAD2012.

Pat stated that "this has been logged".  Does that mean to be fixed, as in perhaps a toggle, OFF / PART TIME / FULL TIME?

I wonder just how much productive time has been lost among all the users of ACAD and its various versions over this changed snap function.  From the comments I have seen posted, most everyone thought it was broken.  An upfront explanation of this feature in WHAT'S NEW certainly would have saved a lot of angst.  Why was a feature change such as this a SURPRISE?  Perhaps eventually time may be saved with this feature as in many cases object selection may become easier.

JDM