live scratch database editor

[ccad2509]

been using that other cad package over the weekend and again and it has a really good feature

basically it has a window that runs along the bottom of the screen this is the project database but only showing details of all the symbols on the current open page

its fully editable so you can go into fields and edit tags /part numbers /pin numbers etc etc in this case its a live update and updates the page instantly

for acade because its not linked that way to the database a button would be required in a similar function to update title block

why was i impressed with this feature i could see all the part numbers on the page and i could edit symbols fast with out popping into and out of symbols using symbol edit and it was a snap shot of the project database

i could estimate i was working at least 2-300% than if i did not have this feature

so simply putting it is it possible to have a window at the bottom of the screen which is displaying the scratch database which was fully editable and updates the drawing  when finished editing ?

[drathak]

Even a carefully packaged scratch database editor would be nice.  Something that took the export to spreadsheet-edit-import cycle and made it a nice clean tool.

We have a third party developer working on something like this.

[ccad2509]

Hello drathak

your having a third party devloper write code for a feature that is standard on other packages

yes you know the rant is comming

this is another reason ACADE gets its A&*(( kicked  in europe not having standard features other products have and your only option is to pay for someone to develope these features for you

yes autodesk has failed again to read what the market wants and pays for it with zero sales at full price here when are they going to wake up and do something ?

[miles.nicholson]

The simple solution would be to have a component browser to the side of the project browser. This could either show the component tags live from the scratch database for the entire project or just for the specific active drawing. Right clicking over a component would enable you to change or assign manufacturer, change the properties of the component and any changes here would update the part in the schematic and linked components.

[t_chaws]

Thanks for your valuable feedback. We shall add this item to our research bucket and see what can be done quickly.
Keep posting new ideas.

Thanks and Regards,
AutoCAD Electrical Product Team.

[ccad2509]

Being biter and very cynical regarding how Autodesk actually takes outside input then I don’t believe anything will happen

This is how I see it happening come next year when we are screaming again at the new bugs that have been implemented in 2016

And you’re patting yourselves on the back with a job well done with the bunch of half implementations of features that have previously existed in the market leading electrical cad software products for a number of years

You will hope we have all forgotten you didn’t actually fix many if any of the underlying bugs that have existed in Acade for a number of years

But guess what your competitors haven’t and quite rightly point out when it comes to fixing problems the likes of Eplan/E3/IGE-XAO/Solidworks/Promis E and Wscad sales reps can always point out existing bugs that haven’t been addressed for years and missing features which they all agree are important which you choose to ignore

So how were sales last year of stand alone Acade not very many wonder why that is?

Is anything to do with the lack of standard features other companies use

Or is it the bad publicity from not addressing existing bugs in the software

Or could it just be when you compare the latest version of Acade against the latest version of a market leader Acade just isn’t good enough to take them on head to head

[dougmcalexander]

Thanks Autodesk!  I know you try your best to please us.  You have both the U.S. market and European market to try to please.  Working both standards myself, I understand the differences and the challenge to try to please everyone.  I know it must get tiresome to constantly be compared to other programs and bashed for not adding every feature that gets requested.  Just know that the competitive programs all have their own issues. There is a good reason they don't sell as well in the U.S.  One had a bug for years that caused wires that were connected via source/destination arrows across drawings to appear twice in the from/to list. It went years without being addressed.  I called for supprot and was told to export to ASCII and edit with Notepad to delete the duplicates.  The fundamental reason we purchase programs like AutoCAD Electrical is to produce accurate reports.  The rest of the "features" and "utilities" improve workflow and efficiency, but accurate reports must be reliable.  I could believe that your competitor would just ignore that their software produced duplicate entries for the same wire.

Your software has grown by leaps and bounds to accommodate the wants of the European market.  I've been using this software to design to IEC standards since 1997 and I haven't run into any roadblocks that I could not deal with.  Of course version 2008 made my job easier, with the enhancements that were added to support more IEC style design standards, such as the intelligent angled tee symbol, which influences the wire from/to list with wire sequencing data based upon the angled tee orientation.  And the enhancements for relay and motor starter cross-referencing were much appreciated.

Some people just cannot be pleased, or they lack patience.  I know you can't do everything we ask in the same release. If you pile too much into a release you may not have time to sufficiently test for regression issues, and then customers will complain about broken commands that once worked.  I recommend focusing on making the existing commands bullet-proof before adding too many new features.

[ccad2509]

Hey Doug I’m a bit confused you said you weren’t going to play any games with me a few months back and here you are breaking your promise

There’s also something wrong with your response it doesn’t follow your 1, 2, 3 approach to all postings

• Long explanation using 200 words when 10 would be the answer most people give
• refer to your own website to talk about examples
• refer to what you a have taught before and push you consulting services

Thanks Autodesk!  I know you try your best to please us.  You have both the U.S. market and European market to try to please.  Working both standards myself, I understand the differences and the challenge to try to please everyone.

Hang about is this the same guy who previously posted that Autodesk doesn’t listen to him and he can’t get them to accept his suggestion’s on product improvement

 I know it must get tiresome to constantly be compared to other programs and bashed for not adding every feature that gets requested.

Yes it must be tiresome constantly pointing out that the other guys have standard features which make them more successfully in all metrics

Sales /functionality/speed /customer satisfaction

This is business and you can’t just trade on your name hopping people won’t see the underlying issues

Doug you are heavily invested in ACADE and no matter what I say or do ACADE is the only solution you will accept as being the right one

Scenario

You’re a manger in a company that has a requirement for an electrical design package

Option 1 you have Autodesk Inventor so you can purchase for under $1000 a companion licence of ACADE easy win if you’re a bean counter

Option 2 you don’t have inventor so you then have to pay full retail price for Acade then you will investigate what other options you have this is the comparison bit

The scenario is also based on the fact that the person asking the questions is not an engineer/designer but a manager with minimal knowledge of cad software

Smoke and mirrors demostration of software

All your competitors can produce slick user configurable forms for your documentation at a click of a button

The Acade demonstrator is praying that nobody asks him "why there is no configurable forms in Acade"

Strike 1

The potential client now asks I want to change my plot frame to another with a different company logo

He notices that the demonstrator goes to the block swap facility and asks the question “why isn’t there a dedicated function to swap out the plot frame like the other programmes we have seem?

Strike 2

The potential client the asks how easy is it to modify a symbol

So the demonstrator goes into the symbol editor modifies the symbol saves it then does a block swap

The potential client spots the screen message" update block in current drawing” and asks the question why didn’t you use that function?

Strike 3

Do I need to create a  scenario with somebody who is an engineer proficient in cad software?

Do I need to create a scenario with somebody who has been exposed to competing software?

 Just know that the competitive programs all have their own issues. There is a good reason they don't sell as well in the U.S.

But they fix them in a timely manner

Are you sure about that claim the us market is relatively small compared to the rest of the world where ACADE is the little guy from the big name company

Eplan has conquered Europe and coming your way

You might want to call Eplan and tell them they are wasting their time and close the 8 offices they have in the United States

They have the foothold in the US car industry and have the money and the time to expand out

Doug can you tell me how many dedicated acade offices are ther in the US

 One had a bug for years that caused wires that were connected via source/destination arrows across drawings to appear twice in the from/to list. It went years without being addressed.  I called for supprot and was told to export to ASCII and edit with Notepad to delete the duplicates.  The fundamental reason we purchase programs like AutoCAD Electrical is to produce accurate reports.  The rest of the "features" and "utilities" improve workflow and efficiency, but accurate reports must be reliable.  I could believe that your competitor would just ignore that their software produced duplicate entries for the same wire.

Who are you talking about ?what product when was this resolved ?

did it was it longer than the 10 years for the next previous pages attributes in the plot frame for Acade to be resolved?

Is it as long as the drawing audit not working since inception

Is it as long as the missing Decs1 to 3 when you add pages to a project (thanks Pat that’s great work you did there)

Is it as long as not having IEC inst/loc codes in arrows

Do I need to go on with the long list of issues that have been reported and not actioned?

Your software has grown by leaps and bounds to accommodate the wants of the European market.  I've been using this software to design to IEC standards since 1997 and I haven't run into any roadblocks that I could not deal with.

You being the expert what about normal users trying to solve problems and explain to their line manager it’s going to take twice as long because of issues with Acade not doing what you want it to do

 Of course version 2008 made my job easier, with the enhancements that were added to support more IEC style design standards, such as the intelligent angled tee symbol, which influences the wire from/to list with wire sequencing data based upon the angled tee orientation.  And the enhancements for relay and motor starter cross-referencing were much appreciated.

 Interesting comment an admission up to 2007 Acade had some major issues and then trying to justify the product by an upgrade to a standard it’s was trying to emulate which is still not working correctly it’s been 7 years and there are some fundamental issues still there

Some people just cannot be pleased, or they lack patience.  I know you can't do everything we ask in the same release.

I can easily be pleased but who can’t is the people I report to

Who else can’t be satisfied well people going out to buy electrical cad programmes do you think them utterly without any sense don’t you think they may google “Autocad electrical problem”

If you pile too much into a release you may not have time to sufficiently test for regression issues, and then customers will complain about broken commands that once worked.

Doesn’t this have something to do with you complaining that there isn’t enough resources and developers for the product the $2,2300,000,000 plus profits for Autodesk is obviously is not enough money to employ some extra programmers

 I recommend focusing on making the existing commands bullet-proof before adding too many new features.

One thing we agree on make the software work properly and clear these embarrassments before you try to add new functionality

But judging from the current mind set and past performance from Acade I can with 100% confidence state that is not going to happen at all

Go on Autodesk prove me wrong and make me look like a fool

That way you might start actually selling Acade as a standalone product and grow it from its current position and be a real threat to the market leaders