>Using third party programs always make life more difficult because now
there >is a whole new set of issues to work through that require someone to
be >completely knowledgeable of both programs.
And here we have the crux of the problem. We
don't have any one person who is well versed in both products.
SurvCAD by Carlson is the third party
product. In and of itself it is an excellent product, I don't like the way
it handles certain things (like points), but it handles survey specific issues
(like traverse reduction and field to finish line work) far better than the LDD
Survey package.
The big problem I have is that I am the resident
computer wonk and I end up having to figure out how to fix it when
competing software packages don't work and play well
together.
The biggest issue between the two programs is the
BPNR ability in LDD, SurvCad sees it when a drawing is opened, asks if you want
to translate/rotate to north at the proper coordinates. If you say yes it
will move all of the AutoCAD entities, but leave the BPNR settings as they
were. Then any calculations will be done with AutoCAD coordinates, not the
LDD BPNR coords. So all of the work done is in the right place in relation
the AutoCAD version of North, but not LDD's. I know there are obvious ways
around this issue, like adopting a single software standard, or rotating back to
the BPNR, but there is strong resistance on both sides to solving this problem
in favor of either product.
So I just thought I would bitch a little, I don't
think anyone is going to come up with an easy solution for this. I am
trying to figure out a macro that will help avoid the major issues,
but it's going to take a while. Like I said just thought I would
bitch to a sympathetic ear.
Thanks,
Jon