AUTOCAD IS THE WORST PROGRAM FOR ARCHITECTURE

[asilvacotto]

FROM EVERY PROBLEM AND CONFIGURATION ISSUE THAT APPEARS FROM NOWHERE, THROUGH THE TIME LOST SEARCHING FOR THE CAUSE/SOLUTION, AND THE ACTUAL SOLUTION, AUTOCAD WINS IN THE LESS USER FRIENDLY AND MORE PROBLEMATIC PROGRAM OF ALL TIMES CATERORY.

See list of problems being faced in message #5 below https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-forum/autocad-is-the-worst-program-for-architecture/m-p/11642... 

THANKS

***THE POST HAS BEEN EDITED FOR CLARITY, LINK TO LIST OF ISSUES HAS BEEN ADDED***

[3wood]

I think the AutoCAD community is a good place to ask questions and find solutions.

Why don't you post your questions here and see if we can help you resolve it one by one?

[paullimapa]

Why just Architecture?  Please explain and provide detail examples to state your case for Architecture.  

[RobDraw]

Many people do amazing things with AutoCAD on a daily basis efficiently. You should ask questions so that you can solve your issues. Blaming the program is giving up.

[asilvacotto]

I don't doubt that there can be done nice drawings in the program, despite the plethora of problems that it comes with. But it is this very long list of issues and sloppy items [evidenced in these forums plagued by many questions without satisfactory answers] that make a pain in the back and a frustrating process to work with AutoCAD.

As I stated, the list of reasons to hate AutoCAD is long, and every day an item is added, but here I leave the last ones with which I have had to deal, hopping someone could help me:

1. When publishing (batch plot) layouts to pdf, some layouts (randomly) don’t plot
2. There is not a text field (attribute) to automatically number layouts according to tab position
3. Xref images and pdfs keep unreferencing
4. Dialog boxes sometimes stop displaying, besides command FILEDIA, CMDDIA, etc. is set to “1”. (Why theres even an option to not show something so essential as a dialog box, and why it turns off randomly?)
5. The dialog box when searching (for example) for a referenced pdf, looks like windows of 1985 instead of displaying the current windows 11 file explorer version; making it tedius to search for something because even the quick access files are not displayed.

6. Hatches sometimes don't recognize closed boundaries if the boundary is not dsplayed (zoomed to all extent) in the model space, despite it is closed

7. When publishing (batch plot) the cursor disappears for almost a minute on the AutoCAD window while the program loads.

Im using AutoCAD 2023 

[RobDraw]

Why have you given up without asking any questions?

It looks like a lot of your problems are self inflicted.

[paullimapa]

First and most important of all none of your items are specific to Architecture. These can occur with any discipline.  Next let’s go over the obvious solutions to your problems:

1. When publishing (batch plot) layouts to pdf, some layouts (randomly) don’t plot

Answer:  Could be a number of issues including the plot device used but first disable background plotting
2. There is not a text field (attribute) to automatically number layouts according to tab position

Answer:  This is easily solved by running a simple lisp routine
3. Xref images and pdfs keep unreferencing

Answer:  This sounds like a problem caused within your own computer filing system or system setup especially if it’s on a network 
4. Dialog boxes sometimes stop displaying, besides command FILEDIA, CMDDIA, etc. is set to “1”. (Why theres even an option to not show something so essential as a dialog box, and why it turns off randomly?)

Answer:  Could occur if you had more than one monitor and then changed to a single monitor and now the dialogue appears offscreen. 
5. The dialog box when searching (for example) for a referenced pdf, looks like windows of 1985 instead of displaying the current windows 11 file explorer version; making it tedius to search for something because even the quick access files are not displayed.

Answer:  Don’t use AutoCAD to search for files

6. Hatches sometimes don't recognize closed boundaries if the boundary is not dsplayed (zoomed to all extent) in the model space, despite it is closed

Answer:  Don’t use pick point option but instead select the boundary for the hatch

7. When publishing (batch plot) the cursor disappears for almost a minute on the AutoCAD window while the program loads.

Answer:  This does not deserve an answer. You can even say why does it take so long for the AutoCAD program to load at startup? Why are you still even using this? Just use something else and your problems are solved instead of wasting time complaining about it here on this forum. 

[pendean]

1) turn off background publishing.
2) You need to be using SSM (SheetSet Manager) then add a FIELD based on that for sheet numbers.
3) Pathing issues: you are ignoring the locations of those items and how your file looks for them. FULL PATH options may help, hard to tell, your issue appears to just be one of inexperience. test it out.
4) Off screen perhaps? Or you triggered (or are ignoring) the commandline: make it 3-4 lines tall and see what else AutoCAD is trying to tell you about the problem.
5) That's on you, we as end users can't help there.
6) This is a limitation that us end users learn to work around: use the option to SELECT the boundary instead of clicking inside for AutoCAD to figure it out.
7) and...?

AutoCAD 2023.1.2 ought to be what ABOUT command shows for your version: if not, you need to install that update ASAP. Restart your PC afterwards.

Good luck.

[asilvacotto]

Thank you for confirming that there really are no satisfactory solutions to many AutoCAD problems, so what remains to be done is to work around them; and that it is necessary to have vast experience dealing with these problems in order to know the non-obvious cause and possible solutions. If you know where I can write to the developer’s department to suggest improvements to the software, please let me know.

Meanhile lets go to the list with which we’re working

1. Turning off the background publishing helped with the first problem. Maybe there’s a bug that needs to be fixed there.
2. @pendean, I created a Sheet Set with the drawing and placed the layouts in the order I want them in the Sheet Set Manager, and numbered then one by one. Then I added the CurrentSheetNumber field but it does not display the sheet number, it stays on “###”. Then I used the SheetSet Field but the number is displayed if I select each layout. If I duplicate one layout, I have to number it in the Sheet Set Manager, renumber all the others (if the duplicate is not the last) and then select it in the SheetSet Field Property.
   1.  @paullimapa, it would be fantastic if you could share the lisp routine. I have tried this one changing block name and field entry but it didn’t worked. I tried the PageOf utility but for that I would have to rename layouts by number and I want to keep the "A-1.00" format because I already have a field to add the layout tab name automatically to each title block.
3. The office where I’m working uses desktop OneDrive to file our projects, but only some pdfs and images of some projects keep unreferencing despite we press the “Absolute” Path Type in the External References Tab, and save the drawing.
4. The missing dialogue box for use same path to other xrefs is inconsistent because it happens only for some drawings in the same laptop. My “work around” is to open the Reference Manager app, load the drawing (trough the outdated file explorer that opens Autocad), select the images to re-reference, search again for the folder containing them in the outdated explorer provided, update the path, open the drawing, select the images in the xref tab, and reloading them. I was hoping you know a less tedious process to this issue.
5. I guess this one would be another suggestion to the software developers.
6. Yup. That’s a way to work around it. Thanks
7. The delay when publish/batchplot I think is related to the blocks used, the quantity of xrefs, and the processing capacity of the computer used because some drawings don’t take so long to load. I was hoping you could give me some insight about it but if you don’t know the cause It’s ok. I’ll deal with it

Im using AutoCAD 2023.1.2 on a MSI - Vector 15.6" 165hz Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7HX - 32GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti - 1TB SSD

[paullimapa]

So then AutoCAD is not that bad afterall...especially when there are so many users & forums like this to help for free to resolve various problems users like yourself may encounter. All you have to do is ask...

As for product feedback: https://www.autodesk.com/company/contact-us/product-feedback

Then for a number of questions you can actually do a simple search on-line & you'll get a number of solutions like to your layout tab numbering problem. You'll have to select the lisp function that best fits your needs of course:

https://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?141491-Auto-Numbering-Layout-Tabs

As for occasional missing pdfs & images, obviously the issue has to do with the implementation of OneDrive. A proven Autodesk solutions, though not free, is to use Autodesk Docs

[asilvacotto]

Well, @paullimapa, the only problems that could be worked around (not solved) where the items 1 and 6, but there are still 5 remaining items with no solution yet, so the conclusion that AutoCAD is not so bad doesn't really apply to this conversation.

I tried the lisp of the link you shared and it numbered the layouts instead of the sheets (in the paper space). And besides, it numbered them in the wrong order. I'm looking for a lisp that can be used to number the paperspaces/sheets automatically in the "sheet number" row at the title block (as displayed in the attached screenshots) according to the layout tab position, so that if I have 3 layouts, for example, the first one displays 1 in the sheet number row, the second: 2, and the third: 3. And if I add an additional layout between the first and second layouts, then the new layout displays 2 and the last layouts renumber automatically to: 3 and 4.

I guess I would have to search for a lisp writer/coder to help me with this and/or learn how to write it myself.

Anyhow, thanks for taking of your time for answering and trying to suggest a solution.

[paullimapa]

regardless of whatever solutions or options any of us provide for you, I think your opinion is fixed. But if I were you I would advise your supervisor to hire a consultant who can assist you in coming up with actual solutions instead of just saying this is the worst program.

As for the lisp, try LAY2FLD which does more than you ask for because it'll also add page # of total # of layouts:

https://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?170740-Getting-the-number-of-a-layout-tab

[pendean]

Correct: AutoCAD is a tool of your trade, you must learn to use it. Like all folks with trades need to do.

1) Background Publishing working or not seems to be PC specific: Autodesk does not sell PCs. It is what it is.
2) ### means either your field is dead (not found), missing, or something else is wrong with it. Hard to tell without access to your entire drawings set and DST file. Looks like you have figured it out though (that's for the screenshot), just need to work on sizing of the letters.
3) that's for your IT to resolve: OneDrive loss of file pathing has a lot to do with setup with that service, local mirroring, xrefs pathing availability 100% of the time, and other connectivity issues that the AutoCAD is not designed to solve. You all should consider paying for an experienced AutoCAD/Cloud Services CAD Manager to come in to revamp your setups and workflows at some point.
4) No one here can fix "inconsistent" and "occasional" disappearing dialog boxes. You'll have to dig deeper to find out what triggers those occasions to tell everyone here to see if anyone else can help figure it out with you. being on a LAPTOP can simply mean your missing dialog box is on a missing external/second display?
5) Lots out there, reach out to them.
6) 30+years of needing to do that, I suspect we should stop calling it a workaround 😉
7) May have a lot to do with your 111 Xrefs on an average laptop, plus OneDrive setup/connectivity issues noted earlier and your images/Civil/Map content.

[RobDraw]

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@asilvacotto wrote:

If you know where I can write to the developer’s department to suggest improvements to the software, please let me know.

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In order for them (or anyone else) to take you seriously, you need to eliminate the problems with your workflow and file management. You can make AutoCAD work for you instead of letting the program make you work harder than necessary. That's on you, not the developers.

[extremecheese]

I've been using many different CAD and BIM packages over the past 40 years, and never have I ever been happy to use Autocad - so I feel your pain. Every time I have had to go back to Autocad, I've tried to be optimistic and expected that it has been improved leaps and bounds to deserve the marketshare that it boasts, and every time I'm disapointed. Autocad is the most antiquated, over complicated, under performing software that I've ever used. It's memory management is truly appalling, the very fact you have to use 'object viewer' to look at things in 3D (using Shift + mid button takes forever and typically crashes your system!) is somewhat laughable, it's primitive 'undo' system which includes view changes surely must make even the most staunch user cringe, there's no 'save all' function despite it using tabs, the layers and properties boxes ALWAYS get in the way meaning that you need at least 3 screens to efficiently work, I can open the same dwg file using rival software on a $400 laptop and it'll run smoother than ACAD on a $4000 laptop, it constantly crashes, it's recovery system is a mess, due to its constant "updates" every 3 years it cannot read it's own file type, the snap system is comedic - (eg it disengages the axis lock) - I can go on and on.... BUT, it's a system that we are often forced to use. Grin and bear it is the only advice I can give, and certainly offer your clients / boss advice when it comes to choosing software in the future.

[Kent1Cooper]

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@extremecheese wrote:
.... there's no 'save all' function ....

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Not true.

[RobDraw]

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@extremecheese wrote:
it constantly crashes, it's recovery system is a mess, due to its constant "updates" every 3 years it cannot read it's own file type, 

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This sounds like the AutoCAD of 20 years ago. You've missed a lot. We are on yearly releases now with updates in between. The file format hasn't changed in six years and constant crashes are no longer an issue with the program for even longer. That one is on the user end.

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@extremecheese wrote:
the snap system is comedic - (eg it disengages the axis lock)

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Axis lock, do you mean ortho? Grid snap is something entirely different.

I could go on tearing apart most of the rest of what you've said but I'll leave that to others.

Well, maybe, one more.

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@extremecheese wrote:
Autocad is the most antiquated, over complicated, under performing software that I've ever used. 

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That's totally on you dude. There are many people that can do amazing things with the program. It's all a matter of making the program work for you instead of letting it make you frustrated. That's a choice, not a reflection of the program.

Now, I'm done. Have a good day.

[extremecheese]

Thanks Rob, but no this is the autocad of 2023.

I lose count how many times I get Error Aborting message on a daily basis! and it basically feels the same as acad 2006 only you need a machine with MUCH more processing power to draw with than you did back then. Meanwhile (and I have it open as I type this) if I try and 3d spin the view of a simple mesh with a civil3d pipe,  the thing gives up and returns me to the top view!

Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? well as a CAD/BIM designer who's first entry into CAD was back in the late 80's whose first experience of ACAD was v11 back in '93, I can say with full confidence that the acad of 20 years ago was better, and the only reason why I'm being so critical is because I've actually used an array of software that actually works properly!

Now I agree that many people can do amazing things with autocad, I've seen some impressive work and they have my full admiration for being able to make it perform so smoothly! I'd love to see what the could do using the likes of Catia, Inventor, Rhino, Blender, Revit... anything but ACAD! 😄

[pendean]

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@extremecheese wrote:

Thanks Rob, but no this is the autocad of 2023.

I lose count how many times I get Error Aborting message on a daily basis......

....Meanwhile (and I have it open as I type this) if I try and 3d spin the view of a simple mesh with a civil3d pipe,  the thing gives up and returns me to the top view!.....

....Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? ....

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Indeed there is something wrong: most of us would try to fix those issues by asking out peers in the correct forums for guidance (C3D is over HERE) since C3D2023 is not just used by a handful of random users but by too many to count.

AND... you can also open a support case with Autodesk if you are on subscription to seek out Autodesk Support's help:
https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-find-my-sup...

You're only on an island of your making otherwise: lots of keen C3D users are out here taking after-work personal time to help fellow end users.

[pkolarik]

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@Kent1Cooper wrote:

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@extremecheese wrote:
.... there's no 'save all' function ....

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Not true.

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Heh.. that's not the only thing cheese ranted about that isn't true.