Mike Twining

If you could describe the problem you are having in detail, it would be easier to pinpoint any problems. MikeT

Yeah... those are a real pain, I don't know what the deal is. What I have had to do is make the 3d line without the fillets, export the 3d line, fit the line to the new view (if the 3d line is your only shape you can skip the export step) such that the scene "extents" aren't too much larger than the 3d curve you are editing. Then, cross your fingers and pray. I seem to have better luck when there are not too many other shapes around. Needless to say, somehting is wrong with that little gadget. Let me know if you find an easier way! MikeT

I believe the "3MB" switch you are refering to is really a "/3GB" switch that is used by windows (supposedly to allow computers with lots of ram to fully utilize it). You can apply the swith to your boot.ini entry (look it up on microsoft for the full explination) used to start the machine, however there are serious consequences for some. My machine would no longer boot after adding the switch, and I had to download a patch from microsoft to get it back. Even with the switch and the patch, my machine is still unstable, and I only boot using the /3GB switch when I get memory errors using the default boot entry. Anyway, if you do choose to attempt the switch, I recommend, when editing your boot.ini file, that you add yourself a second boot option (so that you are prompted for an OS choice at the beginning) as opposed to just slapping the switch at the end of your existing entry.... you may save yourself and your IT guys some headaches. MikeT

I have a model that I am working on that took over an hour to "Update All Views", and that was a couple of sheets ago. Unless you change the BOM, I would only update the individual views that you need (if that will work for you). That should save you a little time. MikeT

I had to manually register the .dll file and then manually define the ".icd" filetype as an "IRONCAD.DRAWING": the option that appeared after registering the .dll. Extract the drawing file icon from ironcad.exe and the end users won't know the difference. MikeT

The guy is running 6.0 PU2, and it just started happening recently. He claims that there were no changes made to ironcad or the system between now and the last time it worked. Is there a resolution for the problem other than the delete key? Mike T

A co-worker of mine has a situation where, whever he starts ironcad (whether it is by clicking a shortcut or double clicking an IronCAD file), files are created in the "working" directory (wherever he double clicked from). The files are usually "lsprst7.dll" and "tmpPrst.dll", although sometimes the extensions are .zip. Anyone know what is going on and how to stop these files from being created all over the place? There is no adverse affect if the files are deleted, but they are recreated when you start IronCAD again. Thanks. MikeT.

Yeah... that was the approach I was taking....No aspect locks, Edit the sheet in IronCAD, and drag the borders till all the data you want to show is there. My problem is that when I am done editing, IronCAD reverts back to only showing part of the cells. I can move the slider bar, and show a different data set, but I just can't seem to show the whole table. What can you do eh.... perhaps it is a problem with it being an existing file and not a new object. MikeT

I am having trouble getting an embedded Excel spreadsheet (created from an existing .xlt file) to display correctly in a Drawing enviornment. For whatever reason, no matter what I push, pull, scale, scream at, or bang on, I can't get IronCAD to display all the columns I want to see. When I try to make a spreadsheet from scratch, IronCAD will fit all the information in Excel to the window of the size you select. With this file however, I am only displaying about half of the columns that I would like (all of which have information in them). Does anyone out there know how IronCAD determines what will be displayed in an embedded Excel object (spreadsheet)? Thanks MikeT.

Forget the 64 bit chip... take a look at the new "Gamer" P4's coming out. Intel is throwing a huge chunk of on-board cache onto their chips and as a result the preformance is AMAZING! I saw a benchmark over at Tom's Hardware which showed (if I recall correctly) new (slower clock speed) P4's putting shame to the new AMD 64 bit chips, and this was on a benchmark built to take advantage of 64 bit processing. Of corse, there were plenty of game benchmarks out there as well which have good parallels to CAD operations (3d FLOPS are 3D FLOPS), which the same Gamer P4's basically ruled. It is my opinion, that the 64 bit processor is not going to take hold of the high performance PC market for some time. There is such a fundamental change required in software and programming, which I feel most likely not worth the effort. Look at SMP systems. There are very few applications out there that can really take advantage of multi-processor systems, and they have been around since the likes of WinNT 4.0 (if not earlier). Lastly, for performance on a budget, I recommend Serial ATA hard drives (only if you can't afford SCSI). Same price as a regular ATA drive with a boost in data transfer rate. If you look hard as well, you can find 'em at 10K RPM. Also, for you fellow super-geeks out there, the interface for the drives is SOOOOO much nicer than the Parallel ATA, you can route the little cables all over the place to make for better cooling in your case....which in turn will allow you to overclock your.... well... you get the picture. MikeT

OOhhh.... good question! I just sort of gave up on that and rename the sections manually. MikeT

Don't forget the answer to 90% of all IronCAD questions: TRIBALL! The triball is the best tool you have at your disposal. If you can't do it with the triball, it might not be able to be done. There is a tutorial on learning the Triball in the help section of IronCAD. I strongly suggest that you learn and master it ... your life will become much easier and more meaningfull... well, at least IronCAD will be easier. Welcome to the club. MikeT

Yeah... I tried using it in the drawing mode, but I find that the axies (whatever the plural of axis is) seem reversed for some of the operations. In 3D, one uses the spaceball to control the part (move the ball toward you, and the part moves toward you...i.e. zoom in), however, in the 2D, it seems that the spaceball controlls the camera (pull the ball towards you and the drawing moves AWAY...i.e. zoom out). Since the drawing functionality is opposite what it is in the scene, I have just gone back to the mouse in 2d so that I won't get confused when I go back to working in 3d. I, for one, would like to see the drawing controlls switched so the user is controlling the drawing and not the camera (if you will), just to be consistent with the scene controlls. MikeT

I don't think there is any direct way to edit multiple shapes at once, however I still think you have some options: For your example: 1. If you need to maintain both the .35 and .265 size holes: I would make sure the original holes (.35) were all "linked" together. Slect all the holes at the intellishape level and drag that into the catalog (you can then edit the catalog item to make sure that the anchor for the group of holes is in a nice spot for you). Then you can drag the group of holes onto your new part, and since they are linked, you can change them all by changing one. 2. If you want to change ALL the holes to .265: Again, with all the .35 holes linked, edit the cross-section of one of the holes and put a dimensional constraint on the diameter. You should then be able to do the above. Instead of changin one of the sizebox dimensions though, you can change all the dimensions using the parameters table. 3. Write a VB app that will do it, which will become obsolete at the next IronCAD release. Probably none of these is what you wanted to hear. MikeT

Uh... and what about if I need to take things like chamfers? Am I S.O.L.? MikeT

...Uh.... oh yeah. Seems so easy, I am a little embarassed for not thinking of that (especially since I have done that little trick before!). I am going to go run and hide in some corner now. Thanks for the info. MikeT

Does anyone know if there is a way that I can combine 2 parts and maintain the intellishapes from both parts? I have found that I can boolean the 2 parts together, but I only maintain the intellishapes from the part selected first. All of the features of the second part become merged into one big glob. I know that you can turn features into psuedo intellishapes after the conversion, but I have hundreds of features that I don't really want to take the time to do. Thanks. MikeT

Ahhh... user error. Figures. Thanks for the info. That seems so much easier than what I was trying to do. MikeT

One thing you can do is create an MS Word (or excel) object that contains the link. You would be required to double-click the object (to edit it) and then once again ctrl-click the text (using the word example). Sort of a brute-force method and it dosen't look that good. On the same subject though, the "properties" of embedded objects has a field for "WWW Anchor", but I was unable to get that to work. Could be user error, could be a bug, but my first attempt was to use a picture to work as the link - no luck. If you can get the www anchor to work, that would be a much more elegant soltion. MikeT

My company has been using the USB Dongles for IronCAD licenses so that we can grab any of the travel laptops available at the time, and go. The USB dongle that is sent looks much like the little USB hard drives they have now.... a little "lipstick" case with a loop for a key chain perhaps. They come in a little anti-static bag for protection. Now, I haven't move the dongle from one machine to the other very often, but I will tell you that it makes me nervous to cary the unprotected USB dongle around in a laptop bag. Does anyone out there know if there is some sort of USB dongle case or perhaps a Dongle upgrade that would give me a little protection for the working end of the device? The USB hard drives I have seen all have a pen-cap type cover for the male end for protection. I feel a little inadequate when I compare my USB device to my friends.... shoot, for $20 I can go out and get more USB hard drive than is on this little hummer AND they throw in a cap. Would it be possible to copy the contents of the IronCAD USB dongle onto a dongle with a little more protection?.... probably not eh, that would sort of defeat the whole purpose of the dongle. Anyway, I am not a careful guy sometimes, is there somthing that I can do? Mike T.

Dave- I happen to read some article on the front page (if you will) of the ironcad.com website about this RD Instruments company, and their IronCAD useage. It was the first time that I actually knew (well... had heard of) the person/company the article was about. Just wanted to say "Nice Work" on the write up, and I am glad to see that there were IronCAD renderings not only in the IronCAD.com article, but on the actual RDI site as well. I really like the underwater effect from the off-center spotlights in those renderings. Did you do those yourself or take the 5 min. to teach some marketing weenie to use IronCAD (no offence to any marketing weenies out there)? Also, how did you get the ground to look like that (it looks like a complex surface with a texture or decal attached to it)? I love a good rendering! MikeT

... this is true, but it would not be "intelligent" then. I compare that to modifying faces of intellishapes (you know, when the intellishapes get destroyed): Some operations may be easier, but you loose the ability to make quick design changes. If you always do things right the first time, you have a real gripe, but personally I would rather put in a few extra minutes now for the ability to make quick changes later... especially if you are working on models with many "Items". At the same time, I work fast and sloppy, so I love the ability to easily fix the messes I make. I guess that gives me a biased opinion. MikeT

So... anyone have any gucci tricks to make a chain with sag (as if it were connected between two horizontal points)? I can make a straight one simple enough, but it dosen't look right without a little droop to it. Mike T.

How did you do that? If I try to apply a decal on a face at the part level, and then another on the same face at the face level, the original decal is removed... MikeT

Chris- Man, you sure are "Johnny on the spot" with those replys. Must be a slow tech support day eh . The post was re-copied to the bug report forum after much hard work and pain... sweat.... tears..... well, ok, so it was a ctrl-c, ctrl-v. MikeT.