ToolDesigner 2015 Update 2

Release Summary

Overview


ToolDesigner 2015 is major release that includes enhancements as well as customer requested software modifications and corrections. This release summary briefly describes the software changes for this release.


Update 1 Release
The Update 1 release includes these modifications and corrections:
    SRX00185 - Block references with a null layer causes the AutoCAD translator to crash.
    SRX00186 - The FLEXnet Client tab in License Manager incorrectly enables the Use Three Server switch.
    SRX00187 - Upgrade the About box to offer information about the computer system and licensing information.
    SRX00188 - Icon tracking with the right mouse button is not working properly on PCoIP & RDP clients.
    SRX00189 - AutoCAD translators do not recognize a valid floating license.
    SRX00191 - The check for expiring license will check only for the licensed product being run.
    SRX00195 - The copy-file command does revised to work if the destination is a directory.
    SRX00196 - The /v command line is used to start ExpertCAD, only an ExpertCAD View license will be acquired.
    SRX00197 - Floating license for ExpertCAD View is listed as such in the License Manager application.
    SRX00198 - ExpertCAD allowed to run even if there is no license available. I/O is disabled.
    SRX00203 - AutoCAD to ExpertCAD updated to translate region entities correctly.
    SRC00205 - Surface trimming is producing poor results in this discrete case.

Update 2 Release
The Update 2 includes these corrections for the AutoCAD to ExpertCAD translator:
    SRX00211 - DWG file written from Autodesk Inventor does not import correctly into ExpertCAD.
    SRX00212 - The \T<n> formatting for text notes is not being handled properly.
    SRX00213 - Crosshatch entity in this DWG file is causing the translator to crash.
    SRX00238 - DWG file written from Autodesk Inventor does not import correctly into ExpertCAD.

The update releases are cumulative meaning that Update 2 includes all items from Update 1 in addition to those addressed in Update 2.


Click here for a printable version of this document in Adobe PDF format.


Distribution of New Releases


AMT Software is switching from physical shipment of software releases and updates to electronic distribution for all of our customers with software maintenance contracts. On our web site you will find a exclusive customer portal for supported customers. Inside the customer portal, you will be able to download the most recent software releases. You will also find information about your account, license information and confidential information about new developments we are working on. By now, you will have received your login and password for the portal. To access the Customer Portal, go to amt-software.com and click on Customer Portal in the navigation menu. If you have any problems or questions, please contact AMT Software customer support.


Platform Support


The table below lists the certified and supported operating systems for ToolDesigner 2015. The full regimen of quality assurance testing has been performed on these platforms and any problems or defects with AMT software related to the operating system will be repaired:


Operating System 32-bit 64-bit Minimum Revision Level
Windows 10 All
Windows 8.1** 8.1 and 8.1 Update
Windows 8** All
Windows Server 2012 N.A. R1 and R1
Windows 7 Service Pack 1
Windows Server 2008 R2 All
Windows XP* Service Pack 3
Windows Server 2003* Service Pack 2
Windows Vista None
Windows 2000 None

*Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are no longer supported. This means that the quality assurance testing was not performed for these operating systems. While no longer supported, there is nothing to prevent you from continuing to install and run the software on these operating systems. Any problems with the installation or execution of the software on these platforms will not be addressed in an update or future release.


**If you are running Windows 8 and/or Window 8.1, we strongly encourage you to upgrade to Windows 10. The vast majority of the customer base did not opt to upgrade to either of these operating systems. Therefore, we may choose to drop formal support prior to the next release.


About Windows 10

Windows 10 is a new supported platform for the 2015 release. The 2015 release has been put through the full regimen of QA testing. This testing always done prior to a release on all supported platforms to ensure compatibility.


The previous release – 2014 – appears to function properly on Windows 10. This is because Windows 10 is largely a cosmetic change to Windows 8.x to correct deficiencies in that operating system that prevented it from being widely adopted. Internally the Windows 10 presents itself to the application software as being the Windows 8.1 operating system. Therefore, the 2014 releases are “fooled” into thinking they are running on Windows 8.1. If you experience any problems with the 2014 (and of course 2015) release with installing or running on Windows 10, please contact AMT Software customer support to report the issue(s).


Installation


As always, a new release of ToolDesigner is installed as though it is a new application. It is not necessary to remove any older version of ToolDesigner from your computer. The installation program will not overwrite any applications programs from previous installation(s) of ToolDesigner. A separate program group – ToolDesigner 2015 – is created and shown in the Windows start menu:


This Windows 7 computer has older versions of ToolDesigner installed side-by-side with the 2015 release.


During installation, a log file is generated in the user’s temp directory. For example, if you are logged in as Administrator, the file:
C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Temp\ToolDesigner_FinishInstallLog.txt
is created to record the finishing steps unique to installing AMT software. If you encounter any problems with installation, please forward this file along with a description of the nature of the problem to amt-support@amt-software.com.


If you choose to uninstall ExpertCAD 2015, supporting data files under the folder:
C:\ProgramData\AMT Software\ExpertCAD
are no longer removed. Previous versions of the software may still be installed on the computer. These older version(s) rely on these data files to be present. Earlier releases of the software would remove many (if not all) of these data files when an uninstall was performed. This resulted in impaired functionality of older version(s) of the software still installed on the computer.


USB Key Licensing


If you are using a USB key for license enforcement, an updated license is required to run the 2015 release.


As part of the installation process, the install program will read the ID of your USB key and automatically update it with the necessary licensing information. Therefore, it is important to make sure the USB key is plugged into one of the ports when you install the software.


If your USB key is not in the database, you will receive this informational warning at the conclusion of the installation:


If you receive this message, contact AMT Software for assistance in updating your USB key.


If your license did not update and you did not receive the warning message box shown above, use the License Manager application installed with the 2015 release to attempt to update the key using the licensing file:
C:\ProgramData\AMT Software\ExpertCAD\LicenseUpdate2015.txt

Note: The license update applies only to USB keys. If you use floating licenses, a parallel port key or an internet license, a license update is not required.


Generating PDF Files from ExpertCAD 3D and ExpertCAD


Password Protection


In the Acrobat/Settings dialog, a new section for Document security has been added. If you want to password protect the document, you can choose to do so here:


Options include the ability to prevent others from printing and/or changing the document when opened in Adobe Acrobat.


It is also possible to set a separate password that would allow the user to change the document permissions once a protected document is opened in Acrobat.


When you write a PDF, you will enter the password for the document at that time:


If the switch for confirmation was set, you will get a 2nd prompt to confirm the password.


If the switch for requiring a password to change the document permissions in Acrobat is set, you will be prompted for that password:




This new PDF feature is available in ExpertCAD, ExpertCAD 3D and ExpertView.


Batch Conversion to PDF

A new option has been added to the Acrobat menu to allow multiple files to be converted to Adobe PDF format:


Convert files to Adobe PDF presents a File/Open dialog that allows multiple files to be chosen for conversion. If password protection has been setup, you will be prompted for password(s) which will be applied to all the files selected for conversion.


AutoCAD Interface in ExpertCAD


An option has been added to the Tools-Settings-Import/Export property sheet to allow the export of calls to symbols to be published as line and text entities instead of block references and block definitions:



By default, calls to symbols are output as block references. If this switch is disabled, blocks and block references will not be created and instead the calls will be output as simple lines and text.


ExpertCAD data files that have a call to a symbol where the symbol definition has other nested calls to symbols would not necessarily translate properly to AutoCAD block references and block definitions. The translator ddd2acad has been revised to first translate all symbol definitions in the fine to block definitions prior to converting calls to symbols. This ensures that when a call to a symbol is encountered in a symbol definition, the symbol will have been defined and proper output can be generated.


AutoCAD 2016 Support

AutoCAD 2016 support has been added for this release for both import and export of AutoCAD format files.


Maintenance


Block references in AutoCAD files that are not associated with a layer will now translate correctly to ExpertCAD format.


AutoCAD region entities are correctly translated to ExpertCAD. In previous versions, these entities were ignored during translation.


ExpertCAD data files that have a call to a symbol where the symbol definition has other nested calls to symbols would not necessarily translate properly to AutoCAD block references and block definitions. The translator ddd2acad has been revised to first translate all symbol definitions in the fine to block definitions prior to converting calls to symbols. This ensures that when a call to a symbol is encountered in a symbol definition, the symbol will have been defined and proper output can be generated.


Setting a Default Printer

Prior versions set the default printer at startup by asking the operating system what default printer was setup by the user. This default printer could not be changed without editing the registry to delete the printer key. In 2015 you can change your default printer:

Choose File-Print. In the Print dialog, choose the printer you wish to be the default for ExpertCAD or ExpertCAD 3D. Click on the Apply button (nothing will happen) then click the Cancel button (the dialog will be dismissed). This will establish the printer you chose as the new default for ExpertCAD or ExpertCAD 3D. This printer definition is saved to the registry and will be the default for future sessions.


ExpertView Windows Tablet Edition


ExpertView Windows Tablet Edition is a free lightweight viewer for ExpertCAD drawings. Created specifically for tablet computers, it is perfect for sales representatives on the go or on the factory floor to pull up assembly drawings. Download it from the AMT Software website.


Floating Server Setup

A dramatically revised and simpler method for setting up a floating license server is included as part of your software. After installation, a new program group – AMT Floating License Server – is installed on the server computer. The application, “AMT Floating License Server”, is the primary tool to use to configure the computer as a server.

For more information about setting up a floating license server and clients, refer to the documentation in the Help menu from any of the applications:


Choosing Layer(s) as a Class in ExpertCAD 3D

The dialog for choosing layer(s) to be included in the class specification has been modified to be modeless dialog in addition to adding a button to show the entities that belong to the layer(s) chosen. Clicking show will flash the entities so you can visually confirm you have the right layer(s) specified.




Maintenance


At startup, applications will look for their configuration files and if they exist are imported. The default for the location of these files is the application data path. By default this is typically:  C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\AMT Software\ToolDesigner
where <user> is your login name on the computer. This default location can now be changed using an environment variable. If the Windows environment variable AMT_APPDATA_PATH is set to a valid folder (exists and is writeable by the user), the software will look for configuration files in this directory. If this is the first time an application is run since this environment variable was set or changed, it will first copy all configuration files to the new location prior to importing the files.


At program start, most AMT applications will make the current directory the Personal Folder for the user’s login. Typically this directory is:
C:\Users\<user login>\Documents
Previous releases would force the applications to start in the user’s home directory if the operating system was Windows 7 or later.


The set-bitmap-linewidth command has been corrected to allow customization of discrete line widths when generating a bitmap for output to a file.


Plotting (File/Plot) would fail to create the temporary plot file for processing in the case where the user had used one or more space characters for the path name to their temporary directory. This problem has been corrected to allow any valid path to be used for a temporary directory.


The use of very long font names (> 32 characters) is allowed. Previous versions would allow this but crash when a file with an entity that used a long font name was opened.


The ScriptLink command password-prompt has been corrected to disable the OK button until 1 or more characters has been entered for a password. This prevents a null password from being accepted as a valid password.


The md5 ScriptLink command for generating a hash code has been corrected to output the proper output (32 hexadecimal characters) instead of truncating the result to just 17 characters.


A discrete case where a malformed dimension definition was saved to a file caused ExpertCAD to stop drawing when the file was opened. The malformed entities are now ignored on input.


In certain cases, depending on the definition line, an angular dimension of 180 degrees would not draw properly when the drafting standard was set to ISO.


Path names (folders) that can be configured in the Tools-Option-File Locations property sheet will no longer allow a path that references the root level of a drive (e.g. H:\). Paths to the root directory of a drive cannot be saved to the <Application>-Setup.cfg file and are therefore no longer allowed.


The analysis function of the parametrics feature of ExpertCAD has been modified to prevent the possibility of a crash in the event a geometric entity has many (> 128) relationships to other entities on the drawing. An unlimited number of relationships is now allowed.


The animation feature in the parametrics library for ExpertCAD could cause the system to become unresponsive. This problem affected computers running the Windows 8 or later operating system. The code has been revised to use poll the Windows message queue for input to prevent a freeze.


If you use the color editor to change the background color of the graphics area, the color you assign will be remembered for future sessions. If you change the color to something other than black or white, the setting of the Inverted screen switch in the Tools-Options-User Preferences property sheet is ignored.


In the Tools-Options-File Locations property sheet, the button Clear/Reset has been implemented to return the file paths to their factory defaults:

All paths are returned to their original default settings.


The ScriptLink command ‘cd’ has been corrected to perform properly if a path includes a trailing ‘\’ character. A path such as c:\temp\ is technically an invalid path. When dealing with path names throughout the applications, path specifications that include a trailing ‘\’ are detected and corrected internally to form a valid path before being used by functions in the application or operating system.


The ‘e’ (select surface edge curve) short key in ExpertCAD 3D did not perform properly in the event there is a profile nearby the cursor. It incorrectly chose the profile instead of the nearby surface thus failing to extract the edge of the surface. This has been corrected so that profiles nearby the cursor are ignored.


ExpertCAD, ExpertCAD 3D and ExpertView can be started without a software license. This allows you to verify the correctness of a software installation without having to use a USB license key or consume a floating license. All input and output is disabled if there is not a valid software license.


Revised the check for expiring licenses at program start to check only for the product & license enforcement type currently used. Previous versions would check for all licenses and all forms of license enforcement.


The /v command line option is used with ExpertCAD means that it should acquire an ExpertCAD View license. In previous releases, it would acquire a full ExpertCAD license if an ExpertCAD View license was not available. This has been corrected such that if an ExpertCAD View license is not available, it will not attempt to acquire a full ExpertCAD license.


The About dialog has been upgraded to offer more details regarding the computer the software is running on and details about the software license acquired:

The About dialog contains basic information about your computer system and a License Information… button.

License Information shows what license was acquired, the source of the license and an expiration date. If there is a problem acquiring a license, it will be reported in this dialog.

Resolved Software Requests


When you report a problem or request an enhancement, our customer service representative will input your request into our software lifecycle management system and give you an ID number. Listed in the table below are the ID number and a synopsis of each record from our system that has been discharged for this release.


Record ID

Customer

Synopsis

SRX00091

AMT

Add “Read Release Notes” as an option to the user interface for the installation program amt.exe

SRX00092

AMT

Revise the installation process to leave behind a log file that would record the unique steps taken to install the software and also list the operating system the software is being installed on.

SRX00097

AMT

At program start, the applications should start in the users Personal Folder.

SRX00109

gromaTec

The set-bitmap-linewidth command is having no effect on line widths in the bitmap files written from ExpertCAD.

SRX00111

AMT

Plotting (File/Plot) is failing to create the temporary plot file when the name of the user’s temporary folder has a space character as part of the path name.

SRX00113

Maschinebau Scholz

Add the ability to produce password protected PDF files.

SRX00119

Maschinebau Scholz

A program termination occurs when reading a file that has one or more entities that refer to a font that has a name in excess of 32 characters.

SRX00142

AMT

The password-prompt command should not enable the OK button until 1 or more characters have been entered for a password.

SRX00143

gromaTec

Allow the conversion of multiple ExpertCAD drawings to Adobe PDF.

SRX00144

AMT

The ScriptLink md5 command is truncating the output.

SRX00147

Husco

This ExpertCAD file does not convert all the calls to symbols into the corresponding block and block references when exported to DXF format.

SRX00148

AMT

Add an option to output calls to symbols as lines and text instead of block references and blocks.

SRX00149

Manitowoc

Configurable mill post processors are not processing event files correctly when there are comments in the file containing one or more comma characters.

SRX00150

Scania

Malformed dimensions in this file is causing the drawing to not display in ExpertCAD.

SRX00151

Scania

180 degree angular dimensions are not being properly drawn when the ISO is set for the drawing standard.

SRX00152

Kaman

Font paths that reference the root drive are failing to be remembered.

SRX00158

AMT

The analysis function of the parametrics library module is crashing for this drawing.

SRX00159

AMT

The ScriptLink command 'cd' does not work properly if the path has a trailing '\' character.

SRX00160

AMT

Add proper support for AutoCAD 2016 data file import and export.

SRX00161

AMT

Revise the configurable post processor installation instructions for ExpertCAM.

SRX00163

Kyung Sung Machinery Technology

Using the color editor to change the background color does not work properly.

SRX00162

AMT

Add post processor directories for NIBBLE and FLAME.

SRX00164

Thumb Tool and Engineering

Add a means to source in a configuration file at startup for all users of a computer.

SRX00165

Maschinebau Scholz

Add a way to change the default printer for ExpertCAD.

SRX00167

AMT

Allow ExpertCAM to open or insert ExpertCAD files directly.

SRX00172

AMT

Error message about removing a temporary file is emitted when using the Save CLdata function in ExpertCAM.

SRX00175

AMT

The most recently used list of files in ExpertCAM should omit all files that no longer exist or are inaccessible.

SRX00180

AMT

The animate feature in the parametrics library can hang the system on Windows 8 and later.

SRX00181

Kaman

Revise ExpertCAM to handle file names for file systems that have the 8.3 form of the file name disabled.

*SRX00185

iFS Building Systems

AutoCAD files with block references that have a null layer causes the AutoCAD translator to crash.

*SRX00186

AMT

The FLEXnet Client tab in the License Manager page incorrectly enables the Use Three Server switch.

*SRX00187

AMT

Upgrade the About box to offer information about the computer system and licensing information’

*SRX00188

AMT

Icon tracking is not working properly in a remote desktop environment.

*SRX00189

AMT

The AutoCAD translators do not recognize a valid floating license.

*SRX00190

AMT

The AMT-Update program does not work properly on Windows 10.

*SRX00191

AMT

Revised the check for expiring licenses at program start to check only for the product & license enforcement type currently used.

*SRX00196

Pall

If the /v command line option is used with ExpertCAD, it will acquire an ExpertCAD license if an ExpertCAD View license is not available.

*SRX00197

AMT

A floating license for ExpertCAD View is incorrectly listed as an ExpertView license in the License Manager application.

*SRX00198

Maschinebau Scholz

Allow ExpertCAD to run even if there is no license available.

*SRX00195

AMT

The copy-file primitive command does not work if the destination is a directory.

*SRX00203

Thumb Tool & Engineering

AutoCAD files with region entities are not being translated correctly. The region entities are omitted.

*SRX00205

gromaTec

Surface trimming is producing poor results in this discrete case.

**SRX00211

Thumb Tool & Engineering

DWG file written from Autodesk Inventor does not import correctly into ExpertCAD.

**SRX00212

AMT

The \T<n> formatting for text notes is not being handled properly.

**SRX00213

Thumb Tool & Engineering

Crosshatch entity in this DWG file is causing the translator to crash.

**SRX00238

gromaTec

DWG file written from Autodesk Inventor does not import correctly into ExpertCAD.


*Incidents addressed in the 2015 Update 1 release.

**Incidents addressed in the 2015 Update 2 release.