Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr12/r12c2b2.zip/12C2BG.TXT

Lisp/Scheme | 1993-06-13 | 24KB | 483 lines

12c2BG.TXT - ACAD R12c2 bug list

Compiled by Mike Dickason [72711,3404]
April 3, 1993       Initial posting   Bugs 1-34
June 13, 1993       Second posting    Bugs 35-40 DOS, 1-5 WINACAD

The following list of ACAD 12c2 bugs and corresponding work arounds
was compiled from a combination of problems I have personally
encountered and from messages posted on the ACAD forum of
Compuserve.  This list was originally called R12BUG.TXT, because
many of the bugs listed in R12BUG.TXT have been fixed with either
R12c1 or R12c2, this new list was started which lists only the bugs
which are still present in R12c2.  Many of the bugs in R12c1 were
driver related.  Since I personally can't verify all of the
different drivers, I've made the assumption that all known driver
bugs were fixed with R12c2.  Time will tell whether or not this is
true.

I'm not an employee of AutoDesk, nor did I compile this list to
discredit AutoDesk.  Indeed, I am quite happy with R12c2, but as
with any program of this size and magnitude, there are some bugs.
This is not an official nor a complete list of R12c2 bugs.  It is
meant to be used as an informative list to help other users who
might be encountering similar problems.  All of the problems on
this list have been reported to and acknowledged by ADESK.  If you
know of any bugs which are not included on this list, I would be
interested in hearing about them, solely for the purpose of keeping
the list up to date.  Unless noted otherwise, the bugs are present
in the North American version of ACAD R12c2 for DOS, and the R12c1
Windows version of ACAD.

Numbers prefixed with an '*' are either new to this posting, or
have been updated from the previous posting to include additional
information.


 1.  There is "lockup" problem with a combination of DVIEW,
     LTSCALE, DRAGMODE, and INSERT using a block containing
     entities with non-continuous linetypes.  The following lisp
     routine demonstrates the "lockup":

     (defun c:lock ()
          (setvar "dragmode" 2)
          (command "._zoom" "w" (list 1999995 499995) (list 2000105
          500100))
          (command "._line" (list 2000000 500000) "@100,0" "")
          (command "._chprop" (entlast) "" "lt" "hidden2" "")
          (command "._block" "lock" (list 0 0) (entlast) "")
          (command "._dview" "" "")
          (command "._ltscale" 50)
          (command "._insert" "lock" (list 0 0))
     )

     Start a new drawing with no prototype, run the lisp routine
     and ACAD will "lockup" the system.  If I remove the call to
     Dview, leave the line's linetype as continuous, leave
     LTSCALE=1, or turn of DRAGMODE, the "lockup" problem
     disappears.  It turns out that this routine does not lock up
     the program.  If you initiate this sequence, then leave the
     computer running for 3-6 hours and then come back, ACAD will
     be waiting at the next prompt.  Same problem can occur when
     attaching XREF's.  So if this happens while in an important
     drawing that you haven't saved in several hours (shame on
     you), just walk away from it and come back later and you
     should be able to cancel out of the insert and then save.

 2.  If you use WBLOCK <dwgname> * to purge a drawing, and the
     drawing contains xrefs, Release 12 resets all xref layer
     visibility, color, and linetype settings to the values in the
     external drawings, even when you've changed some of these
     values and set VISRETAIN to 1 to keep the changes.

     Workaround: Use the PURGE command instead of WBLOCK * (note
     that, because of block nesting, you sometimes have to go
     through several OPEN and PURGE cycles in order to purge
     everything).  Alternately, if your changes to xref layers are
     minimal, simply reapply them after purging with WBLOCK *.

 3.  R12 has a problem with Wblocks and file locking when using
     relative paths to specify the drawing name.  With file locking
     turned on, if I open a file with a relative path, then attempt
     to Wblock the drawing back to itself using the same relative
     path, ACAD reports the following error message:

         Unable to lock file .\MIKE
         File write locked by USER1
         at 10:00 on 08/13/1992

          The command sequence to show this...

               Command:     OPEN
               File name:   .\MIKE
               Command:     WBLOCK
               File name:   .\MIKE

     R11 didn't exhibit this problem.  The only way to make it work
     in R12 is to type out the full path for the Wblock name, which
     is a pain when you have long paths for the file directories.

     The same problem occurs if you open a new drawing with a
     relative path then attempt to save it using the SAVE command.

 4.  With FILEDIA=1, if you have a repeating menu command such as
     [Fan]*^c^cinsert c:/acad/elecsyms/fan which attempts to insert
     a non-existant block, the ACAD displays a text message stating
     that the block can't be found, then repeats the command as it
     should because of the '*' prefix.  At this point, if you hit
     any key other than ^C, ACAD will enter an infinite loop
     attempting to insert a non-existant block.  At this point the
     only way out is to re-boot the computer.

 5.  When performing a Zoom Extents within a viewport in
     Paperspace, ACAD is incorrectly computing the drawing extents
     based on every entity in the drawing instead of only those
     thawed in the current viewport.  To show this, start a new
     drawing, then place a circle at (5,5) with a 10' radius on
     LAYER1, then create a second circle at (1000,1000) with a 10'
     radius on LAYER2.  Set TILEMODE=0 and create then use MVIEW to
     create 2 viewports.  Run VPLAYER and freeze LAYER1 in one
     viewport and LAYER2 in the other viewport.  Now perform a Zoom
     Extents in each viewport.  ACAD is zooming over the entire
     model space instead of just the object space.  No known
     workaround.

 6.  If you perform a PEDIT Join command on a polyline containing
     curve information, the resultant joined polyline is stripped
     of all the curve information leaving you with a polyline made
     entirely of straight line segments.  No known workaround.

 7.  With a closed polyline, if you perform the sequence PEDIT,
     Edit vertex, Break, the command will not only break out the
     segment between the specified vertices, but it also removes
     the "closing" segment of the polyline leaving you with two
     separate polylines if you attempt to break out an interior
     section.  No known workaround.  Note:  This problem occurred
     in earlier versions of ACAD and is not unique to R12.

 8.  ACAD does not allow the valid DOS filename characters
     "`~!@#$%^&{}()'" to be used with the NEW, SAVE, WBLOCK, and
     SAVEAS commands.  Interestingly enough, the commands OPEN and
     INSERT do allow these characters to be used.  Because of this
     discrepancy, it is possible to open an existing drawing which
     contains these characters but you won't be able to save it
     back to the disk with changing its name.

 9.  Having Limit Checking turned on prevents the you from
     configuring your tablet menu.  Attempting to configure the
     tablet menu with Limit Checking on results in the message
     "Outside Limits" being display for each corner of the menu.
     The work around is to turn it off with the command, LIMITS
     OFF.

 10. With file locking enabled, start a new drawing and attempt to
     DXFIN a .DXF file which contains errors.  ACAD will generate
     an error message about the invalid DXF file, then re-
     initialize the drawing editor so that the current drawing name
     is "UNNAMED" but it leaves the .DWK file for the original new
     drawing.  You then have to delete the original .DWK before you
     can attempt to start a new drawing with the same name.

 11. If you perform a Dview Twist on a drawing, then plot with a
     window, the coordinates of the window corners displayed in the
     new plot dialog box do not match the actual coordinates that
     were picked.  Regardless of what the plot window shows, the
     actual coordinates picked are used for generating the plot.
     This appears to related to the variable "TARGET", which
     changes after a DVIEW, but never seems to be set back to its
     default value (i.e. start a new drawing, look at the value of
     TARGET, then do a Dview Twist 300, Dview Twist 0, and then
     look at TARGET again and it is different).  No known work
     around.

 12. Here's a minor bug with R12's help command.  Run the help
     command, and select "Index" from the opening dialog box.
     Double click on any item in the index list (I'll use 3D as the
     example) and the help screen for that item comes up as
     expected.  Now select "Index" again and the index dialog pops
     up with the selected item still highlighted.  Select "OK" to
     view the same item again and you get a prompt that says
     "Nothing selected." even though the item is still highlighted.
     To get the item again, you have to physically select it
     instead of just selecting "OK".

 13. When using the new Shift to Add feature for building selection
     sets, the "Window" and "Crossing" selection options add to the
     current selection set instead of replacing it as documented.
     No known work around.

 14. There is a problem with any command which uses the new File
     Dialog box to allow for file selection.  When you change the
     file search pattern so that it matches enough file names to
     require the slider bar to be used then slide the bar to the
     bottom of this list it jumps back to the top of the list.  To
     see this, load a drawing with enough blocks to enable the
     sliders in a list box.  Call DDINSERT and pick Block to get a
     listing of the blocks.  Change the Pattern specification to
     anything that will retain the sliders (or just delete the "*"
     and enter it again).  Then slide the list to the bottom and
     release - it goes back to the top of the list.  It happens
     whenever you change the Pattern specification.  However, it
     will work correctly if you do it a second time - only happens
     the first time after changing the Pattern specification.  This
     problem occurs in every command which utilizes the R12 file
     dialog box.

 15. With file locking enabled and FILEDIA=0, if you shell out of
     ACAD and delete the MNX file for the current menu then return
     to the editor and then attempt to make a selection from the
     current menu you get the message "Error reading menu file.".
     At this point the "Command:" prompt does not appear, although
     the program is actually waiting for the next command.

 16. With file locking enabled, save the current file, make some
     changes, then shell out of ACAD and delete the .DWK file for
     the current drawing.  Now end out of ACAD.  You get the
     following message:
          Unable to lock file XXX.
          Trying to remove a non-existant lock.
          Press RETURN to continue:

     This message will keep appearing until you hit ^C to cancel,
     at which point the drawing is successfully saved and ACAD is
     exited.

 17. The new variable PICKAUTO does not work.  Regardless of its
     setting, ACAD allows you to draw a selection window (both
     window and crossing window) automatically at the "Select
     objects: " prompt.  Setting PICKAUTO to 0 is supposed to
     disable this automatic windowing, but it only does works for
     the first pick.  All subsequent picks will envoke the auto
     selection window.

 18. After restoring a PCP file which has a default plot file name
     which contains a path, any PCP files saved (during the same
     editing session) will contain the default plot file name with
     path that was originally read in, instead of the current
     default plot file name.

 19. Create a visible attribute on layer 0.  Create a block called
     TEST which consists solely of the attribute you just defined.
     Make a new layer called HOWCOME and insert the TEST block onto
     this layer and enter "THIS IS TEXT" at the attribute value
     prompt.  Freeze layer 0.  The attribute value of "THIS IS
     TEXT" is still visible on the screen, as it should be since
     anything created on Layer 0 is supposed to take on the
     properties of the insertion layer.  Now try to select the
     block using any command, including DDATTE, ERASE, MOVE, COPY,
     etc. and you will not be able to.  The only known workaround
     is to THAW Layer 0.

 20. When using the fillet command on lines that are residing on
     different layers, the fillet arc will be created on the
     current layer with the current layer color and current layer
     linetype rather than on the current layer in the color
     currently set by the color command and the current linetype
     set by the linetype command.  No known workaround.  Same
     problem applies to the CHAMFER command.

 21. The command DDIM does not work transparently, even though it
     is documented to do so.  The only workaround is to run the
     command from the "Command:" or "Dim:" prompts.

 22. The new TRIM with Fence option does not work correctly with
     polylines which cross the trimming boundary more than twice.
     The only workaround is to keep repeating the trim command
     until all of the polyline is gone.

 23. Call REPLAY to replay a TIFF file. Select a file from the
     dialog box by double clicking on the file's name. Works
     perfect.  Call REPLAY again. ACAD defaults to the file entered
     before. Click OK: "Error: can't locate file". Press RETURN:
     "Error: can't locate file". Double-click on the filename: This
     works.

 24. R12 doesn't correctly display or plot certain circles with
     non-continuous linetypes contained within a block.  The
     following lisp routine demonstrates the problem.
          (defun c:showme ()
            (setvar "ltscale" 1)
            (command "._layer" "make" "hidden" "lt" "hidden" "" "")
            (command "._circle" (list 0 0) (/ 3.0 32.0))
            (command "._block" "no_show" (list 0 0) (entlast) "")
            (setvar "ltscale" 48)
            (command "._insert" "no_show" (list 0 0) 48 "" "")
            (command "._zoom" "e")
          )
     If the block is exploded at this point, the circle will show
     up with a hidden linetype.  To make the circle display
     correctly without exploding the block, the LTSCALE must be set
     to a value less than PI/2 (1.5706 works).

 25. The lisp expression (ssget "X" (list (cons 0 "ARC") (cons -4
     "=,=,=") (cons 10 (list 0 0 z)))) doesn't work.  The z
     coordinate isn't being evaluated in the relational test with
     arcs.

 26. The lisp expression (ssget "X" (list (cons 0 "INSERT") (cons
     -4 "=,=,=") (cons 10 (list 0 0 z)))) doesn't work.  The z
     coordinate isn't being evaluated in the relational test with
     blocks.

 27. If you create a custom linetype that consists of a repeated
     sequence of two or more dots, AutoCAD doesn't display or plot
     the linetype correctly. For instance, suppose you create a "3-
     dot" linetype (a sequence of 3 closely spaced dots, followed
     by a wide space, followed by 3 more dots...) by adding the
     following linetype definition to ACAD.LIN:

          *3DOTS,... ... ... ... ...
          A,0,-.25,0,-.25,0,-.5

     When you draw random line segments with this linetype, some of
     the segments are continuous, and in other segments the dot
     groupings are incorrectly spaced or contain the wrong number
     of dots.  Note that this bug isn't new with Release 12.

     Workaround: Although we haven't discovered a completely
     effective workaround, drawing polylines with linetype
     generation turned on minimizes the problem.  The first and
     last sequences of dots are still wrong, but the remaining dots
     are fine and the continuous segments disappear.  To turn on
     linetype generation, set the Release 12 system variable
     PLINEGEN to 1 before drawing the polylines.  Use the PLUD
     command or the Ltype gen option of the PEDIT command to change
     existing polylines.

 28. Documentation bug.  The ACAD Reference Manual index is missing
     references to these AutoCAD commands: GraphScr, TextScr,
     Redefine, Undefine, Script, RScript and Resume.

 29. Documentation bug.  The ADS Reference Manual example on page
     108 which shows how to use ads_entmake() to generate a
     polyline is incomplete.  The codes for the linetype and color
     were omitted for each VERTEX and for the SEQEND.  If the
     linetype and color are not included in the ads_buildlist()
     command for these items, the AUDIT command will report several
     errors in the drawing after running the example as shown.

 30. When using the DLGCOLOR command, typing a filename into the
     default file box will not work unless you include the .DCC
     extension in the name.

 31. In the FILTER dialogue, double clicking on an item in one of
     the "Select..." subdialogues doesn't work.  AutoCAD puts the
     dialogue away, but the item isn't selected.  To reproduce the
     problem, load a drawing containing several layers and
     linetypes.  Start FILTER and select Layer as the filter
     criterion.  Click on "Select..." and when the layer list comes
     up, double click on a layer name.  AutoCAD returns to the
     FILTER dialogue, but doesn't copy the layer name to the X:
     text box.  Ditto with using Linetype as a filter criterion.

 32. In the Text Location subdialogue of DDIM, two of the choices
     in the Alignment drop-down list are reversed.  "Align When
     Inside Only" turns DIMTIH on and DIMTOH off, as the manual
     states, but the effect of these settings is to keep text
     horizontal when it's inside the extension lines, and to align
     it when the text is outside (exactly the opposite of what the
     label and manual say).

     Similarly, "Align When Outside Only" turns DIMTIH off and
     DIMTOH on, which keeps text horizontal when it's outside the
     extension lines, and aligns it when the text is inside.

 33. Undo doesn't work quite right with DDIM. To reproduce the
     problem:
     1)   Start DDIM and save the current dimvars to a style name,
          say STANDARD.
     2)   Draw a dimension (optional).
     3)   Start DDIM again and make any dimvar changes using one of
          the Dimension Variable subdialogues.  Close the DDIM
          dialogue.
     4)   AutoCAD updates the dimension style.  Now type U to undo.
          AutoCAD (correctly) undoes the change to the dimension
          style.
     5)   Start DDIM once more and note that the current style is
          *UNNAMED, rather than STANDARD.

     Workaround: Type U twice instead of just once (or pop up DDIM
     after you use U and select STANDARD as the current style).

 34. The new "F", "CP", and "WP" selection methods do not honor the
     setting of Orthomode.

*35. There is a problem with using "Auto" in menu macros for
     building selection sets.  Given the menu line:
          [Copy Multiple]^c^cSelect Au \Copy P  Mul \

     AutoCAD's implied windowing is activated for the first screen
     pick, after that you have to physically type "W" or "C" to get
     a selection window.

     If you change the menu line to:

          [Copy Multiple]^c^cSelect \Copy P  Mul \

     AutoCAD's implied windowing is never activated unless you
     physically type "W" or "C" to get a selection window.

     Finally, if you change the line to:
          [Copy Multiple]^c^cCopy \

     AutoCAD's implied windowing is only activated after the fourth
     pick.  There is no known workaround for this problem

*36. With only the DOS version of R12c2, the "alignment=right" DCL
     command does not work for text.  Instead it displays the text
     as left justified.  There is no known workaround.

*37. The lisp functions (ssget "f"), (ssget "wp") and (ssget "cp")
     each take as an argument a list of the points that define the
     fence or the selection polygon.  However, if you pass a list
     containing only a single point, such as (ssget "f" '((1.0 1.0
     0.0))), ACAD generates a FATAL ERROR.  With the (ssget "f")
     option you are instantly dumped to the DOS prompt and given no
     chance to save the current drawing.  With the other two
     methods you are prompted to save before ACAD exits to DOS.

*38. Using (ssget "x") in an MNL file changes the value of the
     MENUNAME system variable.  To see this behavior copy ACAD.MNU
     to TEST.MNU and create TEST.MNL containing only the line:
        (ssget "X" '((8 . "0")))

     Load the TEST menu.  If the (ssget) returned a selection set
     the MENUNAME is "TSSn" where n is the number of the selection
     set.  If (ssget) returned nil the MENUNAME is "_X".  There is
     no known workaround.

*39. Using the PTEXT program supplied with ACAD, if you use the
     "Fit" option and hit <Spacebar> at the "Text: " prompt, a
     "General Protection Exception" is generated and ACAD ends out
     of the drawing.  The is no known workaround.

*40. Call up the DDMODIFY dialog box then select the CANCEL button.
     Type "U" to undo the last command and ACAD will report "Start
     of Group encountered.  Must enter UNDO END to go back
     further.".  To fix the problem, edit DDMODIFY.LSP and add the
     line "(ai_undo_pop)" after line 128 which currently reads
     "(defun reset ()".


ACADWIN R12c1 Bug list

*1.  When running the Insert command, at the "Block name" prompt if
     you use the tilde key (~) to invoke the file dialog box to
     select the block for insertion, ACAD changes the current
     drawing name to that of the inserted block.  The Undo command
     will not undo this change.  If this happens to a drawing you
     are working on, the only way to correct the problem is to use
     the Saveas command and specify the original drawing name, then
     quit out of the current drawing.  A better solution is to use
     the DDINSERT command to select your blocks.

*2.  If you hit the F1 key for context sensitive help in the pull-
     down menus, you will sometimes get the message "Help topic
     does not exist".  To fix this problem, download the file
     FIXHLP.ZIP from the ACAD forum on CIS.  This file contains a
     patch which will modify your copy of ACAD to version R12c1a
     and fixes the help context problem.

*3.  The DLINE.LSP command that ships with ACAD R12WIN does not
     work when used to draw an arc.  To fix the problem, edit
     DLINE.LSP in the support directory and change all occurrences
     of _pause to pause, or copy the DLINE.LSP that ships with R12
     for DOS.

*4.  When configured for the Summasketch series of digitizers,
     occasionally, you will be unable to close a dialog box.  For
     example, when you choose File/Preferences from the menu, the
     Preferences dialog box is displayed.  When the problem occurs,
     you are not able to CLOSE the dialog box; choosing Cancel or
     OK will eliminate the box temporarily, but the box will
     reappear within seconds (milli-seconds).  There is a problem
     with the DGSYS driver supplied with ACAD.  Until a patch is
     provided by AutoDesk, you can use the F2 key to bring up the
     text screen after clicking on the dialog buttons and it will
     break the infinite loop.

*5.  The command DDMODIFY overwrites the AutoLisp function (ver).
     This occurs because there are several places in DDMODIFY.LSP
     where the program does a (setq ver ...), which effectively
     reassigns the symbol ver from a subroutine to a variable.