Putting the Engine into Engineer
BricsCAD V13.2 has arrived for Windows. With 20 odd new or enhanced features, and a multiude of fixes, it's well worth a look. Details below on some of the key features added with this version.
From time to time you are going to be presented with data in a non-graphical form (spreadsheet, CSV, TXT, XML etc.) that you want to overlay on to your drawing so you can visualise it. A common example is some type of cross country pipe run, or pipe network (Geothermal steam, oil & gas, storm water). This type of information is usually provided as an export from a GIS, or a survey based CAD application. To initially view, you may use a text editor, or spreadsheet application.
I often have users talk to me about their frustration of working with images on their drawings. They complain of having to repeatedly use SCALE, ROTATE, and MOVE to position their image correctly relative to drawing objects, and also find that the image can get in the way during the process. There is an easier way! You can use ALIGN to manipulate your image into place in one go, and can split your modelspace into two using the VPORTS command. Working in combination they make positioning your image a breeze.
Sometimes you may need to know what folder AutoCAD/Bricscad is running out of. This may not necessarily be the same folder as any drawings you have currently open. It is dependant on the "start-in" folder specified in the shortcut that you have used to launch the application.
With each passing release of AutoCAD and Bricscad, we find that more and more key press sequences are being assigned by the application to provide shortcut keys to standard application features. While it is possible to create custom shortcuts using the CUI, it is becoming increasing difficult to do so without overriding a standard key sequence, or using more difficult key press sequences.