The last-mile compatibility!
One of the first things you look for when you switch from one CAD environment to another is if you have all the familiar tools and conveniences you need. For a CAD user making the switch to BricsCAD, 99% of the familiar-interface is already in place, thanks to the high level of compatibility BricsCAD already provides. There are still a small bunch of missing tools, probably because it was tricky for Bricsys to add them to the native code without running into copyright issues. We have bridged the gap, that last mile of missing tools via our productivity software.
These tools are FREEWARE – Forever, meaning that you will never need to purchase CADPower to use them.
CADPower is used by a large number of BricsCAD users across the globe, not only to ease their transition to BricsCAD, but also to leverage from its other set of productivity tools that bring in a 5x-10x advantage of speed.
We have made the familiar interface of BricsCAD even more familiar.
We have given these tools a new identity by creating a separate menu and toolbar captioned “FREEWARE-By-CADPower” in the CADPower drop-down menu and inside the exclusive migration menu called BricsCAD+. The tools are also available within the main CADPower menu as well. There is a ribbonized interface as well.
Here is a list of those FREEWARE tools that native BricsCAD does not have, but CADPower brings them to you.FILTER (CADPower -> Selection -> Object selection FILTER):
A 100% identical alternative for the AutoCAD FILTER command. Missing from BricsCAD, now available through CADPower.
WBLOCKBC (CADPower -> Miscellaneous -> CAD Procedures -> Second Set -> Wblock and preserve AutoCAD Map objects): Modified WBLOCK command for BricsCAD, to be used to preserve AutoCAD Map data, while working in BricsCAD. The native SaveAs command in BricsCAD will destroy AutoCAD Map object data.
CP_APPLOAD (CADPower -> More Options -> Load applications): An enhanced version of APPLOAD command that offers the ‘StartupSuite Option’ and mimics the AutoCAD version closely.
The main attraction of the CADPower APPLOAD is that it makes a ‘StartupSuite’ available to users.
TORIENT (CADPower-> Text-> Display -> Text Orient: Make Text / Mtext readeable): Missing from BricsCAD, now available through CADPower. Th eTORIENT command also allows the selected text to be aligned to a segment of line (or polyline).
CONVERTPOLY: (CADPower-> Conversion-> Polyline Types-> Light-Weight to Heavy-weight & vice-versa): Now available in V16++ as a native command, but this was missing from BricsCAD until V15.
CHCASEQUICK: (CADPower -> Text -> Conversion -> Quick Change Case): A command-line tool to change the case of text, mimics the AutoCAD tool by the same name. The more elaborate version of this tool called CP_CHCASE and is available in the full version of CADPower.
HATCHINSVX: (CADPower -> Miscellaneous -> CAD Procedures -> First Set -> Insert vertex in hatch boundary): Allows the add vertices in hatch boundaries. It is even better than the AutoCAD version because you can specify exactly the perpendicular distance from existing segment to new point.
HATCHDELVX: (CADPower -> Miscellaneous -> CAD Procedures -> First Set -> Delete vertex from hatch boundary): Allows the delete vertices from hatch boundaries by a single pick.
LOCKVPCURLAYOUT: (CADPower -> Viewports -> Lock All Viewports in current layout): Available in AutoCAD, now in BricsCAD also via CADPower.
UNLOCKVPCURLAYOUT: (CADPower -> Viewports -> UnLock All Viewports in current layout): Available in AutoCAD, now in BricsCAD also via CADPower.
LOCKVPORTS: (CADPower -> Viewports -> Lock Viewports): Available in AutoCAD, now in BricsCAD also via CADPower.
MOVEBAK: (Move the backup .BAK files to a specified folder): Available in AutoCAD, now in BricsCAD also via CADPower.
VPMAX: (Maximize a paper-space viewport): Available in AutoCAD, now in BricsCAD also via CADPower.
VPMAXRESTORE: (Restore original view setup after running VPMAX): Available in AutoCAD, now in BricsCAD also via CADPower.
TEXTMASK: (CADPower-> Text-> Display -> TEXTMASK): Available in AutoCAD, now in BricsCAD also via CADPower.
CP_RECOVERYMANAGER: (CADPower -> Miscellaneous -> File Management -> Drawing Recovery Manager): The familiar drawing recovery manager from AutoCAD is now available in BricsCAD via CADPower. The CP_RECOVERYMANAGER is a FREEWARE command and available in the BricsCAD version only. It provides a work-around for the Drawing Recovery tool that is available in AutoCAD and which is missing in BricsCAD. This tools tracks the auto-save file that is created in the TEMP folder and restores the latest version available and offers to copy it to the same folder as your current drawing. The recovered file has a name _RECOVER.dwg and it functions almost identically to the AutoCAD tool.
DDPSTYLE (BricsCAD+ -> Point Style Dialog): The DDPSTYLE command mimics the AutoCAD Point Style dialog which allows you to set the point style and size through a dialog box. Native BricsCAD allows you to do the same via Settings, but the user-interface is somewhat different and not what AutoCAD users are accustomed to.
CP_TCOUNT (or TCOUNT) : (CADPower – Text-> Display -> Count occurrence of text objects)
Also, in BricsCAD+ -> FREEWARE-By-CADPower -> TCOUNT (Count occurrences of text objects):
The CP_TCOUNT command (or TCOUNT) is a simple text string counter. It counts the number of occurrences of unique TEXT & MTEXT strings selected and displays them in a table. It is also possible to export the same to CSV file.
TCOUNT is a FREEWARE command and will not expire in CADPower. This command is usually found in Express Tools in AutoCAD.
CP_BCOUNT (or BCOUNT) : (CADPower –> Blocks -> Block-related -> Count occurrence of block objects)
Also, in BricsCAD+ -> FREEWARE-By-CADPower -> BCOUNT (Count occurrences of block objects):
The CP_BCOUNT command (or BCOUNT) is a simple block counter. It counts the number of occurrences of unique block names selected and displays them in a table. It is also possible to export the same to CSV file.
BCOUNT is a FREEWARE command and will not expire in CADPower. This command is usually found in Express Tools in AutoCAD.
The TJ command: BricsCAD+ -> FREEWARE-By-CADPower -> TJ – Text Justify:
The TJ command, enabled by BricsCAD+ FREEWARE in CADPower, allows you to set the selected text objects to any specified alignment without changing the physical location of the text.
CP_DWGSET (BricsCAD+ -> Support -> Drawing Settings): The CP_DWGSET command provides a quick interface to some of the drawing settings that first-time BricsCAD users most often want and find it difficult to find.
The CP_DWGSET command provides a quick interface to some of the drawing settings that first time BricsCAD users most often want and find it difficult to find.
The current list of settings supported are:
- Sets the size (in pixels) of the entity selection target [1-50]
- Sets the size (in pixels) of the entity snap aperture box [1-50]
- Sets the size (in pixels) of the snap marker [1-50]
- Sets the cross-hair size as a percentage of the screen size [1-100]
- Sets the size of the grips
- Enable/disable right-click menu
- Enable/disable middle button pan
- Create crash dump file
- Set Model/Paper Space background Color
- Enable/disable When view changes, set related orthographic view UCS automatically
- Enable/disable Open selection window anywhere (implied window selection)
- Enable/disable Automatic boundary detection
- Enable/disable In-place text editor
- Display/Hide the View Control NAVCUVBE
- Display/Hide ‘Get Started’ dialog’
- .BAK file management. Specify folder for .BAK save
- Set Drawing units
- Set Insertion units
- Set SAVE format
- Set CLIPBOARD format
- Define the Startup Options
- Define the psoition of the Selection Prompt helper dialog
- Enable/disable isometric snap
- Control QUAD/RollOver tips and popular toolbar settings
Under ‘QUAD settings’, you can control the following settings:
- Switch On/Off the QUAD cursor, Rollover tips, Dynamic Input & Dynamic UCS
- Set the Image cache folder location (useful while managing large multi–gigabyte images)
The Most Popular Toolbar Settings
Right-click Context menu customization
CADPower Migration Assistance tool also enables a number of handy shortcuts to make them available on your mouse right-click.
(DIMENSION) Changing Dimension precision / Text Alignment options
AutoCAD allows dimension precisions to be changed from the mouse menu. Native BricsCAD does not, CADPower does!
There are also options on the context menu to move the dimension text relative to the dimension line, with/without leader etc. This mimics the AutoCAD interface where these controls are available on the mouse.
(POLYLINE) Add Vertex, Delete Vertex, Change to Arc
Bricsys forgot to add some of the popular PEDIT options to the mouse menu. But we did not!
(HATCH): Generate Boundary
An orphaned hatch without boundary is like a ship without a captain. Get it back by being able to regenerate the boundary from the click of your mouse. BricsCAD does this too, but only if you run the HATCHBOUNDARYGENERATE command.
(HATCH): Add vertex
An orphaned hatch without boundary needs another useful editing tool that is missing in BricsCAD. So, we added the ‘Add Vertex’ option to the HATCH object and clicking on it allows you to add a vertex insantly, without having to first generate its boundary
(VIEWPORTS) Lock, Unlock, Maximize, Clip Viewport
The VIEWPORT entity is important for your sheet layout and detailing. We have added the popular options to Lock, Unlock, Maximize and Clip viewports, right on your mouse tip.
ATTRIBUTED BLOCKS / NORMAL BLOCKS
In-place editing of blocks is a critical task in 2d editing. The ability to have the ‘In-place editing’attached to the right-click button of the mouse is a huge convenience that users ara familiar with.
Similarly, you can also edit the attributes of the block using the right-click customization. The BricsCAD+ migration genie makes this possible for you.
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