If you want to use a new type of hanger, or are a fab shop that gets a job from a contractor that uses a hanger type that you do not have, it is easy to add that new hanger type to your own machine. A hanger is an assembly, and an assembly is just…
Recently our previous blog service (Typepad) ended their business – so, we have a new home. It will take a bit to get images back and displaying properly, but we are working on it! Final pageview count of original Typepad blog: 387,232
A customer called today asking how to enter a 1″ black plastic underground pipe for the calc. This particular situation sounded unique enough that I did not tell him to add that pipe type to our database, as I would have if he expected to see this pipe type used repeatedly. I told him to…
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Need to 'hide' pipe diameters or lengths for a pre-approval plot? How about hanger lengths? HydraTools->Modify-AttributesHide Attributes (HAT) can be used to turn off all kinds of things associated with HydraCAD – just look at the option on the dialog box: After choosing your option, you will be able to select which items to apply…
This is a subject that I need to revisit every now and then, and it gives me a headache every time. What happens when you open AutoCAD? A. CUI files loaded: 1. Enterprise 2. Main 3. Partials to Main 4. Partials to Enterprise B. acad*.* files loaded: 1. Files listed in acad.rx 2. acad2012.lsp 3.…
From a customer: On occasion I use the program at my home computer (this has helped in doing the tutorials). Most of the time I need to use only my Autocad 2012 without HydraCAD, but the system looks for the lock. Is there a solution to this? The way to do this is to create…
I found this while googling for a solution to a customer problem – whenever he selected an object, all objects touching that object were also selected. I did not know AutoCAD had such an option, but they call is 'fast selection'. Click here for most of what you see below Ways to use AutoCAD Object…
AutoCAD has hundreds of variables. Many use the SYSVAR command to list the variables and then they try to guess at the one they need (myself included). Instead, try the SYSVDLG to get a dialog box of all of the Sysvars, their settings and their values. You can even export the settings to compare them…
In AutoCAD 2012 certain command have been 'deprecated'. That is a fancy programming term for 'no longer available the obvious way, but still available to those who know the secret way'. BLIPMODE is one of those. It controls whether you see a 'dot' everywhere you pick or no dot at all. Personally, they annoy me:…
AutoCalc assigns reference points and arranges piping in a certain order. After a while, you get an idea of it's logic and how things are set up. But, you don't need to do that. 1. Start a new job and rRun AutoCalc on our HydraTools->Tools->Test Processes->Autocalc job. 2. When HydraCALC opens, switch over to HydraCAD…
Object Tracking/OTRACK – What is it? It is a way to insert or move things by hovering over other objects and 'silently' referencing their insertion points. Let's say you want to insert a sprinkler into the lower left area of this room, and you want it aligned with the other two heads, to make a…
Unbeknownst to many, HydraCAD has a series of training drawings (templates, actually) to help users learn to draw and to give examples of common drawing situations. They are accessed by picking the HydraTools pulldown menu, pick Tools and pick Training Drawings: We add new drawings every now and then. The current list is: 2D Version…
Need to learn Revit or Navisworks? How about AutoCAD? Many companies offer self-paced training and video tutorials. Some cost money, some are free – check these out: CADLearning – Professional company with a wide range of courses and topics CADD Train – Distance education; earn CEUs Cad Tutor – Free resources – blog posts, videos,…
The H-Factor 