Application Settings Dialog

Most settings in the list are adequately described in the text that appears in the bottom of the section as each row is selected. However some settings need detailed explanation (such as replaceable fields) below.

Keyboard Command: AppSetDia

Note: Some sections of this information may not apply, depending on the CAD engine used. For example, the label section only applies to plain AutoCAD, BricsCAD and IntelliCAD.

Labels:

Topic

Description

Area:

[AC,#] Area in current units.
[AA,#] Area in acres assuming current units are square feet.
[PC,#] Perimeter in current units.

Curves:

[AC,#] Arc CoTangent
[AL,#] Arc Length
[AM,#] Arc MidPoint
[CB,#] Chord Bearing
[CN,#] Chord Azimuth
[CL,#] Chord Length
[CP,#] Center Point
[DA,#] Delta Angle
[DC,#] Degree of Curve
[EB,#] Ending Bearing
[ED,#] External Distance

[EN,#] Ending Azimuth
[EP,#] Ending Point
[IA,#] Interior Angle
[IP,#] Intersection Point
[MO,#] Middle Ordinate
[MP,#] Chord MidPoint
[RL,#] Radius Length
[SB,#] Starting Bearing
[SN,#] Starting Azimuth
[SP,#] Starting Point
[TL,#] Tangent Length

Linear:

[BR,#] Bearing
[HD,#] Horz Distance
[NA,#] North Azimuth
[SA,#] South Azimuth

Slope:

[DS,#] Degree of Slope
[PG,#] Percent Slope
[SR,#] Slope Ratio
[SD,#] Slope Distance
[HD,#] Horizontal Distance
[VD,#] Vertical Distance

Notes:

Settings are stored on a per unit basis (a different set for each unit type). If you change to a unit type you have not used before, your settings will revert to the defaults until changed. The caption of the dialog displays the current units.
In label templates that create mtext/dimension objects, use \P to begin a new line.
In the fields specification, replace the # with a number from 0 to 8 indicating the number of decimal places.
Whenever a CAD engine properly supports fields, the content will use them so they update as related geometry changes.

Points:

Point Symbol: Simply select a file from the list. These correspond to symbol block drawings in the applications \Points folder.
Attribute Tags: These are the acceptable tag names (separated by commas with no spaces) for finding and updating points. This allows you to work with blocks from other sources.
Parameters: These are the default values used when placing a new point. Leave the layer name blank to use the current layer. Color 256 indicates ByLayer.

Notes:

The symbols displayed are drawing files stored in the applications \Points folder.
You can use the AutoCAD editor to create more attribute blocks. An easy way is to open the SurveyPoint.dwg in the AppPath\Points folder, change, move and rotate as desired, then save under a different name in the same folder.

Auto Format:

This table defines optional point placement values. This allows you to set up layering and controls on a description code basis. For example you my want to have points with a description of CL to be inserted on layer "Centerline" and rotated 45° in the process.

Desc Match: The point description code to match (for example CL for centerlines). The tool also accepts basic wildcards, so you can enter BM* to match BM-FND, BM-SET etc.
Visibility State: The visibility state to assign when dynamic blocks are used.
Insert Layer: The layer name for the point block insert.
Insert Color: The color number for the point block insert.
Point Layer: The layer name for the point number attribute.
Elev Layer: The layer name for the elevation label attribute.
Desc Layer: The layer name for the descriptive text attribute.
Scale Factor: A scale factor relative to the main insert scale. In other words if you want the point to come in 1/2 the normal size, enter 0.5 in the cell.
Rotate Angle: A rotation angle in degrees for the match.

Notes:

To leave any aspect unaffected, leave the cell blank in the row.
Leaving attribute layers blank (recommended) mean they are created on layer 0 and will behave like the insert. In other words, if you freeze the point insert layer, the related attributes will freeze with the point.
All layer names specified will be created if they don't exist.
The contents of this table is stored in the \Data folder as defaults.aft.

Full Descriptions:

This table defines find/replace values for the applications reporting of raw vs full descriptions. In other words the points can store short codes on the description such as BM and (depending on the tool used) the application will use the full description of Benchmark. The contents of this table is stored in the \Data folder as defaults.drt and can be carefully modified with an ASCII text editor like Notepad.

Update Software:

Due to the way that most CAD engines lock (DLL) program files, we cannot update them while CAD is running. As such, the update system works in two stages, as explained below.

On CAD startup, it checks for the existence of an Update.exe.new file, which is leftover by the second stage of the previous update. If that ".new" file exists, it replaces Update.exe. If an Update.msg file exists (created at the end of stage two), it displays that in the command line and removes the .MSG file.
On CAD closing, it launches the Update.exe file which begins downloading replacement files with the file name appended with ".new" and shows a blue (i) information icon in the lower right taskbar area. When the downloads are complete, it checks to see if there are no instances of a CAD engine running. In the event it is running, the icon changes to include a yellow (!) in the lower right. If you see that it's an indication you need to close all CAD sessions as soon as practical so it can complete.

Update Source: Source location from which to pull the updated files. Can be a shared network folder (like G:\DotSoft\MapWorks) or the default (server.dotsoft.com).
Last Update: The last date the application attempted to update. This field is generally not changed by the user.
Number of Days: The number of days to wait between checking for updates. Recommend value is 3 for three days between. Other numbers:
- 0 = Always (checks every time CAD is closed, not recommended).
- 1 = One day (actually 24 hours). If checked at noon, will not check until after noon the next day).
- 32767 = Considered Never.
Check on Close: Checks for updates when the current CAD session closes. This setting is not saved and reverts to false in the next session.

Notes:

A single installation can contain numerous DLL files to support different versions of the engine. However, these DLL files are not updated unless they are the one in use by the CAD version. For example, if the running version was AutoCAD 2017, only the MapWorksAC15.dll will be updated. If you later launch the add-on inside a newer engine, a new DLL file may be downloaded after it closes.
Most of the time, the user will only see the brief appearance of the blue icon in the lower right of the system tray.
For those interested in the update history, drag and drop the Update.log file into a Notepad. It is not recommended that it be open in applications like MS-WORD as that may lock the file, creating problems.