© 2007 Alibre, Inc. All rights reserved.
Updated December 10, 2007.
How to Update Add-on Applications to Alibre Design 10 SP1
Update locally installed Alibre Design Help for Alibre Design 10 SP1
Minimum System Requirements for Installation
Note: Download the updated manual from the Downloads section of Alibre.com
Upgrading From Windows NT or Windows 98/ME to Windows XP Requires Uninstall and Reinstall
Upgrading From Windows XP to Windows Vista Requires Uninstall and Reinstall
DirectX 9.0c Required for All Systems
Display requirements for V10 SP1
Graphics Display Driver Updates
Graphics Work Area May Not Zoom on Mouse Wheel Input
Alibre Part Library - Unable to Access Parts
PhotoRender Crashes Upon Closing the Design Workspace (With ATI Graphics Card)
Data Versioning Not Available With Data Stored to Windows File System
Repository Size Considerations
No Help Buttons While Working Offline Without Help Installed Locally
Help Window May Not Respond After Displaying Help For Some Dialogs
Overlapping Sheet Metal Tab Features Change Thickness
Unable to Create Section View of Broken View
Launcher is Blank During Software Update on Windows XP
Sheet Metal Dimple Feature Fails Using Profile Containing Some B-splines
Limitations of Mirror and Pattern Features in Part Workspaces
Limitations of Part Pattern in Assembly Workspaces
Tips for Dimensioning to Holes With Cosmetic Threads
Switching to Large Constraint Symbols Requires Exit and Enter Sketch Mode
The primary focus for this service pack was to greatly enhance the functions and usability of items within a 2D workspace, as well as fix known usability issues and bugs. Nearly all of the new functionality that we’ve added is directly aimed at increasing your productivity while making manufacturing drawings.
Sheet Creation, Ordering, and Interaction
Sheets can now be reordered
New sheets can be named when they are inserted
User is no longer required to exit sketch mode to switch sheets
Standard View Creation Options
Standard View Creation Dialog Box new options
· Select All to use all possible automatic detailing options
· Tangent Edges
· Bend Centerlines
· Part Trails can be toggled on/off in the drawing for exploded views
· When creating standard views of Sheet Metal parts, an hourglass cursor now appears.
New Icons (in 2D workspace)
Reproject Icon
Reorder Sheets Icon
Exploded View Interaction
Option to show part trails with right-click menu in exploded Assembly Drawings
Locating Detail/Section View Labels
You can now drag detail view labels to where you want them; the leader line updates automatically.
You can now drag section view labels to where you want them.
Annotation Creation/Placement
Dialog Boxes
The following annotation dialog boxes stay open so you can create multiple annotations at once without reopening the dialog.
· Note
· Datum
· Datum Target
· Feature Control Frame
· Surface Finish
· Weld
· BOM Callouts
Placing Annotations
· Preview is at the center of the drawing for notes by default, instead of at 0,0.
· Preview moves with mouse cursor
· Clicking places arrow and second click places the annotation
· Double clicking on the drawing will place the annotation; so the user does not have to always click on the Apply button.
Annotation association with Views vs Sheets
Datum placement on views
· If the view is selected then the datum will be placed in that view
· If the sheet is selected then the datum will be placed in the sheet
· But if the mouse goes over a view then it will be placed on that view
Aligning Annotations to other Annotations
After placing an annotation, you can drag it and snap it relative to other annotations – each corner and centerlines of the annotation.
Dragging an annotation will snap both vertically and horizontally
· Ctrl key will override this option
· Sketch mode is not activated when an Annotation is activated
· Linear dimensions can snap to the center of the dimension lines
Copy / Paste for Annotations
Can copy/paste single or multiple items, across sheets or drawings if necessary
Will work for the following:
· Note
· Datum Target
· Feature Control Frame
· Surface Finish
· Weld
Will not work for
· Datum
· BOM Callouts
· Hole Callouts
Linking Annotations to Model Geometry
When most annotations are placed their leader lines can be associated with any projected edge in a 2D drawing. The association can be made to any point on the edge.
2D Performance Options
Option to prompt user upon moving a detail/partial/section view reference to ensure they want to move the item. In some cases, accidentally moving the item on a very complex model causes long reproject times.
MultiLoop Sketches
Better tracking of faces created by multi-loop sketches. This prevents some potential ACIS problems.
PDF Creator Vista Support for 2D Drawings
PDF Creator, a free program that allows publishing of 2D drawings to PDF format, now supports Windows Vista. If you would like to install it on a Vista machine to take advantage of Alibre Design’s integrated publishing of 2D drawings, please go to http://www.alibre.com/support/downloads.aspx and look under the Additional Files section for instructions and the download.
API Enhancements
ExportIGES Method
Modified the ExportIGES method to use the current IGES export options from the user profile rather than the default IGES export options. To allow API users to change the export options, the new interface IADIGESOptions was created.
IADHoleFeature and IADTappedThreadInfo
Added methods for creating hole features to the IADPartFeatures class. Added properties for getting the thread info to IADHoleFeature. Created new interface IADTappedThreadInfo to contain the thread information for a hole.
Sketch Shapes can be queried
An exception was occurring because there was not yet an implementation in the API for Sketch Shapes. To allow API users to access this data, new interfaces IADSketchShapePattern and IADCompositeFigure have been created.
V10 SP1 Bug Fixes
|
Detailed view of a section view will not allow you to hide multiple lines / parts in detailed view |
|
Drawing doesn't update correctly if a configuration is missing sometimes |
|
Bend centers do not show up on detailed view |
|
Section view in drawing doesn't correctly display sometimes |
|
Auto Recover dialog box is empty sometimes |
|
Angle measurement in sketch can throw null pointer exception in some instances |
|
Null pointer exception when changing toolbars in a design Boolean |
|
Embed loop-id in autograph of cap faces created from feature operations involving a sketch |
|
Unclipped reference lines not shown in perspective mode |
|
Very Dark Color Scheme doesn't work for Spanish (international Sort) |
|
Template field may not show the correct style in 2D drawing |
|
Ghosting issues between sheets can occur in a 2D drawing |
|
Exception thrown while publishing exploded view of some assemblies |
|
Logic Error in DXUtil Code for Ranking Devices |
|
Alibre locks up after inserting an assembly to a sub-assembly being edited from assembly context |
|
Upgrade IGES Import / Export Units Handling |
|
Hidden Views may not get updated upon reprojecting the first time reprojection occurs |
|
Double clicking on features in work area may not edit all features when appropriate |
|
Dragging multiple annotations at the same time has some rendering issues |
|
BOM callout does not get deleted (or shown in red) for suppressed part when drawing is reprojected |
|
Hole annotation font not maintained if 'Cancel' hit on Edit hole callout dialog |
|
Overlay colors can be inconsistent on different OS themes |
|
The status "hide" on a view in 2D not maintained after reproject for PHL and FHL views |
|
PDF publishing of exploded views throws an exception in some cases |
|
Drawing prompts for reprojection when opened from a different drive than the one in which it was created |
|
Cannot show/hide parts in a detail view of a section view |
|
Cannot update BOM table if the BOM & corresponding constituents have been copied to a new location |
|
Turning Team Design filter on while in Part Boolean results in error |
|
Null exception may occur when activating Thicken Surface or Trim Surface with a face selected |
|
Sketch Analyze button may be hidden in overlay |
|
Centers shown for suppressed hole feature when view reprojected in some workflows |
|
Hole annotation font does not update if changed immediately after placing it |
|
Undoing a delete sheet operation does not reinsert the sheet at its previous location in the order of sheets |
|
Additional tabs created in Sheet Metal Parts may be created in the opposite direction |
|
User Profile may not update for a part when reopening the part before relaunching AD |
|
Canvas does not respond to zoom & pan immediately after exploding the template |
|
Some Polish language resources issues |
|
Unable to create some section views |
|
Config name may not show up in the Drawing explorer |
|
Hole callouts sometimes display incorrect hole count |
|
Issues with new Alibre Part Library Add-on |
|
Ordinate dimensions may not update |
|
Non-linear lines in a 2D drawing with a dashed pattern print as solid lines |
|
Imported STP changes size sometimes when units overridden |
|
Assembly Constraint Issues |
|
Can't insert hole callout for Sheetmetal when projected as Flat Pattern in 2d drawing |
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Exploded View Trail lines are not able to be turned on/off through layers properties |
|
Text Notes may disappear if Layer is changed |
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Null error sometimes appears when reprojecting a 9.2 drawing with a hole feature |
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Leader lines may not update correctly after Datum text has been changed |
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Datum Targets can be placed so they cannot have leader lines |
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In a drawing, the BOM may show some ghosting issues after a reproject |
|
Text Note leader disappears in some cases |
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In Assembly : Edit part/subassembly icon disappears after editing a part the first time |
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Exception sometimes occurs while editing a note in some AutoCAD files |
|
Cannot create/insert custom symbols when in sketch mode on a view in 2D |
|
Configuration for the drawing view may not be retained after opening the drawing |
This section lists installation-related information for Alibre Design 10 SP1.
Alibre Design Expert and Alibre Design Professional customers will need to update add-on applications according to the following guidelines.
|
Add-on Application |
Add-on Update Required (Yes/No) |
Update Instructions |
||
|
From 9.2 SP1 |
V10 |
V10 SP1 |
|
|
|
ALGOR DesignCheck |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Alibre Design for Rhino 3.0 |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Alibre Motion |
No |
No |
None |
|
|
Alibre Part Library |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Alibre PhotoRender |
No |
Yes |
No |
None |
|
Engineers Toolbox |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Machinist Toolbox |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Alibre CAM |
N/A |
N/A |
Yes |
Uninstall via Add/Remove Programs; install new version. |
|
Trace Parts |
N/A |
N/A |
No |
None |
|
SolidWorks Reader |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Sheet Layout |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Free Dimension |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
PDF Creator |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Excel |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
Sketch Up |
No |
No |
No |
None |
|
ModelPress Publisher |
Please see ModelPress section below |
|||
NOTE: During install of any add-on,
if presented the choice to Modify, Repair, or Remove the current
installation, always select Remove.
ModelPress Publisher and Reader
If you were previously licensed to use ModelPress Publisher, it will be available to you on the download page and you will need to upgrade it for compatibility with V10 SP1, regardless of your previous version of Alibre Design. The ModelPress Reader may need to be upgraded to Myriad 3D Reader, available for free at http://www.modelpress.com.
Unlike versions prior to Alibre Design 10.0, the Help installation is now integrated with the Alibre Design v10 SP1 installer. However, if you already have a copy of Help on your machine, the v10 SP1 installer will not overwrite it. Before you install Alibre Design v10 SP1, it is recommended that you uninstall your current version of Alibre Design Help.
Alibre Design customers who have installed Alibre Design Help on their system will need to update to the latest version of Help.
The latest version of Alibre Design Help can always be downloaded from https://www.alibre.com/support/downloads.aspx.
To update Alibre Design Help, first uninstall any existing installation using Microsoft Windows’ Add or Remove Programs control panel, then install Alibre Design Help using the installer.
· Windows XP Professional Edition or Home Edition
· Windows 2000 Professional SP2 or later
· Windows Vista Business, Home, or Ultimate
· Windows XP Starter Edition
· Windows NT
· Windows Me
· Windows 98
· Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
· Windows Server 2003
* Some display related issues when working with the product online are known to exist, particularly on the x64 bit edition. In light of this, these operating systems are not recommended for use in production work. We strongly recommend switching to the recommended operating systems.
· Internet Explorer 4.01 SP2 or later
· Recommended: Latest version of Internet Explorer
· Microsoft Virtual Machine (Microsoft VM) 5.0.0.3810
· Download Microsoft VM at http://www.alibre.com/downloads
· Microsoft DirectX 9.0c
No Internet connection is required. The design and data management functions of Alibre Design can be used offline. An Internet connection is required to hold Team Design sessions, securely share data through the Repository and use the Alibre Assistant for support.
· Minimum: 56.6 kbps
· Recommended: Broadband (DSL, cable modem, T1 or faster)
Intel Pentium or equivalent processor: 2 GHZ or faster
RAM: 1 – 2 GB
Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 minimum, 1280x1024 or greater recommended
Video Card: 64 MB or higher - Card must support DirectX 9.0c
Color: 16-bit or 32-bit
Hard Disk Space: 200 MB
Virtual Memory: 1 GB
CD-ROM Drive
Mouse or pointing device
Intel Pentium or equivalent processor: 3 GHz or faster
RAM: 2 GB or more
Virtual Memory: 2 GB
Recommended changes for Windows Vista
Intel Pentium or equivalent processor: 3 GHz or faster
RAM: 2 GB or more
Video Card: 128 MB RAM or higher
Color: 32-bit
This section lists known issues. Workarounds are provided when available.
To ensure Alibre Design is installed correctly after upgrading from Windows NT or Windows 98/ME to Windows XP, uninstalling Alibre Design and reinstalling is recommended. No data will be lost in this process.
To ensure Alibre Design is installed correctly after upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista, uninstalling Alibre Design and reinstalling is recommended. No data will be lost in this process. This also applies to some of the Add-ons, like Algor DesignCheck and VisualMill.
Alibre Design requires DirectX 9.0c and supporting graphics cards for all systems (Please note that, although Windows Vista uses DirectX 10.0, it supports applications using DirectX 9.0c). To test for DirectX 9.0c capabilities, perform the following routine:
Go to Start > Run > type dxdiag and click OK
1. In the system tab, last line in the ”System Information” section will tell you the version you are running. Alibre Design needs 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904).
2. To test the DirectX capabilities:
1) Go to the Display tab and in the DirectX features, make sure that these are all enabled:
a. DirectDraw Acceleration
b. Direct3D Acceleration
c. AGP Texture Acceleration
2) Click “Test Direct3D”. Make sure all three tests complete successfully with the rotating cube fully visible in the center of the screen.
If you discover any problems after updating to the latest version of DirectX and Graphics Display Drivers for your graphics card, please contact Technical Support for assistance (How to Contact Technical Support).
If your workspaces are gray, ensure you have DirectX 9.0xc or greater. This will solve the problem the vast majority of the time.
If you have DirectX 9.0c or greater and the problem persists, it is because your video card does not support a particular feature called Stencil Buffering. Nearly all video cards made in the last several years support this feature, but if yours does not there is a way to disable Alibre Design’s reliance on it. This disabling process will mean that you cannot use the new 2D Fast View mode when making a 2D drawing.
To continue to use Alibre Design without this feature, in the Alibre Home Window go to Tools > Options > Display tab and select “Disabled” for the Advanced 2D Rendering combo box. After changing this setting Alibre Design will need to be restarted for the changes to take affect.
Microsoft Windows XP Remote Desktop does not support DirectX accelerated displays and Alibre Design will not display correctly in a Windows XP remote desktop window. Consider switching to a different remote access application such as VNC or installing Alibre Design locally. Please contact Technical Support for assistance (How to Contact Technical Support).
If you experience
graphics display problems while using hardware acceleration,
please upgrade to the recommended display driver for your hardware. Follow
these
steps to check settings and retrieve display drivers.
Check your video display card:
1. Right-click on the Windows desktop and select Properties.
2. Select the Settings tab.
3. Note the primary video card listed. If you have multiples, the
first one is the card of interest.
4. Install the appropriate driver from your hardware manufacturer or one of the
sites below.
ATI Technologies, Inc. for FireGL, Radeon, Rage, Mobility and other ATI
chipsets:
http://www.ati.com/support/.
NVIDIA chipsets
include all GeForce versions, all Quadro versions, all TNT2
versions and RIVA hardware. NVIDIA has a unified driver, which means
there
is only one driver. NVIDIA display drivers can be found at:
http://www.nvidia.com/
3dLabs chipsets include all Oxygen, Wildcat and Realizm chipsets. http://workstation.3dlabs.com/support/drivers/
The Alibre Design graphics work area may not respond to mouse wheel input while other areas of Alibre Design will respond to mouse wheel input. This occurs frequently when a PS2 mouse is plugged in after the operating system has booted or the mouse driver is outdated.
The Alibre Part Library is a catalog of standard parts available to all Alibre Design Professional and Alibre Design Expert users. The Alibre Part Library requires an Internet connection to download requested parts.
If you are experiencing intermittent problems accessing parts, please verify that you have an active and working Internet connection.
If you do have a good Internet connection and still are unable to download parts, please check to see if you are connecting through a proxy-server. The Alibre Part Library will not download parts if your system is configured to use a proxy-server. To test, run the program ProxyServerTest.exe located on the Alibre Design product CD.
If you are running through a proxy-server, please contact Technical Support for assistance (How to Contact Technical Support).
Symptoms: Load a model and render it using Alibre PhotoRender. Rotate, zoom or pan the model. Close the model. Upon prompt for Save, choose either Yes/No. When the Alibre PhotoRender workspace is closed, it crashes.
Solution: Upgrade the ATI Graphics Driver to the latest version (click for instructions on how to upgrade your driver).
Alibre Design’s Repository provides file management capabilities not available in the Windows file system, such as versioning, sharing and security, and caching. Most notably, Alibre Design’s version update notification capability is not available for data stored on the Windows file system. Save always overwrites the existing file. Open always loads the latest saved file.
Alibre Design repositories use database management capabilities built in to Alibre Design. This eliminates the requirement for pre-installed database management software. As a result, there are practical limits for repository size which influence system performance. Alibre, Inc. recommends creating various local repositories, each containing 1,000 items or less.
Users requiring the higher performance of a standalone database management system are encouraged to communicate their requirements to Alibre, Inc.
By default, Alibre Design accesses help documentation from the Alibre Web site, ensuring the latest help documentation is always available while working online. By default, Help buttons are removed from Alibre Design dialogs while working offline.
Optionally, help documentation may be installed locally for access while working online and offline. Help buttons are maintained while working offline.
With the Alibre Design Help window open, invoking help documentation for some dialogs will cause the Help window to beep on user input. These dialogs typically maintain complete application focus and require immediate user input. Closing the dialog and the Help window, then invoking Help from the dialog a second time will correct the situation.
All sheet metal algorithms assume the sheet metal stock has constant thickness throughout. The software uses this thickness value for a variety of purposes including offsetting dimple sketches, creating chopping blades in unbend/re-bend, calculating several flange parameters, etc. Placing two or more tabs on each other results in a non-uniform sheet thickness. Once this happens, several formulae and assumptions made in sheet metal algorithms become invalid. This is a limitation in the current software. Still, multiple tab features are valid as long as the uniform thickness is maintained.
Creating a section view of a broken view results in a section view of the unbroken view to the extents of the defining section line.
While performing a patch upgrade or full version upgrade of Alibre Design on XP, the upgrade status page may go blank and not update the visual progress correctly.
This is simply a failure to update the visual progress, however the installation process is continuing in the background. Please allow the install to continue without interruption.
Alibre Design can create sheet metal dimples with closed B-spline profiles provided the sketches are tangent continuous at the start-end location. 'B-spline by Interpolation Points' does this automatically when you make the start and end locations coincident. The user must ensure this is the case of 'B-spline by Control Points' by defining the 2nd last control point to lie on the start location tangent line at the provided location hint.
· Shelled features cannot be mirrored or patterned.
· Local operations such as remove, move, or offset face cannot be mirrored or patterned.
· Sheet metal flange features cannot be mirrored or patterned.
· Imported geometry such as IGES and SAT bodies cannot be mirrored or patterned.
· Mirrored or patterned features of parts that have been scaled will be created to the original scale.
· Topology Pattern features cannot be patterned or mirrored.
When an instance of a part pattern is deleted, and needs to be restored, the pattern will have to be recreated.
When dimensioning to holes with cosmetic threads displayed, be sure to select the Hole geometry instead of the cosmetic threads.
Changes to the display size of constraint symbols and sketch figure colors are only applied upon entering sketch.
Before installing the SolidWorks File Reader Add-on, please make sure to have Microsoft .Net Framework version 2.0 or higher. Else, the Installation will give errors and install process will not proceed.
Installation
Other