Alibre Release History

Fixes

• 2D PDF Publishing / Print behavior now has extended options accessed through System Options > Drawings > PDF. This section controls the behavior of both Printing and PDF publishing. If the built-in option is selected, both Print and PDF Publish will use the features introduced in Alibre Design 2019 - however for some customers especially internationally this results in poor quality. If a 3rd party PDF publishing tool is selected instead, both Print and PDF Publish will use a different pipeline that has very predictable, high quality results. As a result, the 3rd party PDF publishing tool is set as the new default until the built-in option's issues are addressed.
• Some non-English text in 2D drawings looked incorrect in exported DXF/DWG
• Drawing View creation failed for some complex assemblies
• Re-activating design configuration had no effect in some assemblies
• Some PDF printer drivers such as FlexiPDF were not available for selection in the PDF options
• Units for some imported Solidworks files were not read in correctly
• Fixed API to get/set Part Data properties

Enhancements

• System-wide settings to enable / disable antialiasing in 3D and 2D workspaces (System Options > Display)

Fixes

• The way text antialiasing is achieved has been modified to provide better visual fidelity in 3D workspaces
• Sketch dimension/annotation text in design now remain camera-facing during rotation
• Text with special characters can now be published to 2D PDF and 3D PDF
• Text is now searchable in 2D PDF
• Several fixes result in dramatically lower 2D PDF file sizes
• Some image formats were not displaying properly in 2D workspaces
• Thick lines no longer disappear when zooming in/out in 2D workspaces
• A selection issue when faces were very close to each other has been fixed
• When hovering over a constraint node, constrained reference geometry in parts now highlight
• Unable to change font properties of sketch dimension text in some legacy parts
• Part exported to Parasolid opens as assembly when imported in other applications
• Reverse checkbox missing in Extrude dialogs in Spanish version
• 2D Drawings containing a certain type of BMP file would crash the software
• Tightly integrated addons can again render GDI graphics
• PNG file export from 3D workspace incorrectly creates JPEG file contents
• Some STEP files resulted in save errors
• Newly created geometry not seen when ground reflection is ON by default
• Error when publishing some models to 3D PDF
• Fix issue with API that returns facets on a face
• Several cases of "transparent faces" have been addressed

Bug Fixes

• Fix for Precise Section View failures in Part and Assembly workspaces
• Fix for stability issue in Convert To Sheet Metal feature
• Fix for occasional disappearance of cross hatch in 2D Section Views
• Fix for issue where some parts failed to export to STEP, Parasolid and 3D-PDF
• Fix for Hide Small Faces threshold setting of 0px not being honored.
• Fix for Crash in Convert to SMP
• Fix for STEP export resulting in incorrect part locations on some machines
• Fix for 3D PDF export resulting in incorrect part locations on some machines
• Fixed broken link in Help file for Customize Performance page

New Features

• Antialiasing for 3D and 2D
• Beautiful text
• Ambient Occlusion
• Model Shadows
• Ground Shadows
• Ground Reflections
• New Silhouette edge modes
• New Illustration View Mode
• Graphics pipeline exposed for add-on developers

• A suite of new options for view performance for large models

• A new type of section view that is fully interactive
• Create up to 3 simultaneous section planes
• Enormous performance boost over traditional section view for large models

• A new integrated PDF engine for 2D and 3D publishing is available

• Now all line weights show in the 2D workspace - Print Preview no longer needed

Completely new Import/Export pipeline

• New industry-leading file translators for every file type
• Success rates of up to 98% for imported and exported parts
• New ODA DWG toolkit for DWG and DXF import implemented, improving interoperability
• Fixed STEP import issues from Allegro PCB Tools, DipTrace, Proteus 8, Creo, ProE

• Support for STEP 242, NX, and JT has been added
• Support for Solidworks export has been removed (import is still available) - however Parasolid is a superior export option to Solidworks with less translation quirks and is supported

Enhancements

• Significant work has gone into making Make Flexible substantially more robust

• A relatively minor reorganization of the ribbon and some tab and tool names

• Now the file type and name is shown in the Design Explorer, instead of "Imported File"

• Improved default language settings detection for some locations

• Right clicking on a MRU image now opens the folder and highlights the file

• Orient to Plane has been added in the Assembly right click menu

• Global Parameter configurations are now sorted in the drop down

• Added “flip” button in “Chamfer Edge” and “Corner Chamfer” dialogs to give better control over how unequal length chamfers are applied

Bug Fixes

• Undo operation after moving interpolation point of a 3D-Spline distorts the spline
• Crash on creating precise drawing view caused by presence of a specific fillet geometry
• Scaling issues when inserting a Catalog Feature into a part with different Model Units
• Cursor not getting reset after rolling over sketch nodes in Dimension tool
• Issue when placing a reference point from an axis and plane into an assembly
• Dialogs sometimes going off-screen and hence hidden from user when dual monitors are used
• Several transparent face issues
• Several issues with the measurement tool acting bizarelly have been addressed
• Improved licensing logic to make startup better under certain conditions
• Cannot set note size to 10pt prior to typing
• Fixed AutoUpdate from incorrectly prompting some international users to update
• Fixed an issue causing the software to hang when opening some assemblies
• Fixed Obj Ref error seen when opening a 2D drawing saved with inactive config of the part
• Activating a section view on some models causes some faces to become transparent
• Direct Entry coordinate dialog messed up on 4K monitor
• Move Curve Points dialog box messed up on 4K monitor
• Index Out of bound error fixed - when designs has multiple configs
• Object Ref error seen when trying to use "Change scale" option in this user drawing (ft and inches related)
• Editing some features would cause Alibre Design to crash
• Trim of Offset Ellipse throws Object Reference error
• Alibre crashes when closing some imported files
• Alibre silently crashes when launching Alibre Script from Part/Asm workspace
• Editing Text figures sometimes throws an exception
• Extrude dialog missing Reverse check box in Portuguese version
• Fixed several issues related to export and render of models with assembly features
• Placing a new bom in a blank drawing workspace no longer throws an exception

Alibre Script Enhancements

• Added Part.RemovePoint() and Part.RemovePlane()
• Added Part.AddPoint(Name, Point)
• Added Sketch.AddPoint(X, Y), deprecated Sketch.AddPoint(X, Y, IsReference)
• Added Part.AddAxis() for cylindrical faces
• Added Face.GetAdjoiningFaces()
• Added Part.AddPlane() for an axis and a point
• Added Point.X, Point.Y and Point.Z
• Added ThreeD.GetPerpendicularVector()
• Added Part.AddAxis using Point objects
• Added face mapping to 2D sketches, Sketch.StartFaceMapping() and Sketch.StopFaceMapping()
• Added generic mapping to 2D sketches, Sketch.StartMapping() and Sketch.StopMapping()
• Added TwoD.RotatePoint()
• Added AssembledPart.GetAssemblyVertices()
• Added AssembledPart.GetAssemblyBoundingBox()
• Added AssembledPart.PartPointtoAssemblyPoint() and AssembledPart.AssemblyPointtoPartPoint()
• Added Face.GetEdges(), Face.GetVertices() Face.GetArea()
• Added Edge.GetVertices(), Edge.Length and Edge.IsRectangle()
• Added Assembly.GetPartOrientation()
• Assembly.Selections now returns selection of subassemblies, parts, faces, edges and vertices
• Edge.GetPart(), Vertex.GetPart() and Face.GetPart() now returned an AssembledPart instead of Part if the edge/vertex/face was selected via a dialog window
• Added built-in functions CurrentPart() and CurrentAssembly() to console
• Added built-in functions CurrentParts() and CurrentAssemblies() to console
• Added built-in variable AlibreScriptVersion to console
• Added built-in class Windows() to console
• Removed extraneous blank line after entering a command in the console
• Separated save option for user data from UI layout
• Now able to select parts in an assembly using dialog windows
• Script changed identifier '*' moved to before script name
• Added chapter to manual on built-in functionality
• Added chapter to manual on sketch mapping
• Sketch.PointtoGlobal() and Sketch.GlobaltoPoint() now take into account script units
• Fixed bug with Part.AddPoint(Name, List) putting the point at the wrong location
• Fixed bug with ThreeD.TransformPointUsingVectors() inverting the X axis
• Fixed bug that stopped parts from being reselected when part selection box receives focus
• Can now handle corrupt user setting files
• Worked around bug in .NET and/or third-party controls that caused height of editor to be incorrectly determined
• Fixed issue that caused crash when starting Alibre Script after a new install of Alibre Design, until the PC was rebooted
• Fixed bugs that causes error if attempted to get part faces, edges or vertices when part has no body
• Fixed bug that caused browse buttons to not be disabled when disabling a dialog input that uses a browse button
• Fixed bug that causes error if an attempt was made to enable or disable images or labels in dialog windows
• Fixed bug that sometimes caused Face.DistanceTo() to return a value of zero
• Fixed bug that stopped line number from being shown in error messages
• Fixed bug that caused crash if running a script that was not saved

Critical(!) Updates

Windows 10 Fall Update Critical Bug Fix

• Microsoft’s Fall Update for Windows 10 introduces a bug to Application.VisualStyleState that causes the ribbon to become unusable when a File > Open, File > Insert, or File > Save dialog is shown. Alibre presented the bug to Microsoft, and Microsoft acknowledged the bug and plans to fix it. However, no release date is currently available for this fix from Microsoft.
• Alibre has implemented a stopgap patch that circumvents Microsoft’s bug. This results in a slight modification of the appearance of the Alibre Design window by forcing the Windows Vista Glass appearance off.
• If you install the major Windows 10 Fall Update without getting Alibre Design 2018.2, you will be unable to use the software.

Alibre Atom3D

New Features

• Helical Boss and Helical Cut have been added to Alibre Atom3D

Import/Export

• The 2018 versions of DWG and DXF are now available for import/export.

Keyshot 8.x for Alibre Design

• Keyshot 8 is now available.

Performance

• For large assemblies, we’ve made several changes that should improve SaveAs/SaveAllAs dialog interaction performance significantly. Other changes should help improve assembly loading (open) performance.
• Drawings of complex assemblies can now be opened faster. Optimizations for assemblies with many constraints and configurations now improve drawing file load times.

Bug Fixes

• A bug was fixed that occasionally prevented the editing of External Threads.
• A bug that caused the dimension style in-place editing menu in 2D drawings to have overlapping input boxes when the Fit option was selected has been addressed.
• A bug causing an exception during first-run of the Script overlay if the ribbon is disabled has been fixed.
• A bug that caused 2D drawing export to DXF to fail in some cases due to a centerline issue has been fixed.
• A bug causing some add-ons to have issues if the ribbon is disabled has been fixed.
• A bug when overriding the dimension value on the in-place editing menu in 2D drawings that caused the style to also be overridden has been fixed.
• A bug causing a Disposed Cursor Error exception after switching color schemes has been fixed.
• A bug causing issues with new View insertion in 2D drawings when the default units are in Feet and Inches has been fixed.
• Several Alibre Script bugs were addressed.

Misc

• The last-used export type is now remembered between sessions. For example, if you tend to export STL files a lot, you no longer have to select STL as the export format after reopening Alibre Design / Atom3D.
• New APIs to hide reference geometry such as reference planes, axes, and points.
• The Computer Name of the licensed machine will be passed to the Alibre licensing server. This makes it easier for you and for support to figure out which machine needs to be decommissioned if you have a licensing issue. This will replace the “DeviceID” that is currently used, which is a random string of characters.
• A Partner Code license type has been introduced. This does not affect customers.
• A string update in context menus in 2D drawings for consistency
• A German language dialog has been modified.
• Modified some PDF publishing strings to be more clear
• Restoring a package file now auto-scrolls the Windows Explorer dialog to show the default folder being used during target folder selection

Alibre Script Updates

• Added find/replace.
• Enabled SQLite3 support.
• Added support for show/hide of design planes, axes and points.
• Fixed bug that caused an error when closing dialog windows.
• Added support for activating configurations of parts and subassemblies inside assemblies.
• Fixed selection bug.
• Fixed missing Python libraries bug.
• Added Sketch.ToXml(), Sketch.FromXml(), Sketch.SavetoXml() and Sketch.LoadXml().
• Added Sketch3D.ToXml(), Sketch3D.FromXml(), Sketch3D.SavetoXml() and Sketch3D.LoadXml().
• Script-based dialog windows now have a selection system that more closely matches the built in dialogs in Alibre Design.
• Script-based dialog windows now always highlight the focussed input.
• Added button to preferences dialog to delete saved user data for Alibre Script.
• 2D Sketch functions that add a Bspline now return a Bspline object.
• Added GetPoint() to 2D Bspline object, allowing evaluation of a Bspline at any point.
• Added Length and SubDivide() to 2D Bspline object.
• Added Length, Subdivide() and SubdivideGetNormals() to BSpline3D.
• Added GetPointAt() to 2D Bspline object.
• Added GetPointAt() and GetNormalAt() to 3D Bspline object.
• Hovering over script tab now shows path and filename of script.
• Added Polyline3D, CircularArc3D, Line3D, PolylinePoint3D.
• Added Sketch3D.Figures to query the parts of a 3D sketch.
• Added constructor for Polyline.
• Added support for passing parameters to scripts from the console.
• Added support for running a specific script from the console.
• Added Sketch.GetSurface to obtain the plane or face that the sketch was created on.
• Script-based dialog windows now allow multi-selection of faces, edges, vertices, points, planes, axes and sketches.
• Added context menu to script tabs.
• AlibreScriptVersion global variable changed from major.minor as real to build number as integer.
• Added auto indentation in editor.
• Added tab/space options.
• Console now shows Alibre Script build number.
• Added Part.ExportRotatedSTL().
• Added input changed callback to options dialogs.
• Added ability to enable and display dialog inputs.
• Added callback to options and utility dialogs to set up the user interface after dialog creation, e.g. enable/disable items based on current settings.
• Added STL Exporter example script to allow export of rotated STLs for 3D printing.
• Added Part.GetUserData() and Part.SetUserData() to store user data in part files.
• Added Assembly.GetUserData() and Assembly.SetUserData() to store user data in assembly files.
• Code completion now shows enum values.
• Added some missing classes to code completion feature.
• Fixed bug that caused script-based dialogs to not always be on top of the Alibre Design window.
• Fixed bug that caused cross-contamination of python environment between part/assembly sessions when using the Windows class.
• Added Part.SaveSnapshot() and Assembly.SaveSnapshot() to save images of parts and assemblies.
• Now requests Windows perform a thumbnail refresh before saving a thumbnail of a part or assembly.
• Added Part.GetFeature()
• Added Feature.SetColor(r, g, b)
• Added Part.Select() to select edges and faces
• Added IGES and SAT exports of parts.
• Added export options for assemblies.
• Added part exporter example script.
• Added file copier example script.
• Added Part.Selections and Assembly.Selections to get current selections.
• Added option to allow user to disable saving of layout and scripts to part and assembly files.
• Added option to set and reset the default layout.
• Added BIP export for parts and assemblies.

New Products

Alibre Atom3D

• Alibre Atom3D is a new product focused on consumer and enthusiast customers. It is similar to the legacy Alibre Design Personal Edition but does contain a different feature set.

Alibre Script

• Available in Alibre Design Professional and Expert, Alibre Script is a fully integrated, Python-based scripting language capable of driving nearly everything available in Alibre Design’s API without the overhead associated with making a standalone add-on. It’s particularly useful for automating repetitive tasks or creating 50 parts that vary slightly, for example. Try out some sample scripts.

Removed items

In this release we had to remove 2 pieces of functionality that rely on the same 3rd party technology library that we felt was not a good long-term solution and that is no longer under active development by the technology partner. These items are:

3D Print Analysis
The 3D print analysis feature has been removed. Alibre currently has no plans to replace this feature.

Mesh Support
(See KB Article) – The ability to import, view, or use mesh files (OBJ/STL/etc) has been removed from the software. Alibre does currently have plans to replace this feature, pending an evaluation of available technology partners. We do not currently have a timeline, and an analysis of technology partners is occurring with the following criteria:

• Substantially more robust import and conversion tools
• Customer conversations to ensure we not only replace the previous features but enable more robust workflows
• Other available mesh modeling technologies that might be of interest to our customers

User Interface

Open button on Home Window

• The open button has been moved to the left per customer request
  

Quick Access toolbar

• The Roll View Left and Roll View Right commands have been added to the Quick Access toolbar (near the gem) at the top left of the window. 

Reset View

• The Reset View (formerly Orient to Sketch) tool has been made more prominent near the Select tool in Sketch Mode.

 Renamed tools

• Several tools have been renamed for simplicity. For example, the “Measurement Tool” has been renamed “Measure”.

Insert Axis and Insert Point dialogs now DPI aware

• The Insert Axis and Insert Point dialogs in Sketch Mode now properly display on high resolution monitors.

Bug Fixes

• Cannot create external cosmetic thread if the cylindrical face has any feature on it
• Some users experienced an error: “Attempt to access index __; valid range is 0..__” when editing or creating Notes after a Windows update. This has been addressed. 
• Sketches created via the API could become deformed in some circumstances
• Glitch in displaying complex sketch in canvas when outside sketch mode
• Sheetmetal error with converted conical sheet metal parts
• Flatpattern fails for certain classes of converted sheet metal parts
• Workspace orientation is not respected when project as flat pattern is applied
• Object Ref Error seen when regenerating some legacy sheet metal parts
• An “Unable to create bend law when adjacent flanges are coplanar” error has been fixed

Licensing & Viewer Mode

Passive Licensing

• For customers in extremely secure environments who cannot have data leave their computers during the licensing process, a new licensing mechanism now exists. A license can now be generated by sending Alibre the computer’s Site Key, a short code that looks similar to LSURFTBZQX.

Network Licensing

• Allows customers to install a Licensing Daemon on the internal network via a Linux virtual machine.
• All licensing is done on-network
• Great for large, secure deployments

Viewer Mode

• A new Viewer Mode has been added. When a license is not detected during startup, you have the option of inputting a license or selecting the Viewer option. The Viewer option starts the product in Viewer Mode, which allows you to open and interrogate the model (e.g. take measurements).

Component Upgrades

The following core technology components have been upgraded to the latest versions, giving you access to several years of updates and bug fixes from these component providers:

• ACIS – the core modeling kernel
• 2D-DCM – the 2D constraint manager / solver
• 3D-DCM – the 3D constraint manager / solver
• HLM – the hidden line manager
• ST-Developer – STEP import/export
• Datakit – Import/Export of 3rd party proprietary CAD formats
• Adobe PDFLibs – PDF publishing
• ODA Toolkit – 2D import/export
• The build environment for Alibre Design (Visual Studio) was upgraded

New Import Formats

• Solidworks 2018 import is now supported
• Inventor 2018 import is now supported
• Parasolid 30 import is now supported

High Resolution Support

A lot of effort has gone into making Alibre Design more pleasurable to use on high resolution displays (e.g. 4k):

• Design/Drawing/Assembly Explorer icons now support higher resolutions
• In-Place Editing icons now support higher resolutions
• The Ribbon icons now support higher resolutions
• Grabbing the Design Explorer divider to resize it is easier
• Larger 2D Constraint Symbol option (System Options > Parts/Assemblies > Sketching > Sketch Constraints Size)
• Larger Sketch Node option (System Options > Parts/Assemblies > Sketching > Sketch Node Size)
• DPI-aware selection snap makes selecting things much easier on high resolution displays
• DPI-aware dialogs have been created for many that were not DPI aware – this fixes the jumbled look of dialogs on high resolution displays

General Display Fixes

• Several scenarios where the canvas would be replaced by the “Red X”, for example after waking from Sleep Mode, have been addressed.

New Features

Miter Flange

• Miter flanges (video) can now be created via the Miter option on the new Corners tab of the Flange dialog, dramatically simplifying the creation of many classes of sheet metal parts.

New Home Window

• The Home Window has been completely redesigned.

Graphical Most Recently Used

• On the new Home Window you can see icon previews of your most recently used files, making selecting recent documents easy and fast.

STEP export units

• Previously all STEP files were exported in cm. Now, you can choose which units to use via System Options > Interoperability > STEP

 Configurable Mouse Buttons

• The Zoom, Pan, and Rotate commands can now be customized. If you use several programs, you can now make them all operate the same way.

Pick PDF Engine

• The PDF publishing engine is now an option and can be selected from System Options > Drawings > PDF. If you install a new PDF writer (e.g. PDFill), it should show up here to be selected for use.

Default color scheme

• Small changes to the default color scheme for rollover and preview color

API Enhancements

The following API improvements have been made:

• New framework for creating .NET based AD Add-Ons
• AlibreCAM: Trimmed surface API has been updated so AlibreCAM by MecSoft can be upgraded
• Assigning Color to a Feature in Part
• Selection Events
• Access configurations of Global Parameter Files
• Dimensioning Between Points
• Anchor/Hide/Suppress sub-assemblies
• Capture images of the canvas
• Set a part configuration within an assembly

Enhancements

• Fixed some SolidWorks parts importing as assemblies
• Fixed CATIA import issues 

Enhancements

• Changed around 20 default options to make the initial experience better
• Fixed color and part names missing when importing some Parasolid files
• Fixed feature colors missing on some imported parts
• Fixed cursor not changing to represent what was being hovered over
• Fixed BOM callouts changing to all be ? marks.
• Fixed Spanish resources in some dialogs
• Fixed Keyshot’s dialog that used to say “Return to Geomagic Design”