[The Toolroom]

:drowning:We bought the new Bobcad V-23 Pro and keep coming up with errors like "unexpected file type" or "an attemp was made to access an unnamed file past it's end". Just worked on and saved a file with 30+ hours of desingn into it and lost it ALL! This has caused us countless hours of design and mfg time. Has anyone experienced this and foud a fix or cause. BobCad seems to be befuddled by any issue we have. We got tech support but have had very poor response time and often find out the software "just won't do that". In the case of simple functions such as measuring along an axis to get an overall length (it wont do that unless the points are at the same exact y/z coordinates) ths is a real pain causing creation of many auxillary points just to measure anything that is not all built on one axis. Before we ditch a sub-par "bargain" (get what you pay for) program and go with an industry standard like MasterCam, has anyone found fixes for the file access issues? We see many other posts in forums about other issues (we are also having) but none on this. Good luck out there.(chair)

[A1CNC]

Hello,
I have bobcad v23 also and had the same problem,(Spent hours on a file, saved it, and then couldn't open it)
In my case, I installed the latest update(build 1493)and that cured my trouble.

"In the case of simple functions such as measuring along an axis to get an overall length"
If the dimension feature doesn't work for you,

One thing you can do is select the entity, Then right click. You have 2options here, Entity Summary, Measure.

The other option is to select the entity and then right click, then select entity modify.

Maybe these will help,
Eric

[ssoptical]

Sounds like a good response from Burrman to chime in your pain.
(nuts)

[BurrMan]

Well it sounds like a1cnc did a pretty nice job there!

The format error has been fixed. The user can Merge the file with his current build to get the geometry back, but loose the Cam Tree stuff.

Was there a question on measuring and dimensioning in 3d?



Seems to work over here.

Would you like to ask a specific question and/or post a file that you have an issue with? There are many users capable of helping and that use BobCad in their daily business.

[SBC Cycle]

Did you upgrade to Pro from Standard? I believe there is still an issue with feature compatibility between the two. Merging the drawing strips the CAM features out so that may be the only fix. Good luck.

[tciofalo]

had the same problem changed setting to do a backup every 5 minutes and this seeems to work.

[SBC Cycle]

Was there a question on measuring and dimensioning in 3d?



Seems to work over here.

I think it works TOO well Burr, LOL. Actually, I have the same complaint. I want to be able to dimension the X/Y-Ordinate of an entity without selecting 2 points. That is the way every other CAD system works. Right now all dimensioning is done by selecting 2 points and if they are not coplanar, BobCAD will dimension them in 3D. This requires creating a point that is coplanar with the entity you are trying to dimension.

It's difficult to put in words, hopefully you can decipher what I'm saying

[BurrMan]

Right now all dimensioning is done by selecting 2 points and if they are not coplanar, BobCAD will dimension them in 3D. This requires creating a point that is coplanar with the entity you are trying to dimension.

Can you post an example file with a description of what you expect?

[SBC Cycle]

Here is a quick example, not a great one. In order to dimension the top boss correctly, I had to create a point coplanar with the top of the boss (Z-0.1234). I should just be able to click X Ordinate and simply select the center of the hole and BobCAD should print the absolute X value from the origin.

If you look at the layer marked "Dimension Wrong", you see where I tried to just select existing geometry to get the X dimensions. The output I get is something I would expect by selecting Dimension - Other Distance. I don't want BobCAD to output a delta distance when dimensioning in "Horizontal", I want the distance Horizontally.

This is not that complicated of a drawing so it would be fairly easy to get what I want without creating any special geometry but you can see how hard it would be if there were multiple Z levels in the part.

[BurrMan]

Hi SBC Cycle,
Click once on the "Front UCS" and select x-ordinate dimension. (nuts)

[SBC Cycle]

Hi SBC Cycle,
Click once on the "Front UCS" and select x-ordinate dimension. (nuts)

Well, I got something interesting but I'm not sure what it is, LOL.



If I click on front UCS, change my view to front UCS, sometimes it will dimension properly (sometimes not). But when I switch to the top view to print, you can't see the dimensions you just drew.

[BurrMan]

Yeah it seems to work for me. Then the dimensions are entities That you can align/rotate where ever you want. But I think the issue is that the Ordinate dimensioning uses "Snaps". I think that the expectation is that it will use the extents of the entire entity then project the results planar to the current work plane.

I do think that there are some differences. Like using the snaps gives the ability to "Check the geometry". This is different than just assuming that everything is correct and giving an "extents" result. But it will make it more tedious for setting up a plan view for printing. You have to create the snap points.

If this is the intent of the app, the ability to "switch" between the 2 modes for just setting up a drawing would be powerful. I do like the way it works this way also though for the power it gives me.

I can see how it would be a pain in the ... for someone needing just quick plan sets though.

THe easiest way for now would be to create a new layer with a flat plane on it and project all the entities onto that, where you can do the type of dimensioning you like for plan view, then hide or unhide that for printing.

Let's ask them about having the option?

[SBC Cycle]

THe easiest way for now would be to create a new layer with a flat plane on it and project all the entities onto that, where you can do the type of dimensioning you like for plan view, then hide or unhide that for printing.

Let's ask them about having the option?

That's exactly how I do it now and it works, I'm just a lazy guy looking for a one click solution. :banana:

The X/Y ordinate dimension function was new and I believe a response to a feature request so I'm glad to know that the BobCAD folks are listening.

FYI, the Dimension - Point function gives me something close. I would use this if it allowed me to omit 1 or more of the dimensions.

[BurrMan]

Remember if you want to dimension "Plans" and you do the project curves to be all planar for the dims, you dont have to spend a bunch of time creating "Breaks" to get the snap points needed for the dims, where the points dont always exist.

You can use the "Break Screen" function which will break the selected entity at another entities snap point. If you set this on a keyboard shortcut, you could prep and dim a complicated model pretty quick.

[BurrMan]

the Dimension - Point function gives me something close. I would use this if it allowed me to omit 1 or more of the dimensions.

This is a great idea!