MicroSurvey CAD 2017 Release Notes

Release History

MicroSurvey CAD 2017 (17.0.4.5897) - July 21, 2017

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Important Notes

Activating or Updating your USB License Key

If you are licensing MicroSurvey CAD for the first time you will need to activate your new USB License Key using the USB License Manager program on a computer with internet access.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of MicroSurvey CAD 2017, you will need to update your existing USB License Key using the USB License Manager program on a computer with internet access.

If you are upgrading from MicroSurvey CAD 2016/2015/2014/2013/2010/2009/2008, you will need to update your existing USB License Key using the USB License Manager program on a computer with internet access.

If you are upgrading from MicroSurvey CAD 2005 or previous, you will need to activate your new USB License Key using the USB License Manager program on a computer with internet access.

A copy of the USB License Manager program is automatically installed with MicroSurvey CAD, or it can be downloaded from our online Helpdesk system and installed separately onto another computer which has internet access.

Please refer to the following topic for detailed instructions about activating or updating your key.

You might not be required to update your USB key to run certain MicroSurvey CAD service pack updates. For a detailed explanation of MicroSurvey's Annual Maintenance Subscription (AMS) program, and how we use product version numbers and USB keys, you can can refer to the following online article.

If your AMS has not yet expired, you can use the USB License Manager to update your key to work with the most current version. You can confirm the expiry date for the AMS by going to the About screen found in the Help menu. Each USB License Key has its own maintenance subscription plan, so if you have multiple keys it is possible that they may each have a different expiry date.

If your AMS has expired, you can phone us at 1-800-668-3312 or 1-250-707-0000 to renew it. Without a current maintenance subscription plan, you may not be able to update your key to work with the new version.

MicroSurvey Transfer Program for FieldGenius Users

FieldGenius users need to download a copy of the MicroSurvey Transfer program to simplify the process of transferring FieldGenius projects between your data collector and MicroSurvey CAD.

If you have a copy of MicroSurvey Transfer already installed from use with MicroSurvey CAD 2010 or previous, you will need to update it to recognize MicroSurvey CAD 2013 or newer. Previous versions of MicroSurvey Transfer will not show MicroSurvey CAD 2016 as a sync option in the Options screen.

The MicroSurvey Transfer program has not changed since the release of MicroSurvey CAD 2013. This is only necessary for users who are setting up communications between FieldGenius (any version) and MicroSurvey CAD (2013 or newer) for the first time.

MicroSurvey Transfer can be downloaded from our online Helpdesk system.

Note: A copy of Microsoft ActiveSync (for Windows XP or earlier) or Microsoft Windows Mobile Device Center (for Windows Vista or newer) must be installed before MicroSurvey Transfer can be installed. Both can be downloaded free from Microsoft or from the MicroSurvey helpdesk.

MicroSurvey License Server for Network License Users

Users who have purchased a network license will need to install a copy of the MicroSurvey Network License software.

If you have purchased a Network License and are setting it up for the first time, you can download the Network License Server application from our online Helpdesk system.

The MicroSurvey Network License Server program has not changed significantly since the release of MicroSurvey CAD 2008. This is only necessary for users who are setting up a MicroSurvey CAD 2008 or newer network license for the first time.

Note: You will be required to enter a password in order to install the Network License Server.

System Requirements

MicroSurvey CAD 2017 is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10.

MicroSurvey CAD 2017 does not have any hardware requirements above and beyond what is required by your version of Microsoft Windows, aside from a compatible video card for the 3D Rendering engine.

Please refer to this online article for a list of compatible video cards.

Software Requirements

MicroSurvey CAD 2017 Ultimate/Studio requires that the following prerequisite software packages be installed to work with point clouds:

1. Required: Leica Cyclone 9.1.1 or newer
2. Optional: Leica Client License Manager (CLM) 1.4 or newer
3. Optional: Leica JetStream 1.0.1 or newer

Please visit www.leica-geosystems.com to download these Leica products. A registered account is required.

Leica Cyclone must be installed, but it does not have to be licensed. MicroSurvey CAD will be fully functional with an unlicensed version of Cyclone.

Leica Cyclone and Leica JetStream are licensed independently from MicroSurvey CAD, by entering an entitlement certificate ID into the Leica CLM application.

Windows XP Notes

Windows XP End of Support

Microsoft has announced that support for Windows XP will end on April 8, 2014. According to Microsoft, "After April 8, 2014, there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates. Running Windows XP SP3 ... in your environment after their end of support dates may expose your company to potential risks" as detailed on their website here and here.

Until April 8, 2014, MicroSurvey Software Inc. will continue to develop, test, and support all of our products for Windows XP, providing that all third-party components still support Windows XP.

After April 8, 2014, MicroSurvey Software Inc. will no longer use the Windows XP operating system for any development, testing, or technical support. After this date, Windows XP will be completely unsupported. While our products may or may not continue to operate without issue beyond this date, using an unsupported operating system is not recommended and any issues that are specific to an unsupported operating system will not be addressed.

Windows Vista Notes

Windows Vista End of Support

As of January 1, 2016, MicroSurvey Software Inc. will no longer support the installation of new products on Windows Vista or earlier.

Windows Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 Notes

Run as Administrator

You must run the program at least once elevated with "Run as admininstrator" access, even if you are already logged in with an "Administrator" account on the computer.

After this is done, it can be run by any user on the computer, including those who don't have administrative accounts.

To accomplish this, once the program is finished installing do the following:

1. Right click on the MicroSurvey CAD 2017 icon.
2. Choose "Run as administrator".
3. Select "Yes" on the "User Account Control" dialog when prompted to allow the program to make changes to your computer.

What's This? Help

If you wish to use the "What's This? Help" feature, you may need to download and install an update from Microsoft. Please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article for more information.

Please note that the main Help files will work without this update.

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Online Resources

Release Notes

For a current version of this document, please visit the MicroSurvey CAD 2017 Release Notes topic in our online helpdesk.

Frequently Asked Questions

For a list of Frequently Asked Questions and Tips for New Users, please visit the MicroSurvey CAD 2017 Frequently Asked Questions topic in our online helpdesk.

Upgrade Notes

For a list of questions and answers on upgrading from a previous version, please visit the MicroSurvey CAD 2017 Upgrade Notes topic in our online helpdesk.

Known Issues

For a list of known issues please visit the MicroSurvey CAD 2017 Known Issues topic in our online helpdesk.

Training Movies

For over 16 hours of training movies that you can watch online or download for offline viewing, please visit the Training Movies topic in our online helpdesk.

Technical Support

MicroSurvey provides free 24x7 self-support to all users via our online helpdesk at helpdesk.microsurvey.com where you can find knowledgebase articles, downloads, and a troubleshooter. This is a good starting point for any problems that are not answered in your Help file and Manuals.

For technical support, please visit our helpdesk at helpdesk.microsurvey.com to submit a helpdesk ticket to our technical support staff. If you do not have internet access you can phone our office at 1-800-668-3312 or 1-250-707-0000 and a ticket can be entered for you.

Technical Support is provided free of charge for 90-days following the purchase of your MicroSurvey product. Following this introductory period, additional technical support is available via your Annual Maintenance Subscription (AMS).

To purchase or renew your AMS, please phone MicroSurvey Software at 1-800-668-3312 or 1-250-707-0000, phone your local MicroSurvey dealer, or visit our online store at http://store.microsurveysales.com.

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MicroSurvey CAD 2017

Release Date: July 21, 2017

New Features

Powered by IntelliCAD 8.2a

MicroSurvey CAD 2017 is built on the latest IntelliCAD engine, IntelliCAD 8.2a.

IntelliCAD 8.2 is a major release that includes more options added to existing features that export 2D .pdf files, export .bmp files, and attach underlays; new in-place multiline text editor; new support for maximizing and minimizing viewports; and various other new commands such as BCOUNT, IMAGEFRAMEMODE, FIELD, and TEXTTOFRONT. IntelliCAD 8.2 also includes improved performance when working with complex blocks, panning and zooming, exporting to .pdf files, and more.

IntelliCAD 8.2a is a maintenance release that contains over 125 improvements and fixes since the IntelliCAD 8.2 release. Improvements in IntelliCAD 8.2a include various fixes for external references, the user interface, and many more, as well as small additions such as new RIBBON and RIBBONCLOSE commands and a new FILTERS command.

In addition, more than 975+ issues have been resolved during the IntelliCAD 8.2 and 8.2a product development cycles.

See below for additional details about what's new and fixed in IntelliCAD 8.2 and 8.2a.

Cloud Storage Support

Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, and other cloud storage and synchronization services are now supported.

Open and save your drawings directly in your favourite third-party cloud storage service's folder.

A subscription to a third-party service(s) is required, it is not provided by or through MicroSurvey in any way.

Smart Point Blocks

Points can now be drawn, as either a point node and text labels (as in previous versions) or as a point block that combines these elements into one object.

Labels within the point block can be edited (position and rotation) with automatic leaders connecting from the labels back to the point node.

Smart Polylines

Polylines, LWPolylines, and 3DPolylines can now be "smart" such that they will automatically update when points they connect are edited or deleted.

The following commands are now capable of creating Smart Polylines in your drawing: AutoMAP Library, Auto-Add Points to Objects, Bearing/Distance Auto-Labels, 3D Curve, FieldGenius Import, Leica DBX Import.

The new "CAD Polylines Dialog" can be used to quickly access pertinent details about any polylines in your drawing.

Angular Units

Specify an angular unit for each drawing, including Degrees-Minutes-Seconds (as in previous versions), Decimal Degrees, or Gons/Gradians.

The specified angular unit setting will be used for all input/output throughout the program.

Attach Imagery (Bing Maps)

Instantly download and attach imagery from Bing® Maps as a raster image file.

Specify the area of interest by Point ID, Current View, Lat/Long, or Street Address.

Specify the image type (Aerial, Road or Hybrid), coverage area, and resolution.

Align the imagery to either georeferenced or local point coordinates.

To use this command, please contact MicroSurvey. A license for the Bing Maps module will be provided to interested users at no cost.

Enhanced Features

Independent Point Numbers

The IPN system has been revamped to provide better performance and display quality of the IPN, IPD, and IPE labels.

Important Fixes

• [D7882] AutoMAP - Renaming an AutoMAP Description to blank removes it from the list and causes the program to terminate unexpectedly when it is processed.
• [D8252] AutoMAP - The AutoMap Editor window may appear empty when opened via the Job Defaults screen.
• [D8702] Database - The Paste Special command did not strip xdata from the copied objects, which could potentially result in various problems due to the drawing and database being out-of-sync.
• [D8698] Database - The Remove Line/Bearing/Distance from Database commands did not strip xdata from the removed objects, which could potentially result in various problems due to the drawing and database being out-of-sync.
• [D2392] Database - The Break and Trim commands, when used to break a section out of a smart line, did not strip xdata from all of the resulting lines, which could potentially result in various problems due to the drawing and database being out-of-sync.
• [D7963] Database - Using a dropbox folder or some network environments would cause various error messages including "Codebase Error" and "Critical Error 10000".
• [D8690] Database - Losing connection to a network drive would cause various error messages including "Codebase Error" and "Critical Error 10000".
• [D7526] Database - The line connectivity information is not correctly undone when undoing the Renumber Points command, which could cause error messages referring to the new point numbers.
• [D8425] Display - Display elements such as the orbit widget, UCS icon, grip markers, snap markers can be displayed improperly during a dynamic orbit when an object is selected with grips.
• [D7910] Display - After running the Build Library command to create a new house, the Open and Save As commands use commandline prompts instead of browse dialogs to select a filename.
• [D8033] Display - During a Dynamic Orbit, releasing the mouse over the command line causing the orbit mode to get stuck on until you click in the drawing.
• [D3003] IPNs - IPNs flash when zooming in and out with a selection.
• [D2508] IPNs - IPNs do not appear for new points created by the Line/Curve Labeling commands.
• [D2437] IPNs - IPNs do not display in the correct position when using multiple model space viewports.
• [D7246] IPNs - IPNs disappear after zooming during a command.
• [D7904] IPNs - IPNs do not immediately appear for new points that get created using the COGO command.
• [D8703] Linework - Encountering a point error when exporting linework to KML/KMZ would abort the entire export, now any valid objects are still exported.
• [D8714] Linework - A typo in an error message of the 2D_3D and 3D_2D commands has been corrected.
• [D8208] Lisp - A typo in the names of the (get_input_scale_factor) and (set_input_scale_factor) commands has been corrected.
• [D3304] Points - The Transfer Points Between Jobs command was not reliable, it would sometimes fail and incorrectly report that the specified point(s) does not exist.
• [D8276] Points - The Transfer Points Between Jobs command displayed garbled text in the default file name when browsing for a database file.
• [D6830] Points - The Single Point Editor did not increment the next point ID correctly after storing a point with a large point ID.
• [D8032] Points - The Single Point Editor did not use the last stored point's description as the default for new points.
• [D8769] Points - The Coordinate System Search command does not find any systems matching the specified position.
• [D7993] Roading - The Inverse to Alignment command produced an incorrect error message when it could not find a vertical profile in the drawing.
• [D7894] Tables - The Line Table and Curve Table commands do not highlight selected lines/arc.
• [D7892] Tables - The Line Table, Coordinate Table, Curve Table, Multities Table commands are very slow to draw the grid lines.
• [D8728] Template - The default icad.dwt template file had several AcDbHatch errors that would cause errors to appear when auditing a new drawing.
• [D7873] Title Block - The Insert Sheet and Title Block command produces an error message "IntelliCAD is unable to complete this operation." after inserting a title block and does not prompt for the block attributes.
• [D7867] Text - Selecting a text to move in the Slide Text command can command the Edit Text dialog to appear and an error message "SDS Error in function: sds_draggen".
• [D8073] Text - The Drawing Cleanup Wizard may cause the program to terminate unexpectedly when using the Delete Empty Text option.
• [D8388] Traverse - Recoordinating a traverse does not update the coordinates displayed in the Active Coordinate Editor.
• [D8134] Traverse - Exporting an RW5 file may cause the program to terminate unexpectedly in certain conditions.

New Features in IntelliCAD 8.2

Working with files

Export to a 2D .pdf file now includes new compression modes, image clipping, and gradient hatches.

For .pdf, .dwg, and .dgn underlays, new support includes monochrome, fade, background color adjust, show, and show clipped properties.

Export to a .bmp file now supports visual styles.

Performance enhancements

Increased performance when working with many external references.

Increased performance for PDF creation and reduction of resulting .pdf file size.

Increased selection performance in drawings with complex blocks.

Improved pan and zoom speed for very large drawing files.

New CACHEFILES will externally cache layout data to enhance layout switching performance and memory usage.

Text

New multiline text editor allows you to edit multiline text in place. However, not all multiline text features are implemented in the new editor. To switch to the older dialog box version of the multiline text editor, set the MTEXTED system variable to "oldeditor".

New Field command allows you to create a field as multiline text.

Working with entities

New dialog box for the REFEDIT command and new -REFEDIT command.

New dialog box for the ARRAY command and new -ARRAY command.

New TEXTTOFRONT command moves text, dimensions, and leaders to the front of other entities.

Viewing and rendering drawings

Users who previously used Ctrl + Left mouse click and drag to orbit the drawing should now use Shift + Middle mouse (or wheel) click and drag to orbit. Ctrl + Left mouse click and drag now supports the standard Windows copy selected entities feature. Simply Ctrl + Left mouse click and drag a selection to make a copy.

New commands VPMAX and VPMIN allow you to maximize and minimize viewports.

More features

The Properties pane now supports more entities and additional properties, such as light entities and light properties, material properties, etc.

The ribbon now includes context sensitive menus, menu groups, panel expanders, CUI versioning support, ability to show/hide panels and tabs, and can be customized using the CUSTOMIZE command.

Entity snapping for underlays are now accessible using the Options command.

New BCOUNT command counts the number of blocks in a selection set.

New IMAGEFRAMEMODE command controls whether image frames are visible and printed.

New command line version commands: -MENU and -MENULOAD.

System variables

Added or updated: ARTISANLICENSE, AUDIONOTETOOLTIP, BLOCKCACHE, CACHEFILES, CACHEMAXFILES, CACHEMAXTOTALSIZE, DGNOSNAP, DRAWINGTYPE, DTEXTED, DWFOSNAP, HYPERLINKBASE, LAYLOCKFADECTL, ORBITPREVIEWDELAY, PDFOSNAP, RENDERPLANARENTS, SHOWGRIPMENUS, SKETCHMODE, UNDERLAYFADEDEFAULT, WNDCUSDLGPOS, WNDCUSDLGSIZE, WSAUTOSAVE, XDWGFADECTL, XFADECTL.

Removed: AUDIONOTE, CTRLMOUSE, and HYPERLINKICON.

Important fixes in IntelliCAD 8.2

The following list details some of the 850+ fixes that were implemented since the 8.1b release.

Working with files

Fix for exporting a file that contains large images to PDF.

Display

Several fixes for 3D orbiting.

Polar tracking fixed when rotating the view and UCS.

Editing entities

Fix for stretching thick lines.

Fixes for offsetting entities, including specific issues with offsetting polylines.

Entity snaps

Fixed incorrect snap being detected when using certain combination of snaps.

Fixed Parallel snap not being detected in some cases.

Fixed selection after grip dragging and using a snap typed in the command line.

Printing

Fixed incorrect printing of borders for wipeouts and raster images.

Fixed issue when printing to a file or a .pc3 file and applying print settings to a layout.

Fixed issue with $DATE$ in print stamps.

Fixed units issue when printing to legal size on specific printers.

Several fixes for the Publish command.

More fixes

Many fixes in the Customize dialog box.

Several fixes for annotative entities.

Several fixes for the HYPERLINK command.

Several fixes for working with images, including a fix for changing the scale of an image using the ENTPROP command.

Fix for matching properties of leaders.

Ribbon and toolbars now support .png images.

Fade property can now be set for underlays, blocks, and locked layers.

Several fixes for Tip of the Day.

Fix for BROWSER command.

Fixed display of nested external references in the Xref Manager.

Fixed prompts for the REVCLOUD command.

Fix for displaying Chinese text.

Several fixes for grip editing, including the grip option "Convert to arc", grips for polylines, and grips for dynamic blocks.

Fixed issue when creating a polar array using a region.

Fixes for Select All command.

Important fixes in IntelliCAD 8.2a

The following list details some of the new 125+ fixes that were implemented since the 8.2 release.

Editing entities

Dimscale for leaders is now editable in Properties pane.

Fixed ability to select all entities for a cutting point when trimming hatch entities.

Entity snapping

Fixed snapping issue to zero-length polyline.

Fixed snapping to point nodes when PDMODE!=0.

Fixed display of entity snaps after a layer freeze.

Text

In certain scenarios multiline text disappeared while editing. This issue has been fixed.

Revised the format of the panel layout for multiline text.

Printing

Fixed Apply to Layout option when using Print Preview.

Fixed issue with missing text during printing and print preview.

Fixed viewport content that was previously printed at the wrong scale.

External references and blocks

Fixed issue with nested xrefs.

You can now double-click a block or external reference to run the REFEDIT command.

Fixed a display issue with user defined dimension arrows in an external reference.

More fixes

New Direct Distance Entry feature allows you to enter a distance in the direction of your cursor when specifying the next point.

Implemented RIBBON and RIBBONCLOSE commands.

The UNDO and -PAN commands are fixed while using a maximized viewport (VPMAX command).

MVIEW scale and view location are fixed while using the VPMAX and VPMIN commands.

Fixed DDEDIT command for editing the format of dimension text.

Fixed issue with the TIME command.

Fixed how IntelliCAD Explorer updates the list of layers when filtering layers.

Fixed CTRL+J and CTRL+M to repeat the previous command.

Implemented the FILTERS command.

Fixed issue with display of Korean fonts.