FTP Tips for IE7 Dummies! Bring the Folders Back.

We were disapointed to learn upon upgrading to IE7 that the FTP interface had become less user friendly. Here are some simple Tips to get you up and running with IE7 & FTP.

1. For IE7 Dummies: IE7 does not default to a Windows interface. To view FTP sites in the IE6 Windows Explorer folder format, click the Page button, located at the upper right of your browser, and then click Open FTP Site in Windows Explorer.

2.If you are not seeing this option under Page,
Go to the Tools Button at the far right of your Browser menu.
Go to Internet Options.
Hit the Advanced Tab. Go to the Browsing Section.
Check Enable Folder View (outside of Internet Explorer).
Hit Apply, Hit OK.

3. If you are not able to access the FTP site at all, you may also need to adjust this setting.
Open your IE 7 browser.
Go to the Tools Button at the far right of your Browser menu.
Go to Internet Options.
Hit the Advanced Tab. Go to the Browsing Section.
Uncheck: Use Passive FTP
Hit Apply. Hit OK.

4. For Purists: We recommend you get out of your IE7 browser and type or paste, the FTP site address into the address bar inside My Computer. Voila! You will instantly be able to access your FTP site in the familiar Windows format . If this does not work, go back and complete Steps 2 & 3 and then retry Step 4.

Disclaimer: These tips are based on our experiences and may not work for everyone. We welcome more tips and suggestions!

Recommended Reading: Transition from 2D to 3D

Transition from 2D to 3D

The Shift to 3D >Sara Ferris - DeskTop Engineering

While transitioning to 3D is gaining steam, 2D remains entrenched for a number of reasons.

AutoCAD Monkey Revisited

AutoCAD Joke of the Month

Carbonite - Don't Stress - Back Up Your Hard Drive!

One of our friends fried his hard drive this week. We asked if he was upset. He told us that he had subscribed to Carbonite and could recover his data thanks to their on-line back-up service.

We decided to try it. Carbonite installed seamlessly while we were working on several projects and multi-tasking on our computer. Carbonite gives you options to back up some or all of your data. Your first back-up to their server may take 24 hours or more. It attaches a yellow ball symbol to all files that are being backed-up. We have not noticed any loss in speed or interruption to our work flow while our back-up is taking place. A year's subscription to their automatic back-up service is available for only $49.95. We are already less stressed!

http://www.carbonite.com/

Carbonite Followup- 6/02/07: It took Carbonite approx a week to back up everything on our test computer. Now it just backs up new data. The Carbonite indicators attached to all files are helpful as they change color to show the status of backup process (The yellow ball symbols changed to blue when backup was completed). Our friend with the crashed computer reported that he was able to restore all data backed up to Carbonite successfully.

Carbonite Followup - 7/19/07 - You may want to read about other users experiences with this software and their recommendations before you install Carbonite. Pros and Cons are discussed on the blog, Fresh Thinking.

http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2007/07/12/remote-file-back-services-carbonite-review/#comment-45330

Carbonite Followup - 9/19/07 - Heads Up for subscribers: Carbonite only gives a 1 week notice if your subscription is about to expire. This can be a hassle if you are between pay checks.

Carbonite Followup - 8/25/08 - Carbonite can slow our old computer to a crawl just when we are under pressure to get some work done. We found that by right clicking the icon in the Windows XP tray notification area, we can pause Carbonite for 24 hours or less.

AutoCAD - Can't Zoom Viewport? Don't Panic - It is Locked!

If you cannot Zoom inside a viewport in your AutoCAD drawing, look for the viewport and list it in Properties. If the Display Locked property says Yes, Change it to No.

It is a good idea to Lock your viewport if you want to protect the scale of your views. This is especially helpful for large site plans or if recovering your view will be difficult.

It can be confusing, however, to receive a drawing with a locked viewport, if you are not familiar with this feature. When the viewport is locked, zooming inside MS zooms the entire drawing. Just unlock it!

Nemetschek acquires ArchiCAD , The Rest of the Story is?

Nemetschek took over Graphisoft in January 2007.

We have clients who use ArchiCAD and Vectorworks but have not heard much about the ramifications of the acquisition.

Rumors, by insiders a few years ago that Graphisoft had lost it's pioneering vision for ArchiCAD may have foreshadowed the change.

Two interesting blog commentaries on the Nemetschek's move:

Nemetschek becomes majority shareholders of Graphisoft

http://www.stress-free.co.nz/nemetschek_become_majority_shareholders_of_graphisoft

Susan Smith On Nemetschek's Acquisition of Graphisoft

http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2007/02/susan_smith_on_.html

Mac OS & AutoCAD Watch - McDwiff!

Mac users can now view AutoCAD DWF files.


McDwiff is a Mac OS X application that opens, views, converts, and prints DWF files.

http://www.macdwf.com/

KeyCAD Mystery

We were contacted last week by a customer who sent us CAD files created in a software called KeyCAD with a .kcw extension.

We can not find much information on KeyCAD and KeyCAD Pro. Although it is still marketed on Amazon.com with good reviews from users who needed a cheap CAD package for home use, Softkey, the company who manufactured it, is out of business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SoftKey

Moral of the story is, when purchasing a CAD package, find out how or if , it's drawing files can be read by other CAD software packages. Keep in mind that you may eventually want to issue your drawings in another CAD software. If you don't know how to export your drawing to a more readable format, you may be stuck with files that have to be redrawn from scratch.

Ready to Plot in AutoCAD but Text Size Looks Wrong? Check with "Change Space".

This tip is for anyone who has to check AutoCAD drawings before plotting.

Problem is that this floor plan has been scaled up in model space from 1/8” to ¼” scale. Is the text going to plot correctly? It is difficult for a non-expert to tell by looking at it on the screen.

To resolve, using the DTEXT command, try typing some text in paperspace at the size you know text should plot at if measured on paper. We like to use 1/8” text height for our standard. As you can see, by comparing the new PaperSpace text with existing, the text in model space is too big. What is the correct height?

Using the Change Space command, send the text to model space. Your text lists in model space at 4-13/16". For the purposes of our example, this is the size you want your model space text to be for a correct plot (your situation may vary).

If you are a pre -2007 AutoCAD user - Change Space can be found under Express Menu, Layout Tools.

Change Space Instructions for 2007 Users from CadTutor.net.

"Formerly found in Express Tools, the Change Space feature is now… "
http://www.cadtutor.net/corner/2006/august.php

"Yes, Virginia, There is a RhinoMarine!"

We had not heard of this software until a customer contacted us last week with a request for RhinoMarine Drafting Support.


Turns out that it is not a rare rhinoceros but a Plug-In, from Proteus Engineering, for Rhinoceros which provides “a full suite of specialty marine design and analysis tools.”

For more information:

www.rhino3d.com/marine.htm


Informative Rhino Marine Instructional Videos show examples of RhinoMarine in action.

www.rhinomarine3d.com/videos.htm