We have been receiving support issues ranging from program files being invisible (as in saying it can’t find a file you know is there) to outright alerts of our code being a virus.  These have of course turned out to be false positives, a failure on the part of the antivirus software.  A company that’s been in business for nearly 30 years does not produce viruses.

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Please keep your download information!  You have just paid money for something intangible, why throw away the ability to re-obtain it?  If you fear it might be purged from your email, copy the information and paste it into a text file, stored in a special folder.

Second, assume that what you have downloaded is only good for the present.  If you keep the installable MSI/EXE, the file you are keeping is likely to be revised at any time, even the next day.  While you certainly can keep the executable, do not assume it’s still good a year or two later.  Unless the install was downloaded very recently, always go back to your purchase information and download the latest build of it.

In summary, keep your download and always download the latest build of the add-on you purchased before you install it.

Lower Your Expectations

When the CAD user looks at a PDF file in a viewer, (especially if the PDF is crisp) they see objects, intelligent objects.  They see dimensions, block inserts, text and more.  What they do not realize is that PDF files cannot contain these objects.

A PDF is not a DWG, it is a popular plot file format.   The only content in a PDF is images, paths and text.   There is not even a circle object in a PDF file, it must be represented as four bezier curves.

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MapWorks & ToolPac contain a Check for Updates tool that not only applies patches to your installation, it also brings in additional tools that we add on a regular basis.  To keep track of what’s been added check back here from time to time.

To run the Check for Updates tool (requires an internet connection):

  1. Make sure your CAD engine is shut down (because it would have the files locked and we couldn’t update them).
  2. Run Check for Updates under Windows Start > Programs > DotSoft > MapWorks (or ToolPac).
  3. Check off any CAD engines you don’t use to save hard drive space and bandwidth (MapWorks Only).
  4. Click the [Start] button and allow the updater to run.

If you have Windows 8.x (which did away with the Start menu for some reason), run the MapWorks Updater from the desktop.