sp2 has been released

Considering that SP2.0 has been pulled by SolidWorks perhaps you should
WAIT to install on those ten other computers. I doubt whether just
making "Print to PDF" inoperable would make them pull the SP. Must be
something more serious.

But if you DO go ahead and have the same trouble on the other computers
DO post back and tell us that . . .

'Sporky'

 

I might disagree Mark. Since pdf is fast becoming a "standard", it's a free
add-in, and is likely being used by many users on a daily basis - I'd
venture a guess that this is why it was pulled. Of course, I usually give
SolidWorks the benefit of the doubt ;o)

Richard

 

***Disclaimer: This post is not for sensitive persons dedicated to
overlooking glaring problems in SolidWorks software. It is 100% a bitch
post. If you feel you may get upset by this post, please do not read it's
contents. You may even want to put me on your block senders list, if I'm not
there already. Unfortunately, I did not make it less bitchy/whiney as I had
previously promised, so the contents may cause you to convert from being a)a
SW cheerleader, b)a bitcher about the bitchers or c)a SW employee. Results
may vary and I claim no responsibility whatsoever.***

WTF!?!?!?
Why would they pull a Service Pack after they made it available? Isn't that
what SP 2.1 would be for? Oh wait... That's right. I forgot about the
numbers game. They went to tenths in the SP number so it didn't seem like
they have 20 SP's for each major release. I guess now they don't want extra
tenths on their SPs either because then it would look like they couldn't get
the whole numbered SP right.

Paul, I feel your pain about issues never being resolved. Here's some
interesting reading that is related to SW crashing on large assemblies
because it can't manage resources properly:
SolidWorks still feels that if you work on the drawing long enough, you
might run out of memory anyway. Developers seemed to think there might be an
issue with SolidWorks rebuilding more than it needs to, but that should be
fixed in the next major release (2004+/2005) and will not be addressed in a
service pack of 2004. The automated tests that SolidWorks ran did not
uncover any errors that would cause the memory to run out, but they did find
some obscure problem that seems unrelated.

"automated tests": I guess these were the same tests that they use in the
Beta program. Muwahahaha!
"An obscure problem that seems unrelated." I love that. So in other words,
"When we were trying to come up with a good excuse as to why we won't fix
address issues (we already wore out the OE excuse, sorry), we came across
another big f-ing mistake we made and have decided to address that instead.
Whoopsie."

I also like how another new-found issue won't be fixed in a SP of 2004. In
other words, keep paying us subscription so we can keep making you "next
release" promises. Great business plan, but what a joke for the user. The
conclusion of this is that my former colleagues are totally screwed on
getting a large assembly set of drawings to their customer and are wondering
why I ever recommended they use SolidWorks in the first place.

 

SP2 fixed the SP1 Spaceball CTD issue for me. However, WI hung during
the update at the point of "removing old applications" and I had to
shutdown to clear it. Seems to be working ok though.

 

I like SolidWorks, so I simply got a new job. I just made sure it was for a
company that does not make large assemblies. LOL

Sincerely,
Complainer Boy
(earned that one at the last place, yes the one with large assemblies.)

BTW-My rants are commonplace and SolidWorks shouldn't feel too special since
I rant at just about everything just about everday. I was even thinking
about starting a site with a daily rant..
But then I realized, who would pay for that sh*t?!

 

Now here's an absolutely brilliant solution!

 

It's interesting (and of concern) that the "Save as PDF" funtion is
not working for some users.

I installed SP2 just yesterday and have NO trouble with the PDF
output, although let's face it - I've only had time to use it a few
times.

What concerns me is the inconsistency! This begs the question: Why
isn't the function handicapped on ALL systems? (I'm running Windows
2000 Pro, SP4)

The time required for Windows Installer to update with a SolidWorks
service pack is amazingly long and I have to wonder how many
opportunities there are for hiccups to occur during the process? The
Installer routine does NOT prompt the user to turn off anti-virus
protection. I forgot to do so, but perhaps it didn't backfire.

No review the Installer's log file was done after the update, so I
can't say if there were any telling entries for my system. Perhaps a
particular user's PDF output problem could be related to something in
the log file that flags trouble during the updating of one module and
or another?

Now I understand why SolidWorks does not send email notification to
users about Service Pack releases until long after the Beta dust
settles...

Per O. Hoel
__________________________________________________________

 

Richard,

Sporky must be right...

After I installed SP2.0 (under Windows 2000 Pro, SP4) saving files as
PDF worked (and continues to work) flawlessly.

There has to be something else, unless the PDF problem is O/S specific
to Windows XP, for example.

Per O. Hoel
_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Trying not to be too terribly critical of YOU here, but unnecessarily
quoting 124 lines in the newsgroup is not a particularly brilliant
idea!!
Try doing an Internet search on the keywords "newsgroup" and "etiquette"
or "Netiquette"

 

Richard,

I would guess that SVG will over shadow PDF sooner or later.

...

 

Maybe, but for now plenty of folks are using pdf. Some of our vendors even
send me "check prints" in JPG (ugh). And then there is eDrawings, something
I use even more than pdf. We could go on and on about all of the options
available, and I doubt I'll ever see a "true standard" in my lifetime. The
save to pdf option was embraced by lots of folks I've talked to, and not
having the ability to do what they've fast become accustomed to was worthy
of pulling the SP.

Now, if AutoDesk has their way, we'll all be "dwf'ing"

This is hilarious -
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=3232971&siteID=123112&wac=ILC-
AN1042637118

Richard

 

hmm, I have the same OS and sp and Bluebeam does not work.

...

 

Just a quick question or two that comes to mind:

Did the people who had the early release of the service pack find
problems, if so did these get fixed?

Did they get an updated pre-release service pack to check the results
of Solidworks fixes, or is SP2 the unchecked results of the early
release SP 2, without it being tested?

Richad Morgan

 

Well, the bluebeam option has very little control so if the users are
using it they are not particularly interested in control of the
output/orientation of their PDF. I would guess the contract with
Bluebeam is limited?? The users would be better off with either the
free PDF writers or the ones which are less then $30usd. Personally, if
the user is serious about pdf, they would get the full professional
version of acrobat.
Although, I have to admit, bluebeam's quality is pretty good but you can
get high quality with acrobat as well.

SVG is quality is fantastic and scalable and small and is the future.
So, pdf will be the past, imho.

Wow, that DWFreking-it video is lame. I wonder how much $ was put into
that?? And, if they had to pay The Cars any royalties?

...

 

Did not see your post... ah, that's funny!
Automated... makes you think about who's on cruise control... hmm?
If you think about it, it is a great business plan, investors win and
the users losers.

I've been carefully thinking about the lawsuit idea and it has some
teeth when you start gathering information..

...

 

Thanks Sparky, I knew I could count on you!

 

Paul,

While I understand your lawsuit idea and would be in awe to open up Msn.com
and see the news I have to say that I wouldn't be part of it. Not because I
don't feel there is a valid breach and would be scared of corporate lawyers,
but because I have simply thrown in the towel. Call me a wimp, but I'm done.
Tired of complaining. Tired of the whole testing/bug report personal time
wasting process. I really have spent a lot of time troubleshooting,
documenting, sending off thousands of files at a time, etc. etc. and feel
I'm better off spending that time either with my family and friends, riding
my bikes, my motorcycle, going snowboarding, improving my house or something
else that I actually get a benefit from. I simply have a bunch of SPRs. Some
resolved, some not. A few lousy $10 "top beta tester" shirts and a feeling
that I wasted countless hours of my youth for some corporations benefit. I
can understand those that want to test the software, maybe as a hobby, maybe
just to see the next release before the public, maybe to make a difference,
or however you can justfy some sort of benefit. I'd rather volunteer my time
elsewhere. Software corporations know that they can get this testing free,
for now, and they take full advantage of it and somehow, through marketing
propaganda, make people think that it's a privilege.

I got my "Top Beta Tester for SW 2004" shirt, which I feel a good amount, if
not all, of the people here deserve, got my SPR's and the software still
frustrates me on a daily basis and often makes me look like an ass, which I
now take personal. If I had a shitty hammer and the framing job I did was
crappy because of the hammer, I'd simply look for a better hammer. If I was
going to spend a lot of time figuring out how to make their hammer better, I
may as well go into the hammer making business myself or become a paid
product consultant.
Yesterday, I simply window selected 4 lines, pressed Equal in the Add
Relations window and all the sudden my hard drive was flipping out and 30
seconds later I got an unhandled error. Opened it back up, added the equal
relations just as before and tada: no problem. So do I make of that? Well I
won't bother calling my VAR up on something obviously nonrepeatable, so I
just live with it and move on. I think I'm getting to a point where I'm
pretending it didn't happen. At least that way I won't get upset about it.
LOL. Sad, but true.

Bottom line: Because of the recent lack of quality I am simply more open to
looking at competitive modelers now instead of being loyal. That's the
bottom line. I had major problems, I didn't get solutions. I doubt
SolidWorks is really worried about me, a 4 seat company, dropping them, so I
really have no leverage to get my major issues resolved.
Screw me once: shame on you. Screw me twice: shame on me.

 

There is only one early visibilty SP for each. So in worse case, someone
could report a problem, they fix it, that breaks something else, no one
knows it, SP gets released, doh.

 

Man, it's totally embarrassing, imo. It's like they're trying way to
hard.
.... Look here all you cad users (waving hands overhead), we're trying
hard to get your attention using a catchy song and psychedelic video to
burn in your brain and remember our product!!? (what a waste of
storage/memory space or, a bad memory/dream)

...

 

Unfortunately, it is one of those songs that will play in your head over and
over and over. The good news is I have kids and can fire up a good Barney or
Disney cartoon movie. Works every time.

For you single folks stuck with the Devo tune, try this....

www.earworm.com

Richard