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pbacot Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 959 Location: Northern California	Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 7:53 am    Post subject: Running V. 8 and earlier version Is there a good way to put V. 8 on the computer along with an older version and be able to keep using the older version primarily? Considering getting v. 8 for translations but wanting to make the transition slowly. I wouldn't want v. 8 to be the default app. _________________ Peter B
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Jeffrey Jakucyk Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 111 Location: Cincinnati, OH	Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:37 am    Post subject: I have PC6, 7, and 8 on my computer and it hasn't been a problem. Our office is still on version 6, and the only reason I have 7 is to translate from version 8 back to 6 (which I find annoying, since 7 and 8 use the same file format, and saving back from 8 to 7 doesn't really do anything different than a normal save). Anyway, although PowerCADD has never really standardized its file extensions, I've had luck appending .PC6 or .PC8 to appropriate files and making sure to set the correct default program for each one (it's also the only way to distinguish which is which, since the document icons are the same). That being said, if no versions of the program are running, double-clicking on a particular file will open the correct program. The same is true if both versions are already running. However, if only one version is running when you double-click a file, no matter what its file extension, it will try to open it in that version that's already running. So if PC6 is open and you want to open a PC8 document, you'll need to drag and drop it on the PC8 icon in the dock, or launch PC8 and open it from there. There's one big thing to watch out for though. If you use PC8 to translate/import files, you won't be able to edit the translated text in PC7 or any older version, because PC8 imports it as "Advanced Text". You can see the text, move it, rotate it, and scale it, but each text block becomes a PDF object that you can't type in, and those can really bog down the previous versions of the software as well.
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pbacot Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 959 Location: Northern California	Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:29 am    Post subject: Quote: There's one big thing to watch out for though. If you use PC8 to translate/import files, you won't be able to edit the translated text in PC7 or any older version, because PC8 imports it as "Advanced Text". You can see the text, move it, rotate it, and scale it, but each text block becomes a PDF object that you can't type in, and those can really bog down the previous versions of the software as well. Well that makes it useless in my case. (unless I were to jump in to PC8 completely). Text isn't a huge issue because I let consultants handle their own files, we mostly trade off geometry. But still this won't help things. Thanks for the heads-up, Jeffrey. A new project was sprung on me (thankful as I am), which will require a lot of DWG coordination. I'll just go through my ACAD associate if there's some compatibility issue. So you are still on v.6 too, even though you've got 8? Is it that bad? Quote: That being said, if no versions of the program are running, double-clicking on a particular file will open the correct program. With or without the extension? _________________ Peter B
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Jeffrey Jakucyk Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 111 Location: Cincinnati, OH	Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:49 am    Post subject: pbacot wrote: So you are still on v.6 too, even though you've got 8? Is it that bad? Oh no, I think PC8 is fantastic, and I use it personally whenever I can. Aside from the additional features, I really appreciate how much more responsive and fluid it is. The problem is that only 6 of our 18 workstations are Intel Macs. The rest are G5's, so we'd need to do a mix of PC8 on Intel and PC7 on PPC. With the advanced text issue and multiple people working on the same project, that makes things more complicated than the already difficult feature disparities. Also, PC7 is a dog performance wise (not that PC6 is very fast, but it's better than 7). It's a money thing too, as we had some other software and hardware upgrades that took priority, and there's not much left for PowerCADD at this point (we only have two licenses of PC8 anyway, for testing and evaluation).
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patrickm Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 399 Location: santa barbara, ca	Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 6:11 pm    Post subject: I have PC7 and PC8 on my computer. I kept PC7 until I was comfortable with PC8, but haven't used PC7 in at least 7 months now. I don't import/export DWG's too often, so I am not familiar with the text translation issues. The only issue that I had having both PC7 and PC8 is manually swapping the preference files (which Derek's Preference Utility did so well for PC7), but I have a simple method down and it just takes a few seconds. (I use the same method to swap PC8 peferences, depending on if I have my MacBook Pro's external monitor plugged in or not.) If you are considering PC8, I think you'd be happy using it exclusively and not bothering switching back and forth to PC7. PC8 works much better than PC7 did. regards, patrick
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John Cruet Joined: 30 Apr 2004 Posts: 352 Location: Guilford, CT	Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:17 am    Post subject: I have both v7 and v8 on my computers. I principally use v8 now. But my G4/733 antique cannot run V8. _________________ John Cruet G4/733 w/1028 mb RAM & OS 10.4.10, Classic-free, skuzzy-free (runs PC7) MacBook Pro 2G Intel core duo 2 gig RAM & OS 10.5.4. PowerCadd 8, WT 9 Canon iP710 printer www.johncruet.com
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pbacot Joined: 15 Apr 2004 Posts: 959 Location: Northern California	Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:02 am    Post subject: Thanks for the replies. The main issue is running the two versions on one computer. If I understand correctly, I will have to add ".PC6" on files or double-clicking these older files will open them in version 8. I believe v.8 will be a good move, but would probably want to be able to work in v.6 in case I have problems in transition. I have a MacBook Pro. _________________ Peter B
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Jeff H Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 34 Location: Naples, FL	Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:35 am    Post subject: Patrick wrote: [but I have a simple method down and it just takes a few seconds. (I use the same method to swap PC8 peferences, depending on if I have my MacBook Pro's external monitor plugged in or not.) ] May I ask what your simple method is? I am in the same situation using PC8. Jeff H
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patrickm Joined: 13 Apr 2004 Posts: 399 Location: santa barbara, ca	Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:34 am    Post subject: Jeff H wrote: Patrick wrote: [but I have a simple method down and it just takes a few seconds. (I use the same method to swap PC8 peferences, depending on if I have my MacBook Pro's external monitor plugged in or not.) ] May I ask what your simple method is? I am in the same situation using PC8. Jeff H I created a folder called PowerCADD Preferences that I put in my documents folder where I keep my PowerCADD related files. Inside that folder, I have a few other folders: "PC7 Pref", "PC8 Pref laptop", "PC8 Pref monitor". Inside each of these, I put an alias of the preference folder (from my home>library>preferences). Before I installed PC8, I dragged copies of the PC7 preferences (both "com.engsw.PowerCADD7.plist" and the "PowerCADD" folder, from my home>library>preferences) to the PC7 Pref folder, so that I'd have a backup of them. I then installed PC8, without the external monitor attached. I set PC8 up the way that I wanted it, including pallete locations. I then dragged copies of the new PC preferences to the "PC8 Pref laptop" folder. I shut down PC8, attached the external monitor, then started PC8 up again, moving the palettes to new locations on the large monitor. I then dragged copies of the new PC preferences to the "PC8 Pref monitor" folder. Now the basic setup has been done and if I want to use the laptop without the monitor attached, I option-drag the preference files from the "PC8 Pref laptop" folder onto the Preference folder alias, thus replacing the current preferences with the ones for the lap top. Likewise, I option-drag the other preferences if I want to use one of the other setups. It sounds complicated, but literally takes seconds to switch between setups. If I change a preference in one of the setups, I make a note and make a similar change in the other setups and make new copies of the preferences. (I think I am more or less manually doing what Derek's Pref Utility did.) regards, patrick
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