PowerCADD, WildTools and Sierra - WARNING!

[Alfred Scott]

We now have any number of early adopters who have moved to Sierra. There are a number of minor problems, and they don’t affect everyone the same way. Scroll wheel zooming doesn’t feel right. Problems with closing files, printing, switching layers, etc.

However, we are now seeing users who are unable to get WildTools to load under Sierra. This may be because WildTools is not yet code-signed, in which case the OS Security and Privacy will not let you install it. (There is a script somewhere on the internet that will restore the “From Anywhere” choice.)

But as of today, we really don’t know what is going wrong here. Some of the users are having to go back to El Capitan, and that’s not an easy or pleasant experience. We’re not sure if the problems are created by Apple or what we might do to fix them. Clearly this is not a smooth and simple transition.

Best to wait until we have a version that’s fully compatible with Sierra.

Alfred

[ValmontR]

Here are the instructions for allowing all apps from anywhere to work in Sierra, and instructions to reverse it:

http://osxdaily.com/2016/09/27/allow-ap ... atekeeper/

If you want to add individual apps to Gatekeeper here is the information:

http://osxdaily.com/2015/07/15/add-remo ... -mac-os-x/

I have Sierra on my laptop and have allowed all apps from anywhere to work. So far, I've had no problems with anything, although I don't use my laptop very much with PCAD.

Cheers,
ralph

[Alfred Scott]

In the last week we are getting reports that a couple of problems with scroll wheel zooming and printing have cleared up with the latest version of Sierra.

I know it seems quiet, but we are working very hard to get a version of PC/WT that is entirely compatible with Sierra. It's a bigger job than you might imagine, but it will be worth the wait. I've got a couple of new things in WildTools that are really significant and will completely change the work flow, ease of use and how the whole thing feels.

And we are going to get this forum hosted on a more reliable server. The only change you'll see is that it doesn't go down so much, which is entirely caused by spam.

Alfred

[Alfred Scott]

We are getting crashes on drawing hatches in PowerCADD under early versions of Sierra, but this is now fixed by Apple in OS10.12.2. If you are on Sierra, please update Sierra to 10.12.2

Alfred

[Don MacNair]

I have been using Sierra for about a month or so. No problems any worse than with El Capitan so far. Sierra in general seems to be a significant improvement overall. I am looking forward to any advances in PowerCADD to alleviate the ongoing dwg translation and other startup issues.
As an aside and off topic, this forum needs serious help. This is literally the first time in weeks I have been able to access this. I am sure all PowerCADD users agree, we look to the forum for solutions, fixes and ideas.

Happy Holidays to all.

[Rob C]

As an aside and off topic, this forum needs serious help. This is literally the first time in weeks I have been able to access this. I am sure all PowerCADD users agree, we look to the forum for solutions, fixes and ideas.

Agreed. I feel lucky to get back on again.

Rob

[Don MacNair]

This forum seems to become less accessible all the time. I feel lucky to reach it maybe 1 in twenty attempts. It is hard not to feel neglected. I am a long time user and supporter of PowerCADD and continue to hope for the best. My problem is I want to be able to use all my Mac can offer and it doesn't feel like PowerCADD can keep up. Admittedly, it seems like a huge task to do so, sadly one that continually appears to be lagging. I don't want to sound like a whiner but as a small business owner I really need solid operating software to do what I do. The inexplicable crashes and other annoyances (dwg translations) are dragging me down. That said, I continue to wait for the next level of PowerCADD and hope that it will be soon. It is and has been a really good tool for a long time.

[jmmanrique]

I couldn't be more agree, We really need an update we'd been waiting years for it

[patrickm]

From my perspective, as a 57 year old former hand-drafter (using PowerDRAW/PowerCADD since the mid-90's), I am pretty happy with PowerCADD. Naturally, I'd like to integrate it with SketchUp or some other simple 3d modeling capability, and I'd like it compatible with future OS upgrades. I have a work flow using PC that is pretty efficient and frequently get compliments on the readability of my plans, which is my ultimate goal. There are many current features of PC/WT that I don't use, mainly due to my limited brain capacity, so I really don't need/want a more complicated program. I would like occasional updates to the ES web site, so that it feels current, which would ease many users' comfort levels.

[Alfred Scott]

Just want to make everyone aware of a problem with Sierra that's triggered by printing. It doesn't happen to everyone or consistently, but after printing you can find that you cannot close the current file window or quit the program. The problem is created by the Apple routine that handles bringing up the sheet that drops down, and once invoked it doesn't 'let go'. It is part of the OS and part of the Apple Carbon programming, that is becoming more unreliable over time and which Apple is not maintaining.

We can fix some but not all of this ... maybe. Stay tuned, but best workaround of the problem is to save before printing. Even when it hits, I understand you can still save with Command-s before doing a force quit.

Alfred

[pbacot]

Thanks Alfred and everyone, keeping PC going! I'm with Patrick. Sure there are things that I think could be different. Some things that seem to needlessly take extra time and could be made smoother; some things that don't work, when they once did, but all in all, few problems.

[ValmontR]

Alfred,

You mentioned "Carbon". I know it is 32 bit and was deprecated in 2012. What happens if Apple decides to go 64 bit only in the OS as is happening in iOS?

Cheers,
ralph

ps A conduit between PCADD and SketchUp would be a DREAM come true!