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Opening Multiple Drawings

opening multiple drawings crash

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#1 Keith Almond

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 08:08 AM

Can it be made that we can open multiple drawings in one operation ... lots of programs allow this operation, and to be brutally honest I don't work with ANY program that crashes as much as Softplan.

 

I may be me, but whilst working on a project, I have open ALL the drawings I need ALL THE TIME.

 

This morning Softplan CRASHED again, and I had to RECOVER 9 separate checkpoint drawings ... and in this instance I was actually lucky, as I only had 9 drawings to recover. Sometimes there are more.

 

Attached File  2018.05.25_09h59m03s_001.png   34.33KB   1 downloads

 

Which necessitated the following operations ...

 

FILE > OPEN ... Change the directory to RECOVERY ... Change the FILE TYPE to SPD ... SELECT the relevant CHECKPOINT drawing ... click OPEN, and then answer the "DO YOU WANT TO CLOSE THE CURRENT PROJECT?" question.

 

And go through this OVER COMPLICATED procedure ... NINE separate times.

 

We've already requested that Softplan display ALL relevant file types in the open box, which will help, BUT can't we at least assume that IF I'M OPENING A DRAWING FROM WITHIN A PROJECT ... That "NO" of course I don't want to close the current project. If i want to close the project, I'd do it myself before I open another one or another drawing!

 

Allowing opening MULTIPLE DRAWINGS simultaneously would be a HUGE timesaver especially with a program, that crashes as often as Softplan does! Especially in RECOVERY mode.

 

Then trying to save as checkpoint drawings and overwrite the originals is again time consuming. There should be a better method of RECOVERING and RESAVING drawings after a crash.

 

Maybe a COMMAND called CRASH RECOVERY that automatically opens ALL checkpoint drawings in the DIRECTORY they were saved from and AUTOMATICALLY overwrites the original files. It could even come with warnings like ... "CAUTION ... You are about to overwrite existing files - Continue"


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#2 Mark Petri

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 09:50 AM

I get a lot of crashes too. It seems the program is very inefficient.


Mark Petri

Petri Building and Design

 


#3 Harald Schwegel

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 10:05 AM

Keith,

 

I'm not sure which key you are using but I've taken a look and I see only one program crash this week - this morning in SoftPlan 2016. Can you please confirm the version you were using when your crash occurred.  Please create a ticket from the project that crashed and include as much information as possible about what you were doing when it crashed so that we can take a look.

 

As for the recovery drawings, I would suggest using Windows Explorer to copy them from the Recovery Folder to the Project folder and then opening the drawings.  You shouldn't be working in the recovery folder - doing so will lead to nested recovery folders and multiple files of the same name. Its may also be why you are being prompted to close a project although I wasn't able to reproduce that in a quick test.  Again, please create a ticket regarding this issue so we can take a detailed look at what is occurring. Please attach a zip file of the projects recovery folder to the ticket as that folder is not included in the project files that are automatically included with the ticket.

 

  

As a general comment to all:  While we strive to make the SoftPlan program as problem free as possible, the reality is that many issues are very much project dependent (and even system dependent), and the only way for us to recreate and resolve the problem is with the help of our users.  If we are not aware of a problem we cannot address it.  If we cannot recreate an issue we cannot fix it - so if you are having a problem, please, submit a Support Ticket from the project in question.  We will do our best to resolve it and that benefits all SoftPlan users.


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#4 Steve and Carla Farnam

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 11:41 AM

Thanks Harald, We have very few crashes with our Softplan program.


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#5 Keith Almond

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 12:30 PM

Harald,

 

I WAS using Softplan 2016 this morning (KEY-Q108908). I have no idea what I was doing when it crashed it just gave up functioning, and I wasn't paying attention to what caused it.

 

I NEVER work in the recovery folder, I just open the recovery drawing ... opening a drawing OUTSIDE the current project folder  ALWAYS asks if I want to close the project ... and then immediately SAVE AS and overwrite the drawing it should be in the current project. Using an outside program (even windows explorer) to move and restore recovery files is VERY counter intuitive. If that 's what "WE" should be doing, then Softplan should incorporate that sort of mechanism within the program. at the VERY least instruct users on the preferred way to recover files.

 

It should be stressed, that I'm NOT complaining about the program crashing. I understand that COMPLEX programs are prone to crashing much more than simple ones ... my gripe is about the methods needed to recover from that crash.

 

Ticket created as requested ... 32305


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#6 Sam Morgan

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 01:35 PM

I average 5-10 crashes PER DAY!!!  I swear its gotten worse since exchanging my original key for the smaller key.  I think its interesting to never get a follow up on crashes....if its happening that often and being sent in you'd think someone would follow up with you to figure out what the heck is going on?


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#7 Keith Almond

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 02:01 PM

ONLY SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC ...

 

I regularly bring standard detail drawings into a project ... Softplan ALWAYS asks at that point "DO YOU WANT TO CLOSE THE CURRENT PROJECT?" ... I don't think I've EVER answered YES to that question.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#8 Shawn McGill

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 02:56 PM

There seems to be a threshold per each computer.  My last laptop could only keep open 4 projects without crashing.  Same as Keith, I have 4-5 floor plans & 5 elevation drawings open most of the time.

 

Around 16 months ago I picked up an ASUS G752VS IntelCore i7 with 64 GB RAM.  Now I can have open 7-8 projects at a time.  (There are days I toggle between multiple projects several times a day for one of my builders).  In addition, I keep other programs open to a minimum (Adobe, Pics, Email, Excel)  I close my web browser when not in use as well.

 

Another thing I learned a few years ago was to keep file names as short as possible to keep SoftPlan from crashing:

 

Dropbox>LPH>McGill>McGill.spp>MAIN

 

The deeper the file the longer it takes the program to shuffle through & cause confusion & crash.

 

 

I work SoftPlan 16 for 40-50 hours a week. 1 or 2 crashes per month would be a tough month.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Shawn McGill

 



#9 Harald Schwegel

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 03:05 PM

Keith,

 

Thanks for submitting a ticket.  Using your project I was immediately able to recreate what you are seeing.

 

Now the explanation -- As soon as you open a drawing in a folder (any folder) other than the one in which the current project's project file (.spp) resides, THAT folder becomes the new current project folder.  Hence you will be prompted to "close the current project".  Is that ideal? perhaps not, but it is the way the program functions.

 

So my earlier suggestion to use Windows Explorer was simply offering a work around that can be used to simplify the process a bit.  Its the best I can offer in the absence of a single step method to recover multiple drawings within a project - which I think is what you really mean when you ask for a way to open multiple drawings at once - and that is a good idea.  I will make a suggestion on your behalf.

 

Hope this helps.



#10 Keith Almond

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 03:11 PM

Perfect ... All I was really after (forgive the moaning) was an effective way to recover all my checkpoint files after a crash, rather than the cumbersome way that I was doing it.


Keith

There are 10 types of people in this world ....... Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Softplan user since version 5.5.2.5

www.homehardwarekingston.ca

#11 Harald Schwegel

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 03:24 PM

Sam,

 

Not to minimize the issue, but we don't see anywhere near as many crashes as you state.  Its always possible that the data isn't getting to us.  We did take a deeper look at the reports we have received and from what we can tell, it looks like you driving a large monitor on a system that may not to be up to the task. But the data is pretty general, so if we could get your hardware specs it might be helpful.  Also it looks like you may be running multiple instances of SoftPlan concurrently, which could also be problematic on weaker hardware.   Shawn makes some good points about the relationship between hardware and program performance above.

 

 

Just so everyone understands, if the program crashes and you are prompted to submit a report, that information goes into an aggregate database that is used to identify trends in program behavior - not what is happening to an individual user.  We don't look at an individual user's crashes until they ask us to - by contacting Technical Support.

So if you are having issues - please submit a ticket so that we can look specifically at your individual circumstances.  Until you do we don't know that its happening to you.

 


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#12 Dennis Hilborn

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Posted 25 May 2018 - 04:25 PM

How do you keep track of what's open?  If I keep more than one project open for very long and bounce back and forth I end up reopening one of them and then I have edits in two different versions.  I wish that SP would lock a project when you open it and then give you a warning if you try to open it again.

 

I was having more crashes than I wanted in the beginning and found that I was causing most of them by picking a command while zooming or changing drawings.  After I got a better rhythm those crashes went away.

 

After 25 years with various flavors of AUTOcad I love the Recovery folder.  With autocad's one backup file I found that it was often corrupted also.



#13 Sam Morgan

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Posted 27 May 2018 - 07:08 PM

Seriously doubt my hardware is any issue.  

 

i7-8700 6 core cpu

 

32 GB Ram

 

Nvidia gtx1080

 

crashes happen multiple times per day.  



#14 Harald Schwegel

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Posted 29 May 2018 - 09:38 AM

Sam,

 

In the last 12 days we show a total of 13 crashes associated with your key:

 

5/25 1x
5/24 1x
5/23 3x
5/22 6x
5/20 1x
5/17 1x

 

If you are crashing more often the reports are not reaching us. Of the above crash reports, only one occurred on a Win10 x64 i7-8700 6core 32GB system, all others occurred on a Win10 x64 i5-6300 dual core 8GB system.  From this I must assume that you are switching the key between two systems - which is fine - so long as SoftPlan is only running on one of the systems at a time.  Removing the SoftPlan Key while the program is running will result in errors, up to and including program halts.

 

Unfortunately, in that same time frame I don't see any technical support tickets having been submitted by you.  As I stated earlier, without those there is very little we can do to resolve your issue.  Once you submit a ticket we will take a look to see what can be done to correct the situation.


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