UPDATED FOR V17 BRICSCAD® FOR AUTOCAD® USERS Comparing User Interfaces Compatibility of Drawing Elements Customizing and Programming BricsCAD Operating Dual-CAD Design Offices Working in 3D BIM, Sheet Metal, & Communicator Payment Information This book is covered by copyright. As the owner of the copyright, upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. gives you permission to make one print copy. You may not make any electronic copies, and you may not claim authorship or ownership of the text or figures herein. Suggested Price US$33.40 By Email Acrobat PDF format: Allow for a 15MB download. PayPal Check or Money Order To pay by PayPal, send payment to the account We can accept checks in the following of [email protected] at https://www.paypal.com/. currencies: • US funds drawn on a bank with address in the USA. Use this easy link to pay: • Canadian funds drawn on a bank with a Canadian https://www.paypal.me/upfrontezine/33.40 address (includes GST). 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All rights reserved: Worldwide 10th edition: Based on BricsCAD V17 First printing: 18 November 2016 Second printing: 11 January 2017 Technical writer: Ralph Grabowski All brand names and product names mentioned in This book is sold as is, without warranty of any kind, either this book are trademarks or service marks of their express or implied, respecting the contents of this book and respective companies. Any omission or misuse (of any disks or programs that may accompany it, including but any kind) of service marks or trademarks should not not limited to implied warranties for the book’s quality, perfor- be regarded as intent to infringe on the property mance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. of others. The publisher recognizes and respects Neither the publisher, authors, staff, or distributors shall be all marks used by companies, manufacturers, and liable to the purchaser or any other person or entity with re- developers as a means to distinguish their products. spect to any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book. Table of Contents AutoCAD-BricsCAD Dictionary ...................................................................................................................................xii 1. BricsCAD for AutoCAD Users ...................................................1 THE BRICSYS BENEFIT ...................................................................................... 2 The Agony of AutoCAD .................................................................................................................. 2 The Business of Bricsys .................................................................................................................. 3 Chapoo Project Management .....................................................................................................................4 BricsCAD is Not IntelliCAD ............................................................................................................. 5 THE BRICSCAD ADVANTAGE ............................................................................7 Near-identical User Interface ........................................................................................................ 7 Extra Commands and System Variables .....................................................................................................8 3D Direct Modeling and Constraints...........................................................................................................8 APIs and Customization ..............................................................................................................................9 Examples of Add-ons ................................................................................................................................. 10 No-charge Developer Network .................................................................................................................. 11 Support for Multiple Operating Systems .....................................................................................12 Lower Purchase and Maintenance Pricing ..................................................................................12 Keep Your BricsCAD ...................................................................................................................................13 It Makes More than Cents ..........................................................................................................................13 All About BricsCAD Bulk Licenses .............................................................................................................................. 14 What’s Missing from AutoCAD ..................................................................................................................15 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................16 Recommended Hardware ............................................................................................................16 Supported Operating Systems ..................................................................................................................17 What’s New in BricsCAD V17 ..................................................................................................................................... 18 2. Comparing User Interfaces ...................................................41 Comparison of User Interfaces .................................................................................................................................. 42 Summary of User Interface Elements .......................................................................................................................44 START SCREENS ............................................................................................... 45 VARIATIONS IN USER INTERFACE ................................................................. 46 ‘:’ vs ‘Type a Command’ ............................................................................................................... 47 Customizing the Command Prompt (BricsCAD only) ..............................................................................47 Prompt Menu (BricsCAD Only) ....................................................................................................48 Controlling the Prompt Menu (BricsCAD only) ........................................................................................48 Additional Command Options (BricsCAD only)........................................................................................49 The Quad (BricsCAD Only) ...........................................................................................................49 Drawing with the Quad .............................................................................................................................50 Displaying Properties with the Quad ........................................................................................................50 Editing with the Quad ................................................................................................................................51 DIFFERENCES IN OPTIONS, SETTINGS .......................................................... 51 Touring the Settings Dialog Box .................................................................................................. 53 Opening and Closing Nodes ...................................................................................................................... 53 Accessing and Understanding Values.......................................................................................................54 Using Real-time Search .............................................................................................................................54 Exporting Settings ..................................................................................................................................... 55 VARIATIONS IN PALETTES ............................................................................. 56 Properties Panels .........................................................................................................................56 Accessing and Moving BricsCAD Panels .................................................................................................................... 57 Layers Panels ................................................................................................................................58 Sheet Sets .....................................................................................................................................59 Mechanical Browser vs Parametrics Manager ............................................................................61