[Solved?] Blocks, Library, Edit Block, Edit Block In Place

[CVH]

BTW: Why did you decide to switch from FastCAD to Qcad?

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Regards,
CVH

[Husky]

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[CVH]

Probably because I dug the information up based on a phrase in this topic:
https://www.qcad.org/rsforum/viewtopic. ... 634#p42634

Andrew judging their website by date but the current date and time are displayed, last update was 28-June-2014.
The price then was $595 compared to 35-50€ for a QCAD pro licence.

Regards,
CVH

[Chips&Chips]

Ctrl-i

Great shortcut! I should have noticed it. It is in the menu. In the past I have only used a few keyboard shortcuts in the programs that I use. I prefer menu bars, the ones with icons. Thanks for calling my attention to it and also to the need to pick up more of them.

RE: Changing from FastCAD. For several decades, at least 30+ years I was an EasyCAD and then FastCAD fan. Both were from Evolution Computing with Mike Riddle as the CEO, probably owner, and head programmer. He came from the group which started AutoCAD and was a wiz at CAD software.

They also had an excellent bulletin board, similar to this one, where you could discuss problems and Mike was there. He always read the comments and was fast to implement corrections to problems and open to creating new features. That was a stark contrast to the people who remained at AutoCAD where contact with the actual programmers was difficult, to say the least. And they had a serious "our way or the highway" attitude. Needless to say, I took the highway: I never liked AutoCAD. But back to Mr. Riddle. On one occasion I posted a problem with a command. He had a revised version of the program, with the corrected command on the web site where all users of the current version could download it THE VERY NEXT DAY. THE VERY NEXT DAY! That's not an exaggeration. Again, needless to say, I was impressed.

On top of that, EasyCAD/FastCAD had some great features. First, they WERE EASY to learn. They were probably the easiest CAD programs I ever used. If you look at the screen captures I have posted here, you will see another great feature: many of the icons in the tool bars were not in the original program release. The users were able to create custom icons and even new tool bars to put them in. And those custom icons were not limited to the original command set: I created a number of custom macros (scripts) that created new commands. Things like a bolt circle or polygons that could be specified by things like the size of a side and angle or a series of text labels that could have prefixes or suffixes or both and with a series of numbers that could start and stop at any value. These were great time savers with the kind of work I do.

I still have a working copy of FastCAD as well as the installation program which I can use to have it on another computer. But sadly Evolution Computing seems to have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Their web site is mostly non-functional. The bulletin board is just gone. I fear that Mike Riddle was a great programmer but he did not create an enduring business. It is not to be found. I am making the transition to 3D CAD. But there are many tasks, like my present project, where a good 2D CAD program is a lot easier to use - at least for me. And I have a large number of existing drawings that I wish to continue to have access to. So my existing copy of FastCAD can save in the .dxf format which QCAD uses. I have a lot of files to convert before Microsoft makes some change that renders my FastCAD inert. So, basically I have been forced into the change. I am 80 years old and hopefully it will be my last 2D change.

Anyway, thanks for the shortcut. I really should have noticed it but I have been tearing my hair out over things like Blocks and Block Attributes.

Part of my problem is I am accustomed to changing the grid on-the-fly. In the photo that I have attached, you can see how this is made easy in my old CAD program with an Icon on the right (red box). Without going to any menu I could instantly get a pop-up window with the grid settings while drawing.

Use the shortcut Ctrl+I in Qcad and you are only one click away from the grid settings. I would call it "on-the-fly" too ...

BTW: Why did you decide to switch from FastCAD to Qcad?

[Chips&Chips]

My apology if I ignored Andrew's question. I thought it was answered when CVH brought up some of my previous comments and also the apparent absence of a real web presence of Evolution Computing. Stated plainly, my reason for looking for a new 2D CAD program was that FastCAD was a dead end product with ZERO support. One day Microsoft will upgrade Windows to a point where FastCAD just won't run. Ya just gotta move on.

As for the price CVH quoted for FastCAD, $595, I never paid anywhere near that price. I started with EasyCAD, a version of FastCAD with fewer features, back in the 90s I think, and only paid around $45 for it. There were always attractive upgrade prices over the years and I don't think I paid $595 in total for all the versions that I purchased: probably closer to $250 in total, including that initial $45.

QCAD's price is a bargain and I had no real problem with the amount. I did want to try the free version for a bit longer time before buying but found the path to that was a bit confusing. And the more I use it, the more I do like QCAD. It has features that FastCAD didn't and I am finding work-arounds for the areas that I miss - one at at time.

And this BB and you guys are great. I think I made the right decision.

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