Quick note : the last version is 2.00 (previous were : 1.00)
And you can download it from here :
http://www.theswamp.org/lilly_pond/index.php?dir=iliekater/&file=FreeCAD%202.00%20Full.zip Finally , after many delays and lot of tiredness , sweat and fatigue , I managed to complete the second version of FreeCAD . Those of you who have tried the first version , will observe major improvements and add-ons . All changes , improvements etc are listed below . However , I’d like before that to say a few word about FreeCAD .
FreeCAD is the first of my two free programs , the first being PIXIS which deals with thermal projects , collective laws and many more , but which I haven’t translated it because it makes use of Greek laws and therefore practically could not be used elsewhere
Although it may not looks like it , FreeCAD has a (even a small one) history . It first appeared in 2002 (if I remember well) when for the first time I made public some of my applications and block libraries for AutoCAD in CADalog.com . However , the luck was not by its side since only a few days later the site’s owner changed and it was converted to a purely advertising site . There followed universities , the army , many other problems etc , until on 2006 FreeCAD returned with version 1.00 , which although it had less applications that the initial version , it was clearly better (I started using VBA instead of DCL , I populated the libraries etc) and to reappear again in 2008 with version 2.00 . Like in the past , all of FreeCAD’s contents are actually part of a third program of mine , KaterWARE , which I use in the berou and which it has many mpre applications which I hope to transfer in the future to FreeCAD (commands for walls , doors , windows , for both 2D and 3D , topography’s etc) . I could simply add all of these applications from now , but they use old code (static paths , windows on DCL etc) which most probably will confuse the users rather than helping them .
I don’t want you to confuse FreeCAD as an extraordinary program · it is simply a collections of block libraries and applications made to execute simple operations which I considerate important in a drawing program .
For example , with FreeCAD you can specify easily and quickly the parameters for texts and dimensions according to your wish and the plot scale without numerous trials ; to set as the dimension symbol the classic symbol of the inclined line without however having to extend uselessly the dimensions ; to insert inclined comments · to draw various lines (i.e. interrupted , ditches and other characteristicall) with specific characteristics (i.e. the distance between the gaps etc) ; to insert section symbols ; to convert distances from one scale to another ; to create the paper sheets directly in the model space ; to minimize the dialog boxes and to restore them when you want to without having to close the whole command ; to insert NUMEROUS symbols for both architectural and installations ; to insert description charts for the previous symbols . By the way , FreeCAD does not have 50 neither 100 blocks ; in fact , it doesn’t even have 200 . It has about 2700 blocks ! in these are not included the description blocks for the charts (with them the number increases to 3360 ! ) .
Also ,in all of the applications that have settings , they are already optimized to their best values , therefore the only thing the user might have to do is to press the Apply button or to change the plot scale setting .
Nevertheless ,most possibly the most important FreeCAD’s characteristic is something else and specifically the fact that it is simultaneously in two languages . Thus , with a single click from the settings , everyone can set the program from Greek to English .
Another important characteristic is the fact that for every application of FreeCAD , you can access Help files which describe the use of each of the commands . Therefore , by going from the menu FreeCAD > Help , you’ll be able to select for which application you would like information (you should have however Word installed , because the Help files are stored as Word documents) .
I make it clear that I prohibit the use of FreeCAD for money-gaining reasons . By that I don’t mean not to sell the drawings you plotted from FreeCAD , but not to sell the program itself . FreeCAD is made to be shared freely and freely it should be shared .
In order to use FreeCAD , you should have :
- Installed AutoCAD 2004 or later .
- 53 Mbytes in the hard disk in order to download it .
- Another 190 Mbytes for it to be installed .
- Installed Access 2000 or later (I am not absolutely sure about that – you might not need it at all) .
- Installed Word (no matter of version) in order to read the help files .
- Screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768 .
- 2000 € which to transfer it to my personal account (just kidding ! ) .
It is mentioned that FreeCAD has been tried on AutoCAD 2004 , and therefore it should work on AutoCAD 2005 and 2006 , while it also has been tried on AutoCAD 2008 , and thus most possibly it will also work on AutoCAD 2007 and 2009 .
Η μόνη διαφορά που παρατήρησα κάτα το πέρασμα από το AutoCAD 2004 στο 2008 ήταν πως τα αρχεία του Word αργού λίγο να ανοίξουν . Για ότι άλλα προβλήματα και τις λύσεις τους , μπορείτε να πληροφορηθείτε από τα αντίστοιχα αρχεία βοήθειας των ακάστοτε εντολών .
Below there is list of all applications contained in FreeCAD along with all changes that occurred with the last version . They can be read more easily in this Word file :
http://rapidshare.com/files/101812941/1.doc.htmlFreeCAD 1.00Created New Commands :
- GLOBALSETTINGS : Global FreeCAD’s adjustments
- FreeCADHelp : Shows help documents
- ELECTRICALBLOCKS : Electrical blocks , chart and lines
- FIREWAREBLOCKS : Fireware blocks , chart and lines
- BATHBLOCKS : Bath symbols
- ULTRAMOVE : Repeats the Move command
- ULTRACOPY : Repeats the Copy command
- ULTRATRIM : Repeats the Trim command
- SUPERSTRETCH : Stretches faster than the AutoCAD’s command
- LoadFreeCADSupportPaths : It loads the FreeCAD’s necessary support paths
- LoadFreeCADMenu_Greek : It loads the FreeCAD’s Greek menu
- LoadFreeCADMenu_English : It loads the FreeCAD’s English menu
- UnloadFreeCADmenu : It unloads (any) FreeCAD’s menu (for new version installation)
- [ Diverse ] : It’s not a command.It just contains various functions
FreeCAD 2.00Created New Commands :
- VARIOUSBLOCKS : Various blocks , chart and lines
- DRAININGBLOCKS : Draining blocks , chart and lines
- WATERBLOCKS : Water blocks , chart and lines
- HEATINGBLOCKS : Heating blocks , chart and lines
- AIRCONDITIONBLOCKS : Aircondition blocks , chart and lines
- GROUNDINGBLOCKS : Grounding blocks , chart and lines
- KITCHENBLOCKS : Kitchen blocks
- FURNITUREBLOCKS : Furniture blocks
- PLANTBLOCKS: Plant blocks
- ULTRASCALE : Repeats the SCALE command
- ULTRAALIGN : Repeats the ALIGN command
- ULTRAMIRROR : Repeats the MIRROR command
- ULTRAEXTEND : Repeats the EXTEND command
- ULTRAUNDO : Repeats the UNDO command
- ULTRAREDO : Repeats the REDO command
- SUPERMOVE : Moves faster than the AutoCAD’s command
- SUPERCOPY : Copies faster than the AutoCAD’s command
- MOVEANDROTATE : Moves and immediately rotates
- OFFSETANDERASE : Offsets and erases the initial object
- EXTRUDEBUTDONTERASE : Extrudes but doesn’t erases the initial objects
- SUBTRACTBUTDONTERASE : Subtracts but doesn’t erases the initial solids
- ULTRACOPYANDERASE : Copies more than once and erases the initial object
- CONVERTSCALEUNITS : Converts distances from one scale to another
- KATERDIMENSIONSTYLE : Creates dimension styles
- VARIOUSBLOCKS_With_Text_Activated_Tab : The VARIOUSBLOCKS with the “Text” tab activated
- VARIOUSBLOCKS_With_Lines_Activated_Tab : The VARIOUSBLOCKS with the “Lines” tab activated
- QUICKBLOCK : Select objects and quickly turn them into a block
- SHOWPATHOFTEMPORARYFILES : Shows the path where the temporary files are saved
Added - 236 bath blocks (too many to describe here)
- 42 electrical blocks (lighting corps and others)
- 45 fireware blocks (extinguishers, exits , detectors and many others)
- Comment to the invisible line of Fireware blocks : "... line of extinguishing net" .
- Support for missing font file .
- On the dialog boxes of both ELECTRICALBLOCKS and FIREAREBLOCKS commands ,
the user can now select to insert arrows and text in the drawing or calculate and insert distances for drawn objects .
Changed - ImprovedOn all block commands :
- No longer the user can set non-numeric values to some textboxes (which lead to problems) .
- No longer the user has to completely close the command in order to actually change the language .
- Reloading time is reduced to nothing (actually , after they are first loaded , they are no longer unloaded) .
- No need to to reload from the beginning when changing on a new or another AutoCAD window ! !
- Added new button in the "Various actions" : Move and rotate
- Made sure that the ATTDIA system variable be 1 so if any attributes are to be inserted , windows to be used .
- Improved the way the blocks are inserted and now they are inserted correctly as far as concerning the OSNAPs (since they were inserted after the user specified an insertion point , their own OSNAPs affected the base point for rotation which came after insertion) .
- When hiding again the main dialog box , the small dialog box (the one with the "Return" button) stays where it was last let to be (it is no longer moved to the upper left corner of the screen) , therefore now it can be placed indeed where the user prefers it to be .
On all relative dimensions block commands :
- Added one more verification and now the user cannot set a lineweight other than those supported by AutoCAD .
- Added two more buttons for "Chart actions" (Insert only Header and Deselect descriptions ) .
- Added buttons and settings so that the user may insert text and dots .
- Made sure that the line settings deactivate themselves when the user effectuates insertion actions (insert block , arrow , distance , text and dot , chart , headers etc)
- Improved preview image for Fire cupboard and Fire hose on the Chart tab of the Fireware blocks command .
- Improved greatly the speed for ULTRATRIM so now it works fine even when there are numerous objects in the drawing .
- Changed the decryptions for some fireware blocks .
- Changed the recommended lineweights at the FIREWARE BLOCKS command and also enlarged those buttons in order to fit the english translation .
- Redefined some of the Electrical blocks in order to be inserted and rotated better while others no longer have problem even if they contain lines on interrupted linetype .
- In the Global Settings dialog box , now the current version is displayed .
- The language option butons in the Global Settings dialog box now have a correspondent icon (a little flag) next to them in order to distinguish the desired language .
- Now all FreeCAD's dialog boxes won't try to restore themselves when pressing the "Return" button in case there is NO drawing opened (previously , by calling back a hidden dialog with no AutoCAD file opened lead to crashing that dialog box since VBA does not allow a dialog box to be opened when there is no drawing opened) ! ! !
- The reminders (files for storing settings) are no longer deleted during closing the opened files(something that lead in “forgetting” the settings) , but instead are deleted when whole AutoCAD shuts down .
Corrected - The bug conform which some commands forced the NOMUTT system variable to be set on value 1 resulting in missing some of the messages printed on the command line .
- The caption of the main dialog box for Fireware blocks (instead of Fireware blocks , it read Electrical blocks) .
- Minor corrections in the greek help file about Fireware blocks .
- The bug conform which sometimes the text height of Fireware lines containing texts were not set correctly .
- Bug : sometimes the ULTRACOPY and ULTRAMOVE used to use the previous basepoint .
- The description of the fireware blocks "Ceiling extinguisher" .
- The greek translation on Real Escape Distance on a label on the FIREWAREBLOCKS command .
- Redefined around 400 of bathroom blocks because they contained the layer "Text" .
- Redefined 3 fireware description blocks because they were not drawn correctly .
- The bug when the Activated / Deactivated Line Settings tonggle button (on dialog boxes supporting line settings) was improperly translated upon language changing .
Below there fellow some pictures of the FreeCAD’s dialog boxes :
Therefore if you are interested in this little program , you may downloaded from the link provided at the beginning of this post .
Let me specify here that FreeCAD does not affect any other programs you may run over AutoCAD . FreeCAD does not alter any of AutoCAD files and therefore you don't have to worry about any modifications .
Before closing , I would like to thank those who helped me on AutoCAD’s programming and generally on topics about AutoCAD . I don’t know the full names of all of them , however they are available in the various forums using the nicknames : Keith Blackie , Daron , CAB , t-bear , Trev , Bob Wahr and , unfortunately , namy others whose nicknames I forgot through the years . Finally I will mention Yronium , who although helped me on topics about pure VB , still contributed on my further understanding of VBA . The mentioning of their names is the least I could do for the help they provided me .
Finally , I would like to thank the theswamp.org site for hosting my files .
For questions , comments , thanks and curses (!) , contact me at :
ilie_programs@yahoo.com (προσοχή στη γραμμούλα “_” ) .
