Defining a Coordinate System in AutoCAD MAP

As you may know, AutoChart uses the geodetic functionality of AutoCAD MAP/Civil 3D to perform any geodetic calculation (such as drawing Grids and Graticules, calculation Geodetic distances and Kps or for coordinate transformations). AutoCAD has a multitude of pre-defined coordinate systems but sometimes (particularly with some obscure offshore areas) the correct definition will have to be made by the user to suit the project geodetic parameters.

Setting up a Coordinate System is a relatively easy exercise once you understand how AutoCAD defines them, although at first impression the process can appear a little daunting. We are always happy to set up a coordinate system definition for our customers given the appropriate geodetic information and a trial point. It is however a good idea to try and familiarise yourself with the process, even if it is just to check the pre-defined coordinate systems to find the one with the correct parameters.

To Define or Check an AutoCAD MAP Co-ordinate System, use

MAP->Tools->Define Global Coordinate System.

VISRETAIN, controlling the display of Xrefs

One fairly common question we get asked is from people who have inserted Xrefs into their charts and then subsequently changed colours, linetypes, layer settings etc. within the Xref. However, when viewing the Chart drawings, these changes to the Xref don’t appear to have been applied.

The solution lies within the AutoCAD drawing variable VISRETAIN

If VISRETAIN is set to 1, then the layer attributes set in the main Chart drawing rather than the Xref will be used. If you change VISRETAIN to 0 in the Chart Series drawings, then the layer attributes set in the Xref will take precedence.

AutoChart, the next generation

As a glimpse of current work in progress, I’m pleased to show a quick preview of the some of the product development we are hoping to introduce to AutoChart in 2010.

We’ve been busy rewriting AutoChart from the ground up to incorporate drawing database functionality and a much improved user interface.

As we will now be able to treat each drawing as a database and perform a command directly on this database, it means that AutoChart no longer has to physically open each drawing, perform the command operation and then close and save it before moving on to the next in the chart series. This gives the great advantage of massively improving performance so that the command operations are completed much faster (especially on charts with lots of existing data). The improvement is in the order of 10 – 1000 times faster!

It also gives a much greater level of robustness, removing potential crashes due to AutoCAD running out of memory.

The User Interface is also being brought more up-to-date giving the User more configurability in the size and position of the dialog box. We are also introducing greater file and folder functionality along with User Interface error highlighting.

Keeping up-to-Date with AutoChart

For the first proper post in our blog, I’d like to present a quick round up of the current version of AutoChart. New versions of the software are released at varying intervals, usually dependant on the number of modifications and fixes incorporated. We will often send out Interim versions of the software in response to particular Support requests until these modifications can be incorporated into a full release.

The latest full Install of AutoChart is currently 2010.00.01 released on 15/04/2009. If you intend to use AutoChart with AutoCAD 2010, then you’ll need to use this version, however, it is compatible with AutoCAD 2006 and above and so can be used with these earlier editions of AutoCAD. This release incorporates a number of updates and improvements over the previous 2000.05.44 and earlier versions and we’d encourage users to upgrade to the latest version.

Welcome to the Wish Software Blog

Welcome to the Wish Software blog. Here you'll be able to find details on the latest AutoChart and VisualGIS/HydroGIS releases along with help articles on commonly asked questions and problems, AutoCAD and ESRI tips and further details about on-going development of our software products.

We hope that you'll find this a useful addition to our traditional Support resources. If you have any comments or requests for articles then please let us know.