Minor details overlooked

As an applications engineer, I get numerous calls from clients asking for technial support of various nature. Some are mind-boggling that I really need to do some research or call Autodesk Support in order to find correct solutions. Some, on the otherhand, are so basic that makes me wanna laugh at times. My fellow AEs sarcastically put it as a "Format User" error.

One basic error that bugs me every-now-and-then is the "Filedia" setting. This setting controls the display of dialog boxes used with commands that read and write files.

AutoCAD users are used to seeing dialog boxes everytime they open a file. I'm gulity of this, also. A user who is not familiar with the filedia setting will just say that the program has been bugged because it displays a prompt on the command line instead of the usual dialog box.

If this happens, just type "filedia" on the command line (without the quotation marks) then input 1. Voila! Back to our old reliable, user-friendly Dialog Box.

The latest technical support I had with this setting was last week. I had the same query from the same client few months ago. I was quite surprised that she had the same problem, again. She said that the filedia didn't work anymore. By the way, she was using Map 3D 2007. After listening to her describing what was happening to her workspace, I was in doubt that something might be wrong with her procedures. According to her, she was typing "filedia" but there was an AutoCAD error. I found this a bit strange so, I asked her to send me a screenshot of the error.

Here it is:



It turned out that she was typing filedia on the prompt after she has clicked the File>Open instead of typing it in the command line. Whew!!! Oh well, she sure has overlooked some minor details there.

Confusion between 32 and 64-Bit Compatibility

A friend of mine wants to buy a laptop but then when we were about to purchase one, the specs indicate that it is a 64-bit machine. Upon noticing, we all (we were four at that time) looked at each other with a big question mark on our faces...Are Autodesk softwares ready for this type of processor? The laptop was oh sooo pretty and we wanted to buy it because of the promo discount of 10 grand...in Philippine peso of course (not to mention the free movie tickets that comes with it...). But then we all decided not to push through with buying and agreed to check first the 64-bit compatibility issue.

As an AE(Applications Engineer for Map), I once heard from one of our update trainings this issue. However, I didn't put much emphasis on it since most machines here in the Philippines run on 32-bit. Having had this same dilemma, now I know how important this issue is.

By the way, Civil 3D and Map 3D are still not ready for a 64-bit machine...and this one sure made us frown...

Finally, here is a link showing a table of compatibility between 32-bit and 64-bit machines for Autodesk products: http://www.cadforum.cz/cadforum_en/qaID.asp?tip=5536

Still an Idle Blog...

Hello there! This blog has been blank since it was created last February 2007...Oh well, been so busy and my buddy has decided to change her course. Been the only lowly AE for two months now and I can't seem to find the time to post anything. I may not be able to live up to our dream of helping those Pinoy Infrastructure Solutions users of Autodesk.

I will do my best though, will still get input from my former AE friend...whether she like it or not...For now, just visit the links to Autodesk website (by the way, it underwent a major makeover...!). Will try to post soon...Important stuffs of course!