Upgrading to MAP 3D 2006!!! Alternative Energy Sources and The Big Presentation

To summarize my recent Map 3D install:

You know the drill, Turn off all of the little things IT has in my tray.

Install (I really wish the 'insert disk 2' notification would come with a sound effect, to grab my attention as I'm keeping myself occupied with the latest issue of AUGIWorld magazine... who knows HOW long I was sitting there) goes pretty smoothly. It's nice that there's an option to install the express tools at the same time, so, hopefully there will be a lot of less of the ~scratches head~ 'hey, I can't access the flatten command anymore', sort of thing.

So, I fire up MAP, choose to migrate all of my settings. Hmm, white background. What is up with that?

It got the color of my command line background correct, why not my model space color?

Soooo, no MAP menu, and no Express Menu??? Type expresstools at the command line... no dice... go to customize (right-click on your toolbars, or type CUI).

For some reason, I can't load the acmap.cui through the menuload command, but, I can load the acetmain.cui, which then shows the express menu.

I do some reading on the Autodesk Discussion groups, as I knew I'd seen this come up recently.

Here are some more 2006 posts from that group. There are only a few posts so far on AUGI.

So, I take the advice of a user on the Autodesk forums, and uninstall/reinstall WITHOUT the Migration Assistance tools. When you install, select 'custom install' and deselect 'migrate custom settings' (about 2/3 of the way down the list).

I go through the install again, and pull up the program. DANG... now the model space background is bright blue. Blech! Wazzup wit dat!?!?

So, I right-click on a toolbar to access the menu for turning on/off toolbars, and I turn on the toolbar that says 'workspaces' > select 'Map Classic' and voila' there are all of the menus, etc you are used to (including the Express menu).

As a matter of trivia. I also have vanilla 2002 and map 2005sp2 installed side-by-side. I had vanilla 2006 installed for a while, too, with no problems. I'm running Win XP pro sp2.

Okay, so, what do I do to get ready to roll?

First things first, I change up my Options and make sure they're all just as I like them:

***Options

First of all, I'd like to state that the shadows on the text are ANNOYING to say the least. Makes me wonder what my coffee had in it.

***Display Tab

change ms bg to #9

change command line background to maroon and text to white (hey, I gotta be me)

***Open and Save Tab

Uncheck = Display Digital Signatures

Uncheck = Show Proxy Info Dialog Box

***Plot and Publish

adjust plot stamp settings to only include filename/path and make the text size smaller

***Systems /User Preferences/Drafting Tabs

no changes

***Selection

Selection preview set to 'Thicken'

Effect Opacity bumped up to 45 (I'm blind, OK)

Exclude Hatches as well as X-refs from rollover highlighting > A MUST 

Enable grips within blocks 

Use Shift to Add Selection > how many times have I forgotten that till I'd messed up a selection?

*** After changing options, I set up my communication center preferences. Almost as an afterthought, I remembered to rename my profile, and export the .arg to the server for safekeeping. 

I typically turn off all of the toolbars, and just keep one up with the 30 or so buttons that I need most often. 

All in all, it wasn't too painful of an upgrade, I've had worse. The thing about the MAP menu going missing was a bit of a pain, and reinstalling was a HUGE pain..

Another thing on my mind was the discussion of 'Peak Oil' by David Kingsley 'On the Back Page' of AUGIworld. There are a couple of on-going discussions about energy in the CWC and Out There forums on AUGI (please note, you must be logged in to see the off-topic forums).

I'd like it if some people chimed in to give their opinions on how the average Joe/Jane can be a driving force behind alternative energy sources to get us away from dependence on fossil fuels.

I did my 'Past/Present/Future of FM' presentation last Thursday. I'm really trying to be a driving force to get some more staff around here. We have an annual conference where the different engineering/planning/maintenance groups can share progress on their goals as well as visions of the future.

Of course, during the break I get a bunch of, 'you know what we could do!?!!?' approaches. ~chuckles~ 

The point was that I was able to demonstrate all of the areas where we are now lacking, and it will take the involvement of all of these departments being clear about what they need/what they are willing to pay for/what they are willing to stop demanding.

I really feel that this was a really good exchange for all parties present.

I will be getting together soon with the Director of my department to go over in detail a staffing/services recommendation report that I put together last year. It will be really interesting to get the advice and opinions of someone in management, as his perspective will surely differ greatly from mine.

Wish me luck on getting something going with that!

Oh, all of my furniture is now put together! I am still unpacking, but, ~shrug~ am sure that will never quite end (edit from 2008: I was right. After my move this summer, I found things that I'd never unpacked from my previous three moves).

Happy CADding