A brief history of recent changes to gCADPlus.
V 12.1 August 2024
V 11.0
V 10.9
We have added a link to the gCADPlus User Guide on the Help drop-down menu. The link now calls a searchable PDF version of the manual.
V 10.8
Improved responses to items used when generating plant schedules
V 10.7
Minor bug fixes.
v 10.6
Symbols made using point or linear gradients now allow for a ‘see-through’ option simply by changing the gradient’s transparency value.
V 10.5
Many new symbols have been added, using the new gradient and point fill tools.
V 10.4
We have improved the link on the gCADPlus drop-down menu to enable access to additional symbol palettes while working inside gCADPlus.
The clarity of query question prompts in the gCADPlus Sustainability Calculator has been improved. An initial default value of 5.0 has been set for each query, with an initial overall starting sustainability rating of 4.33. This default value has been set to encourage designers to aim for a rating above 5.0. Users can now download a palette of ‘sustainability’ symbols that, among other symbols, contains a button that can be used to apply to a design after running the calculator.
We have improved the operation of the shadow command.
Labelling symbols using BroadScale tools has been improved. Text is now visible in modelspace if the background is white. There is no longer a need to change the layer property from ByBlock to By Layer.
The MTEXT command now has a default text height that is more suited to common design spaces. Scaling a Mtext entity to make the text visible should no longer be necessary.
We have added new buttons (Mtext, Single Line Text, Windows Text, and Arc Text) for various text styles accessed via the draw drop menu.
v 10.3
When the command AUTOLABEL is used, the result is placed on layer L-AUTOLABEL. The line thickness for that layer is now set to 0.00 mm for crisper printing, and the colour of the text is now set such that it displays clearly when the background is white.
V 10.2
We have made a significant improvement to hatching. It is now possible to point to an area that needs hatching, and gCADPlus radiates out and finds a suggested boundary. A polyline is created automatically at the boundary.
Added extra symbols and palettes.
If spacing in a leader is altered, it is remembered when the drawing file is closed and reopened. For improved clarity, the default value is now set to 0.5.
PDF generated from gCADPlus can now be color-enhanced using IrfanView.
V 10.1
The count now shows the number of objects removed by the purge objects command (PURGEX), which gives feedback that the drawing file has been cleaned.
Improve the “Select a plant” dialogue box when setting plant species names to a symbol. Selection of a plant species from the attached gcp file is much easier.
A fix was made to a rare bug. If users start a new drawing and use the BLOCKS command to insert a drawing containing nested blocks, all works well. However, if they insert a second drawing that also contains internal blocks with the same names, gCADPlus crashes and restarts. That no longer occurs.
We have added a link to the FILESIZE command on the File drop menu. Users can now check the size of the drawing they are working on with a single click.
We have improved the SMARTLABEL tool. If a white background is used, the label now shows more clearly.
V 10.0
We have implemented a common user request to allow gCADPlus to snap to handles inside a block. Previously, it was only possible to snap to the insertion point of a block.
If text in a leader covers multiple lines, it is now possible to adjust the line spacing.
Generating PDFs from gCADPlus can cause gCADPlus to fail. We have increased the resolution—a new max option is now available. This provides a reasonably high-quality PDF ready for enhancement in image editors if required.
We have improved the sort options in the Properties box. When a user selects a mixed group of entities with (say) polylines, circles, and text in the mix, it is possible to choose (say) circles from the set and operate on them (the circles). We highlight the entity that’s been chosen in light green.
Improvements to TEXTALIGN command. Previous versions required users to select each piece of text in turn. It is now possible to use a window to select multiple text entities.