What is new in 4MCAD21

I. Highlights for 4MCAD PRO v.21

Interoperability – working with files

• PDF to CAD conversion (DWG file)
• Import Revit files (RFA and RVT format files)
• Import and export IGES format files
• Import and export STEP format files
• Working with point clouds – attaching point cloud .rcp/.rcs files

New BIM entities/objects

• ADT Objects (architectural desktop objects): Creates ADT walls, openings (windows, doors), curtain walls, stairs, ramps, roofs, rails, studs, joists etc
• Conversion of entities to walls and slabs.
• Steel Elements: creates steelwork elements: profiles, plates, bolts, studs, joists etc.
• Wood Elements: creates woodwork elements.
• Creation of elevation lines and section lines.

3D Solid Modelling

• Conversion of entities to three-dimensional meshes or surfaces using the Convert to Mesh and Convert to Surface commands.
• Facet Modeler to draw these 3D entity types: box (FMBOX), cone (FMCONE), cylinder (FMCYLINDER), pyramid (FMPYRAMID), sphere (FMSPHERE), and torus (FMTORUS).
• Draw construction lines using the new Construction Line command.
• FM3DCONVERT and FMEXTRUDE commands to convert more types of three-dimensional entities to other types of three-dimensional entities.
• Editing of the 3D entities of the new Facet Modeler: 3D convert (FM3DCONVERT), extrude (FMEXTRUDE), intersect (FMINTERSECT), revolve (FMREVOLVE), subtract (FMSUBTRACT), and union (FMUNION).

II. General New Features for 4MCAD v.21

(Applied to all versions - 4MCAD Classic, 4MCAD Standard and 4MCAD PRO)

Latest DWG format

• Read/Write to Autocad2018 format (previous version 19 had only the Read function)

Interface

• Tool Palette (acad-like Tool Palette)
• Ribbon menus & menu bar interface, both together at the same time.
• “Save Workspace”command (WSSAVE)for saving a workspace and its settings.
• “Close All Others” command (CLOSEALLOTHER) to close all drawing windows except the current one.
• Other improvements: Quick CUI command, Right-click a drawing tab to see options for the tab, Cursor Types (regular, gunsightand XOR when overlapping a same color area), etc

Blocks and External references

• New command Convert Block to XRef to convert each occurrence of a selected block to an external reference.

Selecting and modifying entities

• Selection Filter command to display the Selection Filter pane (allowing to filter and select entities by layer, color, entity type, and linetype).
• Selection Cycling tab to specify how to select when selecting entities that overlap.
• Overkill command to delete or combine duplicate or overlapping entities.
• View and select a range of actions on the Undo/Redo toolbar
• Thicken command to convert surfaces and meshes into three-dimensional solids with a specified thickness (4MCAD PRO).
• Additional grips and properties to polygons, rectangles and break lines, for smart editing.

Viewing

• New CAMERA command to create and modify view settings for a drawing.

Text

• Work with multiline text using right-to-left fonts.
• Create additional types of lists for multiline text.
• Resize text using the Scale Text command.
• Draw a circle, rectangle, or dashed line around text using the Enclose Text with Shape command.
• Position text within a defined space using the Text Fit command.

Print

• Export Layout to Model (.dwg)
• Publish drawings to DWF and DWFx.
• Auto Publish command to automatically create electronic files (.dwf/.pdf) from the current drawing.

APIs

• .NET wrappers for architectural objects.
• Load IRX applications automatically in IntelliCAD via the registry.

Enhanced Performance

• Improved performance when snapping to .pdf files, blocks with many nested entities and point clouds.
• Zoom and Pan, 3 times faster for clipped external references.
• Opening external reference files much faster.
• Improved performance when selecting by window.
• Incremental saving of .dwg files is supported, providing much faster saving of large .dwg files that contain only a few changes.
• New system variables: AECAUTOUPDATE, AUTOMATICPUB, AUTOPUBLISHPATH, BLOCKEDITLOCK, CROSSHAIRMODE, OVERKILLMODE, OVERKILLTOLERANCE, OVERKILLTOLARCCHORD, OVERKILLTOLARCENDPOINT, REFPATHTYPE, SELECTIONCYCLING, SJTABTINDEX, TASKBAR, WOODTABINDEX, and XREFNOTIFY.

Previous Updates (4MCAD19)

Working with Files

• Version 2018/2019 .dwg files are opened and converted to version 2013 .dwg files.

• Export to a 3D .pdf file
• Export to a 2D .pdf file now includes new compression modes, image clipping, and gradient hatches.
• For .pdf, .dwg, and .dgn underlays, new support includes monochrome, fade, background color adjust, show, and show clipped properties.
• Export to a .bmp file now supports visual styles.
• Search for files when using the Open command by clicking Tools > Find.
• More options are available for attaching point cloud files using the Point Cloud Underlay command.

Performance Enhancements
• Increased performance when working with many external references.
• Increased performance for PDF creation and reduction of resulting .pdf file size
• Increased selection performance in drawings with complex blocks.
• Improved pan and zoom speed for very large drawing files.
• New CACHEFILES will externally cache layout data to enhance layout switching performance and memory usage.

• Improved entity snap performance in drawings with underlays.

• Improved redraw performance when creating and updating entities in a drawing that has a large number of existing entities

Text
• New multiline text editor allows users to edit multiline text in place. However, not all multiline text features are implemented in the new editor. To switch to the older dialog box version of the multiline text editor, set the MTEXTED system variable to "oldeditor".
• New Field command allows users to create a field as multiline text

• The in-place Multiline Text editor now supports line spacing, lists, and paragraph justification.

• Use the new Explode Text command to break multiline text and single-line text into polylines.

• The new Auto Number command adds numbering to text, multiline text, multileaders, or block attributes

Hatches
• New dialog box interface for the Boundary Hatch command.
• HATCHTOBACK command moves hatches to the back of the draw order.
User Interface
• Show drawings on individual tabs in the main 4MCAD window. Use the Options command, click the Display tab, then click MDI Options to specify settings for drawing tabs.
• Easily save workspaces by clicking Workspaces in the status bar and choosing Save Current As.
• The Drawing Settings command has improved user interface that uses tabs instead of drop-down lists that were used previously.
• Added -MENUUNLOAD command line version.

Selecting and modifying entities

• Search for entities that match properties of other entities using the new Select Similar command. The entities with properties that match are then added to the selection set.

• The new Explode Attributes command ungroups blocks, creating separate entities for each element and converting attributes to text.

• The new Get Selection command selects all entities in a drawing that match both the layer of an entity you select and the type of an entity you select.

Working with entities
• New dialog box for the REFEDIT command and new -REFEDIT command
• New dialog box for the ARRAY command and new -ARRAY command.
• New TEXTTOFRONT command moves text, dimensions, and leaders to the front of other entities.
Viewing and rendering drawings
• New commands VPMAX and VPMIN allowing users to maximize and minimize viewports.
More features
• Select entities by creating filters using the Filter command.

• New Filter option for the -LAYER command.

• When using the Print command, you can now select print transparency.

• The Properties pane now supports more entities and additional properties, such as light entities and light properties, material properties, etc.
• Entity snapping for underlays are now accessible using the Options command.
• New BCOUNT command counts the number of blocks in a selection set.
• New IMAGEFRAMEMODE command controls whether image frames are visible and printed.
• New command line version commands: -MENU and -MENULOAD.
APIs
• 4MCAD19 8.3 uses Teigha version 4.2.0 from Open Design Alliance.
• Major LISP upgrade (VL*, VLA*, VLAX* functions).

• Updated .NET API with new functions
• .NET plugins can now be autoloaded.
System Variables
• Added or updated: ARTISANLICENSE, AUDIONOTETOOLTIP, BLOCKCACHE, CACHEFILES, CACHEMAXFILES, CACHEMAXTOTALSIZE, DGNOSNAP, DRAWINGTYPE, DTEXTED, DWFOSNAP, HYPERLINKBASE, LAYLOCKFADECTL, ORBITPREVIEWDELAY, PDFOSNAP, RENDERPLANARENTS, SHOWGRIPMENUS, SKETCHMODE, UNDERLAYFADEDEFAULT, WNDCUSDLGPOS, WNDCUSDLGSIZE, WSAUTOSAVE, XDWGFADECTL, XFADECTL, DTEXTED, GFANG, GFCLR1, GFCLR2, GFCLRLUM, GFCLRSTATE, GFNAME, GFSHIFT, MDISTYLE, MTEXTED, TEXTED, TEXTEDITMODE, XCLIPFRAME. BLIPSIZE, IFCOSNAP, MLEADERSCALE, SELECTSIMILARMODE, SNAPSIZE, UOSNAP

4MCAD is available in four versions:

4MCAD Viewer: CAD Viewing & Printing plus adding texts & dimensions

4MCAD Classic: 2D/3D CAD Complete Design (lowest price/highest value for the 2D designers)

4MCAD Standard: 4MCAD Classic + Raster Image + Rendering

4MCAD PRO (Professional): 4MCAD Standard + Files (BIM/IFC, STEP, IGES, Revit-RFA/RVT, +PDF2DWG) + ADT Objects (Conventional/Steel/Wood) + 3D Solids + VBA support + Library Manager