GTWorks™ Enhancements in year 1997

1. The memory management has been improved to allow larger size models to be processed and to support more copies of the software being used on the same computer
2. The SEAL routines are distributed in source code form with the Application Interface (AI) features of the Professional Version of the software
3. An hourglass cursor is now displayed whenever the system is making a lengthy calculation
4. A rescale on/off/prompt modal has been added as menu 1.17
5. A point at the center of a circle has been improved to support ellipses (menu 9.6)
6. A reverse blank function has been added (menu 2.13)
7. The REJECT function key is more consistent in the Point menu to step back one prompt
8. The REJECT function key is more consistent in the Line menu
9. The Screen Position Line function (menu 10.1) has been modified so that the end of the first defined line is automatically the start of the second line for easier chaining of lines. Press the REJECT key to restart the beginning of a subsequent line
10. Rubberbanding is supported for joining two entities (menu 10.3)
11. The REJECT function key is more consistent in the Arc/Circle/Fillet menu to step back one prompt
12. The DXF converter has been changed for successful input to R13-C4 software. A header is written to the DXF files by default and the iges1003 font specification in the tables section has been removed. Available on the BBS at 630-682-4245.
13. Trailing zeroes in IGES file output for numbers such as 0.0 and 1.0 have been removed to decrease file size. Available on the BBS at 630-682-4245.
14. A "-decimal_places" option has been added to IGES file output to decrease the number of decimal places from the maximum of 15 to a user-specified lower value in order to decrease IGES file sizes. Use this new option whenever the data being transferred is very large or the extra accuracy of 15 decimal places is not required. Available on the BBS at 630-682-4245.
15. IGES file output has been modified to decrease the size of double precision numbers that have previously been output with more than the maximum 15 digits of precision. This change corrects for unrealistic precision expectations and reduces the output file size. Available on the BBS at 630-682-4245.
16. The IGES file input translator (gtwpost.exe) has been modified to eliminate the need for using the "-clean" option when reading IGES files than came from a Unix computer (have a newline character at the end of each record instead of the expected CR-LF). Available on the BBS at 630-682-4245 or on this Web site in file igesin.exe.
17. Support for roll-feed plotters under Windows 95 has been improved. The specific plotter being tested for this improvement was an HP Design Jet c2848a.
18. The REJECT function key is more consistent in the Enhanced Plot II menu (menu 7.1) to step back one prompt.
19. An error has been corrected that prevented the "INSERT" command to be processed when reading NC macro files.
20. File auosi.dll had been updated to allow a specified starting directory of e:\ , etc.
21. A Windows style file dialog box has been activated for saving and retrieving files. Modify your GTWorks shortcut string to include the option "-w" or "-windows" to set your system to use this file dialog mode as the default (example shortcut; "c:\gtworks.exe -w -s swfile"). This option also work when using AI applications.
22. The Support Engineer Application Library (SEAL) Version 6.0 has been compiled and added to the Application Interface source files (file ai.exe linked to the GTWorks product page). This library is the result of many years of field support engineer's programming efforts with customers. This library is free of charge to all GTWorks Professional users. See the readme.txt file within the ai.exe self-expanding file for instructions of activating the library.
23. The Windows style file dialog box has been modified to display a message on whether the list is for a saving or retrieval operation.
24. The plotting function will now properly read the default plotter index and default paper size index from the quick_plot.mf file.
25. The Finite Element Preprocessor functionality is now implemented in the Professional version of the software. Users who download the latest production software dated August 18, 1997, and who also use the Application Interface features must download the latest ai.exe file and recompile their applications using the latest aiftn3.lib and aihooks.exp files contained within ai.exe.
26. An HPGL formatted file is now listed at the bottom of the plotter selection menu to allow users to make straightforward HPGL files for insertion into other application software (MS Word, etc.).
27. The IGES translators have been updated to process Finite Element data.
28. An Explode General Note function has been added (menu 16.15.16) to convert general notes (text) of any font into separate lines.
29. Joining lines with menu 10.3 again works correctly in 3D views. This problem was a result of adding rubberbanding to this function.
30. An ICAM vendor selection has been added to NC toolpath output to better match their post processor expectations when posting an ASCII CL file.
31. NC macros can now be read in correctly when using Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51.
32. Selecting linear face finishing in the lace machining menu now works correctly.
33. An HPGL-2 formatted file is now listed at the bottom of the plotter selection menu to allow users to make straightforward HPGL-2 files that support user specified line weights for the drawing and part data.
34. The AI routine EAUYN now properly displays the print statement on the console when using External Access.
35. Additional changes have been made for the IntelliPost and ICAM postprocessing software - Oct 16, 1997
36. SEAL routine ai_4xshaft.for has been modified to change the transformation matrix for data conversion between views from single to double precision - Oct 17, 1997
37. Additional changes have been made to the ICAM postprocessing option for CL file output - Oct 23, 1997
38. The HPGL and HPGL-2 file plot options now close the output file as soon as the data is written - Oct 23, 1997
39. The Design Element Library has been added as menu 5.13. This menu allows for drawing mechanical fasteners and components in plan or profile views, including bolts, screws, nuts, washers, pins, rivets, set screws, holes, slots, sprockets, gears, grease fittings, retaining rings and springs. Weld symbols are also included - Oct 30, 1997
40. The physical display of geometry has been modified such that when you draw a line to at scale of 1:1, a measuring scale laid on the computer screen will closely verify the entered line length - Dec 5, 1997
41. A revision has been made to the Windows file dialog box that is activated with the "-w" option for better performance under Windows NT - Dec 5, 1997
42. The random occurrence of "trailing" crosshairs when using the "-w" option in Windows 95 has been corrected. This symptom was caused by an apparent error in the Windows 95 operating system, so the GTWorks code has been changed to avoid the problem - Dec 6, 1997
43. The crosshairs are displayed in addition to the rubberbanding line or arc for menus 10.1, 10.3 and 11.4 - Dec 11, 1997