There are many, many bugs like this throughout the package.

However, rather than thinking of them as bugs, think of them as 'quirks'. Generally its best to always edit object info in the object info window and not in the control panel at the top of the screen as the results are just to 'quirky' to be usable. Think of the control panel as for "informational purposes only". I know this is not what you want to read, but sadly it is reality and things have been like this for years. CU / Shark is quirky and often unpredictable, but despite that it is still easier to use than a lot of other CAD packages, and once you start to learn the limitations you will forget about some of the quirks.

Comparing Shark to any of the 'big boys' SolidWorks, NX, AutoCad, Pro etc. Shark is like an adolescent genius. Full of obvious promise, but lots of rough edges and pimples when you start looking closely. Thats not to knock it, but rather to be realistic and recognize that it is unlikely to ever have the polish of the big packages. It would be nice if it did, but then it would probably also be twice the price and you would never have direct contact with the developer.

I am not sure what is happening in that model. I have built a similar model and not seeing the problem, all the info is showing and can be edited directly in the object info. The only difference I can see, is that you built on sub layers, so it may be a problem there.

Are you serious? That bad?



In England this is called teaching your granddad to suck eggs.



Well really! The price of a tool is irrelevant, it's the cost that matters.

I have been thinking hard on this statement. I do wonder where this problem lies.
Is it due to the vendor (Tim) not addressing the issues, or a need for more reports of the possible problems/bugs.

I do, in my limited short time with VC (a newbie as mentioned elsewhere) see Tim making all efforts in resolving reported/confirmed bugs. So to me the only real problem is the possible fact that reports of bugs are not made in a repeatable way to show that possible bug.

I think I see where the problem lies

Only if you import.



Which layers are lost? Its just that layer 'extrude' is no longer created to contain the import.

If you open the file then you should see exactly how it was created.

I move stuff around between layers all the time and have never observed a problem. I think I can say without fear of contradiction that layers is one of the few features that is bug free.

Thats why I asked:



Unfortunately nobody seems to answer direct questions. :rolleyes:

Hi Steve

This is how I built an extrude WITHOUT a direction vector in the in the object info dialog. It seems to be repeatable.

New, draw geometry on the XY plane, select 'extrude solid' .. by vector, select the geometry. Now put some numbers in the top menu data entry fields. The result is not what I expect. The dx,dy and dz fields are normalized into a workplane normal and the distance is norm(dz,dy,dz). Or the delta components are calculated if I enter 'distance'.

Most importantly, however, the object info for the extrude now has NO DIRECTION VECTOR only the distance field.

These things are bugging me because I am an old man used to, and require, command line data entry.

What is the top menu is for, if not for data entry?

NickB: If it's just for info then why can I enter data.

Bradcan,

Generally I find the control bar too buggy for entering data, and only enter data there for the few operations that absolutely require it and I know are bug free, like specifying a radius or a an angle of rotation. For operations like extrude by distance it is almost completely useless if you are not extruding in the X, Y or Z plane. If your extrude is not on one of those planes, use extrude by Vector. In fact I default to extrude by vector, and then enter the distance in the Object Info / Data window. My method is: select tool, select lines / curves to extrude, click my mouse in the direction I want to extrude then enter exact distance in Object Info / Data. Sometimes you get lucky and can enter the distance in the control bar, sometimes you get either an inconsistent result or an error message.

Welcome to the wonderfully (buggy) quirky world of ViaCad / Shark. Like I wrote earlier once you get over the quirks things work fairly well.

Nick,

IMHO the object info window should be the 'only' place to edit data after it has been created, why do we still have two methods in this UI ? :confused:

Isn't it also time that the Object Info and Feature Tree windows became one

.. the "Object Inspector" perhaps ?