HumbleChief Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 This has been mentioned before but there's a bug in which Chief imports an older version of a PDF instead of the current and recently changed PDF file. Tried to document it here and will send to tech though I think they are aware of the bug, or at least I'm calling it a bug, as I can't imagine it being intended behavior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkwest Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 What would happen if you renamed your new file and then imported it into CA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 Just now, parkwest said: What would happen if you renamed your new file and then imported it into CA? That might work but there's no way to know at this point and I don't want to have to rename the file and have 2 files to deal with then delete one or the other. It's simply a Windows, and all other programs I have ever used, standard that when you overwrite an older file the file is updated and ready for use with any changes made. If you understand Chief behaves differently in this regard than any other software program and remember to re-boot after making changes to your PDF before printing your Layout then all is good. But if a user is not aware of this problem it can create some BIG problems if that user thinks they just updated a critical PDF for their ConDoc layout and Chief is actually loading the older, unchanged file. Had it happen more than once and when re-opening the Layout you are left wondering what happened as the Layout looks fine (after a reboot) but the Layout you printed for submittal did not update and still has the older PDF file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 9 minutes ago, parkwest said: What would happen if you renamed your new file and then imported it into CA? Either that, or delete the Layout Box and re-import. You just have to break the existing import link. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan_Son Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Chief actually does this with many referenced files. I imagine they're doing it to help speed the program up, but it's certainly a liability from a drafting standpoint and can be very limiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 6 minutes ago, Joe_Carrick said: Either that, or delete the Layout Box and re-import. You just have to break the existing import link. Maybe, but should a user have to do anything special to expect normal behavior when updating a PDF? And what if someone does not know about this behavior? Should they also know about the trick you just posted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 1 minute ago, Alaskan_Son said: Chief actually does this with many referenced files. I imagine they're doing it to help speed the program up, but it's certainly a liability from a drafting standpoint and can be very limiting. yes but I wish 'limiting' were the only consequence. It's cost me money in the past and that is not cool by any measure... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Carrick Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 19 minutes ago, HumbleChief said: Maybe, but should a user have to do anything special to expect normal behavior when updating a PDF? And what if someone does not know about this behavior? Should they also know about the trick you just posted? I agree that it's a PITA. I was just presenting the method that I use to make sure the PDF in the Layout is the one I want and not an older version. Should CA fix this? IMO, yes. Can they or will they? IDK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorgearaya Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Add a "period" or "dash" at the end of the file to "break the link" Go back to the pdf in chief and open it, select browse, the link now should come up in "red" telling you it's broken, select the renamed .pdf and click ok. That should update the .pdf Keep sending the requests to Chief, they need to "get it" that this is a very important aspect of working with .pdf files Please and thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard_Morrison Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 You can completely close out of Chief and reopen, the revised PDF will appear. This is a big pain in the butt, though, and updating should be enabled. I consider this a bug that has lasted multiple versions, which has been complained about over multiple versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 3 hours ago, Richard_Morrison said: You can completely close out of Chief and reopen, the revised PDF will appear. This is a big pain in the butt, though, and updating should be enabled. I consider this a bug that has lasted multiple versions, which has been complained about over multiple versions. All great tips to fix a very broken aspect of Chief. Video shows how closing/reopening Chief will revise the PDF but again if you do not know that Chief behaves this way it can really cost you, in real time and real money. Inexcusable that this bug remains IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 Heard from tech support and was told it's likely they already know about it. I told a story about how it actually cost me time and money but don't know if they intend to change the behavior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 On 7/17/2018 at 8:59 AM, Alaskan_Son said: Chief actually does this with many referenced files. I imagine they're doing it to help speed the program up, but it's certainly a liability from a drafting standpoint and can be very limiting. Michael, tech support mentioned caching in their reply. Probably has something to do with this behavior as well. Might go to the core of their software in a way that might be difficult to remedy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 I reported this to Chief tech support a while back and this was their response: Hi Kevin,I understand you are trying to have Chief Architect Premier X10 check for an updated PDF when opening a plan. Please let me know if that’s incorrect.Chief Architect will work from a “cached” copy of the plan for performance reasons. I was able to reproduce the issue as you described it.However, if you’re updating the PDF separately you will need to close out of the Chief Architect software completely and then open it again. It will then pull from the PDF file and not from a cached copy.Please let us know if you have any further questions.CameronChief Architect Technical Support Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 12 minutes ago, KervinHomeDesign said: I reported this to Chief tech support a while back and this was their response: Hi Kevin,I understand you are trying to have Chief Architect Premier X10 check for an updated PDF when opening a plan. Please let me know if that’s incorrect.Chief Architect will work from a “cached” copy of the plan for performance reasons. I was able to reproduce the issue as you described it.However, if you’re updating the PDF separately you will need to close out of the Chief Architect software completely and then open it again. It will then pull from the PDF file and not from a cached copy.Please let us know if you have any further questions.CameronChief Architect Technical Support It's pretty disturbing when such abnormal and potentially harmful behavior is intended. What I mean by abnormal is that no one could guess that this behavior would/should occur and I have lost time and money until I understood how Chief, uniquely treats PDF files and I think also its own plan files. AND they do not intend to change it? Again pretty disturbing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 3 minutes ago, solver said: Windows, and I imagine the Mac OS, has the ability to watch a file for changes, and notify a specific program when it does change. When this event occurs, Chief could simply show a message box asking to update the cached copy or not. It seems this should be SOP ... Yes, agreed, just like a 21st century software program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Yup, this behavior is ripe for an errors and omissions suit. While I do expect some dilligence from myself to update the pdf by deleting and importing the updated file, that Chief doesn't actually refresh the updated file and DOESN'T MAKE THIS CLEARLY KNOWN is a huge problem. Even a bigger problem than calling me Kevin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 When I get back to the office I will follow up on the support ticket and link this thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 1 hour ago, KervinHomeDesign said: When I get back to the office I will follow up on the support ticket and link this thread. Rod, That's gotta help - I hope. I know they are aware of the problem but the fact an issue like this isn't addressed as soon as it's known is concerning and the response you got from tech support basically saying the behavior is intended, with no real plan to correct it, is even more concerning. I can deal with it because I know about it but was caught out the other day because the behavior is so unexpected I forgot Chief worked in this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 1 minute ago, HumbleChief said: Rod, That's gotta help - I hope. I know they are aware of the problem but the fact an issue like this isn't addressed as soon as it's known is concerning and the response you got from tech support basically saying the behavior is intended, with no real plan to correct it, is even more concerning. I can deal with it because I know about it but was caught out the other day because the behavior is so unexpected I forgot Chief worked in this way. Exactly. And I don't see how the correct function of a feature should require one to save their work, close Cheif and open it again. And without any persistant notification, this is a very serious oversight that could cost money or even cause harm. Could you imagine if an engineer was using chief, and imported engineering data/specifications from a PDF? What if he was updating for changes to the plan, where spans were increased, and assumed his new calculations were reflected in the data brought over when he updated the PDF? Chief needs to put out a hotfix ASAP to produce a warning, and get this on the top of priorities for a permanent fix. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 2 minutes ago, KervinHomeDesign said: Exactly. And I don't see how the correct function of a feature should require one to save their work, close Cheif and open it again. And without any persistant notification, this is a very serious oversight that could cost money or even cause harm. Could you imagine if an engineer was using chief, and imported engineering data/specifications from a PDF? What if he was updating for changes to the plan, where spans were increased, and assumed his new calculations were reflected in the data brought over when he updated the PDF? Chief needs to put out a hotfix ASAP to produce a warning, and get this on the top of priorities for a permanent fix. It really is no less important than your description above.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Just now, HumbleChief said: It really is no less important than your description above.... And I would say that if someone in an E&O suit could demonstrate this fault with the program, they could drag Chief into the suit as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorgearaya Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Oh, it's been a long time... See my topic here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvoyeDesign Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Sooo, X11 then? X12? Kinda vague response, but it looks like maybe the ball is rolling. Hi, Thank you for your telling us about your concern. I've forwarded your comments to our development team so that they can update how pdf import works in a future iteration of the software. We seek to improve our software each version and appreciate your feedback. Cameron Chief Architect Technical Support Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumbleChief Posted July 20, 2018 Author Share Posted July 20, 2018 Almost 4 years ago? And no change? Talk is cheap.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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