My Wishlist

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Tom Sherman
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My Wishlist

Post by Tom Sherman »

My personal wishlist for things I'd like to see added/modified. Some have probably been done since I began this list some long time ago, others not. I realize some of them may not be needed or wanted by many people, but they would improve things given the way I use the software. Some are small and minor, others more daunting, perhaps, from a programmer's perspective. I expect some of these might be things others don't care about or haven't thought of or have found some way of doing or have made a workaround. I'd like to hear all of those. And yes, I've sent this to the feedback section.

Tom


1. To be able to send cabinets directly from the library page to the LDE without having to load them into the Cabinet Editor.

2. To be able to change the default in the LDE for line thickness so I don't have to change it on every page (at the default setting, 3, the interior parts bleed through to the surface).

3. That each page in the LDE have its own orientation (portrait/landscape), which it will remember when you save that job.

4. To be able to restore individual hidden items in the LDE, or at least the last only.

5. A \"repeat last action\" button, good pretty much anywhere. Example: I take a shelf into the Part Editor to apply a notch. I want that notch on all seven shelves. I don't want to notch it 7 times. I want to be able to \"repeat last action\" on the highlighted part in Main Cabinet Editor.

6. A \"Mirror\" button that builds me a duplicate but mirror image of the cabinet I just built.

7. I want to be able to edit display parts. Of all the things I think should be in the software but aren't this is the one that most drives me batshit, because it's just so vital. Best would be that once you've associated a display part to a cabinet it changes with the cabinet, or gives you the option to change or not change with the cabinet. And when, for instance you make a cabinet bigger or otherwise edit it, the display part moves with the cabinet part, using the points of association as reference.

8. To be able to edit text in the LDE rather than having to delete completely and redo. Also to be able to cut and paste text the same way you can cut and paste a drawing.

9. To be able to edit the nesting layouts, ie move pieces from sheet to sheet, move them around on a sheet, rotate them, add notes to the pages. Also that when a sheet material is listed as non-directional grain, that the nest will rotate it to best utilize the layout.

10. Slab doors and drawers. When I have plywood doors and drawer fronts on frameless cabinets, I have to change the grain direction when I go from doors to drawers and vice versa, so that all the grain runs vertical. There should be a separate grain direction setting for doors and drawer fronts to avert this.

11. I would like the option to be able to set the absolute depth, width and height of a drawer, not dependent on any relationship to the carcase.

12. I would like parts taken to the Parts Editor to have more orientation options, or to be oriented in the Parts Editor the same way they are when they leave the Main Cabinet Editor.

13. Occasionally I get to the end of a nest and get a display that says a part can't be nested because it exceeds the size in the available materials. Most often this is because I forgot to reorient the grain, but it will do this even with a piece I've indicated does not have a grain direction. (Example: a white melamine back 32 x 50 will show up as unnestable even though it doesn't have a grain direction and could/should be automatically rotated in the nesting process). What I'd like here is two things: one, that if the material is specified as non-directional grain that the nest would automatically rotate it, or ask me if it should, and two, that I get this warning in the cabinet editor when I try to save the cabinet (\"Warning: <part name> exceeds available material size!\"), not after the nest is complete.

14. I'd also like it if I could leave the nesting area and come back and the nest would still be there.

15. In the faceframe editor, I'd like to be able to equalize two openings (in width) without having to remove all midrails, which seems to be the condition currently.

16. I'd like to be able to snap partitions and fixed shelves to align flush with mid stiles and mid rails. Say for instance I've laid out a faceframed bookcase with top, bottom and 4 equally spaced shelves. I set up the faceframe, then the shelves. But because the top rail of the faceframe is wider than the nosings for the shelves, equalizing the shelf spacings gives me a different result than equalizing the faceframe spacings. An \"Align to\" feature would eliminate having to manually space each shelf. Even better, an option to \"Add fixed shelves behind mid rails\", where I could highlight the rails I want shelves attached to and then hit the switch.

17. I'd like to be able to install a roomful of cabinets and then be able to apply crown moulding to the entire room right there. The way I see it, I'd finish the installation, then call up the moulding editor, spec the moulding, set the height location, maybe tell it whether I want it everywhere in the room or just on the cabinets, and it would install it right there in the room and then give me a tally for the job. Having to install crown on each cabinet is dreadfully time-consuming. I'd like to be able to do this with an assembly in the Cabinet Editor as well (example: I have 3 talls I've joined into an assembly. I won't build a room for it because that's all there is to the job. Now I want to add crown to the whole thing at once, not one cabinet at a time). The same function would be nice for rough tops.

18. I want the nest diagrams to print in the same order they're displayed in the nest.

19. I want to be able to add a stack of rollouts to a pantry by telling it the size and quantity. Then I want to be able to move them up and down individually so I can have graduated heights.

20. Often I will have two drawers above a pair of doors. I need a partition between them to carry the inside drawer slides, but I want the adjustable shelf below to span the full length width of the cabinet. But the software sees the partition there, even though I've inset the bottom to run just to the bottom of the drawer. The workaround for this, which is to set a fixed shelf to the tolerances of an adjustable shelf and then install the partition, is unnecessarily clunky and requires extra steps, and enters the possibility of overlooking line boring during panel processing.

21. In a bookcase I want the grain on the back to run vertical because it's visible. Often it's required that these be built wider than the maximum width of the available material, but there's also always a partition in the middle to carry the seam on the two back pieces. I have to manually reduce the size of the back to span from one end to the partition, then add the 2nd piece as a display panel. I want the software to automatically divide this up and apply two pieces. The same is true vertically, where, for instance, in a tall oven cabinet I have a back at the top where there are doors above the oven, and a back at the bottom where there is a drawer, but no back where the oven cutout is. In this circumstance I tried cutting it into two pieces with the Part Editor, but it wouldn't allow that operation. Maybe a cutout function for backs that have this situation, or a dialog box that lets me tell the software there's no back between these two fixed shelves?

22. I'd like to be able to rearrange the pages/tabs in the LDE.

23. We do a lot of inset door jobs. Where there is a pair of doors in an opening, we often want a pair of drawers above, but with no stile between them, so the drawer fronts are the same size as the doors. So far as I can see, the only way to do this is to manually adjust the gap on one side of the drawer front, then manually add a drawer and a display part drawer front to the other half of the opening. I'd like to be able to add a pair of drawer fronts to an opening just as we add a pair of doors to an opening, or maybe from a dialog box in the Doors Editor, similar to how we set heights of drawer stacks with frameless cabinetry.

24. I'd like the option for drawers that it will give me a list of drawers but not spread the drawer parts in the sheet goods layouts. This would be identical to the choices for doors of \"purchase\" or \"build in house\".
Tom Sherman
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Post by Tom Sherman »

Hah! I see I exceeded the available space for a post. Here, then, the remainder of my list.

Tom



14. I'd also like it if I could leave the nesting area and come back and the nest would still be there.

15. In the faceframe editor, I'd like to be able to equalize two openings (in width) without having to remove all midrails, which seems to be the condition currently.

16. I'd like to be able to snap partitions and fixed shelves to align flush with mid stiles and mid rails. Say for instance I've laid out a faceframed bookcase with top, bottom and 4 equally spaced shelves. I set up the faceframe, then the shelves. But because the top rail of the faceframe is wider than the nosings for the shelves, equalizing the shelf spacings gives me a different result than equalizing the faceframe spacings. An \"Align to\" feature would eliminate having to manually space each shelf. Even better, an option to \"Add fixed shelves behind mid rails\", where I could highlight the rails I want shelves attached to and then hit the switch.

17. I'd like to be able to install a roomful of cabinets and then be able to apply crown moulding to the entire room right there. The way I see it, I'd finish the installation, then call up the moulding editor, spec the moulding, set the height location, maybe tell it whether I want it everywhere in the room or just on the cabinets, and it would install it right there in the room and then give me a tally for the job. Having to install crown on each cabinet is dreadfully time-consuming. I'd like to be able to do this with an assembly in the Cabinet Editor as well (example: I have 3 talls I've joined into an assembly. I won't build a room for it because that's all there is to the job. Now I want to add crown to the whole thing at once, not one cabinet at a time). The same function would be nice for rough tops.

18. I want the nest diagrams to print in the same order they're displayed in the nest.

19. I want to be able to add a stack of rollouts to a pantry by telling it the size and quantity. Then I want to be able to move them up and down individually so I can have graduated heights.

20. Often I will have two drawers above a pair of doors. I need a partition between them to carry the inside drawer slides, but I want the adjustable shelf below to span the full length width of the cabinet. But the software sees the partition there, even though I've inset the bottom to run just to the bottom of the drawer. The workaround for this, which is to set a fixed shelf to the tolerances of an adjustable shelf and then install the partition, is unnecessarily clunky and requires extra steps, and enters the possibility of overlooking line boring during panel processing.

21. In a bookcase I want the grain on the back to run vertical because it's visible. Often it's required that these be built wider than the maximum width of the available material, but there's also always a partition in the middle to carry the seam on the two back pieces. I have to manually reduce the size of the back to span from one end to the partition, then add the 2nd piece as a display panel. I want the software to automatically divide this up and apply two pieces. The same is true vertically, where, for instance, in a tall oven cabinet I have a back at the top where there are doors above the oven, and a back at the bottom where there is a drawer, but no back where the oven cutout is. In this circumstance I tried cutting it into two pieces with the Part Editor, but it wouldn't allow that operation. Maybe a cutout function for backs that have this situation, or a dialog box that lets me tell the software there's no back between these two fixed shelves?

22. I'd like to be able to rearrange the pages/tabs in the LDE.

23. We do a lot of inset door jobs. Where there is a pair of doors in an opening, we often want a pair of drawers above, but with no stile between them, so the drawer fronts are the same size as the doors. So far as I can see, the only way to do this is to manually adjust the gap on one side of the drawer front, then manually add a drawer and a display part drawer front to the other half of the opening. I'd like to be able to add a pair of drawer fronts to an opening just as we add a pair of doors to an opening, or maybe from a dialog box in the Doors Editor, similar to how we set heights of drawer stacks with frameless cabinetry.

24. I'd like the option for drawers that it will give me a list of drawers but not spread the drawer parts in the sheet goods layouts. This would be identical to the choices for doors of \"purchase\" or \"build in house\".
Tom Sherman
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Post by Tom Sherman »

Good grief! I guess I should have attached a text doc.

Tom



23. We do a lot of inset door jobs. Where there is a pair of doors in an opening, we often want a pair of drawers above, but with no stile between them, so the drawer fronts are the same size as the doors. So far as I can see, the only way to do this is to manually adjust the gap on one side of the drawer front, then manually add a drawer and a display part drawer front to the other half of the opening. I'd like to be able to add a pair of drawer fronts to an opening just as we add a pair of doors to an opening, or maybe from a dialog box in the Doors Editor, similar to how we set heights of drawer stacks with frameless cabinetry.

24. I'd like the option for drawers that it will give me a list of drawers but not spread the drawer parts in the sheet goods layouts. This would be identical to the choices for doors of \"purchase\" or \"build in house\".
Nemanja Vujkovic
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Post by Nemanja Vujkovic »

Tom,

some of this will help and speed up proces, but ther is ways to go around them!
Tom Sherman
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Post by Tom Sherman »

I know there are workarounds for many of them, but workarounds are like driving from Colorado to California by way of Ohio. You can do it, but it's not as efficient as a direct route.

I'm particularly interested in what workarounds people have developed for some of these things. Some I've most likely figured out myself, others, probably not. That's why I posted up here in addition to sending to Feedback. So, whatchyoogot?

Tom
Kerry Fullington
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Post by Kerry Fullington »

Tom,
I can help with a couple
15 - You can do that in Version 5.1 build 3
23 - create a board stock and name it \"Do not Cut\" or something and give it a cost of 0. place a mid stile 1/32\" wide of this material and adjust your insets to get your proper reveal on the drawer fronts. It's a bit of a pain but it will accomplish the task until something better comes along.
Kerry
Tom Sherman
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Post by Tom Sherman »

Thanks. I shoulda thought of that. That's my workaround for #20, which is more or less the same thing in a frameless situation. I use a 1/32\" fixed shelf to define the bottom of the truncated partition. I tried running a front-to-back stretcher, but there's nothing to attach the front to, even on a faceframe cabinet.

Very high on my list would be the one for installing a whole job's worth of crown in the room after installing the cabinets. Got anything for that?

Tom Sherman
Kerry Fullington
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Post by Kerry Fullington »

Tom.
This Thread Might help. I have become used to adding moldings to each cabinet. I usually have a crown, a secondary molding and a base (light rail) so I like the way eCabs places moldings.
Kerry
Tom Sherman
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Post by Tom Sherman »

Kerry,

Thanks for the link. That's definitely better than the mouldiing editor, at least for me.

Tom
Joe Dusel
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Post by Joe Dusel »

Tom,

I think you've got a great list there. Lot's of things I would also personally vote for.

Joe
Rob Frenette
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Post by Rob Frenette »

Hi Tom

On Number 11 if you use the min increments instead of insets you will get what you are looking for. I use this for height and depth and use side insets so the drw will adjust to the correct width when you change the cabinet width. As and example on the min height increment, if your top drw front is say 6 inches and you input 4.5 inches as your min increment you always get a drw that is 4.5 inches high. If you leave the min height to 4.5 inches when applying the rest of the drw fronts in a bank of drws and lets say that you have 2 more drws that are 12 inches high the program will double the min height to 9 inches. Hope this helps.
Rob Frenette
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Michael Yeargain
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Post by Michael Yeargain »

#1 yes
#2 yes the default I like is 1.
#3 Page layout orientation yes.
#4 yes
#5 yes repeat
#6 no comment
#7 yes edit display parts
#8 you can cut and paste text and edit
#9 yes edit the nest
#10 no comment
#11 yes yes yes
#12 yes orientation
#13 yes warnings during save or resize like drawer slide warning
#14 yes nest remains. click nest again to renest.
#15 yes resize without removal of mid rails.
#16 yes snap feature for fixed shelves
#17 yes crown easy button like counter tops
#18 no comment
#19 yes add stack roll outs
#20 no comment
#21 no comment
#22 yes rearrange sheets

the #1 on my list is fixing the drawer front height. It really is a pain to insert cabinets by changing height and then taking each one of theose into the cabinet editor. Major surgery.

Maybe we can have the option to take a cabinet into the cabinet editor before placing it into the room

Similar to the double backs on the tall cabinets I do a partial face frame on my oven units and it is difficult placing doors and drawers outside the parameters of an inset face frame.
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Rick Palechuk
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Post by Rick Palechuk »

That's a close second for me Mike. User defined moulding is #1 for me.
Roger Erismann
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Post by Roger Erismann »

I don't get the issue with #20

We do two drawers above doors all the time....

for 6\" drawers we put a shelf at 5 3/16(inset from the back by 19) add a partition and there you go....the cnc bores the holes straight through...

We put an adjustable shelf in and tell it how many up or down to go....we did about 20 like this last week no problems...

#10 has me baffeled too....we run our slab drawers and doors the same way(vertical grain) when the menu comes up there is a little bar that allows you to set the grain direction for whatever you are currently putting in...we cut them on the router right off e-cabs

#11 please make that happen

ditto #12

#23 wouldnt putting a partition up(inset 7/8) and having your drawers set to a 1/16 reveal solve that problem...I seem to remember doing something like that not to long ago...

The issues with the LDE are pretty signifigant, where I work at now they are phasing out e-cabs for M-vellum and the number one reason is quality and ease of producing submittal drawings....it is a shame (on the bright side I get to learn Micro-Vellum)

great string!!
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Rick Palechuk
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Post by Rick Palechuk »

I think we're all cheering for 11.
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