As a first step we make the version/revision/compare function available for Collaboration Project using the same workflow as before and store the data in the \ACPlantTools\ACProject.db.
 

We enable the possibility to group projects again. It was deactivated with PR 7.0.0.3143.
 

The selection lists for Previous and Newer Version/Revision show:

•Version or Revision

•VersionNumber

•DateTime

•UserName

The list is also ordered by the DateTime value. Oldest at the bottom.

The dialog will be migrated to DevExpress controls.

The dialog will be migrated to DevExpress controls.

The dialog will be migrated to DevExpress controls.

You can also filter and search in the new dialog.

The dialog will be migrated to DevExpress controls.

You can also filter and search in the new dialog.

The dialog will be migrated to DevExpress controls.

When exporting compared reports for some reports, the expected colored highlighting for changed properties is missing in the Excel file.
 

When switching the language, the labels for the proxy settings are not updated, but all other labels.

When starting PlantReporter with Command line parameter the parameters weren't passed through from the PlantReporter.exe to the PlantReporter.FrameWork.exe or PlantReporter.NetCore.exe.

The button Create without versioning be be changed as another option.

The comboboxes when selecting the previous and newer version/revision show the versions and revisions in chronological order from newest at the top and oldest at the bottom.
 

We added two new variables REVTYPE1 and REVTYPE2 which holds V or R.

The variables can then be used in the Export file path.

When starting PlantReporter with Command line parameter the parameters weren't passed through from the PlantReporter.exe to the PlantReporter.FrameWork.exe or PlantReporter.NetCore.exe.
 

When opening a Collaboration project the PlantReporter layout files of version 22.2 weren't downloaded. Only the rcf files.
 

When opening a Collaboration Project in PlantReporter or PlantDataManager an error appeared.

PlantTools now support AutoCAD Plant 3D 2025.

PlantTools support AutoCAD Plant 3D 2020 - 2025 now.

Updated DevExpress controls and tools to version 23.2.6 in all PlantTools.
 

The title of PlantDataManager and PlantReporter shows the set AutoCAD version now.

Due to the upgrade to DevExpress 23.2.6 the layout files must be updated as well.

If you have PlantReporter set to 2025, you first need to change the setting to 2024 again in order for PlantReporter to be able to migrate the layouts. Otherwise you will see this dialog:

During the migration of the layout you will be shown a progress bar.

After the layout have been migrated you can switch back to 2025.
 

To avoid an error message the Preview and Print/Export buttons will be deactivated now in case no project has been selected, but a report configuration.
 

A file watcher is implemented to check which communication between PlantDataManager/PlantReporter and the acccoreconsole.exe is exchanged. This is especially useful when helping customers with support.

Details can be found under File Watcher.
 

When using Collaboration projects PlantDataManager and PlantReporter adds configuration files (e.g. for links, calculation, reports and so on) to the MISC database to have them shown under the Related Files folder in Project Manager. This is also important when using Create Project Backup with Project Manager, that these PlantTools configuration files are also backed up.

The following files are handled:

•Report Configuration Files (rcf) & Layout Files (*.layout.xx.x) & ReportConfiguration.Collection.xml

•Link Configuration Files (lcf) & Related Files (udl, SQLite, accdb, mdb, xlsx, xls) & LinkConfiguration.Collection.xml

•SQL Scripts (sql)

•Calculation Configuration Files (calc) & CalculationConfiguration.Collection.xml

•PropertiesPaletteConfiguration.xml

•PDMDataCache_[USERNAME].dcf

•NPO_[DWGGUID].xml
 

When changing the Report Files Location you can now also have the lcf and layout files be copied to the new location.

In addition, you will see the same 4 button as we have in other PlantTools functions (Calculations (PET/PDM), Link Configurations (PL/PDM), Spec Driven Configurations (PSD), List Function (PET), Selection List Function (PET))

Similar to considering changes in PDMDataCache which haven't been imported yet, we also check of NPOs or Relationsships which haven't been imported yet. In the settings we adapted the text to indicate the change of both file types.

Because PlantDataManager is now using PDMDataCahce files per user, PlantReporter needed to be adapted as well in order to check for changes which haven't been imported yet when Printing/Exporting reports.

When PlantDataManager/PlantReporter check or need to download the files referenced in the collection files it will be done now in a batch process to reduce the number of calls to the accoredconsole.exe.
 

When retrieving information from the registry about the installed version we disregard ACAD versions which the installed PT don’t support.

E.g. a customer has 2025 installed, but the installed PTs support only 2019-2024.
 

When creating a new report configuration clicking on the .. button to select a path for the location of the output an error appeared.

if PlantTools download/check out, check in, or remove one of its configuration files we now show a progress panel with the file name and path to see which file is handled.

The number of commands to download the various PlantTools configuration files was reduced to greatly reduce the time when downloading the PlantTools files.

With PlantTools version 6.0.0.2267 (first support for Plant 3D 2023) we linked the PlantTools files (located under [PROJECT]\ACPlantTools) into the MISC.dcf database so the PlantTools files appear under the Related Files folder in Project Manager. However, this cause a problem with Vault projects when we started to check in/out/download the PlantTools files for Collaboration projects in later versions.

Now the PlantTools files are still linked into the MISC.dcf, but they are not checked in/out/downloaded anymore if current project is using Vault.

You can now just copy PlantTools files from another project or template project into your Vault project and open the project in Plant 3D again. Alternatively, you can follow the Workflow with Vault and PlantTools.
 

When PlantDataManager/PlantReporter use Collaboration projects the accoreconsole.exe will be started in the background to execute the BIM functions (refresh, check out/in, , download). Sometimes the start of accoreconsole.exe took to long. Now they retry till the accoreconsole.exe is ready.
 

Comparing versions/revisions of reports where an expression is used in the layout results in an error message.

When creating a comparison report only new parts are shown in green, but the deleted parts don't show with red background at all.

Quantity changes are not shown in yellow. In addition, no quantities are shown at all.

When using the Browse button to select a folder where the reports are supposed to be created and clicking OK...

...this error appeared.

Sometime selecting an older RCF file resulted in an error. The error appeared, because PlantReporter wasn't able to change the RCF file into the new RCF+Layout file format.

We forgot to update the new digital certificate in the Setup.exe and Update.exe. This is necessary to let Windows and AutoCAD know, that our files are trustworthy.
 

PlantTools use common code which sometimes make it necessary to update all PlantTools at once even if there are no changes to a specific PlantTool.
 

PlantTools now support AutoCAD Plant 3D 2024.

PlantTools support AutoCAD Plant 3D 2019 - 2024 now.
 

If PlantReporter restarts because of a change of the AutoCAD version setting, a previously loaded project will be reloaded.
 

Allow the execution of SQL Scripts when a project is loaded. This helps with the creation of views often used for PlantLink. And avoids the manual execution of SQL Scripts when a project has just been created.

It is also important when using Collaboration projects, because the views used by PlantLink do not exit when the project is first downloaded to the local work folder.

Details under: Execute SQL Scripts on Project Load
 

Due to the fact, that the report layout of DevExpress 22.2.5 isn't backwards compatible with DevExpress 21.2.6 we start to split up the report layout information (stored in the RCF files) in a separate file with the DevExpress version number. This way we don't run into the incompatible issue again in the future, because we can fall back on the previous DevExpress version for the layout.

Since Report Configuration files can be used in PlantDataManager too, PlantDataManager will also trigger the separation of the rcf file into 2 files.

The new file with the layout info is stored in the [RCFNAME].layout.22.2 file where 22.2 is the current DevExpress version used with the 7.0.0.x PlantTools.
 

When using the Drawings query option, the Spec Sheets of Plant 3D (stored in the PnPDrawings table in the Piping.dcf database) where also included in the list. Now they are filtered out.

We updated DevExpress controls and tools to the latest version 22.2.5 in all PlantTools.
 

Up until now the RCF file was just deleted when the user deleted a report configuration.

Now all files related to the deleted report configuration are moved to the windows Recycle Bin.

The Log files are written into the %programdata%\ACPlant Consult\PlantTools\Log folder.

Existing log files will be moved from the old folder to the new folder.

For convenience there is a folder junction in the old location %appdata%\ACPlant Consult\PlantTools\Log

We removed the grouping function to group Plant 3D projects or other data sources. Therefore the tab in the Settings isn't needed anymore.

We removed the ability to use other data sources in PlantReporter. Therefore the tab in the Settings isn't needed anymore.

We removed the ability to use other data sources in PlantReporter. Therefore the tab in the main dialog isn't needed anymore.

We removed the grouping function to group Plant 3D projects or other data sources. Therefore the group selection in the project dropdown list isn't needed anymore.

When opening a project with Plant 3D version 2018 or older, PlantReporter set the appropriate version (e.g. 2017 and restarts). After it then automatically opens the project again you get the same message again. This is an endless cycle.

Now the user gets the info to first migrate the project.

When closing PlantReporter the PlantReporter.xml with the settings was written with default values, but the file wasn't supposed to be written when PlantReporter gets closed. Only when closing the PlantReporter Settings dialog.
 

When changing the AutoCAD version in PlantReporter Settings with a project already being loaded, PlantReporter didn't start after clicking Yes on dialog #00765.

When opening a regular network project (not a Collaboration project), then the Log file showed error messages.
 

PlantReporter and PlantDataManager downloaded the UDL file, but the referenced file in the UDL file (e.g. an MS Access DB) wasn't downloaded. Only when you opened the project again was the referenced file downloaded.
 

Due to the adaptation of PlantLink for Collaboration Projects, PlantReporter is also handling link configuration files for Collaboration Project.

Details regarding the various workflows when using Collaboration Projects can be found under Collaboration Workflows.
 

As part of the strategy to move all PlantTools settings into PlantProjectSetup, we started moving the common settings Language, DevExpress Skin, Update Check, and Proxy Settings into PlantProjectSetup and make it accessible through all Desktop PlantTools (PC, PDM, PR) and Plugins (PCD, PDM Plugin, PET, PL, PS, PSD).

Details can be found under: PlantProjectSetup
 

As part of the move of the common PlantTools settings (Language, DevExpress Skin, Proxy Settings) we also updated the Update Installer.

Details can be found under: Update Installer
 

When using the dialog to open a Collaboration project, the previously used Collaboration Account and Project will be preset. This behaviour is consistent with AutoCAD Plant 3D.

The Plant 3D Collaboration API used in PlantDataManager and PlantReporter isn't very reliable. Therefore PlantDataManager/PlantReporter sometime get empty values. This happens for example when PlantDataManager/PlantReporter try to get the available Projects for the user interface. Now we try multiple-times with a delay in between to make sure we get data.
 

The server location of Collaboration projects wasn't considered yet.
 

When you opened the Collaboration for Plant 3D dialog, but no Plant 3D project was available, PlantDataManager and PlantReporter crashed when you clicked on Open Project.
 

The AutoCAD language code for French Plant 3D wasn't supported in PlantTools. This effected all PlantTools.
 

When a Collaboration project was downloaded with PlantDataManager or PlantReporter first, and the the project was opened with Plant 3D, the project was downloaded again as a copy.
 

PlantTools are using shared/common files which for some releases makes it necessary to release PlantTools, although there is no bug fixing, change or new functions had been implemented.

This is especially important when PlantTools are installed or updated in the wrong order.
 

PlantDataManager and PlantReporter can now open Collaboration projects which haven't been opened with Plant 3D before and therefore aren't available in the local work folder yet.

Before using PlantDataManager or PlantReporter make sure that you have read Using ACC/BIM projects with PlantDataManager and Using ACC/BIM projects with PlantReporter!
 

Improved the speed when pre-synching ACP tables when loading the project.
 

PlantDataManager didn't check if Plant 3D 2023 was installed which caused error when trying to open collaboration projects.

Some files had a wrong path to the Development Express DLLs in the PlantToolsCommon project, which potentially could could error for some controls. However, that apparently never became an issue.
 

In some cases the Version/Revision tab and function was deactivated depending on the 'AutoCAD Version' setting, but the availability is only depending on the project type. For Vault and ACC projects the feature is currently not available.
 

PlantDataManager and PlantReporter do support Collaboration projects. This is only available for AutoCAD Plant 3D 2023 and future versions, because if new technology Autodesk implemented in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2023, but not lower versions.

Before using PlantDataManager or PlantReporter make sure that you have read Using ACC/BIM projects with PlantDataManager and Using ACC/BIM projects with PlantReporter!
 

To avoid issues with different build versions of PlantTools, we now force users to update all installed PlantTools to avoid any issues with shared files between PlantTools.

After installing one PlantTool and not updating others you will see the following dialog which allows you to individually download PlantTools or to download all available updates at once (green arrow).

The updates will be downloaded and stored in the download folder.

After closing the desktop PlantTools (PlantCenter, PlantDataManager, PlantReporter) or closing Plant 3D the downloaded updates will be installed automatically.
 

When opening a project in PlantDataManager or PlantReporter the user interface is disabled so the user cannot interact with the user interface while the project is being loaded. Interacting with the user interface caused issued with when loading collaboration projects.

In cases were a project name appeared multiple times, there could be an issue when opening a project, because the correct path to the selected project couldn't be identified.

When opening a project where the MISC database doesn't exist you get an error.

This applies typically to old projects where the MISC database didn't exists from project creation on. Only when you added files or folders under 'Related Files' was the MISC database created.

The Plugins like PlantClashDetection, PlantDataManager, PlantExpressTools, PlantLink, PlantSpecDriven and PlantSync will create the file on project load.

PlantDataManager and PlantReporter show the following dialog as an info. The project will be loaded anyway.

If you extend the dialog you get information on how to create the MISC database.

PlantTools now support AutoCAD Plant 3D 2023.

PlantTools support AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 - 2023 now.
 

We updated DevExpress controls and tools to the latest version 21.2.6 in all PlantTools.
 

The ACPAssetOwnership table in the ProcessPower.dcf (P&ID Database) isn't needed anymore and therefore will be removed. The relationships stored in that table between Placed Objects and Not-Placed Objects used in PlantSpecDriven as already stored
 

If the Windows user name contains an apostrophe it cause error when PlantTools tried to access one of its databases (PDMDataCache.dcf, ACProject.db, ACPChangeLog.dcf, ACPProcessPower.dcf)
 

Because of duplicate PnPIDs in ACPProcessPower and ProcessPower databases the migration failed.
 

The installation if PlantReporter was missing the DarkSkin2020.dll. Because of that, PlantReporter didn't even start.
 

While migrating ACPProcessPower into ProcessPower it could happen that both databases contain the same PnPID. If this PnPID is used inside relationships it happened that the wrong PnPId (the one from ProcessPower and not the one from ACPProcessPower) got converted.

This resulted in a silent exception and therefore wasn't obvious to the user.
 

The ACPRelationships table can contain owner PnPIDs where the PnPID doesn’t exist (anymore). Those relationships will be ignored, but written into the log file if you see the following dialog:

Not-Place Objects that are not linked to a drawing were ignored while migration of the NPOs from the ACPProcessPower to the ProcessPower database, if this object does not have a relationship.
 

With version 5.0 all PlantTools will be updated to that version. Because of shared resources and code is mandatory that all PlantTools on a machine are updated. If this is not the case the following dialog will appear and lists all the installed PlantTools on a machine and which ones require an update.

The PlantTools with the red arrow require an update. The dialog will appear until all PlantTools are updated to the required version.

The language of PlantTools can be set globally now. In the Plugins (PlantClashDetection, PlantDataManager Plugin, PlantExpressTools, PlantLink, PlantSpecDriven, PlantSync) you can select AutoCAD, English, or German. AutoCAD tells the PlantTools to use the AutoCAD language. If you change the setting, the PlantTools Plugins will change the language of the user interfaces and ribbons instantly.

If you select English or German in the Plugins, the Desktop Apps (PlantCenter, PlantDataManager, PlantReporter, MigrationTools and PlantProjectCreate will use this language.

If you select a language in one of the Desktop App Settings, all Desktop Apps will use this language and not the AutoCAD language.

The ACPProcessPower.dcf database hosted the Not-Placed Objects (NPOs) which were created by PlantSpecDriven or PlantDataManager, and also used by PlantReporter.

The NPOs will now be stored in the ProcessPower.dcf (P&ID database) directly. This applies to SQL Server projects as well.

The advantage is, that when using Vault or ACC/BIM projects, those NPOs will also be check in/out.

The first time you open a project PDM, PDM-Plugin, PET, PL, PR, or PSD will migrated an existing ACPProjectPower.dcf and its content into PID's ProcessPower.dcf.

If you are updating any of the following PlantTools (PlantDataManager, PlantExpressTools, PlantLink, PlantReporter, PlantSpecDriven) you MUST make sure, that the other PlantTools you have installed are also updated to version 5.0.0.x.
 

When using Vault or ACC (BIM) projects the version/revision feature is deactivated. The reason is, that the ACProject.db cannot be checked in/out.

We may be able to find a solution with Plant 3D 2023.

We now support AutoCAD Plant 3D 2022.

The new "Project Compare" is included in PlantProjectManager also.
 

PlantTools trigger the "Update License" check of the network license in auxaliaLicenseServer service on your server.

auxaliaLicenseServer is checking the license every 15 min to ensure, that your license information (e.g. number of license, expiration dates) are updated automatically without your need for involvement.

There is no need to keep the auxaliaLicenseManager open.

If a PlantTools is started and it finds an older CADSTUDIOLicenseManager or auxaliaLicenseManager installed on the server, the following dialog shows up.

You can decide when you want to be reminded again. The maximum is 2 weeks. After that, you will have a maximum of another week, then another 4 days and so on. That gives you a grace period of 4 weeks till auxaliaLicenseManager must be updated. If you don't do this, you will be reminded every time the PlantTools is asking for a license.
 

We updated DevExpress controls and tools to the latest version 20.2.6 in all PlantTools.
 

We discontinue the support for AutoCAD P&ID 2016/2017 and AutoCAD Plant 3D 2016/2017.

Typically we only removed only one version when adding the newest AutoCAD Plant 3D version, but since hardly any customer is using AutoCAD P&ID 2017 or AutoCAD Plant 3D 2017 anymore we decided to cut off the two oldest versions. Another argument was, that there is no migration needed between 2018 and 2022 which makes it more convenient for customers t use those newer versions.
 

PlantTools will run run 14 days in trial period before they stop working.

Several dialogs informing about anything related to licensing (expiration dates, rental dates, issues with activation and more) have been improved to make it clearer what the dialog is all about.
 

When installing PlantCenter, PlantDataManager, PlantReporter on a PC a a dialog informed the user about denied access when starting the PlantTools from the Desktop. PlantClashDetection, PlantLink, PlantSync, PlantSpecDriven had to be activated everytime Plant 3D was started, because the registration information couldn't be written either. This happened only when installing the PlantTool for the first time or after uninstalling previous installations. desktop shortcut.

PlantDataManager will now also use GMT time zone and UTC format (e.g. 2020-07-16T15:16:26Z) when writing changes into the data cache table. Since the data cache table is also used in PlantReporter to check if there are pending changes in the data cache PlantReporter must also be updated.
 

When using F1 in PlantCenter, PlantDataManager, PlantReporter, MigrationTool, PlantCenter or any button in the PlantTools or PlantExpressTools ribbon we open our own browser window.

We started to put more information in our Message Boxes to give you more background details to reduce support questions or the need to look into the online documentation.

Also, all dialog boxes have a number which helps with support.

We changed the timestamp stored in the ACProject.db to GMT timezone and UTC format.

The ProjectType now shows PnID instead of Pid and Piping instead of P3d.

In the ACProject.db we store the version and revisions of reports as well as drawings.
 

When selecting local BIM project (currently BIM projects cannot be opened directly from BIM 360), we show the BIM icon infront of the project name to indicate that it is a BIM project.

Replaced the old CADSTUDIO logos with the new auxalia logos for all report configurations we deliver with the installation of PlantReporter.

We forgot to include the 2021 query files in the installer.
 

The order of folders and drawings in DWG trees in PlantCenter, PlantDataManager and PlantReporter is now consistent with the order in AutoCAD Plant 3D's Project Manager.
 

When trying to use Print/Export with a project which uses a UNC Path, the following error message appeared.

This was due to the fact that PlantReporter wants to access the PDMDataCache.dcf to check if there are changes which haven't been imported yet.