Orcad is a total piece of dog crap!

Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
The funny thing is, they seem to think that they have a crash recovery
procedure even though it doesn't do squat! I have to kill the app
when it locks up. Then when I run it again, it says a previous design
was not closed properly, do I want to reopen it? Then before I get a
chance to look at it to see just what it is that was opened I am asked
if I want to save it. I have tried both answers and it always just
opens the same file that I had started with before I had made any
changes.

It seems rather pointless doesn't it?

Rick

rickman wrote:
> Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
> The funny thing is, they seem to think that they have a crash recovery
> procedure even though it doesn't do squat! I have to kill the app
> when it locks up. Then when I run it again, it says a previous design
> was not closed properly, do I want to reopen it? Then before I get a
> chance to look at it to see just what it is that was opened I am asked
> if I want to save it. I have tried both answers and it always just
> opens the same file that I had started with before I had made any
> changes.
>
> It seems rather pointless doesn't it?
>
> Rick

While such program crashes are annoying and disruptive, at least you
didn't lose much work, since you save regularly (don't you?).

"David Brown" wrote in message
news:48b134f1$0$25396$8404b019-at-news.wineasy.se...
> rickman wrote:
>> Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
>> The funny thing is, they seem to think that they have a crash recovery
>> procedure even though it doesn't do squat! I have to kill the app
>> when it locks up. Then when I run it again, it says a previous design
>> was not closed properly, do I want to reopen it? Then before I get a
>> chance to look at it to see just what it is that was opened I am asked
>> if I want to save it. I have tried both answers and it always just
>> opens the same file that I had started with before I had made any
>> changes.
>>
>> It seems rather pointless doesn't it?
>>
>> Rick
>
> While such program crashes are annoying and disruptive, at least you
> didn't lose much work, since you save regularly (don't you?).

Doesn't it give you the option to autosave every minute or so, like
Protel????

TT_Man wrote:
> "David Brown" wrote in message
> news:48b134f1$0$25396$8404b019-at-news.wineasy.se...
>> rickman wrote:
>>> Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
>>> The funny thing is, they seem to think that they have a crash recovery
>>> procedure even though it doesn't do squat! I have to kill the app
>>> when it locks up. Then when I run it again, it says a previous design
>>> was not closed properly, do I want to reopen it? Then before I get a
>>> chance to look at it to see just what it is that was opened I am asked
>>> if I want to save it. I have tried both answers and it always just
>>> opens the same file that I had started with before I had made any
>>> changes.
>>>
>>> It seems rather pointless doesn't it?
>>>
>>> Rick
>> While such program crashes are annoying and disruptive, at least you
>> didn't lose much work, since you save regularly (don't you?).
>
> Doesn't it give you the option to autosave every minute or so, like
> Protel????
>
>

No idea (I've never used Orcad). But I prefer to choose to save myself
- I've never liked autosaves. You just have to have a habit of saving
often.

On Aug 24, 12:09 am, rickman wrote:
> Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.

I disagree (with the subject line).

I have been using Orcad 386 schematic capture for 15 years. It is
powerful, fast and never crashes. But perhaps you are talking about
layout?

Alan Nishioka
:-)

On Aug 24, 10:43 am, Alan Nishioka wrote:
> On Aug 24, 12:09 am, rickman wrote:
>
> > Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
>
> I disagree (with the subject line).
>
> I have been using Orcad 386 schematic capture for 15 years. It is
> powerful, fast and never crashes. But perhaps you are talking about
> layout?

So you are using a 15 year old program? I don't have that program. I
have a windows version 10.3. It has numerous features that cause
crashes. I wouldn't say they are frequent, but it is often enough
that I hate using it. Part of that is the closed format for the files
and such. So there is no way to pull information out of the schematic
except for the limited means provided by Cadence.

I tried learning Orcad layout once, but like most layout programs it
is very convoluted with roots in the dark days of DOS. I gave up on
that and now I use FreePCB. I haven't switched to an open source
schematic program. But once I complete my current work, that will be
near the top of my list of things that will help me get rid of Orcad!

Rick

On Aug 24, 10:10 am, rickman wrote:
> On Aug 24, 10:43 am, Alan Nishioka wrote:
>
> > On Aug 24, 12:09 am, rickman wrote:
>
> > > Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
>
> > I disagree (with the subject line).
>
> > I have been using Orcad 386 schematic capture for 15 years. It is
> > powerful, fast and never crashes. But perhaps you are talking about
> > layout?
>
> So you are using a 15 year old program? I don't have that program. I
> have a windows version 10.3.

Yes, when Orcad first came out with a Windows version, my colleages
had problems with it, so I didn't upgrade. Later, I never got around
to it because it didn't offer any advantages to me (And they still
complained about it).

I'm sorry for making light of your frustrating situation. I just
thought it funny because Orcad used to be so good.

Alan Nishioka

On Aug 24, 12:09 am, rickman wrote:
> Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
> The funny thing is, they seem to think that they have a crash recovery
> procedure even though it doesn't do squat! I have to kill the app
> when it locks up. Then when I run it again, it says a previous design
> was not closed properly, do I want to reopen it? Then before I get a
> chance to look at it to see just what it is that was opened I am asked
> if I want to save it. I have tried both answers and it always just
> opens the same file that I had started with before I had made any
> changes.
>
> It seems rather pointless doesn't it?
>
> Rick

See if you can find an older version. IMnsHO, the last good version
was the last "pre-Cadence" version: 9.2. IIRC, this version was
written by OrCAD, and all Cadence did was to change the icon/logo.

It still has bugs, but over the years I've been trained (much like
Pavlov's dogs) to just "not do" the things that make it crash.

SDT-386 is a great version, but it doesn't run in all DOS emulators;
you need to have a true DOS system to run it. It was the last version
that truly understood the difference between "drag" and "move".

And sadly, Cadence thinks that they put out a quality product.
Delusions of adequacy.

G.

rickman wrote:
> On Aug 24, 10:43 am, Alan Nishioka wrote:
>> On Aug 24, 12:09 am, rickman wrote:
>>
>>> Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
>> I disagree (with the subject line).
>>
>> I have been using Orcad 386 schematic capture for 15 years. It is
>> powerful, fast and never crashes. But perhaps you are talking about
>> layout?
>
> So you are using a 15 year old program? I don't have that program. I
> have a windows version 10.3. ...


That appears to be the problem right there. I was never happy with any
of the Windows versions of OrCad when I used one at a client. SDT-III
under DOS was the way to go, best schematic capture since sliced bread.
Then it was ported to Windows and IMHO downhill from there, so I
switched away.


> ... It has numerous features that cause
> crashes. I wouldn't say they are frequent, but it is often enough
> that I hate using it. Part of that is the closed format for the files
> and such. So there is no way to pull information out of the schematic
> except for the limited means provided by Cadence.
>
> I tried learning Orcad layout once, but like most layout programs it
> is very convoluted with roots in the dark days of DOS. I gave up on
> that and now I use FreePCB. I haven't switched to an open source
> schematic program. But once I complete my current work, that will be
> near the top of my list of things that will help me get rid of Orcad!
>

Please let us know what you picked and how it fares. I am currently
using Eagle but about ready to switch (again!) because it doesn't offer
a hierarchical sheet structure and the manufacturer does not seem to
understand the importance of that. However, I want the next switch to
stick since all your old schematics and libraries become essentially
worthless thanks to the fact that EDIF was a mere flash in the pan.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Alan Nishioka wrote:
> On Aug 24, 10:10 am, rickman wrote:
>> On Aug 24, 10:43 am, Alan Nishioka wrote:
>>
>>> On Aug 24, 12:09 am, rickman wrote:
>>>> Once again, I found a way to lock up Orcad and lose all my changes.
>>> I disagree (with the subject line).
>>> I have been using Orcad 386 schematic capture for 15 years. It is
>>> powerful, fast and never crashes. But perhaps you are talking about
>>> layout?
>> So you are using a 15 year old program? I don't have that program. I
>> have a windows version 10.3.
>
> Yes, when Orcad first came out with a Windows version, my colleages
> had problems with it, so I didn't upgrade. Later, I never got around
> to it because it didn't offer any advantages to me (And they still
> complained about it).
>
> I'm sorry for making light of your frustrating situation. I just
> thought it funny because Orcad used to be so good.
>

Question: I still have my old SDT-III license. Are there any hard limits
you run into with DOS-OrCad these days? Such as printing, display,
netlist issues and such?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.