Question:

A new computer is to replace the existing one.
How can I transfer the existing data and settings of the existing Allplan installation to the new computer?



Solution:

Please note that this solution only works with stand-alone versions.
Install the same version of Allplan on the new computer and transfer the data as follows:

1st - transferring the data:
Transfer the following folders from the old computer to the new one:
Project folder (PRJ)
Office standard folder (STD) and
User folder (USR)

You can determine the path to these folders on both the new computer and the old computer as follows:
Services application->Service->Hotline Tools->Showcfg: shows system variables ->OK
You can find the paths to the folders after PRJ, STD and USR.

2nd - transferring the toolbar configuration:
Export the configurations from the old computer by clicking View -> Toolbars -> Customize... -> Export...
You can then import the configurations to the new computer by clicking View -> Toolbars -> Customize... -> Import...

Allplan from version 2011

Parts of Allplan 2011 have been reprogrammed and are completely new. Allplan uses a graphics library, which has been developed especially for CAD programs and visualization tasks. Depending on the data type and application, the display speed of Allplan is much higher than that of earlier versions, and refresh operations are considerably shorter. What's more, you can create hidden line images in real time.
This new technology is not a one-to-one implementation of the software-based solution in the previous version. Instead, a hardware-based approach is used. When it comes to data processing, the graphics card takes on much of the work. The different behavior of these two technologies that may occur in some parts is inherent. Therefore, the resulting display and refresh operations may differ slightly from what you are used to.



General graphics card requirements for Allplan

To fully exploit hardware acceleration capabilities, you require an Open GL 2.0 and DirectX10 (chip-based) compatible graphics card with 512 MB or more memory. Although Windows XP does not support DirectX10, Allplan only requires the chip-based support of the graphics card to manage the graphics library. OpenGL 2.0 is used in 2D and in visualization windows. These changes employ the latest technology in graphic display, so selecting a capable graphics card, and using the proper drivers is essential.

For more information on graphics card specifications, go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_AMD_graphics_processing_units
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_NVIDIA_graphics_processing_units#Quadro)



Professional graphics cards versus Consumer-Level cards

Graphic card manufacturers typically have different product lines targeted for "gamers" and "professional users". While the hardware setup is very similar in case of both cards, there are key differences in their firmware and driver. "Consumer-Level cards" (such as Nvidia GeForce and AMD/ATI Radeon) are optimized for 3D games and technologically designed for DirectX10, as speed is more important than image quality.
Typically a 3D model in a game contains a low number of polygons with textures applied to them, while in CAD applications polygon count is high, and the image quality of wireframe models or shaded models is more important than navigation speed. Also, professional cards' memory usage is optimized for using multiple application windows, while in gaming this is not relevant.
Another key difference between the two product lines is the way they are delivered and supported. Professional cards (such as Nvidia Quadro and AMD/ATI FireGL/PRO) are built according to the video chip manufacturer's references, so you can always be sure that the driver delivered by the video chip manufacturer (such as Nvidia or AMD/ATI) fits your card.
The manufacturers of Consumer-Level cards (such as ASUS, Sapphire, Gigabyte, PNY and so on) may diverge from the chip manufacturer's references, so their drivers may not be compatible with the chip manufacturer's reference driver. Also, the product life cycle and driver release cycles are much shorter in case of gaming cards, usually 6 months up to 1 year at most and a 1-year warranty period maximum.

Example: comparison of graphics cards

	Consumer-Level cards	Professional graphics cards / workstation
Products	Radeon	FireMV	FireGL/Pro	Mobility FireGL/Pro
Markets	Private customers: desktop systems and notebook systems	Corporate desktop systems	Corporate CAD and DCC desktop systems and notebook systems
Applications	Home/office publishing, productivity, multimedia, games, Internet	Finance, clearance, logistics, airport information displays	CAD/CAM/CAE, AEC, DCC, GIS, MI, visual simulation, scientific research/imaging
Certification	WHQL certification	Industrial applications WHQL certification	Professional 3D applications WHQL certification
Operating systems	Windows 98SE / Me / XP Windows Vista, Windows 7	Windows XP, XP64,Vista, Vista 64, Windows 7, Windows 7 64 Linux
Drivers	Optimized for DirectX Basic Open GL	Optimized and designed for DirectX Optimized and advanced Open GL
Life cycle	Available for 1 year on average	Available for 2-3 years on average
Support	Basic, private customers	Direct access to dedicated support by trained technicians
Warranty	1 year	3 years with replacementof components

Professional graphics cards versus Consumer-Level cards

Professional graphics cards differ considerably from "Consumer-Level cards" for private users with regard to specific market segments with special requirements:

• Extensive application tests and certifications with CAD providers
• Optimized and advanced support for API as well as further developments
• Longer product life cycles and availability
• Direct product support
• Longer warranty period
  

Nemetschek Allplan GmbH cooperates with Nvidia und AMD to test graphics card drivers for the Nvidia FX Quadro/ Quadro and AMD/ATI FireGL/ Fire Pro series. These product lines are tested, certified and recommended for Allplan by Nemetschek Allplan Systems GmbH.

For more information on certified graphics cards, go to:

www.nemetschek.eu/info/grafikkarten
www.nemetschek.eu/info/graphiccards

There are four different categories and areas:

Graphics card	Application	Quality tests	Status
Gaming graphics cards	3D Games	Tested / not tested	Not recommended
Professional graphics cards	3D basis	Certified and recommended	End of life
Professional graphics cards	3D performance	Certified and recommended	End of life
Professional graphics cards	3D high performance	Certified and recommended	End of life

Recommended graphics cards for laptops (Windows)

For reasons detailed above, we cannot recommend any specific card and driver combination for laptops. However, there are professional graphics cards available for high-end laptops such as NVidia FX Quadro & Quadro NVidia "M" or AMD/ATI FireGL & FirePro "Mobility".
These graphics cards are just as good as their desktop counterparts.
Laptops with Consumer-Level cards have been tested only briefly and cannot be recommended. We have had bad experience with on-board Intel graphics cards.



Graphics cards drivers for Apple Macintosh

Since Macs come with a default graphics card (on-board or gaming), and the drivers are bundled with system updates, we cannot recommend a specific card.
Graphics cards for MacOsX 10.6 (Leopard) or later and Boot Camp support Open GL 2.0 and DirectX10. Currently, there is only one series that is equipped with a professional graphics card: Mac Pro with NVidia FX4800 for Mac.


Notes for Allplan and Macintosh:

• There is no provision for a direct installation under Macintosh.
• Access to Windows must be straight from the Boot Camp installation.
• For performance reasons, Parallels Desktop cannot be used in conjunction with Nemetschek Allplan.

We kindly ask you to understand that Nemetschek Allplan cannot provide support for Boot Camp installations.



Installing graphics cards drivers (Windows)

Graphics cards only work properly if they have a hardware provider supplied driver (not system built-in driver) installed correctly. It may happen that remnants of a previous installation interfere with the current driver installation. If you experience display issues with the drivers listed below, please "clean-install" the driver again. "Clean-install" means removing all previous driver files before installing a new driver. Unfortunately, a simple uninstall may not efficiently remove all components of a driver. There are tools that can do it, like ATI's cat uninstaller or third-party tools like driver cleaner or driver cleaner pro 1.5.

Graphics card drivers for laptops (Windows)

In most cases, graphic card drivers for laptops are supplied by the laptop manufacturer, and graphic card provider supplied drivers will not install on laptops. This makes it practically impossible for us to test laptop graphics cards. If you are experiencing display issues with your laptop, and your supplier does not offer you a driver update, you might try - at your own risk - to tweak a desktop driver to work on your laptop. Note that this is obviously not encouraged by your laptop supplier.

Question:

How can I change the cache path for Allplan Share?

Note:

You do this at your own risk.
We strongly recommend that you clarify all issues in advance.
Always copy a file before you change it.
Before you change registry entries, back up the registry key that you want to modify. To do this, export the key by selecting File - Export in the Registry Editor.

Answer:

Allplan Share temporarily saves the project data in the path of the local file storage, which you defined when you installed Allplan.
You can see the path of the local file storage folder in the Services application.
If this folder is centrally on a server for all Allplan workstations:
To avoid replication conflicts that might occur when several users work on the same project data, you must change the path settings for each user so that this folder is locally on the user’s computer running Allplan.

Before you start, close Allplan, making sure that you do not lose any data.

1. Go to a local drive (C or D) of the computer running Allplan and create the new "Local data” folder with the "Allplan” subfolder (for example, C:\Local data\Allplan).
2. Start the Windows Registry Editor as the administrator (start - run - regedit).
3. Go to the left column of Registry Editor and open the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Nemetschek\Allplan\2018.0\InstallRoot. If Allplan 2019 or a newer Allplan version is installed, “2019.0“ or the newer version replaces “2018.0” in the path.
4. Go to the right column of Registry Editor and double-click theLocalDataDrivekey. Specify the drive that you selected for local file storage (for example, C:). Then click OK to confirm the change. This applies the change.
5. Then, go to the right column of Registry Editor again and double-click theLocalDataPathkey. Specify the path that you defined for local file storage (for example,\Local Data\Allplan). Then click OK to confirm the change. This applies the change. The result should look like this:
   
6. Close the Registry Editor. Allplan now uses the new path for the cache of Allplan Share.
7. Start Allplan and select the Allplan Share project to load the necessary project data into the new cache.