Hide gasket whiskers
These whiskers are placed on the GASKET layer. Turning off this layer will hide the graphics for gaskets.

Hide center-lines
To hide existing center-lines in the drawing, turn off the CLINE layer. To disable drawing center-lines during fitting insertion, use IDS-PIPE >> TOGS >> AutoCLINE from the pull-down menus and make sure it is unchecked.

Does IDS-PIPE have bushings?
At this time, IDS-PIPE does not have bushings.

Inserting short-radius bends
Select IDS-PIPE >> Set >> S.R. ELLS from the pull-down menus to turn on short-radius elbows.

There are question marks (?) when viewing a drawing
The machine that is viewing the drawing needs to have the three SHX files; IDSSIM.SHX, IDSTXT.SHX, and IDSCOM.SHX copied to C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 200x\Fonts folder. These SHX files can be found in any of the FlexCAD product folders (i.e. C:\Idswin\ISO, C:\Idswin\FLO, etc).

Unknown command error when trying to use FlexCAD
Type CONFIG on the command line and hit enter. On the System tab, the check-box option for 'Load acad.lsp with every drawing' needs to be checked [view screenshot]. After this is done, re-open the drawing.

Using custom layer properties and linetype/plot settings
Open C:\Idswin\PIP\SYM\PIPENEW.DWG and make the desired changes before saving. This is the prototype drawing that IDS-PIP uses to load all of its layer/drawing settings.

Fitting nodes are not showing up to snap to
Go to IDS-PIPE >> TOGS >> Fitt Node from the pull-down menus and make sure it is checked. This places nodes on all the connection points for the fittings.

There are question marks (?) when viewing a drawing
The machine that is viewing the drawing needs to have the three SHX files; IDSSIM.SHX, IDSTXT.SHX, and IDSCOM.SHX copied to C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 200x\Fonts folder. These SHX files can be found in any of the FlexCAD product folders (i.e. C:\Idswin\ISO, C:\Idswin\FLO, etc).

Unknown command error when trying to use FlexCAD
Type CONFIG on the command line and hit enter. On the System tab, the check-box option for 'Load acad.lsp with every drawing' needs to be checked [view screenshot]. After this is done, re-open the drawing.

Setting the valve-tag display
To change the way the valve-tag is displayed, refer to the C:\Idswin\FLO\IDSFINFO.LSP file:

;;;Toggle for size in display (setq IDSVSIZE t) ; t=show valve size, nil = don't show size
;;;Toggle for valve code in display (setq IDSVCODE t) ; t=show valve code, nil = don't show code

 Trial period ends prematurely
Currently, the only known causes for this issue are if the system and/or bios clock is tampered with. Unfortunately, there is no known fix to this problem.

  Full installations/updates of FlexCAD^TM 3.63 products

Welcome to the installation/update instructions for the FlexCAD^TM 3.63 suite of products for industrial facility piping design including the new 3D_eXtension (3DX*) for IDS-PIPE.  This CD supports new installations and updates of FlexCAD^TM FLOW, PIPE, 3DX, STEEL, and ISO on AutoCAD^® releases 2000 through 2002 and releases 2004 through 2006.  You may also use it on 2007/2008 but will require the use of a patch which can be downloaded from the company website.  Unlicensed users of FlexCAD^TM may use these products with their licensed AutoCAD^® under the FlexCAD^TM 30-day trial license provided by default.  In addition to these detailed installation instructions, refer to the FC_ReadmeFirst_363.rtf for installation overview, as well as the FC_Updates_363.rtf and FT_Installation_363.rtf Rich Text Format documents regarding full FlexCAD^TM and FlexTABS^TM instructions.  Installation of PI's Network Locking Option for FlexCAD^TM is covered separately in FCNLOlic.rtf.  The 363Install.exe's onboard commenting is usually sufficient to guide the user to a successful installation without reference to these supplemental documents.

Download FlexCAD Installation Instructions