327 replies to this topic

[Ceric Neesh]

While trying to import a model with both the latest version of the LDD manager and the latest version of LDD, I received the following error message:

-21407023782 - Method 'Connection' of object '_CurrentProject' failed

I am using the Access 2003 download you provided.

[Superkalle]

Ceric Neesh, on 15 March 2012 - 03:51 PM, said:

While trying to import a model with both the latest version of the LDD manager and the latest version of LDD, I received the following error message:

-21407023782 - Method 'Connection' of object '_CurrentProject' failed

I am using the Access 2003 download you provided.

Do you have any other versions of Microsoft Office installed?

[Ceric Neesh]

Superkalle, on 15 March 2012 - 08:20 PM, said:

Do you have any other versions of Microsoft Office installed?

No, I don't.  I've used Google Docs for so long that when I replaced my computer, I didn't see a point in getting MSOffice.

[Superkalle]

Can you try to install/repair the MS MDAC libraries:

http://www.microsoft...ls.aspx?id=5793

PS: What OS are you running?

[LeaderOne]

Superkalle,
I've been using your app for a while and is very useful to keep inventories.

One thing that I like to use a lot is the Batch replace utility. First I go to the model's color substitution analysis to ensure a whole color can be replaced. Then go to the color summary and copy the table of parts for that color. I paste the table in excel and add another column repeating the part number, then a column with the original color number and finally a column with the replacement color number. Now I go to the batch replace and paste the table from excel.

The problem is that the batch replace only accepts DesignIDs, not BLitemIDs, so some parts are not accepted (since their IDs don't match), and although access allows to paste the rest of the records, the file generated contain several parts that were not changed.

I'm wondering if you can either add a column with the DesignIDs in the Color summary table or modify the batch replace to accept BLitemIDs instead. I have the impression that one nomenclature is more reliable than the other so you may know which is the best choice.

Thank you again for your wonderful program!

[Superkalle]

LeaderOne, on 27 March 2012 - 11:03 PM, said:

Superkalle,
I've been using your app for a while and is very useful to keep inventories.

One thing that I like to use a lot is the Batch replace utility. First I go to the model's color substitution analysis to ensure a whole color can be replaced. Then go to the color summary and copy the table of parts for that color. I paste the table in excel and add another column repeating the part number, then a column with the original color number and finally a column with the replacement color number. Now I go to the batch replace and paste the table from excel.

The problem is that the batch replace only accepts DesignIDs, not BLitemIDs, so some parts are not accepted (since their IDs don't match), and although access allows to paste the rest of the records, the file generated contain several parts that were not changed.

I'm wondering if you can either add a column with the DesignIDs in the Color summary table or modify the batch replace to accept BLitemIDs instead. I have the impression that one nomenclature is more reliable than the other so you may know which is the best choice.

Thank you again for your wonderful program!

Thanks for the kind words.

And cool that someone is using that feature  

I'll definetely look into your request for the next release. And don't hesitate to let me know if there is anything else that could be improved/added.

[asielen]

I just noticed that the weight given for a set in the manager does not take into account the quantity of each brick. It only adds up the weights for one of each brick. It would be more useful if it added up the total weight of a model.


(Also, it would be awesome if it could pull price data from bricklink and lego.com to make estimates. Perhaps pull down the average price that a brick has sold for recently from bricklink in addition to what it is currently selling for at lego (if it is selling))

[Superkalle]

asielen, on 30 March 2012 - 12:10 PM, said:

I just noticed that the weight given for a set in the manager does not take into account the quantity of each brick. It only adds up the weights for one of each brick. It would be more useful if it added up the total weight of a model.


(Also, it would be awesome if it could pull price data from bricklink and lego.com to make estimates. Perhaps pull down the average price that a brick has sold for recently from bricklink in addition to what it is currently selling for at lego (if it is selling))

About weight, yeah I know, it's an issue I've fixed for the next release (which is due out in just a few weeks). But thanks for pointing it out.  


EDIT: Maybe I should answer the second question also  

LDD Manager currently does not pull any data from the internet when you run it at your computer. Instead all data required is downloaded and prepared at compile time. The reason is that it becomes much faster this way, doesn't rely on internet connection and doesn't query the BL database (which might not be liked by BL admins). But there is another reason, and that is the conversion from LEGO to BL Item numbers. Because they change over time, it might throw the mapping off if BL suddenly gets a new Item number for a particular LDD DesignID.

Then there is off course also the issue that not all parts may have a price, which may be anoying.

[Lego Otaku]

I kept running into minor issue when I try to export to BL wanted list, a couple element ID shows up invalid in BL.  For example, I open LDD file that has Pneumatic T connector, new style it shows as part # 4696b but the part # does not exist in BL.  The part # in BL is 4697b instead.  Another example: part # 167 (bar 1x3, radio handle) should be 6190

I don't know if the error were caused by older LDD file or if there's mismatched number in LDD Manager database.  The file I tried to export to wanted list were UCS MF set 10179, this one specifically: http://www.eurobrick...07

If it's due to old LDD file, maybe a way to automate change in obsolete part # to current part #?

[Superkalle]

Lego Otaku, on 12 April 2012 - 06:51 AM, said:

If it's due to old LDD file, maybe a way to automate change in obsolete part # to current part #?

You're spot on here. It is because the LDD Manager file needs to be updated. I'll put out a new version shortly.
Also, in this new version there will be an integrated check for a new version of LDD Manager (i.e. checking on-line).

[Superkalle]

Cool - LDD Manager is on YouTube now. I just saw today that two persons have made tutorials on YouTube how to setup and run LDD Manager


By TheUnbrickable -
By FactionLU -

Thanks guys!

I got so inspired I'm working on a new version now  

Please let me know what new features you want!

[Classicsmiley]

Superkalle, on 06 June 2012 - 12:36 PM, said:

Cool - LDD Manager is on YouTube now. I just saw today that two persons have made tutorials on YouTube how to setup and run LDD Manager


By TheUnbrickable -
By FactionLU -

Thanks guys!

I got so inspired I'm working on a new version now  

Please let me know what new features you want!

I just tried to run LDD Manager, and I saw an Access window open and then promptly close.  I'm using Win7 x64, and I've got the 64-bit version of Office 2010 Pro.  Do I still need the Access 2003 Runtime?

Thanks!

[legolijntje]

Classicsmiley, on 04 July 2012 - 03:43 AM, said:

I just tried to run LDD Manager, and I saw an Access window open and then promptly close.  I'm using Win7 x64, and I've got the 64-bit version of Office 2010 Pro.  Do I still need the Access 2003 Runtime?

Thanks!

I had that problem too. The problem is that Superkalle's version of office is a 32 bit one, and Access 64 bit can't open files from a 32 bit version. It's very annoying and as far as I know Access is the only MS office software that can't open both 32 and 64 bit.

My solution; just reinstall office, but now a 32 bit version.

The only advantages of a 64 bit version of office is, that it's slightly (almost invisible) faster and it can handle excel files that are larger than 2gb (and seriously; an excel file bigger than 2 gb has a lot of text   ).

[Superkalle]

I'm working on a new version, and was wondering if there are any requests.

At the moment I have done the following
1) Thumbnail preview images of bricks
2) Better "Generate LXF" file - now packs the bricks better
3) New on-line version check. Checks for new version every other month.
4) And naturally all updated data from BrickLink and also updated mapping between BrickLink ID's and LDD ID's

I'm now looking at a pick-list report that can be printed (with brick thumbnails)

[Calabar]

What do you think about creating a mosaic lxf file using 1x1 bricks or plates?
Could be the only difficulty is to get colour data from an image, assuming the function create uses a 1x1 brick for each pixel.

[Superkalle]

For Mosaic creation I use Bricksaic to create LDR files, which I then import into LDD. Works like a charm.  

[Superkalle]

OK, a new version is now out, version 1.0 (yes, a bit illogical I know)

The most important news is that the BrickLink-to-LDD mapping is updated, and the color reference table is completely refreshed.

I've also added a "brick thumbnail" pre-view feature. It's designed kind of nifty because all the brick images are stored in the database - no images are retrieved from Peeron or BrickLink. The images are semi-transparent PNG's containing only the brick shadows and outlines. To get the different colors, images are simply overlaid with the RGB values for the particular brick. The result is a very compact brick image library that still allows all colors to be shown. Many thanks to Martin H for helping with some tricky coding problems.  

There is also a new on-line version check that will notify you when there's an update LDD Manager version. (the check is only done every two months to minimize any disturbance). It works by downloading a HTML page (the Skydrive page where I host LDD Manager) and compare with the installed version, so no data is transmitted from LDD Manager whatsoever. If you don't have any internet connection, it will pop up a message instead, reminding you to check for new versions manually.

OK, that's about it. Let me know if you bump into any problems.

Download version 1.00 from here

[DLuders]

@ Superkalle:  Thanks for continuing to refine this VERY USEFUL software application!     

I just downloaded the 81-MB Zip file from Skydrive, and unpacked it onto my hard drive with no problems.  I did notice that the first LDD Manager screen still says "Version 0.99b for LDD 4.2.5", so I am not sure whether I'm running Version 1.00 or not.  The F1 "Help" key does not do anything.  The old StartLDDManager.vbs file was not overwritten by anything -- it still is dated 5/20/2010.

[Superkalle]

DLuders, on 07 August 2012 - 01:43 PM, said:

@ Superkalle:  Thanks for continuing to refine this VERY USEFUL software application!     

I just downloaded the 81-MB Zip file from Skydrive, and unpacked it onto my hard drive with no problems.  I did notice that the first LDD Manager screen still says "Version 0.99b for LDD 4.2.5", so I am not sure whether I'm running Version 1.00 or not.  The F1 "Help" key does not do anything.  The old StartLDDManager.vbs file was not overwritten by anything -- it still is dated 5/20/2010.

Thanks for the feedback David. Much appreciated! I'll look into the version number. The F1 key was never implemented, but maybe it should.
That the StartLDDManagervbs is the old one doesn't matter. It's still the same functionality.

EDIT Hm, looking at the version issue, I can't understand what the problem is. My version says 1.0 for LDD 4.2.5
Also, the file on Skydrive is a 40Mb zip (but expands to 80Mb)

Can you check if the new feature with brick thumbnails works?
If not, try to download again, and make sure you overwrite the previous version.

[JagerBaBomb]

Dude, this is awesome. And with a timely update to boot! Thank you, good sir.

[DLuders]

@ Superkalle:  I downloaded the LDD Manager 1.0 40-MB ZIP file again, and used WinZip (instead of WinAce) this time to unpack it into the 80-MB-total file package.  Everything works nicely -- the LDD Manager says it's Version 1.0 and I see the Brick Thumbnails when I check off the box that says "Show Brick Thumbnails".   Thanks!

[Sjuip]

Superkalle, on 07 August 2012 - 12:13 PM, said:

OK, that's about it. Let me know if you bump into any problems.

Thanks, Superkalle, for this update to this VERY useful piece of programming.
I downloaded and unzipped it without probs.
The new thumbnail option is very neat and handy.

I bumped into one 'problem', however: the thumbnail feature generates an error message in MS Access ('wrong expression / wrong evaluation') when selecting a decorated brick.
It happened, for instance, with part 3069bpx40 (tile 1x2 with mail/envelope decoration).

[Superkalle]

Sjuip, on 11 August 2012 - 08:57 PM, said:

I bumped into one 'problem', however: the thumbnail feature generates an error message in MS Access ('wrong expression / wrong evaluation') when selecting a decorated brick.
It happened, for instance, with part 3069bpx40 (tile 1x2 with mail/envelope decoration).

Thanks for letting me know, I'll look into it  

[alecjd]

Dear Superkalle,

I recently tried to download LDD Manager onto my computer, but to no avail.  The conputer told me that LDDManager.mdb was a read only file, and it needed to not be read only.  How do I change it? I realllly want to use Manager, and I hope ypu can help me out.

Thank you,
Alec

[Superkalle]

alecjd, on 17 August 2012 - 03:06 PM, said:

Dear Superkalle,

I recently tried to download LDD Manager onto my computer, but to no avail.  The conputer told me that LDDManager.mdb was a read only file, and it needed to not be read only.  How do I change it? I realllly want to use Manager, and I hope ypu can help me out.

Thank you,
Alec

Hi Alec

First, to change the read-only property of a file, right click it, and chose properties. At the bottom is a check-box for "Read-only". Try to un-check it.

As a second step, I need to know where you are are putting the MDB file (which folder). If the folder is a read-only file, then sometimes the file placed there will inherit that and also become read-only, also if you manually un-check file itself; Try to put the MDB-file in your Personal Folders or some place where you know you have read-and-write rights and see if it works.

BTW, what version of Access do you have? And what version Windows?