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Helpful tips and tricks as well as support information for known bugs. Hint: use CTRL+F to search this page!

EC Pro: When using Multileaders and I want a label to flip to the left direction but have the leader fold under the label, it doesn't work!

While dynamically placing your labels, you can tap TAB to flip the label left, up, right, and down. For the most part this works as intended. But if you are tight on space, and want a label that creates an acute angle as shown below, multileader labels will swing out, while non-multileader labels will be drawn correctly. The frustrating part is the dynamic label boxes show the tucked position, but the multileader is drawn incorrectly. This also occurs when the Bias setting allows for a slightly acute multileader line.

EC Pro uses standard AutoCAD Multileaders. There are limitations on how multileaders can be created. If you want to create labels that "fold back on itself" you can either create them using non-multileader styles, or manually move the multileader after creating it.

Part of the reason for not implementing the proper creation of the "tucked" multileader label is we don't feel it's an often used scenario, usually accounting for only a handful of labels on a plan of hundreds. If you want to see this added to a future version, consider filling out our Bug Report & Feature Request form below to let us know if you need this feature.

Applies to: 2019.06.03 and newer

EC Pro: The program pauses for 30 seconds after every step. What's going on?

Recently, our update server crashed. EC Pro wants to make sure you have the latest version so it checks for updates from the server. If the server does not reply, it checks again. This is an obvious bug as the program should not check again for a little while. Update to version 2022.03.07 or higher which fixes this problem. Note the program will still pause one time to check for updates, and when the server is not found, it will not check again until the next time you load the program.

Applies to: versions older than 2022.03.07

EC Pro: My labels are the wrong size or look incorrect, what can I do?

EC Pro uses Text Styles, Dimension Styles, Multileader Styles, and Layers in your drawing. If those are incorrectly configured, you must resolve this on your own.

Here are some general tips for getting labels to appear correctly with EC Pro:

Text Styles can be defined in one of two ways: Either with a fixed text height, or with a variable text height. In the Text Style dialog, if the height box contains a value other than 0 or 0.00 then that height is used by EC Pro for text (not multileader labels). If the height is zero, then EC Pro used the height as defined in the EC Pro Settings dialog. Please ensure the Text Style is defined properly, and/or EC Pro text height is defined correctly. For maximum flexibility the text height should be set to 0.0 if it's to be used in Dimension Styles or Multileader Styles.
Dimension Styles have a scale value. EC Pro just uses the Dimension Style for the Slope Arrow. If the arrows are not showing correctly, then check the Dimension Style scale and the Arrowhead Size values.
Multileader Styles also have a scale value. In addition, the proper Text Style height should be used. If the Text Style used in the Multileader Style has a height of 0.0, then the height is editable in the Multileader Style dialog. The height should be the "printed" height (usually 0.1). If the Text Style has a defined text height (something other than 0.0), then the height is not editable in the Multileader Style dialog and the height that is displayed will be multiplied by the Multileader Style scale value.
Make sure your drawing scales are set correctly. LTSCALE controls linetype scales only. It does not control the scale of objects created by EC Pro. CANNOSCALE should be set correctly if you are using any Annotative styles.

If you are still having trouble getting your EC Pro labels to look correct, you can create new styles using the buttons in the EC Pro Settings dialog. These styles are a good starting point for creating styles that match your own CAD standards.

Applies to: all versions

I get an error "xlayer ; error: bad argument type: stringp nil" or "Initializing...LOAD failed: 'EC'" when I try to use them, what is happening?

In order to ensure your copy of EC Pro or XLayer are updated and legitimate licensed versions, there are some protections in place. Part of this protection requires that the folder where these programs are loaded from must be listed in the AutoCAD Support File Search Paths as well as the Trusted Locations.

To resolve this issue, first locate the exact name of the folder where "xlayer.mnl" and/or "ec.vlx" are saved. If they are in separate subfolders, you must list each subfolder in the Support File Search Paths as well as Trusted Locations. Next, start AutoCAD and open the Options. On the Files tab, use the treeview to find Support File Search Path and Trusted Locations. Click the Add button and then either type or click Browse to select the folder(s). Do this for each path you need to add, and do it for both sections. When finished, click OK to exit the dialog. The programs should work now (no need to restart AutoCAD)!

WARNING: do not delete any other paths in these sections! Just add yours to the list. The order of the paths does not really matter.

See image for example configuration. For more information about Support File Search Paths and Trusted Locations, please see the Autodesk Help website.

Applies to: all versions

EC Pro: I get error "EOF after quote on input" when trying to import Dimension Styles from the INI, what's wrong?

A bug was found in the Dimension import routine. It has been resolved in the latest version of EC Pro.

If you want to resolve it at this moment, edit your EC-STYLES.INI file and then search and replace all Dimension lines that include a quotation mark (' or ") with another character. Typically this is DIMPOST=' or DIMPOST=". Just delete the quotation mark or replace it with something else. After import, you can edit the Dimension style and add back the quotation mark.

Applies to: versions older than 2021.02.03

EC Pro: I have a bunch of EC styles but my company just enforced a new policy for drafting standards, I don't want to manually edit each style, what can I do?

If you already created a number of styles and move to a new company or your company drafting policy changes, you can just export your styles to an INI file then use any text editor (like Notepad) to open the file. You can then use Find/Replace to search for the settings you want to change. Once all the changes are made, just import the styles into your computer again, overwriting the existing styles.

For instance, if your layer names changed, just search for the old name and replace it with the new name. If you want to modify a certain property, you can search for that property name (see Label Styles page and scroll to the bottom for a list of properties) and replace it with a new value. If your text editor is fancy (like Notepad++ which I use for programming EC Pro and XLayer) you can use Regular Expressions to further find and replace settings quickly.

If all this seems like too much to learn, give it a shot first. You can always talk to your IT department, or reach out to us for help.

Applies to: all versions

EC Pro: After creating a Multileader label, the justification is not kept when I switch it from a left leader to a right leader or vice-versa, why?

EC Pro uses standard AutoCAD Multileaders. If you use the 'Inside' justification for the label, then it will flip automatically when you swing the leader from one side to the other. Otherwise, the label remains justified left or right according to how it was when it was first drawn. There is no way to fix this behavior as it is built into the AutoCAD program.

This is even more evident if you create an EC Pro Style using a single line label. When you create the label it looks correct. But if you try to move the label at all, AutoCAD will swing the label all around in seemingly random directions. The only way to fix a single-leg multileader EC Pro label is to delete it and create it again with the program. This is a limitation of the AutoCAD Multileader object, not EC Pro.

Applies to: 2019.06.03 and newer

EC Pro: When using the program it seem slow sometimes, can you help?

EC Pro uses very few "fancy" techniques in it's operation. AutoCAD on the other hand does many things that seem unrelated to the task you are doing at the moment. Two things AutoCAD does constantly, especially when creating or editing text, is accessing a current list of Fonts, and a list of Plot Styles.

If your Fonts and Plot Styles are stored on a remote network, or if your local network is not high speed, you may notice a slowdown when placing EC Pro labels. You will also notice a slowdown when creating text with straight AutoCAD in addition to EC Pro.

The simplest solution is to copy the Fonts and Plot Styles you need to your local hard drive and remove the network or remote network locations from the AutoCAD Files options. Please see the Autodesk website for help.

Recently, we fixed a bug when creating Multileaders. If your drawing has many multileaders, AutoCAD would slow down even more when creating a new EC Pro multileader label. Update to the version 2021.11.26 or later!

Applies to: all versions

EC Pro: My design is always based on Flowline elevations, and I want to avoid having to change to 'Bottom' when entering elevations, what can I do?

If your design is based on elevations that normally appear on the bottom of your labels, such as the Flowline of a TC/FL label, you can set the Primary label to appear on the 'Bottom' and the Secondary label to appear on 'Top'. The Secondary value will be added to the Primary value by the Curb Height amount, instead of subtracted as is the normal case.

Applies to: 2007.08.14 and newer

EC Pro: I like to make minor changes to a style while I'm working, but I don't want to lose my modifications when switching to another style, what can I do?

Starting with version 2020.11.13 there is a new option to Swap between two different styles. If you make frequent small changes that are not worth saving as a new style while you work, you can use the Swap option. The minor changes you make to either style will be retained as long as you don't load a new style in that particular slot.

Applies to: 2020.11.13 and newer

EC Pro: Why don't the labels update when I change one of the text values created previously, aren't the labels dynamic and smart?

The labels created by EC Pro are basic AutoCAD entities without any added intelligence. Changing the Top elevation will not automatically adjust the Bottom elevation. Nor will changing the slope affect any elevation labels. This is partly by design. With Civil 3D and dynamic labels based on "smart" objects, you can sometimes introduce corruption into your model that you do not recognize until much later.

EC Pro is designed to be quick and explicit. The values will not change on their own and therefore can be used to check your "smart" objects. Creating labels is so quick and easy, if you do have to change your design it's not a problem to just delete the labels and create new ones. While not quite as fast and easy to update as dynamic labels, there is the added safety of knowing exactly what has changed each time you revise your design.

Applies to: all versions

EC Pro: I got a warning about "Corrupt Multileader settings" in EC Pro after uninstalling previous or newer version of AutoCAD and trying to create a multileader style, how can I fix it?

AutoCAD has been known to overzealously delete some registry entries when uninstalling AutoCAD and corrupting the ability to create multileader styles using EC Pro. The only fix is to import some known good registry settings from another computer, or to completely reinstall AutoCAD (repair installation does not fix it). We have provided the correct registry settings below for your use.

To fix this by downloading a registry file

Due to security restrictions, we are unable to make this change for you on your computer. You must manually download the file from the Support repository. Please make sure you download only the version that applies to your installed version of AutoCAD. Once downloaded, double click this file and click Yes if prompted to allow this setting to be updated in your registry. No other support is given.

Note, the contents of the files on the repository are also shown in the next section. Downloading the file is a quicker way to fix the problem, but there is no difference between downloading or copying the text below.

To fix this manually with a registry merge

Copy the relevant section below to a blank file in Notepad file and save with a file extension ".REG". Double click this file and click Yes if prompted to allow this setting to be updated in your registry. No other support is given.

Note: the contents of the files in the previous section are the same as shown below. There is no difference other than a little more work on your part to using this manual method.

AutoCAD 2024 AcDbMLeaderStyle regfix