Limited licensing issue? ( Network )

I wanted to check if there is a solution to this problem besides buying more licenses. Currently I m on a network where there are engineers and architects working side by side. Engineers have around 10-20 min job and then just leave AutoCAD opened hence holding a license while architects have full time work with the software and they are not able to get a license due to limited users limit.

I was wondering if there is a work around for this which is not illegal for example a way to force the software to close down automatically if it remains idle for a certain time or maybe something better?

Just get up them about leaving it open and tieing up the license. Send a company wide email saying there are no licenses, if anyone is not using it currently please ensure you release the license. Do that enough times and soon people will remember to close the program/release the license.

Anything that works automatically could have unintended consequences of its own. What if the user walked away from his/her desk to consult with a colleague about some aspect of the design and the system takes this absence to mean the user has stopped working?

Anything that works automatically could have unintended consequences of its own. What if the user walked away from his/her desk to consult with a colleague about some aspect of the design and the system takes this absence to mean the user has stopped working?

Is it possible that their application doesn't gets shut down without the work being saved but the license gets freed up if there is someone else looking for a license in the network i.e. if someone stays idle for too long and someone else is waiting for a license then their application saves all current work and stops working as a registered version?

I wanted to check if there is a solution to this problem besides buying more licenses. Currently I m on a network where there are engineers and architects working side by side. Engineers have around 10-20 min job and then just leave AutoCAD opened hence holding a license while architects have full time work with the software and they are not able to get a license due to limited users limit.

 

I was wondering if there is a work around for this which is not illegal for example a way to force the software to close down automatically if it remains idle for a certain time or maybe something better?

From reading all of your posts, I think you really need to get a few more licenses. However, if these guys really only need it for 10-20 minutes, you could give them LT (if they are only doing 2d) at considerable savings. If they need 3d and/or Autolisp, Bricscad is even less expensive than LT and will do all that. Draftsight is free and will do almost everything that LT will do. The occasional user that only has 10 minutes of work to do probably doesn't need the full power of autocad anyway.

Using freeware is decent enough but the engineers won't be comfortable shifting to something else other then what they are used to. Any other ideas?

I'd have to agree with @Remark about not expiring a license automatically. Its something that could cause problems down the line. If you are at capacity with your current license pool than its something that this needs to be reviewed at a company level. If it doen't exists already, a company policy could be introduced which provides guidelines for using AutoCAD.

If this doen't work IMO the cost for additional licenses can be justified if the workload is there. I'd consider the options for LT or Briscad as suggested by @Jack_O'neill. Also consider Autodesk's DWG Trueview as s free drawing viewer/plotter

Using freeware is decent enough but the engineers won't be comfortable shifting to something else other then what they are used to. Any other ideas?

Automatically closing a program for inactivity is a bad idea all the way around. There are simply too many risks involved. If you set it up so that it doesn't save, you could lose work and have to do it again. If you set it up so it does save, what happens if the person was exploring a "what if" situation that might not be viable? Now you've saved over the original file and lost all the undo info. And how would you choose a reasonable time frame? What happens when the guy comes back and needs to finish the drawing and now he can't get a license? The only reasonable solution for this is to add more licenses. If you have enough work going on that this has become a daily problem, then it's time to give your people the tools they need to do the work. Look at it this way...if you were running a tire shop with 12 service bays would you expect the mechanics to share a jack and lug wrench? Of course not. So why do it in a cad shop?

You don't have to close the inactive AutoCAD(s), you can just release/revoke the license.

You may even be able to be more creative and apply different timeouts to different user groups.

AutoCAD Services & Support

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How to control network license access using an options file

Setting license inactivity timeout

You can configure the license manager to automatically reclaim inactive licenses after a specified time. Inactivity is defined as an idle product with no commands issued in the specified time. Users will be given the option to save their current drawing if a license is revoked by the license manager for inactivity.

You don't have to close the inactive AutoCAD(s), you can just release/revoke the license.

 

You may even be able to be more creative and apply different timeouts to different user groups.

That works as far as reclaiming idle licenses, but again, what if the guy comes back and can't get a license to finish his project? There are many legitimate reasons for a cad session to become inactive. Phone calls from clients, spur of the moment meetings with collegues or bosses or even a trip to the restroom that took longer than expected.

If the engineers only need a session for 10 minutes, then they could get comfortable with freeware. Ten minutes a day is not enough to sweat over it. Draftsight is not that different and can be customized to look like what they are seeing. If it were my company, and I couldn't afford full seats of autocad or LT, that would be the decision and if they wish to continue recieving a paycheck, they'll just have to build a bridge and get over it.

....Engineers have around 10-20 min job and then just leave AutoCAD opened......

.... you could give them xxxx ..... Draftsight is free and will ........ probably doesn't need the full power of autocad anyway.

Using freeware is decent enough but the engineers won't be comfortable shifting to something else other then what they are used to.

Any other ideas?

....but again' date=' what if ....[/quote']

 

 

My post directly addresses the OP's problem of users failing to close AutoCAD when they are finished with it, as well as the OP's reluctance to introducing another CAD application, it was not intended to diminish any of the other suggestions or solutions.

My post directly addresses the OP's problem of users failing to close AutoCAD when they are finished with it, as well as the OP's reluctance to introducing another CAD application, it was not intended to diminish any of the other suggestions or solutions.

I'm sorry Nestly, I meant no disparagement to you. Its just that I have worked in this exact situation and it's extremely annoying. On one hand you got somebody standing on your neck about the schedule, and there's nothing you can do because there are no licenses. One finally comes available, and you just get started and the boss in on the phone wanting a meeting to talk about the project you are working on. You stay logged on hoping it will only be a few minutes and get back to find that your license expired. It is a ridiculous situation that serves only to increase stress and frustration. It makes people miss deadlines, get chewed on for that, and finally go away because nobody wants to get chewed out every day for failing to do a job when theres nothing you can do about it. When you've got people that want to do a good job and you don't give them the tools, or worse yet take the tool away because of some arbitrary "inactivity" rule, eventually they will get to where they don't care if they do it or not.

We are in a similar situation with designers not having available licenses. We are currently using draftsight for several of our project managers to free up a few of the licenses.

At my last company, they had chosen autocad LT for the Engineers, while the designers had access to the full version.

It is very frustrating trying to meet deadlines without the tools necessary. Fortunately, I get here early and haven't had a problem. Those that arrive late, well..

. Fortunately, I get here early and haven't had a problem. Those that arrive late, well..

Been there done that. Normal office hours were 8-5...we had people showing up at 6. Since they were there anyway, many of them would start work, even though it was unpaid, just to get a jump on the crowd and get something done before the inactivity rule and the endless meetings kicked in. That got everybody a collective butt-chewing for working uncompensated hours, and they put down a rule that you couldn't arrive more than 30 minutes before your shift unless scheduled for overtime.

I am waiting on that rule to arrive here, but until then...

I seem to get more work done on paper in those 2 hours than in the next 8 hours to come.

You don't have to close the inactive AutoCAD(s), you can just release/revoke the license.

 

You may even be able to be more creative and apply different timeouts to different user groups.

I agree with this. When the license is revoked, that session of AutoCAD is still allowed to run long enough to save unsaved work.

The exception to this rule (as far as I have seen) is Raster Design. Since it runs inside of AutoCAD, there is no way to measure idleness. The user would have to run the IUNLOAD command to free up the network license (w/o shutting down the AutoCAD session).