©2003 Winston Mitchell
This is a work in progress. This list will grow as time permits.
"Can't extrude profile in the same plane. Try to lock one axis."
You will get this message with the Extrude tools if you attempt to extrude a profile with a target point on the same plane as the profile. This is almost always due to having the running Grid Snap turned on. It usually goes like this: you click on the profile, extrude by dragging to an appropriate size and then click. With grid snap on, you have clicked on the profile's workplane. Turn the Grid Snap off, and the problem goes away.
You may want to consider leaving the Grid Snap off and using the G-SEKE (SEKE = Single Entry Keyboard Equivalent) when snapping to the grid. Then you don't have to mess with turning it on and off.
I use SEKEs almost exclusively because I like to know with certainty what kind of feature I am snapping to. I find that I can draw faster and more accurately this way. See the help file for more info.
"Operation is invalid because the entity CS is not the current CS."
"Wrong option selection. Two segments belonging to different workplanes."
"CS" means Coordinate System. These messages occur when the user attempts an operation involving two or more 2D objects that are not on the same workplane. Although they may appear to be on the same workplane, they are not. At least one of them is on a different and possibly parallel workplane.
The frequency of occurrence can be reduced by doing all 2D activities using the 2D Selector. Users of v8 have the option of turning on "Safe UCS mode" in the 3D Selector's properties. Use this option with caution as using it will cause the object to lose its z-plane alignment with its coordinate system if the user does anything involving rotation about the z-axis with the option turned on.
Once you have the problem you can fix it by unselecting everything, activating the workplane you want the objects to be on (usually "Plane by World"), selecting the involved 2D objects, and then clicking "Place on WorkPlane" in the Format menu.
Because my drawings are always a mix of 2D and 3D objects and I am sensitive to the problems that can be caused by the "Safe UCS mode" option, I draw with the 3D selector and ignore the problem. Before performing an operation likely to produce the error, I do the "Place on WorkPlane" operation. To make it easy, I have the function assigned to the "W" key. I find this easier and faster than constantly switching between the 2D and 3D selectors.
Installation Errors and Startup Problems.
Here is a list of support pages that may prove useful for such problems: