420 — Installing an update

ConstructiVision updates itself. It tells you when a new version is available, and you accept it from inside AutoCAD — there is no installer to download, no admin password, and nothing to uninstall first.

There is one thing about it that surprises people, and it is worth knowing before you start: the new version does not take effect until every AutoCAD window is closed.

Note

This lesson is AutoCAD-only. ConstructiVision on the web has no equivalent today — the browser page for this lesson explains why, so you are not left hunting for a feature that is not there.

Accepting the update

  1. A dialog appears: ConstructiVision — Update available. It names the version waiting for you.

  2. Click Yes. ConstructiVision downloads the update, checks its signature, and unpacks it to a temporary folder. On a normal connection this takes a few seconds — the download is about 6 MB.

  3. A second dialog appears: ConstructiVision — Update ready (restart required). It says the download succeeded and that the update is not installed yet. AutoCAD has the current version loaded and locked, and a file in use cannot be replaced, so the update waits for AutoCAD to close.

  4. Choose when it installs.

    • Save & Exit Now saves your work and closes AutoCAD, and the update installs immediately.

    • Restart Later lets you keep working. The dialog says the update then installs the next time you close AutoCAD.

    Either way, the swap runs only once every AutoCAD window has closed, not just the drawing you were working in.

  5. Reopen AutoCAD. You are on the new version.

Checking for an update yourself

You do not have to wait for the prompt. Type CV-UPDATE at the command line, or click Check for Updates on the ConstructiVision menu, and ConstructiVision checks straight away. If a newer version is published you get the same Update available dialog as above. If not, the command line says so. When this lesson was checked (release 12.21.197), CV-UPDATE printed:

[CV-IDN] checking for updates...
[CV-IDN] up to date -- build 800c361 v12.21.197 (advertised 800c361 v12.21.197)

Why it works this way

The part that does the replacing runs outside AutoCAD, as a separate background task that ConstructiVision starts when you click Yes. It has to: a program cannot overwrite a file it is currently running.

That design buys two things worth having:

  • No administrator rights. ConstructiVision installs into your own user folder, so updating never needs IT to sign off.

  • A partial download cannot damage your install. The updater checks the unpacked files before it touches anything. If the download was incomplete, it stops and leaves your working version exactly as it was.

If it seems not to have worked

Almost always, an AutoCAD window is still open somewhere — a second session, or one minimised on another monitor. Close every one and the update completes by itself.

To confirm which version you are on, use About on the ConstructiVision menu.

Tip

Do not go hunting for a downloaded file to run. There isn’t one to run, and the temporary copy the updater unpacks is not an installer. Accepting the prompt and closing AutoCAD is the whole procedure.

Watch the lesson

Note

This lesson can only be recorded when an update is genuinely waiting. Unlike every other tutorial in the library, it cannot be staged — the prompt appears because the published version is newer than the installed one, and that is a condition of the world rather than of the drawing. This recording was made on a real update, from ConstructiVision 12.13.97 to 12.14.97.

What the recording shows and does not show. It shows the prompt, the accept, and the Update ready message with its two choices. It does not show the file replacement or the restart: both happen after AutoCAD has closed, so there is nothing on screen to film.