EVERY time I edit the column widths the programme freezes momentarily then vanishes from the screen - and now they want to sell me the 2020 version!!!
No way!
I assume you are talking about paragraph text in columns?Have you reported this before? (link to thread?)I usually don't use columns myself but I gave it a try and they seem to work fine in Draw 2019, build 21.3.0.755.Can you give us some more details?Regarding 2020, why not download the trial and check whether it is the same there?
Thanks for the response. It specifically happens when I adjust the space between columns - default is 12mm which I reset to 6mm. After that the programme freezes for a few seconds then the whole thing vanishes and unsaved work is lost. I know it didn't used to do this; it's a task I've performed many times without issue, but it's always crashed at various times for no apparent reason. Photopaint does it too. Restarting the computer sometimes clears it but not this time. I doubled the memory to 16Gb recently hoping that might have an effect but apparently not.
It doesn't matter if 2020 does it or not; I can't afford to upgrade just for that.
BasilB said:It specifically happens when I adjust the space between columns - default is 12mm which I reset to 6mm. After that the programme freezes for a few seconds then the whole thing vanishes and unsaved work is lost. I know it didn't used to do this; it's a task I've performed many times without issue, but it's always crashed at various times for no apparent reason.
I haven't tested this thoroughly, but trying to do this, I was able to crash CorlDRAW 2020 several times.
I would have to do some more testing to be more sure, but it seems to crash when I:
It does not seem to crash when I:
I would be curious to know if this slightly different way of doing it works for you, or if you still see crashes.
Thank you Eskimo;
Yes, it works. I changed the gutter value then hit the 'Enter' key and clicked 'OK' and the programme didn't crash. Then I tried clicking the 'Equal Column Width' button and 'OK' and that too worked. Finally, as a control, I did it the usual way and the programme promptly crashed.
It's ridiculous that we have to find a work-around like this. I really appreciate your help with this issue.
I can confirm your finding, BasilB and Eskimo, that Draw crashes if I click OK without "confirming" the change first.Shouldn't happen but glad that there at least is an easy workaround.I think Tab and then Enter is the easiest way around it.FWIW, same thing happens in 2020 so you can save the money, BasilB.
Yeah, I think that's the best and quickest way and will use it. To be honest I just want to get some work done.
I'm reluctant to get involved with Corel's customer 'service' ever again after an episode last year when their system 'detected' that my shop-bought X5 was a pirate copy. Automatic warnings started popping up declaring the programme would soon go into read-only mode and finally a further pop-up announced my copy was now read-only. Six weeks of to-ing and fro-ing with customer service seemed to be getting somewhere as I supplied serial/licence details and pix of the original CD and packaging but I certainly could no longer supply a copy of the receipt which had long since faded after 9 years. Then they suddenly reverted to their original standpoint that it was a pirate copy and I gave up.
The ultimate irony is that my copy of X5 still operates fully to this day despite the continued warning pop-ups and I still go back to it when I have too much trouble with 19.
Thanks for your advice and help guys; I'm very grateful.
Glad you find the workaround acceptable.FWIW, Corel has been notified about the issue but that doesn't automatically mean that it will be fixed in a near future.
Or at all, I daresay. It brings to mind another change I've noticed since switching from X5; in the PhotoPaint 'Resample' dialogue box in X5 changing any value changes all the other relevant values - so you can immediately see what effect the new entry will have on, say, image size. In 2019 this doesn't happen until you click on another value. It's a small thing but it seems almost related to the problem we've been discussing.
BasilB said:t brings to mind another change I've noticed since switching from X5; in the PhotoPaint 'Resample' dialogue box in X5 changing any value changes all the other relevant values - so you can immediately see what effect the new entry will have on, say, image size. In 2019 this doesn't happen until you click on another value. It's a small thing but it seems almost related to the problem we've been discussing.
I see something similar in the CorelDRAW dialog when exporting as a bitmap, and in a few other places in the user interface.
I think that a lot of things got changed in 2019, and it shows up especially in how some of the "event driven" stuff in the user interface works.
I personally have never gotten completely comfortable with situations where software requires me to "put the focus on some other control" as a way of telling it that it should "update" something in response to a change I have made to a value. If it can't update automatically "on the fly", then it is easier for me if there is a specific way - e.g., pressing "Enter", or "Update Form", or "Preview" - to tell it, "I've just changed this value; now do your thing".
Looking back, I recall many occasions on which 2019 crashed unexpectedly and I wonder now if there isn't a connection. At the time I wrote it off as just random and didn't really note whether it was after some particular 'event' but now I'll pay more attention. I seem to recall it happening on some occasions when I was saving work.
I concur with your last comment. You tend to get used to a way of doing things and if it changes like this it throws you until the new way of operating becomes ingrained. I just wish I'd upgraded when 2018 was the latest - it'll be another ten years before I do it again...