how is Creo still SO BAD at tables and text in 2020?

[ggrimm]

i can't wrap my mind around how such a sophisticated piece of software has made editing text and tables so difficult and cumbersome!

• Tables
  • why can't i use tab or arrows to navigate to different cells?
  • why does it take multiple clicks to navigate to a different cell?
  • how come when i add a line to the table it doesn't copy the formatting and font size from the line before it? every time i add a line, the text goes huge and overflows all over the place
• Text
  • am i missing something or is there still no way to indent?
  • no easy way to do a numbered or bulleted list (yet they have it on this site... weird!)

[TomU]

1. This community site software wasn't built by PTC.  They are simply paying another company to use it.
2. There is little to no financial incentive for PTC to rewrite core pieces of the software.  Improvements like this don't sell more seats.  Since PTC is a publicly traded company, new revenue is much more important.
3. If enough users complain (especially really big government users), eventually something may change.  Just depends how much pressure is applied and how much of the code actually has to be altered.

There are hundreds of existing product ideas related to tables.  Maybe vote for, and then help try to build support for some of these:

• https://community.ptc.com/t5/Creo-Parametric-Ideas/Add-Excel-functionality-to-Tables-in-Creo-Drawings/idi-p/468196
• https://community.ptc.com/t5/Creo-Parametric-Ideas/tables-to-act-like-spread-sheet-after-double-click/idi-p/465848
• https://community.ptc.com/t5/Creo-Parametric-Ideas/Text-Styles-and-Drawing-Tables-Worth-your-vote/idi-p/468423
• https://community.ptc.com/t5/Creo-Parametric-Ideas/Allow-to-blank-the-exterior-border-lines-of-table/idi-p/461179
• https://community.ptc.com/t5/Creo-Parametric-Ideas/Drawing-Table-Format/idi-p/453910
• https://community.ptc.com/t5/Creo-Parametric-Ideas/Fix-copy-amp-paste-in-drawing-tables-in-Creo3-amp-Creo4/idi-p/465142

If you are feeling extra motivated, consider starting (or at least proposing) a working group just for tables.  Instructions on how to do this can be found here: https://community.ptc.com/t5/PTC-Working-Group-Info/How-to-Suggest-a-Topic-for-a-Working-Group/m-p/557538#M2

[BenLoosli]

I think Creo 7 will help solve some of your frustrations.

What are you using now? That would help to give us a perspective on your issues.

[TomU]

@BenLoosli,

What improvements are you seeing for tables in Creo 7 (over Creo 6)?  I'm testing it right now and nothing's jumping out at me.  I don't believe any of the items requested by the OP are present...

[BenLoosli]

Haven't tested Creo7, but I thought PTC said the text editor was being improved.

Might be a 'still-in-the-works' project.

I would love to see some tables (especially the BOM) replaced with an excel type structuring/formatting interface.

[DavidBigelow]

As the guy who created Nitro-BOM... I hope you are wrong... 🙂

[BenLoosli]

Nitro-BOM is only available for those who can afford to buy add-on products.

If PTC develops an excel-like BOM interface, then we ALL get the advantage of an improved program and can see that our maintenance money is working  for us.

[DavidBigelow]

You are 100% right... and our selling add-ons enables us to create things like CREOSON...  😊

[barryschaeffer1]

does it make sense to sell NitroBOM to PTC?