How to migrate MathCad 11 files?

[cmichalski]

So I finally had to get a new PC and move to Windows 7.  So I lost my MathCad 11 installed on XP.  I popped in the disk and after installing I'm told that PTC was "nice" enough to not let you activate the old license anymore.  However, when I download the new Prime it doesn't recognize my old MathCad 11 files.  I never upgraded because it had all the functionality I needed, but now it seems my files might as well be written in Sanskrit.

Is there any way to continue using these files?  Or am I stuck with now figuring out how to rewrite them in Excel? (because I'm not about to trust PTC to not do the same thing again in the future and leave me high and dry)

[Werner_E]

Hmm, bad news. Looks your only option is to resort to some sort of creative(?) solution to be able to use your paid for version of MC11 again - absolutely unsatisfying.

So what is it you can do the legal way? So you didn't buy Prime but downloaded Prime 3.1 and it will now work a month in full mode. After that time it will fall back in a crippled, so called Express, mode - no symbolics, no programming, no advanced plots (what PTC thinks is advanced), etc.

There is a converter which converts tries to convert files in older format to Prime format. To make it work its necessary to have a full installation of a current Mathcad 15 running on your machine. You could use the trial version of Mathcad 15 to do the job. Depending on the feature your sheet is using you may have luck and the conversion succeeds and all you have to do is to edit the new Prime sheet concerning page breaks, headers etc. But be prepared that quite often (I tend to say too often) something goes wrong and you will end up trying to find a workaround to make Prime do what MC11 did. Ever so often you will end up with a non-working sheet.

As you say that you have just calculation sheets which you even could  redo in Excel, I would suspect that in your case the conversion to Prime will succeed most of the time. Basic functionality is already implemented in Prime.

So download quickly the MC15 trial -> Thank You for Your Interest in PTC Mathcad 15 | PTC and give it a try.

If you buy Prime you get Mathcad 15 for free (I see it the other way round) so at least you have a version you can really make your work with and can testdrive a new version which maybe in some years is nearly as powerful as Mathcad 11 is.

> (because I'm not about to trust PTC to not do the same thing again in the future and leave me high and dry)

In some way they already did so. Prime 3.1 cannot save in Prime 3.0 format and of course Prime 3.0 can't read files in P3.1 format. So many members of this forum cannot answer questions of users which post files in 3.1 format because they, like me ,are still using Prime 3.0 - better said: they USE Mathcad 15 but have still just Prime 3.0 installed alongside.

But the good news are that Prime is downward compatible - Prime 3.1 can read files in Prime 3.0 format! Hurray! You haven't expected that from PTC, didn't you?

If you just want to see how a small number of your Mathcad 11 worksheets perform in Prime and you are able to post them here in the public, you could ask for some good soul here doing the conversion for you so you quickly can see if those files do what you want in Prime, too.

Werner

[cmichalski]

Thanks for the feedback Werner.  I did download the Prime 3.1 Express to try to at least open and save those files as PDFs or something.  Apparently you can't open MCAD11 in Prime, it is a different file format and won't open.  So I tried to download 15 but everytime I put in my license information and it goes to the web to validate the license it returns an error that that webpage is not correct.  If I try to reassign my existing license I get an error that I am not a current subscription user.  If I try to get a new license file I get an error of HTTP/1.1 Service Unavailable.

So neither of the options that the Prime website seems to offer will work.  But unfortunately without actually opening and looking at the files I'm not sure which one(s) I could post here to see how they function in newer software without breaking confidentiality.

[LucMeekes]

I'm assuming you bought a new PC for Win7. Do you still have the XP machine.......and with Mcad 11 on it?

[cmichalski]

I might be able to get to that drive.  That machine was sold with the OS SSD (only kept the data drives) and it hasn't been overwritten that I know of (yet). 

[Werner_E]

download 15 but everytime I put in my license information

Which license information? As I had understood, you just have a license for Mathcad 11 as you stopped upgrading with this (excellent) version.

Your Mathcad 11 license will not be valid for Mathcad 15, You will just be able to use it in trial mode for about a month.

Werner

[cmichalski]

Something I read made it sound like when they dumped support for previous generations they made 15 available for everyone with an older license.  I didn't realize that 15 is still offered along with Prime 3.  It seems stupid that that you can install Prime 3 Express for free (permanent license) but 15 is only a trial license.

So all I can do is install 15 in trial mode to see if it reads my files, then buy Prime 3 but use the license key to run 15 in order to work with my existing files again?

[RichardJ]

Something I read made it sound like when they dumped support for previous generations they made 15 available for everyone with an older license.

I don't think any software company would give away a free upgrade just because they could no longer justify keeping support for a very old version.

So all I can do is install 15 in trial mode to see if it reads my files

It will read your files. There are some differences between MC11 and MC15, so a few worksheets may have issues, but they are usually easily fixed. The biggest difference is that the symbolic engine changed from Maple to Mupad, so worksheet that use symbolics may be a particular problem.

then buy Prime 3 but use the license key to run 15 in order to work with my existing files again?

Yes. Buy the tail and get the dog for free

[Werner_E · Accepted solution]

MC15 sure can read your version 11 files. Most files will run as suspected but there are a few changes made from 11 to 14 - mainly the static type checking and the change of the symbolic engine from Maple to MuPad. So maybe some files could require some changes.

There is no difference between Prime and Prime Express other than when you use your installed version without a paid license after the trial period, it will not be able to recalculate sheets using symbolics or programming, etc. Prime and Prime Express are the very same program - its the the license file which decides if the advanced features are locked or not and after the trial period they will be locked.

And Mathcad 15 is fully functional during the trial period and after that will not work at all.

So you can try to convert your files and see if they work under Prime without buying anything as long as both Prime and Mathcad 15 are still in their trial period.

> then buy Prime 3 but use the license key to run 15 in order to work with my existing files again?

If your files don't run OK in Prime but work in MC 15, yes. If your files seem to work well in Prime, too, its your decision which way to go. Mathcad 15 will be supported and maintained for a while (at least up to the release of Prime 5, I think) but the future (unfortunately) is Prime.

Werner

[cmichalski]

Okay, so open them in 15 and save them to 15 format.  Then try to open them in Prime 3 Express.  As long as they work there I can save them again and it will just be a question of once the trial period is over if I've used any of the functions that are no longer available in Express.  Correct?

So it's automatic that Prime 3 will open the 15 files without any other conversion or do I need to do something to those files before Prime will acknowledge them?

(Thanks for your help, I appreciate it )

[Fred_Kohlhepp]

No.

Prime 3 has an input/output tab that has an xmcd.mcd converter.  This launches a conversion script that uses Mathcad 15 (required) to read the file so the script can create a Prime file.  You can then open the Prime file and hope it runs.  Prime will not read a Mathcad 15 file.

[cmichalski]

I made a copy of my 11's and renamed them 15.  Opened them in 15 and saved them.  Then converted them using the feature in Prime.

They all open and are mostly right.  Apparently I need to look at what they changed about graphs somewhere along the way.  Prime complains about all of my graphs that have functions of time (i.e. graphing Accel(t), Veloc(t), distance(t) vs t)  Actually complains isn't a good term, it just flags them with red boxes but doesn't tell me what's wrong with them.  And some of my mins and maxs on graphs got inverted in the conversion.  But at least for the most part the functionality is there even if it's a bit clunky until I figure out the changes and "improvements" they made over the years.

Thanks for your help guys.  If you're ever in need of Solidworks help don't hesitate to pop over to that user forum and I'll do what I can to return the favor. 😄

[VladimirN]

Chris,

You installed the Mathcad Prime software. Now is the time to move to another CAD platform from PTC - Creo Parametric and replace them SolidWorks.

[StuartBruff]

Werner Exinger wrote:

MC15 sure can read your version 11 files. Most files will run as suspected but there are a few changes made from 11 to 14 - mainly the static type checking and the change of the symbolic engine from Maple to MuPad. So maybe some files could require some changes.

And one of the key features of Prime is that they reverted to dynamic type checking, which means some of my old M11 files will work in Prime when they wouldn't in M15.  One of the things I've really missed about M11 is the ability to mix functions and data in the same array.  Whatever else Prime's failings may be, I can at last do this again, which has made writing a Lisp interpreter a heck of a lot easier.

Stuart

[cmichalski]

I've found it kinda humorous.  Every time I've had a software package that I didn't renew and was left with a legacy version, when I discuss it online for something like this inevitably people seem to agree that the version I stuck with was one of the better ones.  For me MCAD11 did everything I needed it to (and more, I barely scratched the surface for the most part) so if it ain't broke...  Hopefully in the future Prime Express does what I need it to.  It's sad how often newer and "better" software doesn't even have the capabilities of a previous iteration.