If another PowerTool is started up or an attempt is made to edit the Punch! plan while InSync is running, Punch! will indicate that it cannot run more then one PowerTool at a time, or edit while a PowerTool is running, and will give the user the option of stopping InSync at that point (see the copy of the error mesaage below). If that option is selected, InSync will exit immediately, as if the Cancel button had been clicked, and will not have any affect on the plan, and any changes made to InSync values will be lost. If the user declines the question, InSync will proceed as if nothing had happened. Note that InSync is a separate program from Punch!, and so has its own icon in the tray area. This means that it is possible to essentially minimize InSync by clicking on the main Punch! window, but again, Punch! will not allow editing while InSync, or any other PowerTool, is running or capable of being brought back into the foreground. Likewise, it is possible to click outside the PowerTool window and cause it to be covered by whatever application received the click. Such a minimized or unposed PowerTool can be brought back from this state to the active foreground by clicking on its window behind the other application's window, or by clicking on its icon in the system tray.
PowerTools work by getting a file from Punch! at the PowerTool startup which describes the plan. The PowerTool does it's thing, and then returns a file back to Punch! when it exits, describing changes to be made in the plan. It cannot make incremental changes to the Punch! plan except in its own window. If it has to send back a lot of changes to Punch!, the user will see the following sequence: he exits from the PowerTool, and the PowerTool's window disappears, revealing the Punch! plan window and a standard arrow cursor. However, before Punch! returns control to the user, it has to digest the data sent back from the PowerTool and update the plan. Often this is nearly instantaneous, so one doesn't notice a problem, but if there is a lot of changes, there is no indication this is going on except that when the user clicks on the plan to start an edit, they get the "PowerTool is in use" dialog. At this point the PowerTool is gone already, but if the user selects Yes, then the update that Punch! is doing will be aborted while partially done, with unpredictable results. If No is selected, Punch! continues munching on the data until it is finished, and then it redraws, which causes a flash on the screen. That is the only indication to the user that Punch! is now ready to resume editing.
(This latter problem is in version 8.0 and earlier versions of Punch!; thereafter, Punch! now displays an hourglass cursor to indicate that processing is being done.)
Please make sure you give a PowerTool every chance to complete its task and return successfully complete. If you should interrupt the assimilation process after a PowerTool has cleared its window, an interruption can (if you answer Yes) cause the changes to be completed only partially, with unpredictable results. Always say No unless a considerable amount of time has elapsed without Punch! becoming ready.
Be aware that the PowerTool interface is such that the PowerTool can select an object and return it to Punch!. That object is selected, and the selection handles appear on the plan window, even if the item is on a different floor than the one being displayed. In this case, the handles appear to have selected an invisible object, and cannot be turned off. The fix is to search through the floors until the floor the object is on is located; then the object can be deselected, or the selection acted upon in some appropriate way.
Objects created by any PowerTool may not be fully manipulatable by Punch! - namely, Punch! will not allow them to be duplicated through Copy/Paste actions. The reason for this is embedded deep in the Punch! PowerTool architecture. The object may be "fixed" by right-clicking on the object, choosing 3D Custom Workshop.... The workshop will open with the object displayed. Choose File->Exit PowerTool, click Yes in the dialog asking to save the object, and the object will then be amenable to being Copy/Pasted. This should not be done all the time, but rather only if the object needs to be duplicated. Doing this may result in loss of some of a PowerTool's effects upon objects so treated.
The most important tip to know about Punch! (version 4.5.0 and later only) is the Undo feature. When Punch! does any significant operation on the model (including running a PowerTool), it creates a copy of the entire model and stores it in the Punch! Data folder -- this allows it to simply restore a past version to effect an Undo or restore after a crash. Therefore, you always have 25 backups (or however many you set for the number of Undos in Edit->Undo Preferences...). However, be aware that old backups are destroyed just as fast as new ones are created, so if you have a problem and you mess around trying to fix it, or even work on another model, you can push that last usable backup off the end of the saved undo plans and then you are out of luck. So...
If you have a problem with your model where a backup might help, immediately stop what you are doing. Go to The Ten Commandments of Punch! Problems, and read article I before continuing. You may be glad you did.
InSync and the contents of this help file are
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