Problem

When opening my plain AutoCAD shortcut after opening my OpenFlows product integrated shortcut (such as StormCAD for AutoCAD), it automatically loads the StormCAD profile and I see the StormCAD menus. Will this cause OpenFlows product license usage to occur? How can I prevent this from happening?

Solution

This is normal behavior for AutoCAD - it will always load the last used profile. However, opening the OpenFlows product profile is only one part of loading the OpenFlows product, and not enough to cause usage. OpenFlows product usage only occurs when using the special integrated version shortcut (such as "StormCAD for AutoCAD..."), because that shortcut loads a script file that loads other things, which initiates license usage. So, although you may see the OpenFlows product menus / ribbon, they will not function and license usage will not occur.

However, you may still prefer to load your regular AutoCAD profile as it may contain other preferences. To avoid the OpenFlows product profile from loading automatically, you can edit the properties of your AutoCAD shortcut.  Add this switch to the end of the target: /p "<<Unnamed Profile>>"

For example if you have AutoCAD 2016, the target will look like this: 

"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2016\acad.exe" /product ACAD /language "en-US" /p "<<Unnamed Profile>>"

Notice that there is a space between US" and /p.

Another option to change this is to go to "Options" in AutoCAD.

This can be accessed by right-clicking on the drawing pane and going to "Options"

You can also access this by going to File > Options in AutoCAD;

In the dialog box that opens, select the profile tab and select the "<<Unnamed Profile>>" and "Set Current".

This will set AutoCAD to the default environment and the other profile won't be selected by default when you launch plain AutoCAD the next time.

See Also

What files are necessary to work with the Hydraulics and Hydrology software in the AutoCAD environment?

At what point does OpenFlows product license usage start when integrated with MicroStation?

License usage in the ArcMap platform