If you've used ASE Civil at all, one thing you'll likely notice is that when you first open Civil 3D, ASE's presence increases the amount of time it takes your computer to become usable again. This can take around 2 minutes or longer, depending on your system spec's, of course.
A Pain in the A**!
We know it drives people crazy... We've had a number of users asks why this is happenning. We realize how frustrating it is, but we've tried console those who've taken the time to say something about it, by citing on the fact that it only happens at initial startup of Civil 3D; not every time you open a drawing file.
I don't think it was much comfort...
Why The Long Load Time Anyway?
For the longest time, we thought it was the ribbon and all the images. We figured as the number of images in the CUIX increased, so did the load time.
Please accept our apologies. We were dead wrong.
The REAL Cause...
ASE Civil's application architecture;
The entire application is loaded at startup. Not just the subsystems you need.
You ever notice how when you run an AutoCAD command that you don't normally use, like maybe the "Filter" command, there is a delay before the command actually executes? That's the same delay ASE Civil creates as it loads its modules, e.g., individual subsystems like Design Markers, Alignments, Sheet Views, etc. Everything... The entire application... Even stuff you're not using.
And the Solution to This is What?
We've gotta' start slowly breaking up ASE Civil into modules that are functionally-similar, but only loaded on-demand.
This is a much better way to organize the application. It helps increase work-flow, yes.
But more importantly, is the significant reduction in end-user frustration!
Now the Obvious Question: 'When?'
Please be patient with us. Making this change to the architecture is like building a road expansion or improvement. The increase in performance will be gradual as we tip-toe around the mess we'll be creating, but we'll make absolutely sure that you do NOT experience a 'Work-Stopper'...