AutoCAD on the Web

The Internet features in AutoCAD^® 2000 provide you with a set of tools to access, link, and communicate your designs and ideas effectively. You can use the AutoCAD Integrated Web Browser to access design information stored on Internet or intranet sites. The AutoCAD 2000 Open and Save dialog boxes have been Internet-enabled, providing direct access to files located on project Web sites. You can use hyperlinks to associate graphical objects with AutoCAD drawing files and a variety of Microsoft^® Windows^® documents.

Communicating design content to non-AutoCAD users has been enhanced in AutoCAD 2000 with the powerful new ePlot mechanism for creating Drawing Web Format (DWF) files. DWF files provide the precision and visual quality of paper-based plots. You can incorporate DWF files into Web pages and view them using the Whip! 4.0 Internet browser plug-in.

The emergence and proliferation of the Internet has had a tremendous effect on business, communication, and information retrieval. Project design teams frequently must overcome the daunting challenge of integrating a number of individuals from various disciplines, working in different locations and time zones. Further challenges are presented by ever-changing project requirements, tightening schedules, and shrinking budgets.

When designers and project managers are asked what factors contribute to the timely completion of projects, they frequently respond with statements such as:

Internet and company-wide intranet sites are quickly becoming integral information and communication hubs for design projects. These Web sites are used to store and communicate project information such as customer specifications, project schedules, and contractor and manufacturer data. Individuals separated by buildings, states or provinces, countries, and even oceans can quickly access information from the project Web site. Web sites provide design teams with a timely and cost-effective method of breaking down geographical barriers not afforded by traditional means of communication.

As more and more companies embrace the use of Web sites for their design projects, AutoCAD designers are demanding additional functionality and capabilities. AutoCAD users want:

• The ability to save and open files directly to and from Internet sites.
• The ability to establish links to related drawing files and project data stored on local, network, and Internet locations.
• Better tools for communicating their designs to consumers and non-AutoCAD users.

Autodesk has identified three areas that are crucial in facilitating communication and collaboration online with project design Web sites: Design Access, Design Linking, and Design Communication

Design Access provides all design team members with anywhere, anytime access to project information. Traditionally in a client-server network environment, project information is stored on a network drive that is accessible to all designers on the network, but not necessarily the entire design team involved in the project. Outside contractors, customers, and manufacturers typically do not have access to a company's internal network. So how does a company provide all team members with access to project data without compromising the security of its internal network? The Internet software industry recognized this requirement and developed intranet and extranet servers, which facilitate access to pertinent data without undermining the security of a company's internal network.

Design Access also refers to the ability to access design information from a variety of sources while working in the AutoCAD environment. From the perspective of the AutoCAD designer, Design Access means being able to access all types of AutoCAD files from the Internet. AutoCAD designers need the ability to open files, attach xrefs, and extract and insert blocks into a drawing from the Internet. This need is being realized as manufacturing and part catalog companies (such as the Sweet's Group at http://www.sweets.com) develop online versions of their catalogs with downloadable AutoCAD drawing files.

AutoCAD 2000 features an Integrated Web Browser that provides you with direct access to the Internet. Available from all file input and output dialog boxes (such as Open and Save), you can use the integrated browser to navigate to your project design Web site and view project information.

For example, you can use the integrated browser to navigate to your project web site, locate a drawing file of interest and download it directly into AutoCAD 2000. When you’re done making changes to the drawing file, you also have the ability to save that drawing to the web site (assuming the web site allows for this). Additionally, you can open and save any AutoCAD file type located on a web site using the AutoCAD integrated web browser. Another example, from the Application Load/Unload dialog, you can use the integrated web browser to load an ARX application, a LISP file, or a VBA file directly from a web site.

Design projects typically consist of many hundreds (if not thousands) of drawing and related files, such as the customer specification, bill of materials spreadsheets, and property demographic information. Tracking and maintaining these files and their interrelationships can be a burdensome task for even the most simple and straight-forward projects. Using Design Linking you can relate drawings and documents in much the same way as you might link Web pages together on an Internet site.

Design Linking drawings and related project documents is easily accomplished using the AutoCAD 2000 Object Hyperlinks feature. Similar to Attached URLs in AutoCAD Release 14, Object Hyperlinks link URL addresses to AutoCAD graphical objects. You can also use Object Hyperlinks to create links to named views in drawing files, Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, and a variety of other documents.

As an example of the power and flexibility of Object Hyperlinks, suppose that you have a Plant and Process P&ID drawing diagram that you want to associate data with. You can associate a hyperlink with a compressor block that opens a detail drawing of that component. Similarly, a hyperlink attached to that same compressor could launch the manufacturer's Web site, displaying relevant information about the part such as its cost and availability, model number, and physical dimensions.

In the past, locating hyperlinks in AutoCAD required the use of special tools. AutoCAD 2000 introduces a hyperlink cursor and Web toolbar that simplify the process of locating hyperlinks. The hyperlink cursor provides dynamic feedback whenever the cursor is positioned over a hyperlink in a drawing. The Web toolbar provides browser-like Forward and Back tools for navigating previously visited hyperlinked documents.

Effective communication is the cornerstone of design and engineering. A misinterpretation between the designer and the manufacturer can cost time, money, and sometimes lives. An essential aspect of the design process is Design Communication. It is imperative that the design team, project managers, manufacturers, and construction engineers communicate effectively throughout the life of the design project.

Within any given project, drawings go through an extensive design-review and design-manufacture process. In the design-review process, designers and reviewers (such as project managers, certified engineers, architects, and certifying government agencies) work in an iterative process to finalize the design while ensuring it meets the design requirements, building and environmental codes, and so on. In the design-manufacture process, designers and manufacturers work together to ensure the design can actually be manufactured to the design specifications and if not, implement acceptable changes.

One of the most important forms of communication during the design process for AutoCAD users is plotting. From the very early days of design, engineering blueprints and plots were the primary medium of communication between AutoCAD and non-AutoCAD users. However, plotting a drawing can be costly, and distributing plots to design teams separated geographically can be time consuming.

Several years ago, Autodesk introduced a new medium for viewing AutoCAD files called Drawing Web Format (DWF). DWF is a two-dimensional, vector-based file format that captures an electronic snapshot of a drawing file. DWF was initially designed to take advantage of the "anywhere, anytime" nature of the Internet. With the freely-distributed WHIP! DWF viewer, many AutoCAD users have moved from hardcopy plots to DWF files as the primary medium for viewing and reviewing project files. In contrast to hardcopy output, DWF files are readily portable, and can be quickly posted to an Internet site or transmitted via email to locations around the world.

To better emulate the quality and functionality of a hardcopy plot, AutoCAD 2000 introduces the ePlot, or Electronic Plot, mechanism for creating DWF files. The ePlot feature takes advantage of AutoCAD 2000’s powerful plotting engine to produce a DWF file. By using the plot engine, you gain access to the same precision and controls—such as plot styles, lineweights, and non-orthogonal viewports—available when you create a paper plot. With ePlot, you can leverage the accuracy and visual quality of plotting to paper while saving the time and money involved with distributing hard-copy output.

The Internet features not only Web-Enable AutoCAD 2000, they Web-Empower you in all phases of your project. Effective communication and collaboration with design team members are essential to the design process, and the Internet provides an ideal mechanism for collaborative design projects. Autodesk is committed to providing you with the essential tools to do your job successfully. The Internet features in AutoCAD 2000 were designed with this in mind and specifically address the processes of accessing, linking and communicating your designs and projects to all team members by leveraging the anywhere, anytime accessibility of the Internet.

Autodesk, Inc.
111 McInnis Parkway
San Rafael, CA 94903
USA

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, AutoCAD, AutoLISP, and AutoCAD Development System are registered trademarks, and ObjectARX, ObjectDBX and Visual LISP are trademarks, of Autodesk, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

© Copyright 1998 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.