Issue #81: 4 November, 1997

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    • New True-Context CAD from ComputerVision

    DesignWave (US$3,750) is the name for Computervision's "next-generation, assembly-centric architecture with true production CAD/CAM capabilities" running on Windows 95/NT. This is Computervision's first new product since it changed to a software-only CAD vendor. The software boasts a "true- context design environment that focuses on designing products, not just parts. Computervision says that associativity is no longer an issue because everything is inherently up-to-date and naturally assembly-centric and feature-based.

    Multiple users can design parts within an assembly context; the assembly automatically updates each user as changes are made. The product includes parametric solid modeling; users create with 3D sketches and functional form features instead of low-level CAD geometry.  DesignWave was built entirely upon Microsoft Foundation Classes and is the only mechanical CAD software that fully embeds the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications. DesignWave automatically generates VBA code while users work to easily automate repetitive tasks or capture knowledge engineering.

    Jacobus Plant Continuum

    Jacobus Technology has been working software that allows global plant engineers to access 3D design data via the Internet. Plant Continuum is based on Bentley's Continuum software.  Engineers using PlantSpace Design Series can work on projects from anywhere -- not just the home office -- allowing "chase the sun" projects, where teams work on a project in all 24 times zones. Project data is made available using the Advanced Modeling System database, which allows designers to check-in and check-out data from a central file server. The software allows users to access data on a component basis, rather than by files.

    20x Faster Modems

    Rockwell is apparently developing a modem to deliver data 20 times faster than today's 56Kpbs modems on regular telephone lines.

    Bentley To Ship Descartes 6, MicroStation SE

    MicroStation SE and MicroStation Descartes imaging software will ship in November. Some of the features in SE include: + Publish drawings in Internet formats, such as VRML, SVF, and DWF. Descartes offers one-stop imaging for geoengineering with the addition improved raster-to-vector conversion capabilities, which support color and greyscale maps, aerial photographs, paper drawings, and other geographic images. Other additions include automatic vectorization, text and symbol replacement, and an API for customization. The software is developed by HMR (Beauport QC Canada) for Bentley.

    Use of Infrastructure Software

    The HEEP (highway engineering exchange program) 2000 Automation Survey indicates that the use of software for infrastructure management will double by the year 2000. The survey says the use of permits and routes software for oversize and overweight vehicles will quadruple. Accessing GIS data within government agencies will increase by nearly five times.  97% of respondents plan to distribute GIS and engineering data via the Internet within 3 years.

    upFront.eZine Subscribers

    Every so often, we like to analyze the upFront.eZine mailing list to see where our subscribers are located. As of this week, we have subscribers in 45 countries:
    ar Argintina
    at Austria
    au Australia
    be Belgium
    bm Bermuda
    br Brazil
    ca Canada
    cz Czech Repubic
    de Germany
    DK Denmark
    ec Ecuador
    ee Estonia
    fi Finland
    fr France
    gr Greece
    hk Hong Kong
    hn Honduras
    hu Hungary
    id Indonesia
    ie Ireland
    il Isreal
    in Indea
    is Iceland
    it Italy
    jp Japan
    mt Malta
    mx Mexico
    my Malaysia
    nl Netherlands
    no Norway
    nz New Zealand
    pg Papua New Guinea
    ph Philippines
    pl Poland
    pt Portugal
    ro Romania
    ru Russia
    sa Saudia Arabia
    se Sweden
    sg Singapore
    th Thailand
    tt Trinada and Tobago
    uk United Kingdom
    us United States
    za South Africa

    There may well be subscribers in other countries (let us know), but these are the ones we could determine from the country code on the email address. According to the domain name, the following corporations have the largest number of upFront.eZine subscribers:

    1. Autodesk
    2. Bentley
    3. Intergraph
    4. Spatial
    5. IMSI
    6. DataCAD
    7. Boeing
    8. 3D/eye

    CAD and Internet News Headlines

    Frantic
    SATViewerGL v2.0 is an OpenGL-based viewer and redliner for ACIS SAT files, Pro/ENGINEER NEU files and VRML files.
    Introductory price is US$149 for a single license.

    Spicer
    Imagenation allows users can open AutoCAD and 130 other files and convert them to virtually any type of raster format -- TIFF, CALS, PNG, JPEG, BMP, etc. The software allows you to combine any supported file formats to create hybrid files containing CAD data, digital images, text files, faxes, etc.
     Cangraph is a Windows print driver that generates TIFF images from any Windows app.

    Market News

    Visio revenues for 4Q97 were US$31.2 million, up 89%, with a net income of US$7.0 million.
    Spatial Technologies reported 3Q revenue of US$2.6 million, with note income of US$10,000. Spatial noted that license fees were up 26% from a year ago.

    Tech Q&A

    Q: "Do you know if it is possible to program in AutoCAD LT using Visual Basic 5.0? I heard something that it can be done using Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)."

    A: The person who knows the most about using VB with LT is Stefan Dorsch <100117.715@compuserve.com> and http://www.dorsch-soft.com

    Notable Quotable

    "It appears that when only the paranoid survive, only the paranoid are paranoid."
         -- John Latta, in WAVE Report on Digital Media, on Intel's PR people muzzling their techies.

    Contact!

    All contents copyright XYZ Publishing, Ltd. Inc., 1997 and all rights are reserved. No material may be reproduced electronically or in print without written permission from XYZ Publishing, PO Box 3053, Sumas WA, 98295-3053, unless otherwise noted.