Word is not the only software program that stores code in the data file. A bit closer to home, the Visio series of software stores VBA code in its VSD drawing files; the option to check for viruses is turned off, by default.
CAD drawings have been benign. The attacks, if any, came from outside the drawing file. It was possible for a beginning programmer to write malicious code that could adversely affect a CAD program and its drawings. For example, in AutoCAD, it is a trivial matter to undefine commands so that they no longer work. It is easy to redefine commands so that the QSave command starts the Erase command. It doesn't take much effort to modify the Acad.Lsp file to automatically load a rogue AutoLISP routine that seriously screws up the drawing. I am not as familiar with the APIs of other CAD program, but I suspect similar tom-foolery is possible there, as well.
Some CAD companies, Autodesk and Bentley Systems in particular, have been making much ado about the future of the drawing file. No longer, say they, will we work with static drawing files. Instead, the drawing of the future will have code to define objects -- ObjectARX in the case of AutoCAD, and JMDL in the case of MicroStation. (You can probably guess where this is leading to.) Once code enters the drawing file, computer virus attacks become possible. While Java is supposed to be virus-proof (by design, it does not access disk drives and doesn't hang around in RAM), Bentley is modifying Java to do precisely that: JMDL is a version of Java for MicroStation that exhibits persistence and read-writes from-to disk.
Since CAD is such a niche industry, I wonder how much time anti-virus warriors will devote to making their products detect viruses found in DWG and DGN files. Instead, it will be up to the CAD vendor to implement virus protection.
[Some CAD vendors have year 2000 information at their Web sites. If there is any interest, perhaps CAD vendors and readers can help us produce a listing of where various CAD packages are at witY2K compatibility. -- Ed.]
Bentley is not alone in pursuing Java. KOZO CAD was first. Some third-party CAD products are written in Java.
And now Autodesk announces that AutoCAD can run Java applets written with Microsfot Visual J++.
The OpenDWG Alliance has picked out a new pr firm. Stephanie Koenig <stephaniek@mkinc.com> of MacKenzie Kesselring provided this list of 112 sustaining and founding members -- the companies that actually paid thousands of dollars to join. Stephanie notes that MarComp (where the API came from) "had about the same number of active commercial customers, but developed over seven years before being purchased by Visio." I found it interesting to read through this list of large and small companies:
Intergraph
Intergraph has committed to deliver its workstations using Intel's
Pentium II Xeon chip. The new 400MHz CPU was delayed for several weeks
so that Intel could chase down bugs.
Internet
Matrix Information and Directory Services says 100 million people around
the world have some form of access to email and the World Wide Web. Netscape
continues to be the #1 Web browser, while Microsoft is being sued for using
the name "Internet Explorer," which belongs to another company.
SolidWorks
The SolidWorks 98 software has been certified as Windows 98 compatible.
In other news, SolidWorks is offering US$2 million in educational grants.
Visio
Visio Corp selected Interactive Services Ltd. of Dublin, Ireland, develop
a suite of interactive computer-based training (CBT) courses based on Visio's
drawing and diagramming software. Initial courses will be in English;
the first product -- available in late September -- consists of four
one-hour introductory learning modules for Visio v5.0. http://www.isl.ie/
http://www.bugnet.com/alerts/bugalert.html
Bugnet
Read about a data-loss bug in Word 95 and Word 7.x that gives a whole
new meaning to "drag and drop."
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q182/9/67.asp
Microsoft
Windows 95 year-2000 problems with DATE and DIR commands.
http://www.techstocks.com
Tech Stocks
"This is a stock market newsletter. You view messages on certain stocks
for free, but you have to subscribe to post return messages. They
have a thread on Autodesk, and there has been some speculation as to why
FTC is investigating Autodesk." -- Jerry Bragstad
http://www.att.com/everest
T&T Mount Everest Web Site
Video clips from Mount Everest, plus medical and non-medical data.
Re: A/E/C Systems
"Thanks for the heads-up on the issue sent out to my desktop prior
to AEC; it was appreciated. And the follow-up eZine issue was great, thanks.
"I sat in all the tutorials I could and one
in particular mentioned the upFront.eZine NEWS as a CAD info
source; they even included you in one of the presentation slides :) . We
had about 30 in the class and when the presenter asked attendees if they
subscribed or heard of the eZine, I was surprized to see that I was the
only one with my hand up. Wow! Do we need to get out more or what!"
-- Stephen J. Cotton
The editor replies: 1 in 30 is pretty good considering that this eZine has 23,000 readers out of a potential market of 4,000,000 CAD users.
Re: DMAC & Intergraph
"So much for COM versus CORBA squabbles. One shutters to think where
we would all be if Vint Cerf had opted to cultivate his early standards
work and patent TCP/IP. I like to think that the old RFC group set the
standard for how businesses and end users come together to advance technology
standards for a greater good.
"On one hand, that the technology being refined
through DMAC is eligible for patenting is encouraging. On the other hand,
I fear that the Intergraph patent will disencentivize individuals and businesses
from investing their time, talents and money to tackle collective issues.
I hope that Intergraph will prove my last thought wrong -- something that
licensing for free does not quite do."
-- Linda Joy Weinstein, AIA Computer-aide
Practice PIA
The editor replies: Intergraph is licensing its DMAC patent to other for free. Also, the patent applies to only a specific, limited portion of DMAC and not the whole thing.