Issue #152: 4 May, 1999


New Software from Intergraph

SmartSketch 3.0 is being called "the all-in-one, 2D precision design, production drafting and diagramming solution for the engineering and technical enterprise." It was formerly sold under the names of Imagineer Technical and Imagination Engineer. The software features streamlined intuitive user interface; WorkSmart Technology; 46 industry templates; and more than 7,500 industry-standard symbols. The name was changed to emphasize the integration with Intergraph software such as SmartPlant P&ID and SmartPlant Explorer. SmartSketch is US$495 and is due to be available in May.

SmartPlant P&ID is data-centric, rule-based software for creating intelligent piping and instrumentation diagrams. Featuring a comprehensive data model, an engineering rulebase, a simple user interface, and advanced integration capabilities, SmartPlant reduces design time. SmartPlant eliminates the expensive CAD engine traditionally required by graphics-based schematic packages. All P&ID data is stored in the data model; the graphic is a view or a report of the components.


BricsNet

BricsNet, formerly known as Brics, announced its plans to become a provider of software, services, and content for the worldwide building industry. As a former Bentley Strategic  Affiliate for the Building Engineering, the company has developed the core technology for the award winning MicroStation TriForma product, and is still an active developer and reseller of Bentley software.
 
Maarten van Emmerik, formerly with Bentley Europe, has joined as CTO and Executive vp. The company has increased its capital with 7.1 million Euro. BricsNet has acquired an equity position in the vertical Internet portal AEC Info from Canada, as well as in the project extranet provider EVOLV from the USA. It will announce new products for IntelliCAD and AutoCAD at the A/E/C Systems Show.


Thin Client CAD Graphics

Last week, I ran a request from a reader for a thin client CAD graphics server, with a long list of requirements. Within 24 hours, I received the several responses. In the order in which I received them, they are:

"Good morning, Reading the #151 this morning I'm seeing the wish list for the thin client graphics and I think it matches our product closely. ZoomOn AB has developed a web-based viewer/editor in java with third-party API, no down-loads what-so-ever, etc, etc. Please visit www.zoomon.com for demos, product information etc."
     -- Ola Andersson

"Sounds like the reader who wants the Web-activation software is looking for MicroStation/J and ModelServer Publisher from Bentley."
     -- Randall Newton

"We've developed a product that is very close to the rough outline presented in your newsletter. The name of our product is EarthKey. It is the result of a three year development cycle, which has been aimed at producing a thin (under 500K in download size), yet fully functional client. The Server portion operates as an extension of the Microsoft IIS (WWW) server. This allows it to use the standard HTTP to transmit and receive data from Clients. The Client contains a full graphics subsystem for rendering data (line, polygon, raster, etc.) as well as picking. It also works with one or more Servers to retrieve requested data. EarthKey uses ActiveX rather than Java. ActiveX allows it to process more information, use less memory, and provide acceptable performance. We have wrapped Java around it and found that to work quite well. For more information, please contact Brian Massey 512.336.8500"
     -- Mike Tajmajer

"The reader's wish list described Autodesk's MapGuide to a tee. Although it was created for a different discipline, MapGuide is suitable for many database driven graphical problems in a thin client environment. MapGuide's only possible problem would supporting this readers units type."
     -- Ken Coburn

"Informative Graphics Corporation is currently developing jMyriad, a Java based version of our Myriad Engineering Viewer. It would appear that we might meet a number of your requirements. Please visit our web site at http://informativegraphics.com or for specific information on jMyriad please go to http://www.informativegraphics.com/products/jMyriad/default.htm . I would be interested in your feedback/thoughts on our Java based solution."
     -- Mark Thompson


Conferences

Camp ADGE (Autodesk Developer Group - Europe) takes place 17 - 19 May '99 in Copenhagen at Novo Nordisk A/S conference facilities. For more info, call +41 (61) 601-7244.

A/E/C System '99 takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles CA USA, May 24-27 '99. Register by May 10 for early discounts and free exhibit admission. Use code 257 in Section 6 of the form to get a Free Seminar Pass courtesy of upFront.eZine at http://www.aecsystems.com/aec99/exhibitreg.html

LAST CALL FOR PAPERS: SIBGRAPI '99 -- XII Brazilian Symposium on Computer Graphics and Image Processing, University of Campinas, Brazil - October 17-20 '99, to be held concurrently with IHC'99 - II Workshop on Human Factors in Computational Systems Geo-Info'99 - I Brazilian Workshop on Geo-Informatics. DEADLINE FOR PAPER SUBMISSIONS: 5 MAY '99. Email.


CAD and Computer News Summaries

A/E Management Services
RFP Web Interface allows your firm's marketing and business development professionals to directly access data from your firm's central information database via the Internet.

Autodesk
AutoCAD Map 2000 software (US$4,250) is available worldwide in international English and US. Autodesk expects to ship French and German versions in May; Italian and Spanish versions in June; and Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Japanese, traditional and simplified Chinese, and Korean versions later this year.
     Autodesk is introducing AutoCAD Map 2000 as part of a new series of products based on AutoCAD 2000 for architecture, land development, GIS, and mechanical. Many of the new features in AutoCAD Map 2000 extend AutoCAD 2000 to make tedious and repetitive mapping tasks simpler.

Ditek
Canada's National Research Council has awarded financial assistance to Ditek Software as part of CDN$1.5 million project to launch advanced GIS/CAD solutions. The project will project develop embeddable, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based graphics engines and a new set of Computer Aided Design (CAD)/GIS software tools to be marketed worldwide under the name of DynaSUITE.

Haestad Methods
Cybernet v3 integrates AutoCAD ObjectARX, Microsoft COM, and Haestad's own object model for powerful and flexible water distribution model.

Martin Sales International
Based on research conduced by CMP, MSI is one of the top 75 fastest growing ISVs (independent software vendors) for Windows development. MSI is the marketing and sales arm for T-FLEX Parametric Pro mechanical engineering 3D and 2D solid modeling CAD.

SoftCAD International
Over 10,000 downloads of SoftCAD.3D Lite 1.16 have been recorded since inception of the free download offer Feb 11'99. In addition, 580,000 free CD-ROMs are being delivered via computer magazines to Europe and the United States [evidently not Canada - Ed.].

STEP Tools
ST-Developer v7 is a comprehensive set of programming tools for using the ISO 10303 STEP (standard for produce data exchange). The software runs on nine Unix and Windows platforms, including Linux. US$12,126 for Unix and US$6,500 for Windows versions.

Stratasys
The new Genisys Xs 3D printer can produce parts up to 12"x8"x8" and uses the Linux operating system running on an embedded controller. You can view a print queue to check the status of parts.


Market News

Geometric Software Solutions, the leading Indian company specializing in providing engineering software solutions, today announced a massive 62% increase in net profits which zoomed to cross Rs.5.1 crores in 1998-99 as against Rs.3.16 in 1997-98. The client list of Geometric Software reads the who's who of the CAD/CAM industry and includes names like SDRC, SolidWorks, The MacNeal Schwendler Corporation, Spatial Technology, UG Solutions, Ziegler, Andor, and Yamaha Engineering Corporation.


The WorthWhile Web

The first annual DataCAD Conference and Users' Group Meeting was held in Avon CT USA last week. For those who missed the conference, check out the meeting photo album and dealer meeting scrapbook at: http://www.datacad.com/dbug.htm and http://www.datacad.com/dlr_scrap.htm


Letters to the Editor

Re: Revival of VersaCAD
"Thx for the press release about VersaCAD. We received a bunch of inquiries and congrats from it. We are madly trying to find all of the users who continue to use the product so we can re-establish contact and get them updated. Your press release turned up several long-lost users."
     -- Tom Lazear

"I attended the Pro/Engineer 2000i launch in the UK. The bit that really caught my eye was the 'Behavioral Modeling'. It appears to allow engineers to input criteria which can later be used to optimize a design. They suggest that 'solutions can be obtained for problems that otherwise could never have been solved.' This sounds like a major breakthrough if it can do what they say it can.
 "I have got to say that I was extremely impressed. However, I have not had the opportunity to look at SDRC's I-Deas recently, nor Matra Datavision's Euclid / Prelude Suite. I would like also to point out that PTC's Windchill product (which they claim is able to integrate fully with Metaphase) actually looks remarkably like Metaphase. I wonder when the products will 'merge'?
 "In fact, I would not be surprised if PTC purchased (oops I mean merged with) SDRC at some stage in the future!"
     -- Archie Coffield

"On the subject of objects (upFront.eZine #150), the URL for "Defeating the Object; Chapter 3: "Deploying model servers" never connected through, though tried it several times in the course of this past week. Was that URL correct?"
     -- Diego Matho
The editor replies: "That should have been http://www.edaltd.co.uk/ Sorry for the typo!"
 
Re: Slow DDim Dlg in Acad 2000
"When you get a moment in your busy schedule try an full install with the fonts in the AutoCAD 2000\Fonts directory as is the default installation placement."
     -- Shaan Hurley, Autodesk
The editor replies: "I installed the font files this morning and that solved the problem."


Contact!

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