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Issue #288: 26 March, 2002

Inside this Issue

 

Readers Respond:
Encrypting Drawings - or Not

Readers appreciated Martyn Day's editorial on drawing encryption, but had many an addendum to his comments.

"What users want is a read-only version of the drawing file that you can not xref or import in any way into a DWG file. You can zoom, turn off layers, plot and print, but not reuse any of the vector graphics into a new file. DWFs can be opened, and hence reused in an altered DWG.
        "What users want is the same copy protection they complain loudly about if the software producers use it, but they want to copy protect it from their own customers."
        - John Rutkowski
        BOLDER Designs

"Martyn mentioned DWF and a couple of its problems with it, but not its main failing as a security mechanism: it isn't secure! Autodesk may market it as a security mechanism, but it is self-evident that DWF, like any documented vector file format with an API, is easy to convert to another file format, including DWG. Various programs do exactly that.
        "The result may be less pleasant to work with, but it is not difficult to remove the title block and replace it with your own. What DWF actually provides is a mechanism for reducing intelligence in drawings. For a more detailed discussion, read Dietmar Rudolph's whitepaper "Securing Drawings by Reducing Intelligence" at  <http://www.cadlock.com/techdocs/Security_White_Paper_1999_02_02.htm>.
        "It is important to distinguish between 'security' and 'encryption.' What users want is security. Encryption is a tool that may help provide security, but it does not provide all the answers. Encryption alone, such as provided by PGP and others, is fine for data security during transportation. But it ceases to provide security once the data has been decrypted at the other end. Once the careless or untrustworthy recipient has full access to the data, the data owner is in difficulty.
        "With security, users want to maintain some level of control over their data, even after it leaves their direct control. To provide security users seek, they need  encryption and control.
        "Mr Day asks what happens when you lose the encryption key. The consequences are similar to those when you fail to back up your data. A sensible person will keep an unprotected copy of their data within their own control, and only issue protected copies for distribution. In such a case, if you lose your key, you recreate new protected copies of the untouched original, using a new key.
        "He raises the potential the issue of disgruntled employees. But I don't see why such an employee would bother using a security tool to do their damage, when they could just erase the files or overwrite them with renamed text files.
        "Mr Day seems to be most worried about CAD vendors removing choice from users, forcing encryption on everyone. PTC may have used internally hardwired encryption for its own strategic reasons, but I don't think that's a road that most CAD vendors would choose to go down.
        "I wholeheartedly agree with him: the decision whether to encrypt data is the moral prerogative of the customer, not the software vendor. Vendors who ignore that tenet, and remove choice from users, risk turning drawing protection from a marketing plus to a marketing minus."
        - Steve Johnson
        CADLock, Inc.

"I'm surprised there was no mention of the Digital Signatures extension for AutoCAD. Not that this is any more viable than PGP, but it seems to be an Autodesk foray into DWG file security.
        "My experience in the AEC industry tells me that security is not an issue of protecting intellectual property, but rather one of repudiating legal liability.  Digital signatures would provide an integrated yet independent security solution, albeit a limited one, to help address these questions. And this is as far as I would want Autodesk to go in terms of DWG file security."
        - Steve Howatt
        Perkins & Will

The editor replies: "The problem with the Digital Signature extension is that it is available only to the 18% of North American users on the subscription plan (plus a few more percent in Europe)."

"You have to ask 'When' and 'Why' one would encrypt drawings. From our experience, it is not usually for working copies or archival of drawings, but during transportation of drawings over open networks, like the Internet.
        "Syntrex's Business Data Exchange <http://www.syntrex.com> automatically and transparently encrypts, digitally signs, and compresses drawings (and related files) at the sender's workstation, delivers the files to recipients, and then unencrypts the data at the destination platform. All transactions are logged on a central database, including a non-refutable return receipt. Key management and administration of digital certificates is handled "under the hood". The system is not integrated into any specific CAD system but it would be easy to setup an interface."
       -  Jonathan Linowes

"Doesn't saving a drawing to PDF virtually ensure that the information is all there, able to be plotted (printed) out to a plotter (printer) to scale and still be 'safe' as the format is no longer .dwg?'
        - Richard Weiner

"While we definitely see high interest in PDF output from our conversion tools, there is also a lot of interest in DWF viewing with our CadViewer product. PDF output of CAD drawings is mainly driven by US Federal Government requirements."
        - Scott Taylor
        Tailor Made Software

"There is an other way to sent a drawing in minimal format. By making a DXB plotfile, it's possible to give away the look of the drawing, without sending additional information like bocks, hatches, attributes and so on."
        - Erik Slangen,
        Sjef Ubaghs Installatietechniek b.v.

"Nice editorial on encryption. You might want to mention the relevance of The CAD Society's interoperability commitment project: http://www.cadsociety.org/interoperability_guidelines.htm "
        - Brad Holtz
        Cyon Research  

Explaining 3D Paperspace

With Microstation v8, Bentley Systems introduced the concept of three-dimensional paperspace. "What good is that," I had wondered at the time. With a fuller explaination of how paperspace could work in 3D, here is Jeff Baker <Jeff.Baker@ACADHotline.net.au> of Australian CAD Hotline:

I have a 3D model of a building, and I want to document it. I create a 2D drawing in a paperspace layout. What if I want the north and west elevations on the same sheet? Currently, I use two mviews [create two viewports in paperspace] and rotate the model in the views as required, which works.
        But, think of the real world for a minute: take a sheet of paper with a hole cut in it, through which I view my building (like looking at the building with binoculars). Now imagine walking around the building perimeter, and watching your view of the building change.
        Instead of rotating the model to fit the paper, I move the paper to see the model. That's 3D paperspace.
        What is the benefit? Set up a sheet layout so that that notes, annotation, and title block are linked to the viewing direction. For example, notes re the north elevation paint finish only belong with that view.
        Perhaps even a billboard (with a hole to view building of course) for each view and, unless the billboard is plan, then it doesn't display in paperspace. The exception is when an entity has z=0, then it is hidden.

        Another example: have you every wanted to document a large machine assembly or a plant layout?
        Maybe by setting a 'drawing plane' (i.e. set a z=0 plane at some location within the model -- think of a workplane in Mechanical Desktop), and what if you could associate some or all entities-layers-objects to a particular plane? (This might be an extra column in the Layer dialog box, called Sheet Plane -- or maybe a sub-assembly hierarchy, as in MDT).
        Sheet Planes would be a bit like views (sets of coordinates with a name, except that objects would appear on the plane like layer on/of). But this plane could be orientated anywhere in 3D space.
        Could you do this in model space, and represent it in paperspace? Certainly, but a 3D database in paperspace would make it easier.

Imagine having a slider control for the depth of the view. Computervision allowed designers access to model space, but drafters were allowed access to paperspace only. A 3D depth control in paperspace would be required to support this concept for 3D models.
        Have I convinced you it might have some merit? Should I give up the day job and start a software company? Anyone know of a core engine company looking for a partner?
        Oh, for CAD development rather than interoperability, Internet, and Java (oops, moved on to XML) mumbo-jumbo from some of the CAD developers!

Now that Bentley can boast of 3D paperspace, can AutoCAD users expect Autodesk to add it this year or next? Says Mr. Baker, "AutoCAD does have 3D paperspace, but it is difficult to access -- look to DXF if you want to try!"

 

Below the Radar

A summary of CAD industry news you may not have read elsewhere:

Afitec France is organizing a real-time chat at http://www.afitec.com/chat the day after the largest French CAD exhibition, Friday 29 March at 11:00am French local time, (that's GMT+1). Discussion topics will be everything CAD, focusing on the MICAD exhibited software and hardware. The chat is aimed at French speakers, but separate chat rooms make it possible to accommodate other languages.

Bentley Systems introduced two new versions of its Select subscription program. Product Subscriptions offer access to individual products on a monthly subscription, which is meant for projects of varying duration. Portfolio Subscriptions offers the software on a monthly or pre-paid annual subscription. http://www.bentley.com/sales

Axiom released Global File Changer v3.3, a the MicroStation utility making unlimited changes to multiple design files. http://www.axiomint.com

Spicer's new ViewCafé v2.1 accelerates Java-based printing performance by up to 85%. http://www.spicer.com

WaterTalk, StormTalk, and SewerTalk are three technical forums for water resource professionals. More at http://www.haestad.com/e/m.asp?d=49&m=020319DGs

 

Seminars & Conferences

PLM World is April 29 in Orlando FL USA. This is the user group conference for customers using EDS PLM Solutions products from the merged companies of Unigraphics Solutions and SDRC. http://www.eds.com/products/plm/events/current/plmworld2002/

COFES2002 (Congress on the Future of Engineering Software) May 2-5 in Scottsdale AZ USA. http://www.cofes.com

 

 New Newsletters/Webzines

Afitec France is publishing a semi-monthly email CAD newsletter, in French. Topics covered are mainly Autodesk products, tips and tricks for AutoCAD users, links to resources for CAD users. Subscribe http://www.afitec.com/divers/bulletin.php

 

People/Companies on the Move

Radan has taken responsibility for selling and supporting JETCAM products in the UK. http://www.jetcam.com

 

Computer News Summaries

IBM cut the price on its largest flat-panel display -- the 22.2-inch 3840x2400-resolution model T221 -- from US$17,999 to US$8,399. - CNET

Expect an interim upgrade to Windows XP, dubbed XP "SE", in the first quarter of next year. Candidates for inclusion are the essential .NET client-side plumbing: the common language runtime (CLR), Internet Explorer 7.0 and DirectX 9.0, and a mature Bluetooth stack. - The Register

 

The WorthWhile Web

http://www.theendoffree.com/
The End of Free
Chronicling free to fee, and beyond.

 

Letters to the Editor

Re: ShapeManager
"It seems like Autodesk had as much access to the ACIS kernel as they needed to provide extensions. We were able to extend Parasolid in some unique ways. I have nothing to back up this feeling, but I am wondering if Autodesk is getting a little nervous about the Spatial-Dassault connection. SolidWorks is a major competitor and that can't give them a warm feeling.
        "The other possibility is that maybe they plan on doing some creative marketing with Inventor that would be in conflict with the Spatial licensing agreement or philosophy."
        - Steve Mastrangelo
        3D Applied Science

"The real issue is compatibility and interoperability and the plain, undeniable fact that eroding same (as ShapeManager will ultimately serve to do), has always been viewed as being in the interest of the market-share leader, and to the detriment of everyone else, including all customers.
        "What Autodesk is doing with ACIS/ShapeManager is not unlike what Microsoft did to Java, using Visual J++ and WFC to deliberately pollute Java, creating incompatibility, and eroding interoperability through divergence.
        "I am firmly convinced that Autodesk's move is motivated primarily by a desire to create incompatibility, and thereby lock-in customers to Autodesk-based solutions. The question is whether enhancements to ShapeManager are worth sacrificing compatibility.
        "I believe making ShapeManager available in AutoCAD is designed to do little more than seed the AutoCAD customer base and its data with ACIS incompatibility, and thereby ensure that AutoCAD users are steered toward Inventor. Not because Inventor is superior to SolidWorks or the rest, but rather because of a need to smoothly migrate their existing data.
        "By trying to shove more incompatibility down customers' throats while giving them relatively little in exchange, Autodesk will do little other than alienate their customers."
        - Tony Tanzillo
        The CAD Zone

The editor replies: "I agree that Autodesk's intention is to lock-in customers. I disagree, however, that the move will upset customers. Not to be insulting, but many are clueless, and won't care. Locked into AutoCAD? Not a problem, because there is no other CAD software, is there? Consider the 90% of PC users who still go with Microsoft products."

 

Re: DataCAD Coverage
"Can you report on DataCAD in your newsletter? With the improvements of DataCAD and in particular version X, DataCAD has become a very productive tool for architects. With it being only a year younger than AutoCAD and a user base which is global, I feel you should report on its capabilities."
        - Jerry Headley
        Architect

The editor replies: "I would, if DataCAD ever sent me any info."

 

Re: MicroStation v8
"Clarification on MicroStation BASIC. It is more likely going away with V10 and not V9. Thanks for bringing this to my attention because I'm going to encourage several initiatives on migrating MS BASIC to VBA. We have a utility (MB2VBA) that performs a BASIC-to-VBA syntax conversion, including dialog box definitions."
        - Frank.Conforti
        Bentley Systems

 

Re: Top 3 To Do items list for those planning an upgrade to MicroStation V8
"How is that any different any from previous MicroStation upgrade?"
        - Jason Osgood

 

Re: Single Building Models
"A single building model can, and should, be used even with 2D drawings. Thinking and designing/drafting with the whole building -- even though your project may only be a single room renovation -- is the only way to go. With modelspace/paperspace, the digital drawing can contain everything, while the plot layout contains only the one room.
        "Too often architects see the one room only, and ignore the rest. This only benefits their immediate project, but does nothing for the owner who is left with bits and pieces of his building."
        - Dave Alexander
        Poole and Associates

 

Re: Upgrading from R14
"At a meeting of the Vancouver AutoCAD User Society, I had a short conversation with a member running his own design/build company using AutoCAD R14. We talked about the 'need' to upgrade. I suggested that as long as his drawings stayed in-house, he could forego the upgrade.
        "Even as I said that, a nagging voice inside my head said, 'But you don't want to get out of the loop." I recognized that this is exactly the thought Autodesk wants running in their customers' minds -- the fear that we are missing something if we don't upgrade and shell out over $1/2K -- or pay full price if we wait too long.
        "I think that are many more end users still running R14, 13, or R12 than Autodesk would like to admit. If it (whichever version) works for you, why upgrade?
        "I work in environments that only ever require 2D. My suggestions of moving to 3D have been met with derision, gnashing of teeth, and wailing of 'We can't afford it!' My current place of employment has 2000i, but half of the staff still run R14 because they are much more comfortable with it."
        - Richard Weiner

 

Re: Reverse Engineering with Visio
"It isn't 'that' kind of reverse engineering. Visio allows you to do UML (Unified Modeling Language) diagrams of object-oriented software. The really nifty UML modeling applications allow you to draw the diagram, and then generate skeleton code (in C++, Java, VB, and so on) based on the diagram.
        "The reverse of this -- taking existing code (not the executable) and generating the diagram -- is often referred to as 'reverse engineering.' That's quite a bit different than taking something like the Windows kernel binaries and trying to generate code!"
        - Geoff Vandegrift
        Computer Associates

 

Re: CAD on the Mac
"I'm more of a Mikrosopht Windoze guy, but I've been playing with Mac OS X 10.0 and I've gotta tell you, it seems like the ideal environment for CAD applications -- at least until you need to plot something, then I suppose it gets more complicated. But anyway, I'm surprised Apple doesn't realize this and start pounding on CAD developers to make it happen."
        - Joe Stoddard
        Construction Business Computing

 

Re: Finding Downsides to Technology
"An excellent, well-defined purpose. Too many publications seem to be blind cheerleaders for their advertisers."
        - Jay Pellam

"I find your newsletter to be very informative (and sometimes humorous) and look forward to it every Tuesday. Keep up the great work."
        - Mike Cundiff
        HNTB Corporation

"Great job Ralph! I thoroughly enjoyed both the Bentley Systems visit and the link to the securities class action suit! This issue was another factor in why I enjoy coming to work on Tuesdays."
        - Doug Barense
        Progressive AE 

Spin Doctor of the Moment

"Digital imaging and publishing require using PCs, servers and storage."
        - Carly Fiorina, HP ce. She's never seen her company's PhotoSmart printer, which doesn't need a PC to print files from a variety of memory cards.

Notable Quotable

"I believe that mass media exists to confirm the hallucinations of the masses. If you want to get a story through that doesn't sync up with the dominant belief system, it's just not going to happen."
        - John Perry Barlow
       http://news.com.com/2008-1082-843349.html
  

Contact!
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