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Issue #534   :  :   October 23, 2007

In this issue:

"CAD Not Required"

    • Graebert, the History
    • SiteMaster, the Focus
    • Argon, the Future

Out of the Inbox and the other regular columns.

 
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"CAD Not Required"

(Exclusive to upFront.eZine)

GiveMePower GmbH ceo Wilfried Graebert and cto Robert Graebert flew out to spend several hours with upFront.eZine describing the history of their company, its current focus, and a future code-named "Argon."

 

Graebert, the History

It was in 1983, as Mr Graebert related to me, that he  obtained the exclusive distribution for Autodesk software in Germany. Graebert spent additional programming resources on developing add-on applications for AutoCAD in architecture, mechanical, and so on. He says he grew his market share from 25% to 67% when in 1993 Autodesk cut him off as a third-party developer and the distributor. A court battle ensued, but the distribution was given to five others, who had a price war among themselves until there were three. (The court action carries on, these many years later.)

At this point, the company wrote an AutoCAD clone to run its collection of add-on apps -- the reverse of IntelliCAD, which SoftDesk produced to run add-ons in case Autodesk were to cut them off as well. Graebert named the clone FelixCAD, after the youngest son. Since SoftDesk was at the time the powerhouse of vertical applications in America, Mr Graebert had discussions with them, eventually coming to an agreement for SoftDesk to add an API [applications programming interface] compatibility layer called the “Ramona” layer (named after the hometown of Boomerang Technology).

(According to German copyright law, one product is a copy of another if it _looks_ the same. Graebert followed the advice of its German lawyers, which meant that FelixCAD could not directly run apps written for AutoCAD. The wrapper to be provided by SoftDesk could make FelixCAD quite compatible with AutoCAD apps.)

And we all know what happened after that. The bidding war that drove up the price of SoftDesk to $90 million; IntelliCADD bought by Visio for $6,716,438.60; the consent agreement; IntelliCAD proving unprofitable; and now the ITC rewriting the software to erase earlier vestiges.

Realizing there was no point in chasing the me-AutoCAD-too market, Mr Graebert asked me nearly a decade ago, "What now?" "Differentiate by going to Linux or PalmOS," I suggested. The company quickly realized that PalmOS wasn't worth it, but saw a benefit in following the Microsoft-ian path from Windows on the desktop to Windows CE on "palmtop." At that point, PocketPC devices were too weak to run CAD, but the company extrapolated three years hence, they saw viability.

And now they have 300,000+ users.

Along the way, there was a change in company name to "GiveMePower," renaming FelixCAD to "PowerCAD" in North America, and a distribution deal in China under the name "QuickCAD." (There's an interesting story on how that came about)  The  company this week returned to its original name, Graebert GmbH

 

SiteMaster, the Focus

Graebert GmbH today focuses on "Point. Shoot. Done. Anytime. Anywhere, Anyone." Their software links to laser measuring devices, bar code readers, and surveyors' Totalstation data collectors. It runs on desktop PCs, TabletPCs, UMPCs [ultra-mobile PCs] (the only major app to do so), PocketPCs, and SmartPhones. All versions have the same functions, because the company was able to squeeze the entire CAD system into just 8MB, cto Robert Graebert grinned. "Add 35MB for ACIS solid modeling, so that's not on the PocketPC or SmartPhone."

The UI was adjusted to suit the gloved fingers of workers in the field. Got no hands free? Then speak to add audio notes to drawings. SmartPhones and UMPCs have integrated cameras, so photos can be embedded or attached like hyperlinks. Robert Graebert showed me the software running on both his older model PocketPC and a brand new UMPC. "Lots of optimization," he smiles when I express wonder at the speed of the CAD software running on these suboptimal devices.

"Does your software run on the surveyor's devices themselves," I asked. "Yes, but only top-end devices that cost e20,000 (US$28,000)," explained Wilfried Graebert. "It makes more sense to buy a 'low-end' Totalstation for e6,000 and then add PDA for another e300."

The big breakthrough: Bluetooth. NO MORE WIRES. The PocketPC is attached to the wrist, or the UMPC strapped to the waist. The laser measuring device is used to send measurement data to the PC; alternatively, the PC instructs the device to take measurements.

In the foreground, the Bluetooth laser measuring device from Hilti;
in the background, the latest UMPC from Samsung running SiteMaster and its glove-friendly user interface.

Data is uploaded to home office as email-- "Email?" I interrupted, having recently endured France's lack of WiFi-generosity firsthand. In Europe the data can be sent via 3G, like cell phone calls, Mr Graebert expanded. Or lacking that, workers take coffee breaks at the nearest Starbucks to use the in-store WiFi system.

Here's the key: Graebert doesn't sell this as a CAD system. It's a file viewer that happens to also have editing functions. A PocketPC and laser measuring device are under e1,000 and so can be smuggled into departmental budgets. "CAD not required," is the pitch.

Oh, and here's the other key. Mr Graebert figures that there are 25,000 architects in England chased by 5 CAD vendors. In contrast, there are 800,000 workers that Graebert has to itself -- contractors, installers, maintenance workers, bridge inspectors, city workers, real estate agents, ship repairers -- all of whom Mr Graebert finds his staff having to educate on the 2x-10x speed improvement and 100% input accuracy of his solution. And so 60% of revenue comes from consulting, where Graebert trains people to use the SiteMaster system to survey, oh, 13,778 rooms in 1,230 buildings on behalf of T-com. Ten million square feet measured in 15 weeks by 50 non-surveyors pointing laser beams. The drawings are finished on-site, with one surveyor back in the office receiving and approving drawings by email.  

 

Argon, the Future

Mr Graebert laughs at himself: "I should not have listened to my German lawyer." And so for the last three years his son has led a team of 20 German and Russian programmers rewriting FelixCAD from scratch in a lawyer-supervised cleanroom environment -- only LISP was retained from the current version of the software. Project Argon now has some 270 script-compatible AutoCAD commands, meaning all command options work correctly. All dialog boxes are resizable. The native file format is DWG, based on the Open Design Alliance's implementation. (The company names future products after the noble gasses of the periodic table.)

Project Argon is in alpha, will have a short beta starting next month, and is due to ship in Q1 2008. ("How come you're beating the ITC and its similar-in-nature IntelliCAD 7 project?" "We started sooner.") Current OEMs are already working with it, because that's the key market for Graebert; retail is unimportant.

Argon's API options are mind-boggling to me. it's even got CUI (the XML customization file) and Diesel for menu toggles. The ITC is up against some serious code here:

  • Lisp
  • DCL
  • Diesel
  • Delphi
  • COM
  • C++:
    • FRX/DRX (OpenDWG-based API)
    • FXARX (source code compatible with AutoCAD 2007 ARX)
  • .Net for C# and VB.Net
  • VSTA
  • C/fdt headers (conversion from ADS)

FXARX is compatible with ObjectARX in AutoCAD 2007, with just a recompile needed using Graebert's headers. It has Microsoft's replacement for VBA, "VSTA" (to pun, perchance?) -- Visual Studio for Applications -- for scripts.

Import and/or export options include DWF in/out, ACIS in/out, support for 150+ raster formats, PDF out, and SVG out. "Who uses SVG?" I objected. Facilities managers and the telecom industry for viewing, liking the vector-based zoomability.

(The next release after this initial one adds visual styles, ASE-style database connectivity, and dynamic input.)

Argon has very little dependency on the OS, easily taking on candy interface of XP, the efficient interface of Windows 2000, and so on. This means Argon could next year be ported to OS X and Linux, the latter increasingly demanded by government agencies. Robert Graebert took me through the UI and functions of Argon. It uses OpenGL, DirectX, or software for display and rendering. As other CAD vendors have found out, OpenGL is still too slow on Vista.

- - -

PS: Later this year the company will be conducting hands-on previews for interested third-party developers. Register at oem@graebert.com for the following locations:

  • Bangkok -- 11 Dec
  • Berlin – 3 Dec
  • Boston -- 27 Nov
  • London -- 21 Nov

www.graebert.com

Out of the Inbox

Tech Soft 3D integrates the Open Design Alliance's DGNdirect libraries with its HOOPS v16 graphics component. If you're member of both organizations, you get to read Bentley Systems-approved DGN files with yer HOOPS SDK [software development kit] in a few weeks from now. www.techsoft3d.com

In unrelated news, Bentley Systems licenses D-Cubed 2D and 3D Dimensional Constraint Managers and Collision Detection Manager for MicroStation. The company also extended its ParaSolid licences from Siemens PLM Software for a multi-year duration. Bentley plans these to use these mechanically-oriented components for parametric designs in its AEC software. www.ugs.com/products/open/  

Also in unrelated news, Bentley Systems reports on a survey conducted by 'AECbytes', which Bentley intrepreted as showing that 58% of respondents prefer features in [wait for the "surprise" result...] Bentley's own BIM software, while 38% were Revit-inclined. Complete details available from www.aecbytes.com/feature/2007/BIMSurveyReport.html

Dassault Systemes is now using Office Communications Server 2007 communications platform for its 3DLive software. www.3ds.com

SYCODE launches AutoProject for AutoCAD (e195.00), an automatic 3D to 2D projection plug-in for AutoCAD. Works with any kind of 3D drawing, including wireframe. www.sycode.com

Actify notes that it has 10,000 licenses on active maintenance. www.actify.com  [Maybe that's the new, better way to count actual customers, as opposed to counting every license sold over the last coupla' decades.]

MicroSurvey CAD 2008 is software for COGO [coordinate geometry], digital terrain modeling, traversing, volumes, contouring, and data collection interfacing -- all based on IntelliCAD v6.4. A 30-day copy available from www.microsurvey.com

UGS [oops, Siemens PLM Solutions] updates its free Solid Edge 2D CAD software with goal seeking that solves 2D engineering scenarios with free-body diagrams. Results can drive 3D geometry. Some 80,000 have downloaded Solid Edge v20 from www.solidedge.com/free2d  [While Autodesk and Dassault say they are "democratizing" 3D CAD, UGS says it's "commoditizing" 2D CAD.]

Autodesk posts technology preview 6 of Impression at impression.autodesk.com/blogs/blog/5/blogpost/3201/

VariCAD releases its VariCAD 2007 v3.00 3D/2D mechanical CAD system with completely rebuilt BOM, improved user interface, and new improvements in STEP and DWG file compatibility. 30-day trial from www.varicad.com

And Eric Pousse releases RealCADD v4.05 2D CAD software (US$95 or $135 for Pro version) available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. www.realcadd.com

- - -

These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog < worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:

  • How Sweet It Is!
  • Cosmic Blobs Pro Edition
  • Europe Important to US CAD Vendors
  • Euro, The New US Dollar
  • Graebert Becomes "Graebert"
  • Sales in China $6000/month

 

Hardware News

Creaform sells its 400th REVscan (formerly Handyscan 3D) laser scanner since 2005. www.creaform3d.com

 

Magazine/eZine/Weblog Updates

TraceParts partners with 'Design World' magazine to offer free online 3D product catalogs to engineers and designers. [I don't know about this partnering between magazines and specific commercial interests.] www.designworldonline.com

 

Brand New CAD Books/eBooks

"AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 Grading"
by Carris Technology Solutions and APW Engineering
Published by reTreive; vBook US$19.95
www.myvbooks.com

 

"AutoCAD LT 2008 for Designers"
by Prof. Sham Tickoo
Published by CADCIM Technologies
720 pages; paper US$29.00
www.cadcim.com/aclt_2008/aclt_2008.htm

 

"Tailoring AutoCAD 2008"
by Ralph Grabowski
Published by upFront.eZine Publishing
346 pages; PDF US$34.60
www.upfrontezine.com/ta8

 

Letters to the Editor

Re: Customers Feel Ripped Off by International Pricing

"First of all, it's hard to get information in pricing -- no one lists them, and no one talks about them, but here a few from Germany. (All prices approximate and without 19% VAT [sales tax].)

  • SolidEdge Foundation = e6,500 + e131 maintenance/month.
  • Pro/E Foundation = e6,350 + maintenance at 20% of the list price.

"Compared to US prices, it seems that they have inverted the exchange rates, so that US$ x 1.42 = Euro, instead of the correct US$ x 0.70 = Euro."
        - Klaus Dahlenburg, Incomm GmbH
        Germany

 

"I love to hear the English griping about the price of an American product over there. I do know they pay less than a third of what we pay for cheese. I will gladly trade some software for bulk chess."
        - William R Jennings, president
        Consulting Engineering, PC

The editor replies: "American cheese is half the price of Canadian."

 

"Awesome piece on international pricing!"
        - Glenn Letham, founder
        www.GISUser.com

- - -

Re: IronCAD v10

"In response to Francis Taylor of Radix Solutions, IronCAD originated the single scene design model and various other technologies in use by today's CAD systems. Single-scene design in particular has been part of IronCAD since its inception in 1995.

"IronCAD version 10 also includes additional functionality to the single-scene environment such as references across assemblies at different levels in the scene hierarchy without the need for externally linked files."
        - David Pulgar, Marketing Coordinator
        IronCAD

- - -

Re: Autodesk's Grand Unification Plan

"One of the piping solutions that's overlooked -- and one that Autodesk's Plant Design software would compete directly against -- would be Cadworx from Coade. They've got the P&ID, the 3D pipe design on AutoCAD,  equipment design, tank design and also analysis."
        - Donovan Cox

 

"John may want to look at Medusa Plant Design with the Factory Layout module. It would seem to fit his needs very well. Thanks for a very informative newsletter."
        - Steve Borland, CADservices         
       Denmark

- - -

"Germany and France, huh?  Enjoy the beer and wine!"
        - David Stein

 

"What is up with Autodesk acquiring Navisworks? Any clue how or when this will be integrated and available? o please, o please. DONT GIVE UP your day Time job (= UpFront eZine)"
        - Randy Sanders

The editor replies: "Eventually Navisworks will be integrated with other Autodesk software, like Inventor."

Spin Doctor of the Moment

"Our book search index is also huge now. It's over a million books. You think about trying to stack those up on your desk, it would take quite a bit of space."
        - Lawrence Page, Google|
        seekingalpha.com/article/50487-google-q3-2007-earnings-call-transcript

 

Notable Quotable

"Many companies will face a stark choice: Do we partner with Google, or do we let a competitor partner with Google?"
        - Nick Carr
        www.roughtype.com/archives/2007/10/the_case_for_go.php

 

Thank You to Our Subscribers

These great people support upFront.eZine through their contributions of $25 or more. Thank you, guys!

  • Christopher Blair: "Thanks for the engaging and often humorous letter."
  • Engli of SolidWorks.de
  • Margaret Brown of Tesco

 

 

Copyright 2007 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide

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All trademarks belong to their respective holders. "upFront.eZine," "Talking About CAD," and "the business of CADg" are trademarks of upFront.eZinePublishing, Ltd.
Letters to the editor may be reproduced in an edited form for clarity and brevity. Opinions expressed in letters are not necessarily shared by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.