Visions.eZine Web site
Bricsnet and Struc Plus plan to ship commercial versions of IntelliCAD 2000 before the end of March. We have details on both products:
Bricsnet last week reached an agreement with the Visio division
of Microsoft to provide existing IntelliCAD customers with technical
support and offer upgrades to a commercial version of IntelliCAD
2000. Visio is providing Bricsnet with "profiles" of
all existing IntelliCAD users, and notifying its existing customers
that they can obtain technical support, upgrades, and new licenses
from Bricsnet.
Bricsnet will distribute and support IntelliCAD in the United
States and Europe. Presumably, other companies will handle distribution
for Canada, Mexico, and other areas of the world.
As part of the agreement, Bricsnet has committed to releasing
a commercial version of "Bricsnet IntelliCAD 2000" (as
they name it) before the end of March in English, German, and
French. New features include improved rendering, raster support
from Hitachi, and AutoCAD 2000 DWG support. The introductory price
is US$145 for new users, and US$99 for registered users; annual
subscription is US$99; tech support is US$80 - US$150 per year.
http://www.bricsnet.com
Struc Plus recently signed a 'Red Hat' agreement with MS/Visio
(much the same as Bricsnet has) to handle the commercial release
of IntelliCAD 2000 in Australia, New Zealand, and SE Asia. A free
technical support line is at 1-800-223-236.
As part of the agreement, Struc Plus has committed to releasing
a free patch to all existing users of Struc Plus IntelliCAD 2000,
which will include the current development (bug fixes) and licensed
components (conditional upon the agreements being finalized) before
the end of March.
http://struc-plus.com
I asked Bricsnet director of business development Rolf Gibbels when solids will be added to IntelliCAD. He said Bricsnet does not intend to add solids. If a user wants solids, Bricsnet will point the user to Bricsnet Architectural, the 3D ACIS-based architectural software that currently works with IntelliCAD (and will become available for AutoCAD 2000 and AutoCAD R14). Mr. Gibbels said that Bricsnet is specializing in architecture, so don't expect any mechanical solutions from them.
While cleaning my office this week, I came across this press
release, dated 23 August 1994: "Softdesk Completes Acquisition
of IntelliCAD." The press release quotes Softdesk ceo David
Arnold: "The products and technology from IntelliCAD increase
Softdesk's integrated solution for managing AEC projects, and
enable Softdesk to continue its move into the related AM/FM and
utilities segments of the AEC market."
Little did we know at the time the tumultuous journey the IntelliCAD
name would take: from an independent AM/FM software firm (located
in La Mesa CA USA) purchased by Softdesk (of Henniker NH); next
as a Softdesk skunkworks to create a secret AutoCAD-compatible
engine; to Autodesk (of San Rafael CA) via its acquisition of
Softdesk, until ordered divested by the FTC; then briefly independent
as Boomerang Technology (of San Jose CA); purchased by Visio (of
Seattle WA); then spun off by Visio as the IntelliCAD Technical
Consortium; and now being resold under a variety of names, including
Struc Plus IntelliCAD 2000 (of Australia), CADopia IntelliCAD
2000 (of USA), and Bricsnet IntelliCAD 2000 (of Belgium).
AEC - architecture, engineering, construction
AM/FM - automated mapping/facilities management
FTC - federal trade commission of the USA
Last issue, we announced the discovery of the first two viruses specifically written to attack Visio drawings. Both are considered harmless, since neither has been seen "in the wild" (have not infected any user's computer yet). To follow-up, we contacted all anti-virus companies (other than the three we contacted in the last issue), asking about their knowledge of these viruses (and possible others). Several did not reply. Those that did said:
"We are still analyzing this virus / these viruses, therefore
we can't give any additional information about it at this moment.
- Juha Ali-Melkkilä
"Thanks for your query about this new virus - as yet we
have no reported sightings of this virus and are unable to provide
you with any definite information. Sorry about this, but if we
can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact
us."
- Leprechaun Software
Pty Ltd
"Thank you for contacting the Virus Doctor @ Trend Micro.
We received your email regarding new macro viruses. Here are the
information for your information:
http://www.trend.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=V5M_UNSTABLE
and http://www.trend.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=V5M_RADIANT
"
- Virus Doctor at
US
We checked out those two Web sites, and found them to be the best summary of virus info of any vendor. Symantec replied with some additional information:
"The simple fact is that virus writers email viruses to
the various anti-virus publishers all the time. It is currently
not a crime to write a virus, and send it to anti-virus software
publishers. It is only a Federal felony if a person actually distributes
a virus so that computers actually get it.
"We update our virus definitions for these viruses in our
weekly update. We release at least one update for our virus definitions
online every week. If some wild viruses actually come out, when
then will often release more than one update a week."
- Lance Jacobs
Although we answer your Visio questions (personally by email
and via this e-newsletter's Tips section), Visio technical support
is also available as follows:
If you are a registered user of Visio Enterprise 5.0 or any Visio
2000 Edition, you can use the online
support system to ask technical questions.
If you are a registered user of any Visio 5.0 or later product,
you can get telephone and fax support at the numbers below:
Visio Standard, Technical, and Professional products:
Phone: 206.521.0041 (Toll-English)
450.926.2592 (Toll-French)
Fax: 206.956.7800 (Toll-English)
450.926.3754 (Toll-French)
Hours: 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday-Friday
Visio Enterprise:
Phone: 206.521.0041
Fax: 206.956.7800 (Toll-English)
Hours: 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday-Friday
Autodesk began shipping Actrix Technical 2000 last Thursday.
Cad Publisher v1.6 is now available for download. The software processes DXF files into PostScript, Adobe Illustrator, Acrobat PDF, and EPS formats in monochrome, color or color separations. With version 1.6, TrueType, Type 1, and SHX fonts can be used in the input and output files.
Information on a free document management system called 'Columbus' is now available. Columbus is said to be different from classical document management tools since it can be used to managed both internal data and data out on a project Extranet site.
"Please help us understand your collaboration needs as well as your opinions on how vendors might help with this problem by completing a short 5-minute survey being conducted by an independent market research firm. The survey is completely anonymous. Key survey results will be published in the next edition of Visions.eZine."
Microsoft's update to Windows 98, called "Windows Me" (Millennium Edition) will debut on May 26. "Me" will focus on digital media and entertainment (including the MovieMaker digital video editor); more Internet stuff; home networking; improved system reliability.
The Register found that Microsoft fudged speed trials between Windows NT and Windows 2000. Despite Microsoft's attempts to influence ZD Labs in producing results that favor Windows 2000, The Register found that, in general, any computer with 64MB or more of memory runs NT v4.x faster than Windows 2000 (a.k.a. NT v5).
Several hardware vendors, including 3Com, Cisco Systems, and Sun, are creating a new high-speed standard of ethernet that would allow speeds up to 10Gb/sec. Most ethernets run at 10Mb/sec or 100Mb/sec; a 1Gb/sec standard is also available.
Intel says it will soon preview its 1GHz Pentium III operating at room temperature. AMD this week showed its 1.1GHz Athelon CPU. Both say they will ship their 1GHz CPUs by year's end. Until now, a 1GHz CPU was only possible using fluid cooling. IBM researchers have developed CPUs that run at 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz in the lab, and will be available to end-users three to four years from now. Intel's Timna CPU will be a 600Hz version of Celeron integrated with a graphics chip and a memory controller.
Canon, Nikon, and Olympus this week showed their new 3.3-megapixel digital cameras, while FujiFilm goes extreme with a 4.3-megapixel camera, which works out to 2,400x1,800 resolution photos. Meanwhile, Kodak as announced a clip-on digital camera for the Palm III and VII computers.
Tip #12: "There seems to be a conflict with
Office 2000 with Visio 2000. Once installed, a change has occurred
in Office 2000. The "shortcut toolbar" no longer opens
when the system is booted up and cannot be changed to do so. The
only way to place it on the desktop is to manually click on the
icon. Is there a patch that addresses this bug?"
- J. R. Anderson
A: "Yeah, the answer for it is in the readme. There
is a separate EXE to run in order to get the buttons again."
- Visio Tech Support
Tip #13: "I have received two sample graphics
from an author. The graphics were created in Visio 5, and exported
as EPS. The graphics import into FrameMaker just fine. However,
only stray pieces of the first graphic print. The second graphic
won't print at all, and I get an "undefined" PostScript
error when I try to print it. Is there something else we should
be aware of when trying to use Visio EPS graphics in a high-end
publishing/imagsetter environment?"
- Syd Brown
A: EPS is tricky, and I tend to avoid it. I would recommend that the author export his Visio drawings in WMF format, instead. Let me know how that works out.
"Service bureaus and high-end imagesetter printers usually grumble at us when we use WMF because they sometimes do really ugly things in Mac-based and other high-res PostScript systems. I think I'll fall back and regroup and ask for 300 dpi TIFFs instead." -- S.B.
Puzzled about Visio? Got an idea on how to make Visio work better? Send your questions and tips to ralphg@xyzpress.com .
"I just wanted to let Steve Wise know that I saw his comments
about the missing structural steel shapes in Visio 2000. I totally
agree with him, and I will include his comments in my list of
ideas for our next release. No promises that it will show up in
the next release, but he has been heard.
"Thanks for providing your interesting newsletters, I always
enjoy reading them."
- Dave Lorenzo, AEC/FM Development Manager, Visio - a Division
of Microsoft
