upFront.eZine News Archives

Open Design Alliance and Its Future

upFront.eZine issue #847 

 

 

Neil Peterson recently took over as the president of Open Design Alliance, and so Ralph Grabowski interviewed him to learn about the organization and his plans for it.

upFront.eZine: Open Design Alliance is best known for its programming library (APIs) that lets software developers access data stored in DWG files. Besides you and Autodesk, does anyone else produce a set of DWG APIs?

Neil Peterson: There are no other comparable solutions for accessing DWG data.

 

upFront.eZine: So if you didn't exist, Autodesk would have a monopoly in this area?

Peterson: Yes.

 

upFront.eZine: How many customers do you have?

Peterson: We have 1,300 members, spread across 50 countries world-wide.

 

upFront.eZine: What do members typically do with your software?

Peterson: ODA members develop a wide variety of applications.  There is the traditional CAD user base who import/export DWG and DGN data from various CAD-related products. We have companies building rendering applications, such as viewers and markup solutions. Members use it to automate tasks, like searching for text, checking drawings against standards, and batch editing of drawings.

More recently we are seeing growth in the areas of Web application development and even full CAD systems based on Teigha. And we have a significant number of companies using Teigha for internal purposes.

 

upFront.eZine: Your programmers have to investigate and implement support for the DWG format every year, because Autodesk makes changes to it. Why would a company prefer your APIs over Autodesk's own RealDWG APIs?

 

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Article now continues...

 

Peterson: There are a number of reasons:

• Teigha is a full development platform, while RealDWG is just an import/export library. This means that ODA members can create sophisticated applications, such as rendering solutions and even full Teigha-based CAD systems. RealDWG doesn’t support complex functionality, such as rendering.
• Teigha is a cross-platform solution available on all major desktop, server, and mobile platforms. RealDWG is Windows-only.
• We use the same code base on all platforms, so members don’t see issues like the one you recently reported with AutoCAD 360 having rendering bugs on Windows 8.  

There is a clear difference in focus between Open Design Alliance and Autodesk. Leadership in any large publicly traded company must place a strong focus on shareholder value; maintaining shareholder value requires constant growth, an emphasis on new products (often obtained through acquisitions), close attention to quarterly revenue numbers, and so on.

As a not-for-profit consortium, we can afford our singular focus to build the best CAD development tools on the market. As a result, we work cooperatively with members, and put a clear priority on quality and support issues.

When we deliver new features, even substantial ones (such as our recent cloud rendering support), we include them in our standard SDK at no additional cost.

upFront.eZine: What formats other than DWG do your APIs read, edit, and write?

Peterson: On the CAD side, we also support DXF and DGN, and can import DGN files into DWG databases.

We export to PDF, SVG, STL, DWF, DAE (Collada), and various raster formats, and we import DWF and DAE. We read, render, and do conversions for ACIS, plus we have a bridge module available for integrating the full ACIS modeler from Spatial. (This requires member to purchase a separate license from Spatial.)

 

upFront.eZine: What other software does OpenDesign Alliance produce?

Peterson: We recently started a new initiative for collaborative development that we call a Special Interest Group (SIG). Teigha is designed to meet the shared needs of our membership, but in many cases a handful of ODA members have a strong interest in a specialized area. To address this need, ODA members can form SIGs. The first SIG was created to address the civil engineering market. It is separately funded by a small group of ODA members, leveraging our existing infrastructure and expertise but not interfering with our core development. ODA is in a unique position to support this type of collaborative development.

upFront.eZine: Before you took over from Arnold van der Wiede as president, you were the chief technical officer. Who replaced you as CTO?

Peterson: My CTO duties have been split between two development managers, Sergey Vishnevetsky and Vadim Kosarev.  Both have been with our team for many years, so it was a smooth transition.

 

upFront.eZine: Tell me about some of your future plans.

Peterson: Cloud technology is a primary focus this year. We released a beta version of Teigha Cloud in December, which supports the development of browser-based client-server rendering applications. In the coming months we will be phasing in some editing functionality to supplement the core rendering support.

Another key area is 3D PDF. We started work on PRC-based 3D PDF export last fall, and expect to have a production version of Teigha PRC ready in the second half of this year.  This will be a general-purpose PRC library, and not just an export.

We are also looking at additional projects that might be suitable for Special Interest Group initiatives.

Bigger picture, I see ODA as the focal point in a growing ecosystem of high-quality Teigha-based products. While our members compete with each other outside of our platform, by supporting ODA they are supporting open access to CAD data, open APIs to encourage third-party development, and collaboration within the Teigha core.

These goals are in the best interest of the end-user community, as well as the majority of companies who build CAD software. We will continue to work closely with our members to support these goals.

http://www.opendesign.com

 

And One More Thing...

Fidesys is developing CAE Fidesysm as a next-gen CAE-system for engineering strength analysis that uses a spectral elements method for addressing complex tasks that require a high accuracy in dimensional discretization. Fidesys developed the core code itself, which offers functions like automatic hexahedral and tetrahedral meshing.

The software runs on Linux and Windows computers, as well as on network clusters and BricsCAD. The cloud version at http://www.sim4design.com is priced at $10 for two compute hours (until March 31) . Download a 30-day trial version from http://www.cae-fidesys.com/en/download/login

 

Even More News

WorldCAD Access is blogging nearly every day about the CAD industry and tips on using hardware. (The feed is available on RSS and through email alerts.) The following articles appeared during the last week:

• Why VR is the next 3D
• Hardware review: Logitech K480 triple-Bluetooth keyboard
• Beta test the new 2D mechanical nanoCAD
• What Trimble Thinks About CAD Software
• Loyalty by Owen Wengerd

On Twitter, @upfrontezine offers CAD news, late-breaking updates, and wry commentary throughout the day.

To donate to this newsletter's operation through PayPal, click http://www.upfrontezine.com and then choose the Donate $25 (personal) or Donate $500 (corporate) button. A big thank you to the reader who donated last week:

• Chris Hannukainen

 

Notable Quotable

"When asked to pinpoint when everything went wrong, they [the ex-CEOs] fell into two main groups: those who argued that it happened right after they left, and those who say the damage was already done when they arrived."

- Joshua Brunstein, Business Week
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-02-02/inside-radioshack-s-slow-motion-collapse

 

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* 8232

PTC's PLM Cloud

upFront.eZine issue #846 

 

 

by Ralph Grabowski

Tom Shoemaker -- PTC vp of PLM marketing -- and Chris Bergquist -- director of PLM solutions -- talked to upfront.eZine about the Web-based PLM newly offered by PTC. (PLM is short for "product lifecycle management.")

"PTC PLM Cloud is new-news, but also old-news. PTC had the first PLM-on-demand software some 12-13 years ago, called Windchill on Demand. But it plateaued at about 100 customers, and so we divested it in 2008 [to NetIdeas, PTC's preferred hosting solution provider]. But in 2013 we bought [Netideas], revitalized Windchill on Demand, and today it's the basis for PTC PLM Cloud," said Mr Shoemaker.

PLM Cloud is based on PTC's PLM software WindChill, which now has 1.5 million seats. "We have fully embraced a SaaS [software as a service] model," said Mr Bergquist. "One price includes all of the hardware, software, storage, set up, all the upgrades."

"We are unique with our Active User Licenses," he continued. Customers identify the number of regular users, such as 5, and then pay for that every month. But should the need be cyclical, new users can be added and removed at will. So, pricing is based on actual use.

There are three packages: standard, premium, and enterprise. You need at least the premium level for any customization. "These are not stripped-down packages. Customers start with the basics -- like document management -- and then can move on to change management and so on," said Mr Bergquist. PLM Cloud contains most of PDM Link [product data management] and ProjectLink for online collaboration.

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Article now continues...

 

Q&A

Ralph Grabowski: How does PLM Cloud differ from other Web-based PLMs, like Autodesk's PLM 360?

Chris Bergquist: It is similar in many respects, but one of the key differences is that we support multiple CAD systems, with integrations into Creo, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and Inventor at no extra cost. In addition, the "Unite" technology in Creo works with models from different CAD systems. I want to emphasize that there is no additional cost for multi-CAD integration.

Tom Shoemaker: It is different, because it is Windchill, the first one architected for the Internet and hosted environment. Autodesk for a long time eschewed the PLM business and didn't want to be in it. We have 1.5 million users of Windchill. Also, our pay-per-use model is unique, whereas PLM 360 is pay-for-every-party. Autodesk's PLM 360 deploys the vault locally, so it must be on-premise, and pay for the install and management of Vault.

 

Grabowski: Is this a split between WindChill and PLM Cloud?

Bergquist: PTC is offering PLM Cloud as a Windchill-based platform. But this is a starting point that is not limited to PLM.

 

Grabowski: Does you mean that we can expect to see Creo on the cloud?

Bergquist: We can expect to see desktop applications delivered through the cloud in the future but we are not announcing anything today. While Creo already supports virtualized CAD deployments, PTC does not currently offer a package of Creo and PLM where both are delivered through the cloud.

 

Grabowski: I see that PLM Cloud is integrated with Creo, AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and Inventor. What about MCAD software from other competitors, like Siemens PLM and Dassault?

Shoemaker: There are challenges with Dassault, in particular; it's a challenge for us from a license [payment] perspective [given the low cost of PLM Cloud]. We can support NX, but it is not bundled for now because the demand for it [as a high-end MCAD package] is low at the mid-market at which PLM Cloud is targeted.

 

Grabowski: What is the price of PLM Cloud?

Shoemaker: Customers are billed monthly, with no setup fee. Everything included, including 25GB to 50GB of storage per user. We can't provide detailed cost information, but it is similar to the pricing of cloud-based PLM from other vendors. [For reference, Autodesk 360 Cloud is $75 to $150/user/month in two step, while PTC has three steps. --Editor.]

Bergquist: Through the three packages we are offering pricing to address every kind of customer, from small ones with basic needs to enterprise-level customers. Also, we have three different classes of users: author (complete access), contributor (participate in workflows and edit Office docs), and view-print (view and print-only).

 

Grabowski: Does this cloud product cut out resellers?

Bergquist: We believe PLM is not yet ready to be consumed on its own. Resellers have the expertise to enable customers to get the full value from PLM and to effectively tailor the software to the specific needs of customers. To cover this, resellers get a healthy margin.

 

Grabowski: Would existing PLM shops want cloud-based PLM?

Bergquist: There is no question. Existing customers have an interest in this. As the software environment gets more complex -- with ERP [engineering resource planning], CRM [customer relationship management], document management, collaboration, email -- more customers want experts to handle these services, leaving the problems to the experts.

While we are not promoting existing customers to switch from on-premise to the cloud, it is possible. We do not enable existing PLM customers to swap perpetual PLM seats for PLM Cloud SaaS. Existing customers can, however, request that our PTC Cloud Services host their PLM systems using their perpetual licenses. Hosted PLM is not the same as SaaS, because software and software updates are not included; everything is fee-based in this case.

 

Grabowski: Is PLM Cloud implemented by customers or by PTC staff?

Bergquist: We have our own PLM experts managing the deployments.

 

Grabowski: Does PLM Cloud displace PLM from competitors, or is it meant or PTC customers?

Bergquist: Multi-CAD customers are an opportunity for displacement. But the strongest play is within existing Creo customers with no PLM.

 

Grabowski: What about security on the cloud?

Bergquist: We recognize that customers are skittish about the security in the cloud. This is not PTC-hosted infrastructure; we are taking advantage of Amazon and SunGard for the highest levels of availability and reliability.

http://www.ptc.com/product-lifecycle-management/plm-cloud

 

And One More Thing...

TracePartsOnline.net lets users locate the geographical position of manufacturers through Google Map. This designers track down parts vendors closest to the manufacturing site. Also new: a faster search engine and a 3D viewer that works in Web browsers without a plug-in. The free site has 50 million parts and 9.2 million users. http://www.TracePartsOnline.net 

Even More News

WorldCAD Access is blogging nearly every day about the CAD industry and tips on using hardware. (The feed is available on RSS and through email alerts.) The following articles appeared during the last week:

• foto of the sunday: ice storm
• Newest ebook on BricsCAD V15 now selling
• What Dassault plans for its future
• What Dassault plans for the cloud
• What that other kernel, C3D, is doing

On Twitter, @upfrontezine offers CAD news, late-breaking updates, and wry commentary throughout the day.

To donate to this newsletter's operation through PayPal, click http://www.upfrontezine.com and then choose the Donate $25 (personal) or Donate $500 (corporate) button. A big thank you to readers who donated last week:

 

 

Letters to the Editor

Re: How PTC Connects IoT with CAD

On the topic of PTC and ThingWorx, I hate to sound dumb, but what purpose does an IoT-CAD connector serve? How does it help to improve the way a designer works? Thanks in advance for enlightening me.
      - Jonathan Scott
       Razorleaf Corporation

The editor replies: Internet of Things doesn't improve things, but provides one more element designers can work with, just like having a parts library or adding electrical pathways to a mechanical design. IoT is big in certain fields of computing right now, basically adding smart sensors to expensive stuff. PTC is excited that they are the only CAD vendor to provide IoT design to its customers.

Mr Scott responds: I am trying to imagine seeing real-time measurements (from a single machine in the field) overlaid in a CAD interface:

• How does it help to see the temperature or pressure on the CAD model?
• Or maybe it is an aggregate of in-the-field data that would be shown in the CAD tool.
• Perhaps the FEA workbench would show the average loading on a face, as it has been reported from sensors in the field. Is that the sort of thing we might be talking about?

The editor replies: These are good questions. I have asked PTC, and they have promised to reply.

 

I could see how such telemetry could help some of the guys in my department to remotely be alerted when an installation has an issue -- maybe before it ruins a bunch of belt or bearings.
       - P. R.

 

Interesting that you're talking PTC on the starting day of Solidworks World. Are you at the show?
       - D. J.

The editor replies: It is coincidence. I didn't know Solidworks World was on this week.

Mr D replies: Well, about 5,500 people here in Phoenix [AZ, USA]. I think it ranks as one of the top mech eng shows in the world, although the French are in my opinion destroying it. (Most of the founders/early employees at Solidworks World are now gone. I think only seven of the original folks are at Solidworks Corp now.) I've gone for 16 years now; possibly time to back off. I think folks may consider Onshape in the future. Gve it a few years to mature.

- - -

I wish you were doing a 2015 Quick Reference Guide. I'm completely lost without your book.
    - M. A.

The editor replies: Book publishers are turning off their CAD titles as sales slow down. Even 'AutoCAD for Dummies' never got a 2015 edition. 


After many years of subscribing and reading your excellent information about the CAD industry I must unsubscribe due to my lack of using any CAD products any longer, and no longer doing much software development with civil products in support of AutoCAD. I think I have been a subscriber since the beginning when I was one of the first developers in AutoCAD with my Civilsoft products. I still maintain a few of the Civilsoft products, but they are not linked in any way with AutoCAD any longer.

You have done a marvelous job in sharing the knowledge you have developed over the years with others in the CAD and MCAD markets. Keep up the good work.
      - Tracy Lenocker, PE
        Lenocker Consulting Group

 

You have been an inspiration thru the years. I sold CAD all over the world as caddirect.com very successfully, until Autodesk made me stop. I then became a successful real estate developer. I am now moving back to south Portugal to the sun, and I intend to get into the energy bar business.

I wish you the best. If ever in Portugal please email me. It would be a pleasure to host you. Thanks for the memories
       - M. R.

 

Notable Quotable

"Postmodern theories from the 90s about disembodiment and self-representation have found a new lease on life, thanks to Oculus and Google Cardboard."
      - Mark Pesce in 'The last PC replacement cycle is about to start turning'
        http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/11/12/the_last_pc_replacement_cycle_is_about_to_start_turning

 

 

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* 8232

How PTC Connects IoT with CAD

upFront.eZine issue #845

 

 Rob Black is senior director of Product Management of ThingWorx at PTC, and he told upFront.eZine about the Internet of Things software newly offered by PTC.

In a PTC case study explaining IoT, mining equipment manufacturer Joy Global collects and analyzes data in real-time from a thousand P&H (above ground) and Joy (below ground) machines at 15 mine sites. ThingWorx reads the 1,000 real-time data points at sub-second intervals, such as monitoring vibrations, and so anticipates equipment failure.

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upFront.eZine: Tell us about ThingWorx, and what it does.

PTC: It is an IoT [Internet of things] platform that connects to devices. It reads data from devices, manipulates the data in a large number of ways, and can also send data back to the device.

As a development platform, it represents data in ways that make sense. For instance what is the temperature, pressure being measured? The data from the device can be integrated into external systems. Conversely, we can bring ERP [enterprise resource planning] data into ThingWorx, mash-up the data, push info to the device, and even open a remote session to the device. For example, if the device has an actuator such as a control on a door, we can send the actuator a command to open the door.

We were acquired by PTC more than a year ago, and then acquired Axeda five months ago.

 

upFront.eZine: How is Axeda different from ThingWorx?

PTC: Axeda also connects to all kinds of devices, sends and gets data -- like ThingWorx. But Axeda emphasizes out-of-box applications, where as ThingWorx is more of a development platform. So Axeda comes with a lot of canned data and apps.

Our announcement is about our new ThingWorx-Axeda Integrator that links the two. This allows users to write mashups very quickly. For example, Axeda might display actual temperature numbers, but ThinkWorx would graph it.

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Article now continues...

upFront.eZine: Where is IoT being used today?

PTC: Lots of our customers are manufacturers. Many manufacturers send equipment to customers but then never hear about it again. If they have a service contract, they might want to know if the customer is using the equipment within the bounds of the warranty, or if consumables are getting low. There is an alarm capability that alerts a call center, which calls the service people. If consumables are low, the manufacturer can offer to replenish the supply.

The ability to download commands and code means that the equipment could be diagnosed and repaired remotely. This reduces the number of "truck rolls."

 

upFront.eZine: What does an IoT device look like?

PTC: They are a set of sensors that are monitoring things that are important. They are in many devices, such as part of an ATM, MRI, spectrometer, and so on -- usually high-value devices. Customers paid a lot for them, and want to make sure they are operating properly.

 

upFront.eZine: How does it connect back home?

PTC: We connect via an agent (which works on many operating systems) that connects back to an on-premise server or our cloud server. An embedded agent is a code package that the customer customizes to work with embedded devices. We offer [communication] protocols -- for wireless and wired connections -- and a codec to translate from a protocol running on a device to a protocol that ThingWorx can understand and interpret. Our solutions have been so successful because we provide so many options.

 

upFront.eZine: From the CAD point of view, is IoT just one more component that's added to a design?

PTC: We want to make it easy for CAD users to employ PTC tools to implement IoT. We are looking at making this easier. As for being "just one more thing," it is one more very valuable thing.

 

upFront.eZine: How far is ThingWorx integrated into Creo?

PTC: We have not announced anything, but we are looking to deliver such an integration in the near future. An integrated Creo / ThingWorx solution will deliver tremendous benefit to PTC customers.

http://www.ptc.com/thingworx

 

What Ralph Grabowski Thinks

The folks at the IoT division are pretty excited about selling IoT, because it's what they believe in. The ceo of PTC, James Heppelmann, is pretty excited for a different reason. ThingWorx is PTC's first subscription-only software, because that's how it was sold before it was acquired by PTC. Like Autodesk, PTC is keen on converting customers to subscription revenue sources.

There is a second reason for the ceo to be happy: PTC is the only CAD vendor who can offer IoT software to MCAD designers. Now, getting IoT software from your MCAD supplier is not crucial, but it could be helpful if it were well integrated. Plus, PTC hopes to sell Creo and Windchill to existing ThinkWorx customers. As the ceo put it, "Everybody wants to talk about it [IoT], and we have a very strong position -- without the kind of entrenched competitors that we have when we go try to mount a CAD or PLM campaign."

For MCAD users, however, IoT becomes just one more option in their toolbox of modeling elements, along with parts, sustainability, CAM, FEA, and so on.

 

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Popular formats include 3ds Max, Maya, C4D, LW, ProE, SolidWorks, Inventor, SketchUp, DWF/DWG, DGN, CATIA, IGES/STEP/Parasolid, 3D PDF/U3D, JT, FBX, Collada & more. We know data translation, and provide immaculate developer-to-customer relations.
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And One More Thing...

MecSoft releases Rhino3DPRINT ($999) for 3D printing. It is a plug-in for Rhinoceros 5.0, and it's job is to preparing 3D data that otherwise cannot be 3D printed. It handles inspection, some editing, repairs, and reads almost any input source and major 3D format. Download the demo from http://mecsoft.com/rhino3dprint/

Even More News

WorldCAD Access is blogging nearly every day about the CAD industry and tips on using hardware. (The feed is available on RSS and through email alerts.) The following articles appeared during the last week:

• foto of the sunday: Barcelona Hostel
• I'd go for a free lunch from Autodesk
• Linux Grows as Free CAD Platform
• 3dconnexion's new mouse: corded and 2D
• Live blogging the release 11 of Aras Innovator press event

On Twitter, @upfrontezine offers CAD news, late-breaking updates, and wry commentary throughout the day.

 

To donate to this newsletter's operation through PayPal, click http://www.upfrontezine.com and then choose the Donate $25 (personal) or Donate $500 (corporate) button. A big thank you to readers who donated last week:

• Roger Charbonneau
• [your name here]

 

Newest eBooks from upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.

I've been updating for BricsCAD V15, the latest release of 3D and 2D software from BricsCAD, and here is my progress report:

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• how to make 3D models and 2D drawings with BricsCAD
• dozens of useful tips
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• to order, see instructions below

Now available: BricsCAD V15 for AutoCAD Users (free)

• illustrates how the two programs are similar and different
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• 294 full-color pages
• updated for BricsCAD V15
• download the PDF from the www.bricsys.com Web site at no charge

Available soon: Customizing BricsCAD V15 ($40)

To order Inside BricsCAD V15, go to www.upfrontezine.com/lb8 and then click on the V15 button. You will be directed to PayPal for the $20 payment. Allow 24 hours for the delivery of the ebook, which is in PDF format and sized for printing on 8.5x11" paper.

At the same Web site, you can buy earlier editions of this ebook from me for the same prices. I have editions available that go all the way back to BricsCAD V8. When you order, please specify which edition you want: V8, V9, V10, V11, V12, V13, or V14.

Thx!

 

Letters to the Editor

Re: Dell Refreshes its M3800 Engineering "Ultrabook"

Hey interesting timing once again -- I just looked at workstations, including Dell's mobile ones, last week. Seems the department I scarfed my Alienware Aurora from now wants it back, after over a year later. (It was gathering dust in a closet, and they signed off on the requisition!) Anyway, I'm tired of fighting over it so we're caving in and I'll get a new workstation from my departmental budget.

I looked at Boxx and checked Dell (we have exclusively Dell products at our company), and I think I've settled on one of the Dell workstations. I was contemplating a mobile one, but I couldn't get the specs to where I want them. I'm still fighting the company on the ban on more than one computer per person. (I use my testing laptop for many additional things -- meetings, testing program builds, answering questions by diving into the software, etc.) Sure is nice to not have to stop developing when I have these interruptions. 
      - R.P

The editor replies: Desktop are becoming increasingly interesting again as manufacturers strive to make their new machines ever thinner by dropping functions. I was disgusted to find that my new (as of last September) $1300 Lenovo Yoga laptop has its memory soldered in, so I am stuck with 4GB. (The hard drive is replaceable, and I so stuck in a 512GB SSD, as is the battery -- a good thing, as it has no reset button, and twice now I've had to reboot it by pluling the battery, which requires undoing a dozen screws first.) At least with desktops we are guaranteed the ability to exchange components for better ones.

 

Re: Readers Respond, Can We Trust DWGs Displayed by AutoCAD 360?

I've been looking to update the Wikipedia article about .dwg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.dwg) and went to look at Autodesks' latest changes to their Web site. I found this page http://www.autodesk.com/products/dwg where Autodesk claims, among other things that DWG is Autodesk's trademark and that DWG refers to two different but related things:

• A file format (.dwg)
• A technology environment (DWG) in many Autodesk CAD software products

 I can't find the ruling, the link in your article from last year (Issue #836) is just to a Dropbox account which could easily disappear.

      - D.L.

 The editor replies: First off, recognize that there is a difference between Trade Mark (TM) and Registered Trademark (R). Anyone can claim a trademark, like I do with "upFront.eZine" and Autodesk does with DWG.

To get the more powerful Registered Trademark, you have to get the government to recognize that your trademark is unique to your industry. While Autodesk got Brazil to recognize DWG as (R), it failed after many attempts in the USA. Competitors like Bricsys use the ".dwg" to avoid a potential future law suit, should Autodesk ever prevail in USA. This is because ".dwg" is the name of a file extension, and so cannot be registered, which is why Autodesk is failing to register DWG with the USPTO, who insists it is a file extension, and not a name.

 As for the file in Dropbox, the problem is that public versions of judicial decisions are often behind paywalls. So, either someone has to pay for it, or else one of the parties in the suit makes the PDFs public. Someone posted the files on Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/pzchen72

 Mr L. responds: "Thanks for helping me out with this. So a TM is more of a position ones takes rather than a legal reality? But a registered TM is recognized by a national authority? So ignoring Autodesk's position on this may not be illegal but it's picking a fight with a heavyweight. Is that right?"

 The editor replies: TM lets people know that your product name should not be treated as a regular word, but it carries little legal weight. R adds legal weight in each country, allowing the owner to sue those who misuse it.

 You can only register a trademark if (1) you are the first to use it; (2) you are the only one using it in your industry; (3) it is not considered a generic term. Autodesk lost on all three points: they were not the first to use DWG, they are not the only ones using it in CAD, and because it is a file extension, it is considered a generic term.

 Mr L responds: So ignoring Autodesk's position on this may not be illegal but it's picking a fight with a heavyweight. Is that right?

 The editor replies: A firm using DWG (all caps) will be sued by Autodesk. When this happened in the past, all companies sued by Autodesk folded, either with the threat of a law suit, or during it. While Autodesk doesn't own DWG (in USA), it has millions of $$$ at its disposal to pay lawyers.

 For this reason, competitors are careful now. For example, Solidworks changed the name of its AutoCAD-compatible software from DWGEditor to DraftSight. Others use ".dwg" instead of DWG when talking about the format. At this point it is a stand-off: Autodesk can't get DWG registered (in USA), while competitors quake at the thought of being sued for using DWG.

  

Spin Doctor of the Moment

"As always, the consumer Rift is in progress and we're making great progress." 
       - Nate Mitchell, product vp, Oculus VR
      http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/07/oculus-vr-ces-2015/

 

Dell Refreshes its M3800 Engineering "Ultrabook"

 upFront.eZine Issue #844

 

 

Dell doesn't have a new line of mobile workstations this year; instead, it is upgrading some features. A "mobile workstation" is a laptop that's powerful enough to handle CAD, digital video editing, and other power- and disk-hungry programs. Dell has four mobile workstations for engineers:

Model		 M2800	   M3800 	M4800	     M6800

Screen size    15.6"	15.6"	         15.6"	         17.3"
Start price	  $1,000	$1,700	$1,230	$1,580
Top price*	  $2,010	$3,630	$4,800	$8,380

(*) The top price depends on the options you select; I choose nearly all of the most expensive options.

 

Karl Paetzel, Dell director of marketing for workstations, and Mano Gialusis, Dell product marketing manager of mobile workstations, wanted to talk to me about the M3800, the thinnest and lightest 15" engineering laptop on the market.

 "It's too powerful to be called an ultrabook," said Mr Paetzel. Intel defines the size and function of laptops that can be called "Ultrabooks," which are light, slim, use low-power 15W CPUs (to lengthen battery life) with integrated graphics (graphics processing is included in the CPU).

 And technically, the M3800 is not an ultrabook, even though it is the correct size and weight. Where it misses out is that it employs a full-power CPU (37W i7 Core) and discrete graphics, specifically Nvidia's Quadro K1100M GPU. "Competitors have Ultrabook workstations, but our's is still the thinnest and lightest 15-inch mobile workstation," he said.

 (The situation is like the laptop I bought last summer, which sported a sticker proclaiming, "Inspired by Ultrabook." It too fails the strict definition, because of its more powerful i5 CPU.)

  

Article continues following this advertisement...

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Article now continues...

New for 2015

For 2015, there is no change to the size, weight, or starting price of the M3800, explained Mr Gialusis. Changes involve a few upgraded functions and some new options.

One upgrade is the Thunderbolt 2 port for access external drives and so on. It replaces the miniDisplayPort (DP) on last year's model, but can still work as a miniDPort port. Thunderbolt is known as Lightning on Apple's computer, and both use miniDP as the connector, which is about the size of a miniUSB port.

Another upgrade is ethernet dongle, from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 for gigabit network speeds.

A larger SSD (solid state drive) is available, going from the old maximum of 512GB to 1TB. Note that this computer has two slots for drives, allowing a total 2TB internal storage. It can mix and match SSDs and hard drives.

For developers, especially those using Linux, the Bluetooth spec is upgraded.

Finally, there is a new display available as an option. The Ultra 4Kx2K screen has a very bright display for daylight usage, and sports Gorilla glass (for toughness) and 10-finger touch.

Q&A

upFront.eZine: Being thinner and lighter means a smaller battery. Do engineering users want that trade-off on the worksite?

Dell: Two batteries are available. One is the standard 61WHr [watt-hour] model that we rate at 6 hours; the other is a 91WHr model rated for 8-9 hours of computer use. The bigger battery does not stick out of the case, because it intrudes into the 2.5" bay [which then cannot be used for the second hard drive].

upFront.eZine: Is LTE [high speed data via cell towers] an option in your mobile workstations?

Dell: It is available internally with the other three workstations, but not on this M3800. On this one, it is available through a USB dongle.

upFront.eZine: What are you seeing customers use Thunderbolt for?

Dell: Data transfer with media and entertainment customers. When recording movies at 4K resolution, an awful lot of data is generated and needs to be copied from the camera to the workstation in a reasonable time.

- - -

Mr Gialusis concluded by reeling off some of the improved stats for this upgraded M3800:

• 26% faster rendering
• 3-4 degrees cooler on top
• Zero frames dropped, as opposed to 37 interruptions (one or more frame drops) in playback on Apple MacBook Pros.

For greater power and storage, there are Dell's bigger workstations: M4800 handles 5TB of storage, while the M6800 can take 7TB.

http://www.dell.com/workstations

 

And One More Thing...

Opencartis announces Spatial Manager for BricsCAD, a plug-in that imports and manages geospatial (mapping) data inexpensively ($99 and up). Spatial data is imported from files and servers as BricsCAD DWG entities, with data tables stored as extended entity data.

The plugin transforms geometries between coordinate reference systems. Functions are grouped in a palette. It is also available for AutoCAD. http://www.spatialmanager.com/spm-forbricscad

 

Even More News

WorldCAD Access is blogging nearly every day about the CAD industry and tips on using hardware. (The feed is available on RSS and through email alerts.) The following articles appeared during the last week:

• Live blogging the Raspberry Pi 2 launch
• foto of the sunday: German Technical Museum
• Geometric Modeling by Nikolay Golovanov (book review by Ralph Grabowski)

On Twitter, @upfrontezine offers CAD news, late-breaking updates, and wry commentary throughout the day.

To donate to this newsletter's operation through PayPal, click http://www.upfrontezine.com and then choose the Donate $25 (personal) or Donate $500 (corporate) button. A big thank you to these readers who donated last week:

• [your name here]

Letters to the Editor

Readers Respond: Can We Trust DWGs Displayed by AutoCAD 360?

Funny thing: Before reading your eZine, I wrote a comment on the Inventor forum about drawing interchangability [translation]. Maybe that's a similar issue, in principle, as A360 &tc? Here's what I wrote:

"I remember when I was on DOS 3.1, how I kept banging the drum of file interchangability. It was a matter of common sense, not a wishlist item. Everybody and their brother kept saying, "Yes, yes, wait till next release of the software." So we spent the money and, well, here we are almost 30 years later (yes, THIRTY YEARS), and I'm still waiting. After a few decades worth of 'trends, I began to realize it was all marketing "lies" to keep us on the hook paying for everybody else's software R&D, so I quit hoping for the impossible.

      - Chris Cadman

 

Fantastic article, Ralph! It brought back memories of endless hours spent verifying platform translations between different CAD systems in the 1980s and 90s. Variable-width plines, custom linetypes, nested block inserts, xrefs, and then all the weird entity types other systems created that didn't come back through the vendor porthole, as we called it.

I've sometimes wondered if it were ever possible to quantify the hours and related costs of that one aspect of proprietary translation -- what it cost our businesses and government during those years. Then again, in my case, it was defense department spending: a black hole filled up from an invisible pipeline. 
- David Stein 

The editor replies: It is remarkable how the cloud is making interoperability worse.

 

Ralph Grabowski asks in upFront.eZine #843: 'I am not sure what file corruption of drawings by clones has to do with display corruption by Autodesk software, which is used by engineers working outside of the office, who rely on what they are seeing to resolve problems with contractors on the job site.'

Yes, I agree that any viewer software should display the file contents reliably and I hope Autodesk will fix this soon in AutoCAD360 - at least for 2D DWGs. But there is a difference in the trust -- 'trusting in what is currently displayed on my mobile device' (when I can double-check the real contents in desktop AutoCAD) and in 'trusting that the original contents is not corrupted forever' (when you open/save a DWG in a clone CAD).

Any not-fully-recognized 2D object in AutoCAD360 can be still edited properly and it will be properly represented inside the cloud-based DWG. Any DWG edited in a clone is quite probably corrupted for any future use. We have lots of customers complaining then about double "0" layers, draworder not working, failures on plotting, missing objects and other strange problems caused by non-genuine DWGs.

It is like a web page: you know that it may look (or behave) slightly different on your tablet but I doubt you will like the risk of corrupting the page for any future visitors.
       - Vladimir Michl, CAD Studio
          http://budweiser.cadstudio.cz/2015/01/autocad-360-and-budweiserdwg-benchmark.html

The editor replies: I don't think it is like a Web page at all. Engineers in the field do not have the luxury of comparing the look of hundreds of drawings displayed by AutoCAD on their desktop computers with those displayed by 360-based software on their phones, just because Autodesk's cloud suffers from display corruption.

 

You wrote, 'a key statistic I was relying on did not mean what I first thought it meant.' Okay, in strictest confidence, what statistic? "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics" is usually attributed to Mark Twain.
- Bill Fane

The editor replies: One page of Autodesk's Web reports 170+ million users of their consumer software; another reported 25 million. I asked Autodesk pr about the disparity, they pointed out the 25 million represented the number to which they could push ads.

Mr Fane responds: As more and more manufacturing gets moved offshore, it becomes apparent that the western economy's prime industry is advertising.

The editor replies: Oh, I dunno. Yahoo announced it is laying off a bunch of advertising staff, because much of it is now automated -- like those ads that follow you around after you view an item on Amazon or Staples without buying.

 

Thank you for caring. Based on what I see in the news, most journalists would've just gone ahead and published.
- Jess Davis

You'll probably hear this from others, but I've now received three copies of this week's issue.
- Bill Glennie

The editor replies: My ISP screwed up the settings to my connection, and as I result I had to resend the newsletter to some readers. I am hoping this affects fewer than 500 readers. Thank you for the heads-up.

 

Spin Doctor of the Moment

"Power button available on select devices, and may not be on the device shown."
       -- Footnote accompanying all computers in a Dell flyer