Pow! SolidWorks Takes on AutoCAD Upgrade Woes

DWG Gateway is a new product from SolidWorks for ... (wait for it) ... AutoCAD users.

Whereas AutoCAD is restricted in the releases of DWG file it saves in, DWG Gateway extends that to R14, R2000, R2000i, R2002, R2004, and R2005 -- forwards and backwards. Soon to be added: PDF.

Although DWG Gateway's Web site doesn't have the uniform corporate look required of companies owned by Dassault Systemes, the copyright and some contact info is for SolidWorks Corporation. Other contact info, however, is for [email protected] site casually mentions two other free products from SolidWorks: eDrawings (for distributing SolidWorks and AutoCAD drawings over the Internet) and XchangeWorks (a 3D data translation plug-in for AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop).

I wonder if DWG Gateway is an offshoot from SolidWorks' DWG Editor, their IntelliCAD-based AutoCAD drawing editor. The point to the software? "You do not have to upgrade your AutoCAD license to the new version to be compatible with your DWG files."

So SolidWorks and Bentley Systems are both working to woo AutoCAD users facing Autodesk's upgrade-or-pay-the-penalty crisis.

Comments

[anon]

>> I wonder if DWG Gateway is an offshoot
>> from SolidWorks' DWG Editor, their
>> IntelliCAD-based AutoCAD drawing editor.

It doesn't seem to be. DWG Editor is a full blown 2D drafting application; DWG Gateway appears to be an ARX plugin which simply open/saves various versions of DXF/DWG files.

[John Burrill]

This looks like a weapon for a turf battle. I've used DWGGateway-well tested it on a couple of AutoCAD 2005 drawings-and from a preliminary standpoint, it seems to strong-arm the dwg, so you won't get the same thing opening a drawing through DWGGateway that you would if you saved it to AutoCAD 2000 format from 2005, and I wouldn't count on any of that data round-tripping.
However, what has my curiosity peaked is that you can save an AutoCAD drawing in R11, R10, 2.6 and farther back. It makes a pretty bold statement of Solidworks mastery of the DWG format. Now if only I could get Solidworks 2005 to import dimensions into a sketch along with the other geometry, I'd be really impressed with their DWG accumin.
It's a nice tool-the price is right. But I think AutoCAD's come a long way since 2000i, and even in shops that use competing titles, this isn't going to supplant the benefits of upgrading. Nothing, for example, gets you around the fact that AutoCAD 2000i doesn't work well on Windows XP. And it's never going to compete with AutoCAD's own price incentives for upgrading to Inventor Series.
As for DWGEditor? Again, it's nice because the price is right, but to long-time AutoCAD users, that interface is going to look like it was written in Soviet Russia.
The shop I work in just got Solidworks a couple of months ago, so for the most part, our operations are still pretty AutoCAD centric. It's not just the software that Solidworks has to contend with, it's a pretty resilient AutoCAD userbase that know the look and feel of the software. A lot of people don't want to change their shoes while they're running.
My final note: if DWGGateway is an attempt to mess with Autodesks chi (and that's pure conjecture), it's strickly overhead as far as Solidworks is concerned. When Autodesk updates the DWG file format again, Solidworks may or may not update DWGGateway.
I'm done. Stick a fork in me.
John Burrill

[Kurt Lining]

Thanks for such information. I've been both a SolidWorks, AutoCad and Pro/e user for many years and have recently purchased my own SolidWorks R5, so hopefully I'll be able to make use of this unique information.

I'll pull the fork out...we need men like you around for these dark software days upon us!

Kurt Lining

[Jim]

What are the System Requirements for DWg Editor?