For years, Autodesk insisted that stand-alone software to view .dwg files -- the worldwide standard, by its reckoning -- was unwanted by its customers. "Why view drawings directly in .dwg when you can start AutoCAD, enter commands to export them, exit AutoCAD, start the DWF viewer, and then view them in .dwf, and have double the number of drawing files?" -- I am paraphrasing, of course.
More recently, it appears that customers collectively changed their minds, and now want to view .dwg files directly: "In response to customer's needs, Autodesk is empowering DWG users with new, free tools..." reads the press release for DWGTrueView.
The Open Design Alliance has had a free DWG viewer for some years now, a product put together by Informative Graphics. Indeed, it's the most-downloaded CAD program on Downloads.com. As Randall Newton notes in AECnews.com, "other companies responded to those customers first, and Autodesk is moving to protect their rear flank."
As for name politics... You've got OpenDWG from the ODA, and so Autodesk names its viewer DWGTrueview:
- "Open" implies Autodesk is closed.
- "True" implies ODA is false.
Previous generations of viewer software from Autodesk were named View (now there's a sensible name) and Volo (Latin for "fast", but English for "huh?")
Yeah, and it's a 100+ mb download (nothing more than a scaled down version of AutoCAD). Plus, if you want to view Inventor files, you better go get that viewer, because TrueView doesn't view Inventor. Oh and by the way, all those DWFs you've been creating for the last couple of years, don't worry, we still have a separate viewer for those. So let me get this straight, 3 file formats, 3 viewers. Drives me nuts.
Posted by: Steve O | Nov 01, 2005 at 05:42 AM
Actually, the "Open" in "OpenDWG" is a promise that *our* DWG format is open.
As to whether it implies that Autodesk's DWG format isn't open... that's a matter of perspective.
Their DWG file format is not documented, incorporates non-user accessible encrypted data, and the tools to access it are constrained by unconscionable license agreements that limit your fair-use rights. Do you consider that open?
The good thing, though, is that you can convert an AutoCAD DWG file to an OpenDWG file quite easily. Just use the free DWGgateway program from SolidWorks, or read it into IntelliCAD, and save it out. The resulting file will look almost identical to one created directly by AutoCAD, with one important exception: It will be in a fully documented format.
As an additional benefit, if you try and use that file sometime in the future, you're not going to be subject to the whims of a single vendor that has a proven history of dropping support for older versions of its file formats... as well as a proven history of introducing free file viewers, then withdrawing them.
(Oh -- and so far as free viewers go, be sure to check out Bentley View. It's one of a number of free viewers based on Open Design Alliance technology.)
Posted by: Evan Yares | Nov 04, 2005 at 01:50 AM