CADDIT is an established CAD CAM software consulting company based in Sydney, Australia with connections to a broad range of engineering solutions and businesses. Articles are focused on inside tips for engineering design professionals.
Sydney, Australia – In partnership with progeSOFT CADDIT announced today announced the worldwide release of progeCAD Professional 8.0.22. This important upgrade offers several minor performance, reliability and DWG-compatibility enhancements. Over five months in development and testing has been invested in the release of 8.0.22. This upgrade is free to all progeCAD Professional 2008 stand-alone, network, USB and corporate customers.
progeCAD is used loyally by many professional architects, designers, mechanical and civil engineers, surveyors, builders and landscape artists around the world. progeCAD Professional offers important design features like robust AutoCAD DWG™ / DXF™ / DWF™ 2008 editing, Polar Tracking, eSnap (like oSnap™), PDF import / export, ACIS 3D solid design, raster to vector conversion and advanced hatching using a similar interface to AutoCAD - all at a small fraction of AutoCAD’s cost. Now progeCAD 2008 8.0.22 fixes several issues including:
A known problem was fixed involving "create as new layout" with certain AutoCAD DWG files and "copy layout" commands, possibly causing the loss of existing layouts.
Fixed progeCAD ETRACK behavior for entering the distance from command line
Resolved issues around the progeCAD Express Tools "Copy M" in 2D regions
"Copy quick" issue with "paste as a block" has been fixed.
A bug regarding UNDO when used with REFEDIT has been addressed
Print files extension is now ".plt"
Solved a crash related to double-click with multiple entities selected
Many other small improvements in performance and reliability...
A full version of this update in functionality can be downloaded from http://www.caddit.net/auto-cad/AutoCAD.php . There is also a smaller patch executable that will update a currently existing installation using the built-in progeCAD Professional update function. progeCAD Standard and progeCAD Smart upgrades will be released at a later date.
CADDIT Pty Ltd, an Australian owned company, locally supports progeCAD and many other CAD CAM CAE products. Their head office is located in the Liverpool Fairfax Building in western Sydney. They can be contacted via their website at http://www.caddit.net/ . The full version of this article can be found here.
progeSOFT Como, Italy has been specializing in CAD for the last 20 years and is an executive member of the IntelliCAD® Technology Consortium. They can be contacted via their website at http://www.progesoft.com/ .
Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:28:00 +0000 - Sydney, Australia - Efforts are underway at progeSOFT to release the most reliable low cost alternative to AutoCAD ever. progeCAD 8.0.22-24 will be released free to all current progeCAD 2008 customers very soon. The 22-24 release will offer noticeable performance enhancements over the current version. The 2009 full release should be available by the turn of the year.
Like last year, CADDIT will continue to offer free progeCAD 2009 upgrades to each purchase of progeCAD Professional 2008 after October 1 2008 until the release of progeCAD 2009.
This free upgrade promotion offers AutoCAD and progeCAD users the best of both worlds. While having an immediate license now, users also receive another license for progeCAD 2009 upon release. Users will be permitted the keep their 2008 licenses which they can use on a second PC as they wish.
Corporate license and upgrade users will benefit the most from this special offer. A progeCAD Corporate license grants use on an unlimited number of PCs to a company in one or several locations. Upgrade users currently own legal licenses for any qualifying commercial product, including progeCAD 2007 Pro, TurboCAD Pro, AutoCAD LT, Microstation, Vectorworks, ArchiCAD, DataCAD, PunchCAD and Actrix. All corporate and upgrade buyers after October 1, 2008 will get free 2009 progeCAD upgrades.
progeCAD designers take part in a community of 100,000 users worldwide enjoying unparalleled CAD value. progeCAD offers full low cost DWG 2D and 3D compatibility, AutoLISP interpreter, AutoCAD style commands and interface, OLE and raster object embedding and quality support. CADDIT bundles forum & TSL1 support with all licenses, with additional professional support options available. progeCAD can be downloaded and tested 30 days for free here.
CADDIT is a professional CAD and CAM software consulting company based in Sydney Australia. The full version of this article can be found here.
Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:12:00 +0000 - October 29, 2008 Athens, Greece - Today the IntelliCAD Technology Consortium (ITC) announced the release of IntelliCAD 7 to its members in Athens, Greece. The IntelliCAD 7 code base has been rewritten from the ground up to include objectARX-DRX compatibility, faster graphics and better maintenance. Apparently the goal is to start having end-user releases shipped to the public by June or July 2009.
The rewrite of the original IntelliCAD code base has been long in coming. Stability and speed issues have plagued some of the vendor releases. Additional support for ODADRX will also mean more vertical applications for architecture, electrical, HVAC, land survey and engineering. An additional tool for porting legacy SDS applications to DRX was announced by the ODA just prior to the ITC conference.
For a while now the new IntelliCAD 7 code base will still need to run through an end-user testing cycle before it can be considered by many to be robust for commercial use.
Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:05:00 +0000 - "Should my business be using 3D CAD software?" Maybe the better question is "how exactly would using 3D CAD get my job done better?" Let's explore four myths about using CAD today.
Myth: everyone uses CAD already 42% of builders surveyed in 2006 still don't use any CAD program at all according to one survey. Should they be using CAD? Probably, and many are changing over. But statistics like this sometimes help us see through the "don't get left behind" marketing hype and be more realistic about our requirements.
Myth: CAD software is too hard for me to learn That's only true if you choose the wrong CAD software for your needs. 3D CAD software might be exactly what you need, or exactly what you don't need. A successful CAD migration involves three steps: 1) identify your business requirements 2) identify CAD systems meeting those requirements 3) identify which vendors offer the support you need for the system you choose. When possible, try to buy a CAD system from a vendor that offers direct support for the system you choose. They should also be able to help you identify your requirements before you buy. Your vendor choice alone can make a big difference in the success of your CAD system. To help new CAD users, CADDIT has published a free CAD e-book.
Myth: 3D is always better If you are working for a customer who wants a 2D drawing, give them a 2D drawing. According to a recent marketing report by the Aberdeen Group, there are several reasons people use 2D CAD in the first place, including demand for increased quality/reliability, shortened product development schedules, accelerating product commoditization and marketspace competition. The main reason that seems to prevent 2D CAD users from migrating to 3D CAD is "The current process using 2D works, no need to make a change (40% of surveyed)".
progeCAD is an example of robust 2D/limited 3D CAD that is helping thousands of businesses meet their mainly-2D design needs successfully. Many surveyors, builders, electricians and engineers have no real need for 3D CAD at this time.
Myth: Everyone is going to use 3D CAD soon "Most CAD users still work in 2D, while 3D design is rapidly moving to the forefront.." - Business Wire, Nov 14, 1995 article "AccelGraphics announces first entry-level workstation-class 3D graphics accelerator; new board delivers high-performance 3D graphics for price-sensitive MCAD users". More that 10 years later, CAD software marketing is still warning the world about an impending obsolescence of 2D CAD. The reality is that designers have far more freedom of choice than ever before in finding a design package that fits their needs and budget.
The key is knowing the right CAD for the right job at the right price. A certain flexibility to adapt one's self to learning several systems is therefore practical, but we don't need to learn them all. Technology is just a tool that we create to help us get a job done. It should never become a religion that ironically blinds us from seeing a better way of getting that job done. CADDIT has already helped hundreds of companies find the right CAD software. What has surprised many of our customers is that the best system for them is often not the most expensive or complex system we support.
CADDIT is a professional CAD and CAM software consulting company based in Sydney Australia. The full version of this article can be found here.
Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:05:00 +0000 - The news is that for only 2.4 billion dollars you can buy Pro E - not just the software but the whole company. They have hired Goldman Sachs to help find a big company with the cash. Why would the Needham, MA USA based PLM company be looking for a buyer after all these years? Less than two years ago, PTC acquired a $230 million credit facility from a bank syndicate for buying other companies themselves. As with many things, timing could be a factor. The news conveniently broke just as PTC is set to announce their largest sales figure ever, one billion dollars for the year making it the largest selling MCAD still based in the USA. PTC also was also awarded the large EADSPLM contract in July. Good news now could mean a good selling price - especially in the face of a looming decline in MCAD sales for the industry in general. And who knows? Maybe PTC CEO C. Richard Harrison really does want to collect the total 15.5million now promised him since July should the company sell.
The proposed sale of PTC follows a wave of major corporate consolidation in the CAD CAM software industry. Autodesk recently bought Moldflow. German company Siemens bought UGS who bought EDS who then owned the Unigraphics brand. Cimatron merged with GibbsCAM. And the list goes on.
Who, if anyone, buys the company could greatly influence the future direction of the Pro Engineer product line, Linux support, etc. There are many reasons for this. SolidWorks and Solid Edge are examples of software with feature limits to prevent those products from directly competing with their owners' flagship products (CATIA and Unigraphics). Some platforms, like SDRC I-DEAS (now "merged" as part of Unigraphics NX) are slowly disappearing completely.
As useful as CAD standards are, they always change. And over time, even the most naive of design engineers understand that their "CAD standard" of today is only standard for as long as the corporate "powers that be" say it is.
CADDIT CAD CAM Australia is pleased to announce a special promotion for engineers looking for affordable 3D industrial engineering software. Buy VariCAD for Windows or Linux right now until September 30, and receive two years of free upgrades. What makes this offer especially exciting are some major product enhancements planned for the product during the free two year upgrade period which include advances in 3D parametric design and simulation. To further encourage Australia and New Zealand engineers to buy before October, CADDIT is offering special online pricing. The total savings of this special offer total to over 50% the normal price.
VariCAD is affordable 3D industrial design CAD software for practical engineers. It offers robust 3D mechanical design tools and associative 2D ANSI, ISO or DIN drafting layouts. VariCAD includes several applications for sheet metal, fit-out and profile construction, interference checking in assemblies and extensive libraries of standard parts which can be included in any design. Sharing designs with external systems is made easy through extensive ISO STEP, IGES, Autodesk DWG and DXF support. For those new to VariCAD, it can be downloaded and used free for 30 days, but this free upgrade offer will still end on September 30 2008. There are also videos, tutorials and other resources on the CADDIT website.
VariCAD has been meeting the needs of mechanical and design engineers for over a decade. This latest special offer includes two years of completely free product upgrades and technical support. There will probably never be a more affordable offer to buy this product. More information about VariCAD is available from CADDIT CAD CAM Australia.
Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:08:00 +0000 - Once resorted to only by smaller businesses needing basic DWG CAD compatibility and AutoCAD commands for 2D technical drawing, progeCAD is now making gentle inroads to larger companies. "Great! This (progeCAD) delivers just the right level of features for a fractional price of what one copy of (AutoCAD) LT costs us..." wrote one office in Australia. "I sorted all our guys with progeCAD without capital expenditure" laughed another.
A downturn in the economy and the rising cost of new licenses for corporate brands like AutoCAD and Microstation have some department heads scrambling to find affordable CAD software that still gets support. Still, the new trend of larger companies toward progeCAD surprises some. It was only a few years ago that the program still suffered issues to edit large files (in excess of three megabytes) and snap to points within nested AutoCAD blocks. As progeSOFT continues to improve their flagship product, end users are enjoying the benefits of what many now consider to be their CAD of choice for money.
Schools benefit the most. They get theirs free. When CADDIT first announced the progeSOFT educational program in Australia, it was quiet. Then slowly interest started calling - TAFE, universities, public and private high schools. Now CADDIT.net receives new educational requests on pretty much a weekly basis.
CADDIT is an international partner of progeSOFT, Italy, specializing in the English or German language product sales and support. Users and companies from any country can download free or register progeCAD and choice of support plans directly online. For full corporate progeCAD site license requirements, the best options is to contact CADDIT directly. Current progeCAD 2008 Professional users can expect at least one, if not two more free minor support upgrades this year. These minor upgrades are mostly patches to enhance and sometimes fix existing functions. progeCAD 2009 is still many months away.
Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:35:00 +0000 - Are you an engineer, draftsman, architect, landscape artist, surveyor, sheet metal wood or plastics designer that does all drawings using a t-square and triangle? Are you thinking about using CAD but worried about the cost involved? CADDIT is happy to release a new, complete free eBook entitled "CADDIT Guide: From Board Drafting and Hand Sketch Designs to CAD" to answer these questions and more. Even if you are a CAD designer with several years experience, the reference information given in this free publication is well worth having. This free eBook is available now from http://www.caddit.net/auto-cad/AutoCAD.php and discussion is held on the CADDIT forum at http://www.caddit.net/forum/ .
Dolphin PartMaster is low cost CNC machinists software for milling, lathe turning and wire EDM which is supported and sold by CADDIT. This web page includes a number of video CAD CAM tutorials from the manufacturer.
Industry CNC machinists, educators and universities alike will now benefit from a completely new manufacturer CNC information website from PartMaster for training. The site includes new videos demonstrating CAD, CAM CNC milling tutorials, lathe, wire EDM and 3D CAM. Full personal online training will also be offered shortly.
The new videos include numerous practical examples of using PartMaster Level 1 2 and 3 software to create Text Engraving, Face Milling , Thread milling, Contouring and more. PartMaster has a variety of applications for tooling, CNC water jet, flame and laser cutting, wood and furniture manufacturing and electronics.
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:01:00 +0000 - The cross-platform Windows-Linux CAD for 3D mechanical design has released 2008 version 3.0. VariCAD is ideal for machine, jig, fixture and small project design.
New Features Include: - Implementation of Unicode. The new version supports using fonts from anotherlanguages (e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Russian etc.) and special characters. - Improved DWG/DXF file compatibility - More convenient system settings - Improvements in BOM - and more
Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:20:00 +0000 - T-FLEX CAD CAM is a PLM software solution for industry, machinists, marine and vehicle system product design. T-FLEX offers integrated free-form-parametric modelling, FEA, kinematics simulation and CNC manufacturing for mult-iaxis milling, lathe, wire EDM, flame and laser cutting, punching, drilling and more. It also features a full set of sheet metal tools and an large 2D and 3D standard parts library of nuts and bolts, etc. Users can create their own custom part templates and feature definition windows to increase engineering efficiency even more. Functionality of the T-FLEX CAD system rivals far more expensive platforms like Pro Engineer, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks, and Solid Edge.
This impressive suite of integrated CAD CAM solutions is available to schools and universities even lower cost than its already-affordable commercial price. This program allows schools, TAFE and universities to bring innovative parametric 2D drafting and 3D modeling technology directly into their classrooms. Applicants should send CADDIT a message HERE with description of their engineering, engineering technology, or design program and an overview of how they will use T-FLEX CAD in their curriculum. We will reply with further details.
CADDIT is also very pleased to remind individual student users of our FREE 3D CAD STUDENT VERSION. Of course, it is illegal to use T-FLEX CAD Student Edition or Educational license for commercial purposes. When you download and install T-FLEX CAD Student Edition you have 30 days to register the product, for free! After that there is no time limit on its usage. Technical support on the product is not provided. Students wanting T-FLEX student version may download CAD software HERE.
Limitations of the T-FLEX CAD student version (important):
File format is incompatible with the commercial release. Files saved in T-FLEX CAD Student Edition cannot be opened in commercial T-FLEX CAD with the exception of special Academic license provided only to the certified academic institutions. Academic license allows opening documents from T-FLEX CAD Student Edition but cannot convert them to the format of commercial T-FLEX CAD.
Printing capabilities are limited. Most of customizations options are not available, printing page size is limited to A4 format, special text is printed on the border.
Limited export/import functions. Export is limited to bitmap formats; import of Parasolid format is not available.
BOM is not supported.
Document protection control functionality is not accessible.
Integration with T-FLEX DOCs software is not supported.
Finite Elements Analysis results are limited.
Parasolid models insertion is disabled.
External add-on applications based on T-FLEX Open API are not supported.
"Technical Support" command is not available.
Fragments "detailing" feature is disabled.
Animation screen play command is switched off.
More information about how T-FLEX CAD CAM can work for business, schools or students is available on our CAD software website.
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:59:00 +0000 - Although not really CAD software programs, it is worth mentioning that there are several FREE graphic software programs which will allow you to edit photos and diagrams without the purchase of Microsoft Visio or Adobe Photoshop.
There are basically two types of 2D images: raster and vector. Raster images are "bitmap" pictures like JPEG and PNG without math definitions. Vector graphics are more mathematical depictions of geometry and formulas such as lines, arcs and conic splines. Some applications actually combine both of these two data sets in their native file format. My favorite application for raster image editing is free. It is GIMP. Gimp is a large suite of free raster image editing tools (similar to Photoshop) which can edit, convert and enhance most popular raster image formats. Its functions include smooth image scaling and mode conversion, as well as path editing, selection tools, macros and the list just goes on and on. There are many books about GIMP. It runs on Linux and MAC OS X, as well.
Another handy tool to download for free image editing like Photoshop is Paint.NET. It downloads smaller than GIMP and doesn't depend on GTK but uses Microsoft .NET 2.0, so it only runs in Windows. It doesn't support near as many formats and tools as GIMP. Lighter weight and easy to use, however, some still prefer Paint.NET over GIMP so it's worth mentioning here.
A useful tool for free vector graphics and diagraming similar to Visio is Inkscape. Some confuse Visio and Inkscape to be CAD programs. It's an easy mistake to make. What they really are is vector graphics tools, mainly for diagram creation. But Inkscape can also edit combined raster and vector files such as Acrobat PDF (let's see Visio do that). It favors open standards like SVG but can also read DXF. If you don't have Inkscape yet and are reading this Blog, you should go download it. Simple as that.
Another new project similar to Adobe Illustrator is Creative Docs .NET. At this time, the project lacks data exchange with other software, but it is still worth having in a pinch and it's free.
progeCAD and similar products continue to win user confidence as low cost substitutes for overpriced CAD. And American corporation "Autodesk" is getting mad. Passive resistance to DWG clone technologies has developed into all out war, both in the court room and in the board room.
The Open Design Alliance (ODA) is a nonprofit consortium of CAD companies cooperating in a rare way to clone one of the few major reasons people still pay Autodesk prices - the binary DWGAutoCAD file format. The ODA posts regular updates of their robust DWG and DGN libraries on a website for member use in their own software - software like progeCAD.
When Autodesk itself was invited to join the ODA, the company declined. Gradually Autodesk began a long series of legal attacks on the ODA. On November 13 2006 they officially filed suit for their "Trusted DWG technology" which superficially warns users about opening DWG files that didn't come from their own AUD$6000 CAD system. They are also litigating for ownership of the letters DWG as a trademark belonging to Autodesk. The problem is that the USA trademark office doesn't recognise file extensions as "trademarkable". DWG is really just another file extension like ".doc" or ".txt".
Meanwhile, Autodesk finally realeased their own "RealDWG" toolkit to compete with the ODA, the caveat being that any applicant must meet with Autodesk's approval as a developer that will not compete with any of the Autodesk high-priced product line. It was quite an effective move to begin cherry-picking "realDWG" converts from important ODA contributors, undermining it. ODA gets its funding from its members.
Autodesk has quickly made their next move in this apperantly two-prong gambit to weaken the ODA. Following at the heals of the completed million-dollar Autodeskassimilation of Moldflow, Autodesk has announced a new "cooperation" with their next unlikely target, Bentley Systems(Microstation). At one time, Bentley was a serious AEC market competitor. Then, in February 2008, a key Bentley developer changed sides to Autodesk. Strangley, Bentley Systems has now been approved for use of the Autodesk "RealDWG" toolkit. A press release was posted celebrating this "Advance in AEC Software Interoperability". Now think, would you let your worst enemy watch your house while you were away? The truth is that Autodesk is as unconcerned in promoting real file interoperability as they have ever been. The endgame in this gambit really stood later in Bentley's own reaction, stating that their ODA was "now irrelevant". There is further speculation that Bentley Systems is next in line for Autodesk assimilation.
progeCAD is a product that reads, writes, edits and converts AutodeskDWG format files in a CAD interface very similar to AutoCAD 2002. Some consider it a clone. Recently this product has become very stable and robust so that even large companies are saving thousands by replacing expensive AutoCAD installations with progeCAD.
It is obvious that Autodesk is now at a de facto state of all out war against such products. Should they win, businesses will have no choice but to pay big AutoCAD prices. My gut tells me that Autodesk is scheming something parallel to their 2010 release to finish the ODA for good. Is the world's best hope is that the EU will take the same anti-trust motions against Autodesk as they have against Microsoft? Maybe the ODA needs to move to Europe?
Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:56:00 +0000 - On June 25 2008Autodesk, Inc.(Nasdaq: ADSK) completed its acquisition of Moldflow Corporation, partly made possible by means of "Autodesk's existing revolving credit facility with Citibank N.A." What the press release didn't mention was the removal of several directors from the Moldflow board. Not Autodesk's. Of course not. And now I am guessing that "merger" is the psychologically-correct way of saying "takeover"... a way that doesn't make end users want to run away quite so fast. Like the "merger" of Cimmatron and GibbsCAM, right?
Autodesk mentions a "Safe Harbour" statement as part of their press release concerning "the impact of the acquisition on Autodesk's earnings per share, business performance and product offerings; Autodesk's commitments to Moldflow customers; and the impact of the combined product capabilities." One always wonders if and how the working class end user will benefit. On one positive side, it could result in some free version release similar to Maya. No doubt Inventor will enjoy enhanced integration, but will other platform users (i.e. SolidWorks) continue to enjoy the same benefit?
Today VariCAD announced the release of VariCAD 2008 2.0. Here is what is new in this release:
- It is available in both 32 and 64-bit versions - 2D drawing editor works also in 3D space, which is especially important for editing solid profiles and creation of new solids using profile rotation, extrusion, etc. - 2D drawing in 3D works also with access to 3D solids - Improvements in 2D drawing - Improvements in working with colors and color settings - Improvements in 3D display and objects selection - And more
Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:10:00 +0000 - T-FLEX hybrid freeform parametric 3D product and assembly design software offers maximum flexibility with an easy-to-use interface. This is our first in an upcoming series of T-FLEX CAD CAM Introductory design videos on YouTube. 8 minutes. More information about T-FLEX CAD CAM is available from CADDIT.
Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:12:00 +0000 - It is possible after installing T-FLEX CAD CAM to experience the error when starting T-FLEX that the application has "terminated unexpectedly". One reason this could occur is if the computer is missing the Microsoft .NET 2.0 runtime.
The .NET framework is not a T-FLEX specific program. It is an optional (and commonly used) part of the Microsoft Windows operating system. The CADDIT T-FLEX CAD installer doesn't actually install this runtime automatically because most users probably already have it installed. But they must install it if they don't already have it.
Here is one trick to get it. The .NET 2.0 installer is actually included in the CADDIT T-FLEX installer's download package. Look for the "NetfxSetup" folder inside the temporary directory into which the CADDIT installer unpacks itself and then runs. Run "dotnetfx20.exe" for 32-bit XP or "NetFx64.exe" for 64 bit machines.
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:10:00 +0000 - TransMagic Inc has announced the public release of TransMagic R7 SP2 CAD viewer and conversion software for CATIA, Pro Engineer, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks, Unigraphics and other systems. New features and enhancements include:
New CAD Version Support • JT Read/Write Add-on (Visualization and B-Rep)
Updated CAD Version Support • CATIA V5 R18 • ACIS R18 • SolidWorks 2008 • Inventor 2009
New Usability Features • Multi-Thread Technology • PMI Official Release • Inventor 2009 Certification • High Resolution Image Capabilities • Extended CATIA V5 Write Options • Extended SolidWorks Read Options • Optional Long File Name Trimming • Split Window Views • Batch Translator Enhancements
Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:25:00 +0000 - Many readers are unaware that CADDIT also participates in various splinter OSD projects. One of those is PythonD, a complete port of the python scripting language to the 32-bit DJGPP development platform for DOS. Another of these projects was a (yet another) failed attempt to port a functional X11 GUI framework to the same environment. A pasted IRC chat from the defunct #djgpp channel tells the story:
[bdeck2] The original plan ages ago was to port tkinter [bdeck2] that meant whiping away the coderot from the DJGPP X11 port [bdeck2] The mouse IO no longer worked because things moved on to GRX2 [bdeck2] The DJGPP X11 port was still based on GRX1 IO using the old DJGPP V1 IO queue [bdeck2] The guy doing Kaffe-PC updated the mouse driver for GRX2 [bdeck2] it took me ages to find his shim [bdeck2] The Port includes a version of the FVWM windowing manager [RadSurfer] Ok. [bdeck2] I was able to finally compile tk-wish [bdeck2] wish.exe running in DOS [bdeck2] without requiring some third-party app like desqviewx or something [bdeck2] but I ran into another snag [bdeck2] I realized that I would have to write custom DJGPP-FVWM wrappers around the window applets. [bdeck2] I realized that I would have to completely re-write the tcl-terminal from scratch to use a graphical-pseudo-terminal that co-dispayed inside the GRX session with the applet [bdeck2] or invent a hotkey that toggled between the two with some degree of stability [bdeck2] I realized my X11 port was hardly a port at all [bdeck2] but new software [bdeck2] that nobody, including me, could use [bdeck2] so that's the story [bdeck2] k [RadSurfer] If others picked up and worked with it...I wonder... [bdeck2] I brought it up once on the newsgroup [bdeck2] nobody had any real time to make a further go of it. [Blairguy] so did the fvwm port somewhat work? [bdeck2] yeah [Blairguy] could it actually display the graphics on DOS? [bdeck2] worked good [bdeck2] I have a hello world demo somewhere... [RadSurfer] could have interesting applications. [bdeck2] yeah... if someone wants to play... this would be a fun toy I suppose [RadSurfer] be really cool if it got itself worked directly into a DOS-OS kernel [hint] [bdeck2] I'm not sure what you propose... [Blairguy] dare I ask how big the exe was? [bdeck2] uhh... about 400K or so I think ... somehow [Blairguy] wow [Blairguy] that's pretty tiny [RadSurfer] A graphic "dos" (ie. 32-bit console) environment. Cool. [Blairguy] well, if you want that then you can use SEAL2 or OzoneGUI [Blairguy] or GEM for that matter [bdeck2] uh RadSurfer... [RadSurfer] I'm not as advanced as you two... [bdeck2] there is no console support [Blairguy] GEM is a 16-bit DOS GUI that has lots of progs written for it [bdeck2] that was the problem I was trying to describe [Blairguy] but it's single-tasking [RadSurfer] it need only display a terminal (ie. console) box. [RadSurfer] single-thread. [RadSurfer] hmmm... [bdeck2] Someone has to write it [bdeck2] ergo my tkwish port [RadSurfer] anyways, I wonder if windows got its start like this? [Blairguy] why not just XTerm? [RadSurfer] windows 3.11, lol [bdeck2] I looked at xterm sources [Blairguy] or rxvt? [Blairguy] and? [bdeck2] couldn't find any simple enough to port just using fvwm and djgpp functionality. They were all multitasking socket oriented terminals. [Blairguy] oic [bdeck2] for real-unix [Blairguy] hmm [bdeck2] see in unix [Blairguy] a port of GNOME would be cool :-) [bdeck2] the terminal provides a text environment for a shell [Blairguy] but that's simply the point where it would stop being DOS and start being UNIX [bdeck2] the shell is called in a fork and signalled remotely using ... drum roll... the X11 UNIX socket layer! [Blairguy] so what about WATT-32 for the socket layer? [bdeck2] yeeessh [bdeck2] missing the point here [bdeck2] my DJGPP-X11 is *NOT* a client-server app [bdeck2] there is NO SOCKET to connect to [Blairguy] oh :-) [bdeck2] it is, for arguments sake, a DOS windowing environemnt that very much looks like the old days of sunOS 1.x [bdeck2] but under the hood, it is *anything* but X11 [bdeck2] the headers are the same [bdeck2] there is a libX11, libfvwm, etc [Blairguy] so have you done any other exotic ports? [bdeck2] but the true client-server multitasking window-manager you think of with X11 simply isn't there. [Blairguy] ic [bdeck2] sort of defeats the purpose [bdeck2] Now [bdeck2] on the other hand [bdeck2] itt could prove useful... if tweaked a bit.. for something like the X11 ghostscript driver [bdeck2] which I fooled with once, go as far as having a white screen up, but that is as far as that went [Blairguy] cool [Blairguy] that'd be great [bdeck2] not cool [bdeck2] it wasted time [Blairguy] oh [Blairguy] well, if it worked it'd be great [bdeck2] hey ANYTHING is possible if you are prepared to sacrifice time for it [bdeck2] of all the pythond users [bdeck2] only one casually requested tkinter [bdeck2] I killed the project and archived my X11 stuff, scared someone might ask me to support it [RadSurfer] might prove useful someday. [bdeck2] real pythond *users* just want basic python shell scripting and socket functionality in DOS [RadSurfer] you certainly learned alot working on it. [RadSurfer] I rather like IDLE myself. [bdeck2] a few play with the OpenGl stuff I went as far as releasing [RadSurfer] it makes recalling previous lines easier. [bdeck2] but I never get new demos, contributions to the code, or even comments [RadSurfer] pythonwin, if you want win32 extensions and debugging. [RadSurfer] actually... if the lines were number of something, you;d think we could recall previous lines or somehow [bdeck2] those gooey environments are good for learning anyway [RadSurfer] thats my only pet peeve with dos [bdeck2] PythonD is just a basic python port that works(for the most part) in DOS [RadSurfer] installing a tsr scroll-back buffer with copy/paste, is handy :) [bdeck2] please no more TSRs [bdeck2] my users already need LFN [RadSurfer] whether or not thats compatible with pythond, I have not tested. [bdeck2] Packet [bdeck2] maybe something else [bdeck2] mouse? [bdeck2] video [RadSurfer] video? [bdeck2] and their own CDrom stuff [RadSurfer] plot-graphics... like scipy ? [bdeck2] they might have some specioal DOS video driver [bdeck2] I was just thinking about TSRs [RadSurfer] python with its own scroll-back buffer and recall would be nice. [bdeck2] someone once suggested a /dev/random TSR available for DOS to improve the security in my GPG port [bdeck2] I refuse to make these packages deppendent on more TSRs than absolutely neccessary [RadSurfer] of course. [bdeck2] TSR-hell was worse than DLL-hell [RadSurfer] but if it were built-in... since the djgpp port is already kinda unique. [bdeck2] I guess that could be done. Want to do it? [RadSurfer] Oh! I got it! [RadSurfer] I love swig. I use Swig with Python 2.3, and 2.4 [RadSurfer] how about a DJGPP port of Swig !! [bdeck2] already did it [RadSurfer] where? [RadSurfer] gimme! GIMME! [bdeck2] I don't support it [bdeck2] I just use it [RadSurfer] ok. fine. GIMME! [RadSurfer] :-) [bdeck2] terms of GPL ARE: [bdeck2] must release source with binary release of any port [RadSurfer] THAT I would test and get back to you on. [bdeck2] just too much hassel [RadSurfer] I'll except the binary. [RadSurfer] Let me test it a litt.e [RadSurfer] s/litt.e/little [bdeck2] I already use it a lot [bdeck2] I know it works [RadSurfer] How..do..I..get..it. [Blairguy] [mcericicq] how about just using reactos or linux? [RadSurfer] which version of Swig is this based on ? [bdeck2] SWIG Version 1.3.21 [bdeck2] Copyright (c) 1995-1998 [bdeck2] University of Utah and the Regents of the University of California [bdeck2] Copyright (c) 1998-2003 [bdeck2] University of Chicago [bdeck2] Compiled with gpp.exe [i686-pc-msdosdjgpp] [RadSurfer] I'm using the latest version with python.org's 2.3, 2.4.2 [RadSurfer] sounds about right. [Blairguy] hey ben [RadSurfer] How big is the Binary? [bdeck2] grrrrr.... [bdeck2] www.swig.org [Blairguy] is pythond optimized for just 386? [bdeck2] oh [bdeck2] hmmmmm [bdeck2] yeah [bdeck2] think so [Blairguy] that's good [Blairguy] I have a 386 [RadSurfer] did you have to tweak it to work with PythonD ? swig source [bdeck2] I modified the stack space to 2Meg using stubedit [bdeck2] pythond [bdeck2] I mean [bdeck2] No not really [bdeck2] maybe incidentals but porting swig isn't rocket science [RadSurfer] if u say so. [bdeck2] just make sure the os stuff is right... directory and path deliminators [bdeck2] autoconf [bdeck2] configure [bdeck2] make [bdeck2] make install [bdeck2] ;-) [RadSurfer] ok. [Blairguy] any other interesting DJGPP ports? [bdeck2] Some black-porting-magic: I use the following configure command line if it helps: [RadSurfer] I may be getting busy around here, and not able to check in as often as I'd like. [bdeck2] ./configure msdos-i386 --with-static --disable-shared --program-suffix=.exe --prefix=/dev/env/DJDIR --without-pic --bindir=/dev/env/DJDIR/bin --datadir=/dev/env/DJDIR/ --includedir=/dev/env/DJDIR/include --mandir=/dev/env/DJDIR/man --infodir=/dev/env/DJDIR/info --sysconfdir=/dev/env/DJDIR/etc --enable-networking --with-history --with-spooldir=/dev/env/DJDIR/var --disable-libtool-lock --with-pid-dir=/dev/env/DJDIR/var --with-cxx=gpp --with-exec-sh [bdeck2] ell=bash.exe --disable-largefile --disable-gcc-pipe --enable-tcap-names --without-debug --with-fallbacks=ansi,ansi.sys,ansi80x30,dumb,wyse350,xterm,crt,gnome,vt200,cygwin,djgpp,djgpp204 --without-ada --program-suffix=.exe --without-x --enable-getcap --enable-termcap --enable-warnings --with-termpath=/dev/env/DJDIR/etc/termcap --with-md5-passwords --with-pid-dir=/dev/env/DJDIR/varq --disable-dev-random --disable-shared-handles --disable-dependenc [bdeck2] y-tracking --disable-libtool-lock --disable-nls --disable-dependency-tracking --disable-largfile [Blairguy] wow [Blairguy] command.com couldn't handle that ever :-) [RadSurfer] hehe [bdeck2] the djgpp guys weren't as enthused [RadSurfer] thats why god creates make files ;-) [bdeck2] some fealt that some of the arguments were unecessary [bdeck2] one longtimer said ./configure should be enough [Blairguy] I personally use: [bdeck2] the configure script should be ported if it didn't [bdeck2] like hell! [Blairguy] ./configure --prefix=/dev/env/DJDIR --disable-nls --disable-dependency-tracking [Blairguy] and sometimes with: [bdeck2] I will not port every darn configure script that assumes I should have a /var or dynamic gcc linking [Blairguy] --host=i386-pc-msdosdjgpp --target=i386-pc-msdosdjgpp --build=i386-pc-msdosdjgpp [bdeck2] yeah [Blairguy] btw, how did you port ncurses? [Blairguy] I had a lot of difficulty getting that to compile, and when it finally did, I got linking errors trying to link a prog with it [bdeck2] http://dickey.his.com/ncurses/ [Blairguy] the ./configure script never really worked for me [bdeck2] yeah [bdeck2] I had to tweak the makefile [bdeck2] that one takes a bit of patience [Blairguy] I'm not great with makefiles [Blairguy] or with configure scripts [bdeck2] but it's worth it [Blairguy] can you please send me a source tree? [bdeck2] I didn't keep it. [bdeck2] I just have 5.4 binaries
By the way, for those interested in antiquities, the results of this and related work are kept on sourceforge as part of the uDOS project.
Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:17:00 +0000 - We don't normally do this. But I had to laugh when I saw the newest content ad from ailing Chinese IntelliCAD vendor, ZWCAD. Maybe because they targeted a market outside Australia, they thought we wouldn't see it here in Sydney? Some background: CADDIT Asia-Pacific has been successfully raising awareness about a robust, low-cost AutoCAD Clone Software called progeCAD. One of the messages they have been doing this with for several months now is a paid image ad. This is our ad in question:
They say that imitation is the greatest flattery? Well, here is the new ad from Chinese competitor ZWCAD (RM stands for Malaysian Ringgit, btw):
We first saw this ad at http://www.neofame.com.my/store291007/index.php . It looks like movies, software and patents aren't the the only thing the Chinese like to pirate :). Judge for yourself.
Fri, 30 May 2008 14:38:00 +0000 - Since there is a lot of confusion about CAD files, I thought some of this would be helpful.
Almost every CAD program has their own binary CAD format. And most CAD formats have many versions! For example, AutoCAD 12 cannot read AutoCAD 14 DWG any more than Word 97 can read Office XP docs.See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CAD_file_formats
There are some "more or less generic formats" used for exchange. Here are some: DXF (many versions over the years) IGES (Current version 5.3 ?) STEP (*.stp - be careful of this one - several versions called "application protocols) STL (for polygon models) XYZ (just coordinate data for "point cloud") DWG (Autodesk proprietary made public by ODA see http://www.opendwg.com/) ACIS *.sat 3D Solid ModelsParasolid x_t 3D Solid Models HPGL - Hewlett Packard Plotting data files SVG - A new XML vector data format, could be used in CAD
It is possible to convert between CAD formats. Several things are required. Both formats must support the entities (CAD object types) that are being converted. A software program is also need that can provide the actual translation. CADDIT is a regional distributor for TransMagic CAD Translation Software, as well as providing CAD conversion services themselves.
Tue, 27 May 2008 04:42:00 +0000 - CADDIT Software is offering a free CD to those requesting one within Australia and New Zealand. The complimentary CD provides the same trial version of our most popular CAD products. The CDs are for those who have problems to download the applications for one reason or another. There are free trail CDs available for:
The issues around this ruling are complex and a final district ruling is not due until June. But it could serve as an important benchmark for similarly licensed software sold by other companies. Such decisions can ultimately challenge the legal position that software EULA take, restricting the customer's use of software they have paid for. That being said, many modern software programs like AutoCAD still require an activation from the vendor for each new installation. I offer one guess as to whether Autodesk would nicely re-activate a used serial of AutoCAD 2006 that someone buys "arguably legally", but second-hand.
