| CAD Systems |
Vdraft |
November 1997 |
|---|
Vdraft is an inexpensive CAD program for 32-bit Microsoft Windows from SoftSource of Bellingham, WA. AutoCAD users will be aware of SoftSource as one of Autodesk's first registered developers. Their popular line of AutoCAD utility programs included Block Librarian and Drawing Librarian (there has still never been as good an AutoCAD viewing program as the DOS version of Drawing Librarian Professional!).
SoftSource is also a web pioneer and developed the Simple Vector Format (SVF) for viewing AutoCAD drawing files over the web; that experience is also evident in Vdraft's Internet toolkit, included with Vdraft 1.5. Vdraft Internet Tools include plug-ins for DWG/DXF as well as SoftSource's own SVF, which allows the addition of hyperlinks to drawing files.
Very capable in its own right, Vdraft's primary appeal is its AutoCAD compatibility: it can read and write AutoCAD DWG and DXF files between version 2.5 and Release 12, without any translation whatsoever. (AutoCAD R13 and R14 users who want to work with their drawings in Vdraft must use the SAVEASR12 command to make Vdraft-compatible DWG files. Release 14 DWG will be supported in a future version.) And yes, Virginia, that means Vdraft also functions as a backwards drawing converter - you'll be able to supply that client in Marmot's Knee with those version 2.5 drawing files he needs!
Where DWG compatibility is concerned, Vdraft is unlike the other AutoCAD work-alike, FelixCAD, which we reviewed in the December 96/January 97 issue; FelixCAD requires a translation process for its DWG file compatibility. (Editor's Note: FelixCAD has just announced its second major release. We'll be reviewing it in an upcoming issue.) FelixCAD used to cost almost twice as much (see News in this issue) as Vdraft but does offer additional features; for example, FelixCAD has its own lisp interpreter that not only runs AutoLISP code; it's supported by its own variant of Common LISP/AutoLISP call FLISP. Vdraft will not run your lisp programs, but it does permit customization using Visual Basic, C/C++, Delphi and other languages supported by Windows, linking them to the core program through ActiveX.
Vdraft's hardware requirements are not overly demanding; in fact, it will run on the minimal system required by the 32-bit Windows operating systems it runs under; although SoftSource recommends 16Mb. It required just under 14Mb of disk space on my system, although SoftSource says you should have 20. Printing and plotting is through the operating system; you can output to any device supported as a Windows system printer.
Vdraft 1.5 comes on six high-density diskettes or (a much better option) a CD-ROM, and is accompanied by three manuals: a convenient, 180-page spiral bound User's Guide, as well as a 66-page guide for AutoCAD users, and a 60-page customization guide. There is also comprehensive online help, and the CD-ROM version includes a live Quick Tour.
First-time CAD drafters can use Vdraft through its pull-down menus and command buttons. AutoCAD users are also able to enter AutoCAD command names at the keyboard and Vdraft will understand the great majority of them. Function keys also work the same way in Vdraft as they do in AutoCAD Release 12 for Windows; you can also use AutoCAD command aliases or create your own in Vdraft. There is a special online help feature for AutoCAD users (as well as the "AutoCAD Users Guide to Vdraft" manual), including an AutoCAD command reference that lists equivalent Vdraft commands. Vdraft is generally much easier to use than AutoCAD. In fact, using a program like Vdraft really shows how complex AutoCAD is; in Vdraft, for example, there is one command for changing the properties of an object. AutoCAD has four!
One highly noteworthy difference between Vdraft and AutoCAD is that, unlike AutoCAD, Vdraft supports Microsoft's Multiple Document Interface (MDI) protocol, allowing you to open several drawings in a single session (see fig.1). According to the documentation, you can open over a hundred drawings at once; although this may not be practical for drafting purposes, it's pretty clear that Vdraft makes a great drawing view.
Vdraft takes its multiple document capabilities and adds to it in a set of project management features. The PROJECTS command lets you group all currently open drawing files into a single project. This feature lets you open all drawings in the project at once. When your work is finished and the project is closed, you can delete all the project files at once (after you've archived them, of course!).
All the familiar precision drafting tools are present in Vdraft, including grid, snap and object snap. The full panoply of AutoCAD coordinate entry methods is here too, with refinements. The context-sensitive cursor menu is a right click away; this contains a block of standard buttons, the lower rightmost of which presents an additional series of appropriate options (see fig.2).
Vdraft contains some wonderful drawings tools. It's designed as a complement to AutoCAD Release 12 for Windows (SoftSource believes that most AutoCAD users are still using Release 12, either for DOS or for Windows) and it really is a huge improvement over that program; it offers perfect compatibility combined with a much greater ease of use. Even Release 13 and 14 users will find drawing procedures to like here, although they won't be able to work with their files without saving them in R12 format.
Space constraints prevent me from going into detail on most of these features, but I'll briefly mention some that really stood out. Many drop-down lists in dialogue boxes contain an input history; for example, you can see a listing of all the coordinates you entered to draw a polyline and go back and revise them if you made a mistake. As you move your cursor across the drawing, "cursor tips" appear describing the objects and locating control points; you can suck these coordinate locations into the coordinates drop-down if you want to use them again. If you select an existing text string, then click the Text button, you can enter a new line of text below your selected text that inherits all the properties of that text. Or, you can select text in a Vdraft drawing file, then pick "Text to Clipboard" from the Edit menu. Open Notepad or your favourite word processor and the text is imported cleanly and quickly. Even Release 14 AutoCAD can't do this! Custom linetype creation Is easy too. Where AutoCAD makes you edit text file and enter strings like A,1.0,-.5,1.0,-.5,0,-.5, Vdraft lets you do it through a dialogue box; when you want a dash, pick the Dash button and give it a value. SoftSource rolled bits of their older programs into Vdraft too; Block Librarian gets a new lease on life with Vdraft's Block/Xref Manager (see fig. 3). This feature doesn't leave much out. It presents images of all blocks and xrefs referenced in the current drawing, provides block insertion control and includes a button that creates a drawing file from a defined block, just like AutoCAD's WBLOCK command.
Finally, those users who must deal with dual systems of measure will appreciate the ease of placing metric dimensions on an imperial drawing. Yes, you can do this in AutoCAD too, but Vdraft makes it a snap.
Vdraft is a "wide-open" CAD system; in other words, it's fully customizable by users. Any Windows-compatible programming language; e.g., Visual Basic, Visual C/C++ or Delphi, can be used to write programs that can be linked to Vdraft through ActiveX. Vdraft even includes source code to help you get started. One thing you don't have in Vdraft that you do in FelixCAD and, of course, in AutoCAD itself, is the ability to run your lisp routines. By design, Vdraft does not support lisp; according to Gary Rohrabaugh, president of SoftSource, "Visual Basic makes writing simple solutions inside all Windows programs easier and faster." Rohrabaugh goes on to point out that while fairly simple AutoLISP routines will run in a non-AutoCAD environment like IntelliCAD or FelixCAD, really complex programs will not. All the same, I wouldn't have minded the ability to run my simple lisp routines in Vdraft.
Vdraft is like one of those multi-purpose kitchen tools you see advertised on late night television. Not only is it an affordable, easy to use CAD program, it couldn't also answer your needs for a backward translation utility or a drawing viewing program (remembering, of course, that your drawings must be in Release 12 or earlier format).
Vdraft (short for Virtual Drafter) has to be one of the easiest ever software programs to evaluate. You can download a 30-day timed version from the special Vdraft website. I couldn't help thinking as I worked with this program that if Autodesk had been able to bring it out and call it "AutoCAD Release 13", they would have had a lot more friends! This is simply a great program that belongs on the hard disk of any AutoCAD user.
by David Byrnes