Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 12:47:52 -0800
To: pcmag@zd.com
From: Scott Taylor
Subject: First Look of CAD SYstems 12/2/97
Cc: gail_shaffer@zd.com

To The Editor:

In reading your "First Look" of under $500 CAD products, I was amazed at
the total lack of consistency between reviews of the different products.
This is most apparent in the programmability comparisons. I have programmed
many different CAD systems over the last twenty years. I have written
programs for all of the reviewed systems. All of the reviewed systems, of
course, except AutoCAD LT. The review glossed quickly over the fact that
AutoCAD LT has no programming capability, not even AutoLISP. Since none of
the reviewed programs can run AutoLISP programs, it was strange that only
in the case of Vdraft was this mentioned in a negative way.

The review failed to mention that Imagineer and TurboCAD have extremely
poor support for any language other than Visual Basic. Visual C++
programming is extremely difficult with either of these systems. Vdraft, on
the other hand, is extremely easy to program in Visual C++, Delphi or
Visual Basic.

I have written file conversion or utility programs for all major CAD
systems. Out of all these systems, by far the easiest to program has been
Vdraft. It's OLE Automation model is the most advanced and most complete of
any competing system, including AutoCAD R14. Where all of the other systems
put the burden on the programmer, Vdraft makes OLE Automation programming
very easy.

>From a programmer's standpoint, there should be no question that Vdraft is
the best CAD system at any price, and especially for under $500.

Scott Taylor
Tailor Made Software