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Compatibility with
AutoCAD - File format
In order to make life
easy for those who have a need to store (and exchange) AutoCAD®
drawings, IntelliCAD has the ability to read AutoCAD DWG
files and translate them to it's own format - the native file
format in IntelliCAD 6 being AutoCAD DWG. Since IntelliCAD uses tools from the 'OpenDWG' foundation
IntelliCAD can now write (save) in AutoCAD® 2007 format.
IntelliCAD runs under the Vista operating system as well as
some earlier versions of Windows.
 As Autodesk release each new version
of AutoCAD, they change the format of the drawing file structure. Since
IntelliCAD uses the OpenDWG standard, it (IntelliCAD) will
sometimes lag slightly behind AutoCAD in opening the very latest
version of AutoCAD files. Experience has shown that the OpenDWG consortium is able to
provide IntelliCAD with tools to read/write to the latest AutoCAD
version files quite soon after the release of the new AutoCAD version.
Compatibility with
AutoCAD - commands
To make life very easy for AutoCAD users,
IntelliCAD contains an 'alias' file which works to ensure that if
you type an AutoCAD command, it (the command) gets converted into
the IntelliCAD equivalent. IntelliCAD mimics AutoCAD to a very
high level indeed. Most efficient CAD users type commands at the
keyboard with one hand and use the mouse in the other. In
IntelliCAD, if you type (say) the OFFSET command (or the O
shortcut) in the command area the instruction is executed in
exactly the same way as it is in the AutoCAD environment, even
down to the individual prompts within the command. This happens
even though the underling IntelliCAD command equivalent to OFFSET
is 'COPY PARALLEL'. The alias file seamlessly performs the
conversion from OFFSET to COPY PARALLEL. Thus IntelliCAD obtains
its compatibility with AutoCAD by using an alias file which
matches the native IntelliCAD command to the corresponding AutoCAD
equivalent.
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IntelliCAD alias system |
The IntelliCAD
& AutoCAD environment
Anyone coming from
an AutoCAD environment will feel right at home, you never issue
the IntelliCAD commands, just stay with the ones that you know,
there is nothing new to learn!
Incidentally, the command area is just like
AutoCAD's, Command: is still the prompt. This has important
implications where companies have to hire CAD drafters and bring
them up to speed quickly. If they know AutoCAD, they can begin
work immediately.
IntelliCAD
runs AutoLISP programs
As
mentioned previously, the
really significant thing about IntelliCAD is that the program
includes the AutoLISP programming language. Programs written in AutoLISP can turn
IntelliCAD into a very powerful product indeed. Indeed, AutoLISP programs written
for early versions of AutoCAD will run without any modification in
the IntelliCAD environment.
Note that AutoCAD LT
will not run AutoLISP programs - you have to purchase the
full AutoCAD.
Click
here for
discussion on a typical AutoLISP program. Note that Visual Basic
for Applications (VBA) and ADS routines will also work with IntelliCAD.
Comment
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This
ability to run AutoLISP, puts IntelliCAD in the league of
the 'full' AutoCAD.
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Since AutoCAD
creates files with the .DWG suffix and IntelliCAD can create and
read these
very same files, drawings created with IntelliCAD can be exchanged with AutoCAD users
(and vice versa) without the need for
conversion.
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Many CAD software competing with AutoCAD uses what
are called DXF file translators to move drawings from one CAD
software program to another. DXF file translation is notoriously
difficult. Since IntelliCAD reads .DWG files, moving data from
IntelliCAD to AutoCAD and back again, does not require this type
of data conversion.
Proof
that IntelliCAD can load AutoCAD drawings
The
figure below shows part of the IntelliCAD interface. I have
downloaded an AutoCAD .DWG file from the Australian building
supply company James Hardie's building products
Internet site and was able to load the drawing in IntelliCAD without any
conversion whatsoever.
As
can be seen from the figure above, IntelliCAD has drop down menus just like AutoCAD and
a set of toolbars containing commonly used drawing tools. The
toolbar icons are of course different to those in AutoCAD.
Attaching raster
images to drawings
It is often useful to attach raster
(bit mapped) images to CAD drawings. IntelliCAD can manage this
process with aplomb, accepting a wide variety of raster file
formats.
Wire mesh images
Some
types of 3D images can be produced by standard IntelliCAD. The figure below shows a
plan view of a wire mesh image describing a surface which
represents the rate (velocity) of air
passing through a perforated plate used in the pharmaceutical industry
for coating a slow release
formulation of an antibiotic. The coloured lines represent contours
of air speed and were generated by writing an AutoLISP
program (one of IntelliCAD's programming languages) which
interpolated the values from the 3 dimensional mesh describing the
values of air speed.
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We measured
velocity of air on the distal side of a dispersion plate. X, Y
values came from the position of the measuring device and the Z
value was taken as the velocity reading. An IntelliCAD drawing of
a surface mesh was created. Contours of air velocity through many holes in a
perforated base plate were automatically drawn after running an
AutoLISP program. The chemical engineers in charge of this process
had specified that holes be drilled in the plate which were meant to disperse air evenly
though the plate. The contours clearly show the uneven nature of
the passage of air. This is also shown in the figure below.
There should not be any bumps and lumps. |
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The figure
above shows an Isometric view of the wire mesh image describing the air
velocity. On the basis of this evidence, we re-designed the plate
to achieve a more even distribution of air.
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All this was completed using
IntelliCAD.
The IntelliCAD Consortium
The source code (master information) for IntelliCAD is
held by a not-for-profit organization (ITC). Many companies across the
world license the use of the IntelliCAD source code held by the
consortium and add their own special 'bits' to it. This may take the
form of additional toolbars or block libraries and explains the many
different 'flavours' of IntelliCAD which are available.
Examples of different brand names (and flavours) of
IntelliCAD are CMS (the one we sell), BRICSCAD, CADopia,
CADian, ProgeCAD, etc. The core material is the same in
all of these versions of IntelliCAD
There are two versions of IntelliCAD - Standard
(sometimes called SE)
and Professional sometimes called (PE). The main difference is in their rendering
capabilities.
The standard version supports the RENDER command and FULLRENDER commands,
but not the ability to apply materials to surfaces and enable the creation of light
sources. For more information on 3D visualization using IntelliCAD (and
AutoCAD), click
here.
Please note that we sell
only the 'Prod' version of IntelliCAD.
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