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CAD on the Web

Tony Zilles

If it’s connected, its good. So good we can base a new release around it! Or so it seems with Web-enabled programs rolling off the production line in the last few months.

But what does Web-enabled mean? Is anybody in CAD/CAM/CAE actually using the Web functionality in the latest software?

CAD and technical drawing software developers, not to mention every other kind of software developer, is madly Web-enabling their software. Web-enabling includes everything from providing links in software to Web-based help files, allowing users to embed URL links in their drawings, and outputting drawings to HTML to enable them to be served by a Web server program. Higher level facilities provide for special "Web-optimised" file formats, special plug-ins to views them and even Web-based document managers that enable group document sharing via the WWW.

The ways companies can use the Web to advantage are many and varied. A discussion on the possibilities could go on ad infinitum. A more fruitful tack is to explore what Web-specific features are included in some major software products, and take a look at examples of how some of these features are being practically or experimentally employed on Websites around the world.

The Future

Web-enabling is a small step in the evolution of computing and communication, but one that immediately makes a big impact on anyone who needs to interact in an enterprise that extends beyond the individual and beyond the office.

Having your software tools interact with the Internet seems like quite a big deal as we see it occurring in more product releases everyday. Within 12-18 months, barely any major application will be able to operate fully without the Web as an enabling communications channel.

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