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Actrix Technical Reviewed

Ralph Grabowski

Actrix is a brand-new software category for Autodesk: diagramming software. Unlike CAD, diagramming software is really easy to use: you select a shape and drag it onto the drawing. The software package includes thousands of pre-drawn shapes, so that you don't need to spend any time drawing; you just arrange the shapes, then connect them together (if necessary).

In specific disciplines, diagramming software has replaced CAD for creating structured diagrams. These diagrams don't need to be as accurate as CAD drawings, and include: electrical schematics, flow charts, facilities management, network diagrams, and P&ID (piping and instrumentation diagrams). It is for this reason, perhaps, that Autodesk decided to launch Actrix Technical.

Actrix works very similarly to the established diagramming software, such as from Micrografx and Visio. You work with three types of objects in an Actrix drawing:

• CAD-like objects, such as circles, polylines, and splines.
• Shapes, the name used for the predrawn symbols.
• ActiveShapes, which have rules of behavior attached to them.

In addition, there are special ActiveShapes, called connectors, that hold things together. When a connector joins two shapes, moving one shape keeps it linked to the other shape via the connector.

Actrix Technical, with the Content Explorer (upper right) and the Properties Window (lower right).

Actrix differs from its competition by introducing the concept of "plugs" and "sockets." A blue-colored plug plugs into a green-colored socket, just like an electrical cord plugs into a wall socket. When an ActiveShape is moved around the drawing, it displays its plugs; whenever it gets near another ActiveShape, the second shape displays its sockets. When a plug matches a socket, a red-and-white bull's-eye icon is displayed and you know that the two are locked together. Note that the direction of the socket's arrowhead determines the orientation that the shapes connects. It's also important to note that Actrix uses the plug nearest to your grab location to attach to a socket.

There are some lovely user interface elements. For example, holding down the Shift key locks rotation to 15-degree increments. When an object's rotation is perfectly horizontal or vertical, a dashed line appears. In free rotation, a grayed-out arc dimension-style image shows you where you started the rotation. Small green arrowheads let you instantly fillet a rectangle or change the size of arcs and lines.

Diagram are stored in AXD files. Shapes are stored in catalog (AXC) files. Template (AXT) files automatically loads the appropriate catalog(s) and presets the diagram properties.

My beta 2 copy of Actrix Technical came with about 2,000 shapes in seven categories called "Solutions": building services, business, electrical, facilities, factory, industrial, and network. An eighth, called shared catalog, contains shapes common to the others, such as annotations and walls.

I found that Actrix looks very much like AutoCAD LT 97, complete with Content Explorer, which contains the shapes, and a similar looking menu bar. Even most the commands are like AutoCAD, with names like Line, Ellipse, Trim, and Explode.

There are differences, of course. The toolbars look different and there is unfamiliar terminology, such as frame, callout, plug, and Drawing Plane. It could take a little while to get use to the Christmas tree effect of colored dots appearing all over shapes as visual indicators: I counted green, yellow, red, red-white, and gray dots in square, round, diamond, house, and arrowhead forms.

Being from Autodesk, Actrix reads and writes AutoCAD DWG drawing files. It does this in three modes:

1. display-only
2. translated into individual lines
3. translated into a single ActiveShape

None of the modes displayed perfectly my test drawing, but then I was working with a beta version of Actrix. Some AutoCAD objects were missing or displayed incorrectly. Actrix displays only the plan view of 3D drawings. On a positive note, Actrix lets you snap to the geometry of the AutoCAD drawing, and even lets you load more than one drawing at a time (something AutoCAD itself cannot do!).

Actrix, as a diagramming product, is an important tool for drafters and designers, whether part-time or professional. Diagramming is superior to CAD in certain select areas. Some of the advances in Actrix Technical is sure to push the envelope - and the competition - in this field of graphics.

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