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| CAD, CAM, CAE, design, technical drawing, drafting, delineation, visualization, manufacturing | ISSN 1442-2255 : 7/5/2009 - 12:17:37 AM |
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CompareDWG ReviewEyeballing a pair of drawings for differences can a difficult and unreliable past-time. A new tool called CompareDWG finds all differences between a pair of DWG files quickly and reliably -- an answer to prayers of CAD managers far and wide.
CompareDWG works inside AutoCAD to reveal the differences between two AutoCAD drawings. Use it to compare DWG files meant to be identical, or drawings which are essentially the same but which contain difficult-to-detect alterations, deletions or additions. It can also be used to determine which drawing is the latest version. CompareDWG is intended to provide a reliable way to find all differences. It compares all parts of a DWG file – the tables (linetypes, blocks, layers etc), the drawing variables, and the graphic entities. The CompareDWG R14 is an ARX add-on for AutoCAD R14. It will not load into AutoCAD 2000, but a version for 2000 is under development. [Ed: CompareDWG now supports AutoCAD R14, 2000 & 2000i versions - April 2001] When installed, CompareDWG appears in AutoCAD R14 as an extra pull-down menu.
The first step in its use is to pick the ‘New Compare Job’ menu item and specify the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ DWG files to be compared.
Use CompareDWG in AutoCAD with a blank new drawing in the editor. A drawing showing the differences between drawings will be displayed over the top of any drawing already in the editor. Also, if either of the specified drawings is open for editing CompareDWG cannot open them for comparison. When the comparison process is done CompareDWG will have created six DWG files and two text files. These are placed (by default) in a new folder named like the first DWG filename placed in C:\Windows\Temp\. As a test example, I compared Baseplat.DWG and Baseplat2.DWG and the results were placed in C:\Windows\Temp\Baseplat.CMP\. The original Baseplat.DWG was an R12 file of 94k size. Baseplat2.DWG was the same file that I loaded into R14. I moved some objects, altered some, deleted some and added some new ones. Then I saved it, producing an R14 file of 134k. Using CompareDWG on these two drawings resulted in six DWG files of between 85k and 109k, plus two text files of 3.9k. Time to do the comparison was less than 1 second. One text file, FRXC_SUM.TXT, is a concise summary of the findings in text form. The other, FRXC_TBL.TXT, is a detailed list of table and variables values stating which were subject to change. The first is the more readable and generally useful. Download a sample here The composite change display which appears in the AutoCAD editing window is derived from data in the six result DWG files.
It shows the graphics in certain colors to distinguish what has been altered, deleted, added or not changed. The color scheme used can be customized if desired from the dialog shown below which pops up from the Graphic Control Center menu item.
The six DWG files that are created show the objects in their original colors. Each DWG file shows only the objects in one category – those added, changed and unchanged in the ‘old’ drawing, and deleted, changed and unchanged in the ‘new’ drawing. Since they are all ordinary DWG files, the user can make use of the data in any way desired such as for creating a new composite drawing. CompareDWG is a very effective and fast way of determining the precise differences between two AutoCAD drawings, especially two versions of the same file. This is a utility that many have wished for over and over again. A 30 day evaluation version is available for online download. The license key is electronically delivered to buyers. The cost is US$240 for a single license with volume discounts for multiple users.
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