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ConceptDraw v1.8 - Review

I reviewed ConceptDraw some while back – it must have been v1.0 I think – and I was impressed then. At that time it was a download-only product from the web. ConceptDraw first appeared as a lower-cost alternative to Visio when Visio had already established itself as the widely-accepted standard business diagramming tool with its innovative features. Since then, Visio has been taken over by Microsoft (who first doubled its price) and, remarkably, I have heard very little of it since.

In the meantime, ConceptDraw has not remained content to emulate Visio – it has widened its scope of application considerably. For some time I have been searching for a good, reliable and not too expensive vector artwork system that doesn’t consume ridiculous amounts of system resources. I didn’t want to spend as much as Adobe Illustrator and have always found Corel Draw unreliable and a resource hog. I had not found anything that suited me however. Now, to my surprise, ConceptDraw looks like it can fill that role as well as doing all the Visio-like diagramming with smart symbols and connectors, etc, and many general 2D CAD duties too.

ConceptDraw is produced by Computer Systems Odessa, who are indeed at Odessa in the Ukraine. The version I received for review was v1.7 Professional, in a box with CD and two printed manuals. A while later I received notification that a free update patch to v1.8 was available on the web site (www.conceptdraw.com). That 3.5Mb download patched without incident and added several extra features.

There is one feature of ConceptDraw that will be very important for some offices. Visio is a Windows-only product. The CD for ConceptDraw installs on either Windows (95 to ME, NT4, 2000 and XP) or on a Macintosh (OS 8.6 or later with CarbonLib1.1, or OS-X). I only installed the Windows version (on 98se) but I am told it operates identically on both platforms. Most importantly, the data files you produce on either platform can be opened and saved on the other without any surprises. Not only does this mean that ConceptDraw can be used on a Mac, but it can be used universally across an office network that has both Windows and Mac machines.

Another big plus in my view, is that the data files produced by ConceptDraw are of an ‘open architecture’, which means they are accessible for conversion to other formats. In other words, ConceptDraw’s data files store all the data needed to reproduce the drawing, and the file format is not kept secret. Visio’s data files are uniquely difficult to migrate – almost impossible. As well as using a private format, they rely on data from the Visio libraries that are only accessible if a copy of Visio is installed.

The ConceptDraw package also includes a Viewer program that can be given away freely. It can view and print ConceptDraw files. A very handy addition where editing facilities are not required.

ConceptDraw can open and save many common vector and raster file formats. As well as its native CCD format, it can open vector/raster (‘meta’) files of type WMF (Windows metafile – on Windows only), EMF (Enhanced Metafile), PCT (Mac metafile – on both platforms), DXF (AutoCAD), and PPT (Microsoft PowerPoint). It can open raster files of types PNG, GIF, BMP, TIF, TGA and JPEG. It can SaveAs in the following formats as well as its own CCD format. Vector/raster: EMF, DXF, PPT, EPS (Postscript). Raster: BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIF, TGA. It can also export as HTML documents, and there is a plain TXT format for certain types of data such as flows and outlines. The above is for the professional version. The standard version supports about half of those formats.

There is also a facility for both-ways conversion of Visio VSD data files. Given the built-in obstructions to data transfer in the Visio system, this is remarkable. As with all other attempts at Visio data transfer, this only works if you have a real copy of Visio also running on the PC, which of course, is not a possibility on a Mac. It uses OLE to transfer the data between the two running programs. However, Computer Systems Odessa provide a simple solution when that requirement cannot be met. They have an automated conversion system running on their web server. You can upload files and they quickly come back converted.

Looking at the actual functionality of ConceptDraw, it has features for many types of diagramming, such as flow charts, organization charts, circuit diagrams and plumbing schematics. These use a similar concept to the ‘smart symbols’ pioneered by Visio. That is, there are extensive libraries of pre-drawn symbols for numerous fields of work and various national standards. These appear in the symbols palette beside the main drawing area. Several libraries can be open at the same time. They show as tabs, (see the full-screen image - fullscrn-circuit.GIF) and the tab that is clicked displays the library content in the palette pane, scrolling as needed. You drag the desired symbol onto the drawing. For diagrams that lend themselves to a regular arrangement, they can snap onto a grid. Other smart objects are connection lines, to join the diagram symbols. Symbols have defined connection points, and the connector lines automatically snap onto those. If you then rearrange the symbols, the connector lines reorganise their own routing to maintain connections. If a new symbol is dropped onto a connecting line, it breaks to accept it.

There is a facility for creating your own smart symbols, and for developing them from basic vector data such as DXF data from AutoCAD. The smart behaviours of objects and all their properties are controlled by ‘mini-spreadsheets’ attached to each object or symbol. Formulae can be applied to cells of the spreadsheet top control the behaviour of objects.

As well as the obvious use of the smart symbol drag-&-drop library system for circuit and flow diagrams, libraries are provided for drawing house plans. Here the smart objects are walls, windows, doors etc., and they automatically snap into sensible places and break or heal walls as needed.

In addition to that extensive range of functionality, ConceptDraw also has free-form drawing tools based on lines and closed polygons. This enables it to serve many 2D CAD purposes. It also has dimensioning facilities, and perfectly good 2D CAD drawings can be made, such as the example seen here (Tech-dwg.GIF). The main limitation for CAD usage is scaling. ConceptDraw is essentially paper-oriented, rather like the 2D PaperSpace environment of CAD products, so it is more suited to ‘scale-less’ schematics. You’d need to draw to scale for large objects, as on a drawing board.

Unlike general 2D CAD products, ConceptDraw also has artistic free-form vector drawing tools, that are based on Bezier curves. This is where ConceptDraw acts like CorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator. It provides intuitive interactive control over the shape of curved lines, so that any organic or regular shape can easily be drawn. Its controls for this are far ahead of the curve facilities in most CAD products. Lines can be any colour of course, and of any thickness, and when they form a closed figure, the enclosed area can be filled with a colour, pattern or graduated colour. The example pictures give some idea of the possibilities. (paint-can.JPG, paint-palette.JPG, woman.jpg) The system has layers, and the ‘top to bottom’ order of the layers controls which infilled objects overlay and obscure others. Having organised a number of overlaid objects on layers to create a picture element, you can lock them together as a group to prevent them getting unintentionally dismembered.

Technical drawing in ConceptDraw.

I hardly need say that ConceptDraw includes extensive text facilities. They include the ability to ‘explode’ TrueType text into its Bezier outlines, so that you can pull it around into stylised shapes and apply unusual infills.

The infills are raster data and the outlines or lines are vector, which is why the various ‘Metafile’ formats are the best ones to preserve the sharpness at any magnification. When saved in the native CCD format, all layer and object data and ‘smart symbol’ capability is preserved. When saved to one of the common metafile formats, object intelligence is lost, but the vector lines ensure sharpness at any output scale, and the raster infills maintain optimum resolution at all times. When saved to a raster format, the outlines are also saved as raster, and so are only suitable for use at the dots-per-inch resolution chosen when saving. Typically, when using this type of drawing tool, you would always keep your own copy in the special native data format to provide for the best ability to handle later changes, and SaveAs to a common format for use in other software, on the web, for print publishing or for transfer to other users.

ConceptDraw is an unusually versatile drawing system that can serve a great many types of user very well. I am most impressed and very happy to recommend it. It is also good value for money.

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