CAD journalist Ralph Grabowski stirred up a bit of a hornet’s nest yesterday, writing about the Autodesk User Group International’s (AUGI) Top Ten lists for AutoCAD. At first he was just questioning why one specific subject (linetype improvements) was never mentioned in an AUGI wish list. From there the discussion between Grabowski and his readers got into the larger issue of the nature—and legitimacy—of vendor-sponsored user groups.
It is an interesting discussion, if you care about user groups and whether or not they are valid if the vendor provides 100% of the organization’s financing. (I think they are a great cost-effective marketing tool.) But I want to poke a stick of a different color into the hornet’s nest, and get back to the technical issue that attracted Grabowski and his readers:
For the last decade or so, the most common question asked of me has been about linetypes, a feature that's remained static in AutoCAD since Release 13. … but AUGI and Autodesk are oblivious to the need. Just this morning, I got asked yet again about parallel-line linetypes, and why defining them in ACAD.LIN doesn't work in drawings. It's a decades-old problem that no one in power seems interested in fixing.
AutoCAD took a big step forward this year with its 3D all-the-time user environment. I’m sure it is an insult to many AutoCAD users who simply want a more efficient way to do what they’ve been doing for 20 years—create 2D drawings that look like they came right off the drafting table. I’m sure the users who most want Autodesk to fix ACAD.LIN consider better 3D in AutoCAD a waste of resources. What they want is AutoCAD circa 1992, with all the imperfections removed.
Autodesk could turn all its attention to fixing such wish list issues. If it did, it would quickly become as important to the industry as DATACAD. To be a market leader, you have to have a vision for the future, and not simply be about fixing the errors of the past. I think this year’s product releases show that Autodesk is doing a pretty good job of striking a balance between the old and the new. They are trying to help 2D fundamentalists realize there is more glory available if they’d just turn the Z corner. (MicroStation devotees, save your “we have the best of both worlds” replies. Gloating is such bad manners.)
If you are troubled by how linetypes work in AutoCAD, I have a user tip for you. Move on to Revit.
--RSN