AutoCAD Bonus Pack

Frequently Asked Questions about SGI and AutoCAD:

• Is there some information about the special features included in AutoCAD R13_c4 for SGI?
  • What are some of the benefits of running AutoCAD on Unix?
  • Does AutoCAD run on those way cool O² and Octane machines I just saw? (Yes)
  • Does AutoCAD R13 run on IRIX 6.X?
  • Does AutoCAD R14/2000/MechanicalDesktop/Inventor run on the SGI Visual Workstations? (Yes)
  • What Autodesk software is available and for which platforms?
    • Now includes a page devoted to setting up an application server.
  • Speak your mind, tell Autodesk you want to see continued Unix support.
    • Let's get a few thousand Unix users to submit wish list requests!
      • Or, just switch to ACAD for Linux!
        • You may want to read this review first
    • Along those lines, please report all AutoCAD-related bugs here.
    • Of course, bugs related to the SGI-supplied bonus software can be sent here.
• Where is the GL Driver+Bonus Pack for R13_c4?
  • How do I tune my AutoCAD system for Peak Performance?
    • Are the some specific tuning hints for the AutoCAD application itself?
  • Is there any way to use AutoCAD in a true Dual-Screen mode?
• Here's some important information regarding AutoCAD R12.
  
• Which peripherals are supported with AutoCAD?
  • Plotters and printers?
    • Autodesk has some good printing/plotting information as well.
  • Digitizing Tablets?
    
• Attention: ARX/ADS/AutoLISP DEVELOPERS
  • Be sure to check out the Developer's Corner.
• How do I set up the AutoCAD R13 license server? *
  • You may have noticed the file Selmd was missing from the R13 CD. If you don't want to install the above software package, here's a copy of Selmd that you can edit.
  • Can I use the AutoCAD R13 license server for AutoCAD R12 as well?
• This networking stuff has got me confused, any help available?
• Database, anyone?
  • Here's that missing ASI/Autolisp interface program, asilisp.arx(670 Kb).
• Tired of using dtext to access your on-line AutoCAD documentation?
• What's in all those AutoCAD files anyway?
  • Especially those icon files in the support directory, what are they?
  • Are my AutoCAD files compatible with other platforms?
• And how about all those environment variables?
  
• How do I publish my AutoCAD drawings on the World Wide Web?
  • World Wide Web, heck I'd be happy just sharing files with my PC!
• How can I use AutoCAD in a Collaborative Engineering setting?
• Can I Print-to-FAX from within AutoCAD?
  
• How can I interact with compressed files and archives from the Indigo Magic Desktop?
  • Check out my compression tools v1.4.4; (*).
    • Improved handling of multi-part, BASE64 and other MIME file types (via uudeview).
    • Supports SGI color schemes and has improved SGI file support.
    • Click here for more information.
• Are there any cool third-party applications for AutoCAD on SGI?
  • How about other Public Domain programs?
  • This is way too serious, how about some fun stuff...
• Are there any CAD resources available on-line?

GL Driver and Bonus Pack:

The optimized GL display driver for AutoCAD R13_c4 is included on Autodesk's AutoCAD R13 for Unix CD. There is a slight error in the AutoCAD Installation Performance Guide description of the driver installation process. The driver installation image is actually in the directory /opt/acad13/support/gldriver rather than /opt/acad13/drv/gldriver as described. The optimized GL display driver provides several advantages:

• Offers improved drawing performance on both base level and high-end graphics hardware.
• Graphics display is always in TrueColor mode.
  • Works on wider range of SGI graphics subsystems.
    • If you are having trouble running AutoCAD, take a look at this.
  • Eliminates color map flashing on 8-bit systems.
• It eliminates the need for backing store in the Xserver.
  • Increases graphics performance.
  • Reduces memory requirements.
• It uses less memory due to a more efficient display list memory architecture.
  • Use is 1/3 to 1/6 the memory consumption of the default Motif display driver.
• It includes a wide range of desktop and collaborative engineering 'hooks':
  • Drag and Drop file manipulation.
  • Inventor and VRML export.
  • Productivity and collaborative engineering features.
• Support for both the Indigo Magic and the TriTeal CDE desktop environments.

Included with the GL display driver are a number of other subsystems that serve to integrate AutoCAD into the Indigo Magic Desktop:

• AutoScript
  • Perform automated AutoCAD tasks from the Indigo Magic Desktop.
• AutoSpool
  • Ties AutoCAD into the Impressario print system.
• Inventor/VRML export
  • Allows 3D visualization from AutoCAD.
• Collaborative Engineering
  • Supports group interaction.

Download and install the latest version (3.44) of the GL Driver and Bonus Pack here. (1.4 Mb) *

• Here's what you'll see in the Software Manager when you install this software.
• The Release Notes for the GL driver include up-to-date information on the product.

AutoCAD on XFS File Systems:

While AutoCAD itself runs very well on the new XFS file system, you may run into some difficulty when trying to install AutoCAD on large file systems, especially ones over 2 GB in size. Since the installation program is a 32-bit executable, it sees numbers over 2 GB (2^31) as negative, and thus improperly determines that there is insufficient disk space to complete the installation. There is an easy work-around for this problem in the 'ainstall' program:

ainstall work-around:

Instead of using the selection:

• Typical Install

use the selection:

• Custom Install...

and then de-select one option in the Custom Install dialog box. For example, if you don't require the External Database Access (ASE) feature, click on the option button to its left to remove it from the installation list and select OK.

• The key here is that once you de-select an item, the installer does not check for available disk space and proceeds normally.
  • You should ascertain that you do have sufficient disk space at this point using the command:
    • > df -k
  • A full AutoCAD installation requires approximately 120 MB of disk space.
• If you need to install all features, you can later come back and install only the de-selected items.

AutoCAD License Server:

Autodesk uses the Elan License Manager (ELM) for all Unix platforms. ELM is a network licensing system that provides floating AutoCAD licenses. It is based on a client-server architecture, in which one (or more) license servers (running the ELM license daemon; ad_elmd) respond to license requests from one (or more) clients via a list specified by the ACADSERVER environment variable. Even in the trivial case of a single workstation, a license server and client process (AutoCAD in this case) are needed. Also, you should note that the ELM licenses work transparently across all the supported Unix platforms.

Here is an installable package to simplify the process of installing and configuring the R13 license server*. With the click of the mouse button, you'll install the license daemon, create all needed directories, network startup scripts, and even run the license administration program to generate your server ID to send you your dealer. It even creates a chkconfig flag for ad_elmd to allow you to easily turn the license daemon on and off easily.

Did you know that the R13 license server can be used with AutoCAD R12? You'll need to do two things to get this to work.

• Change the default network port number for ad_elmd (in /etc/services) as follows:
  • ad_elmd 5201
  • Note: The above link is meant to access the local system file on your Irix workstation, if you are not accissing this page from an Irix workstation the link will not work
• Then install an R12-compatible license key with elmadmin:
  • elmadmin -VC -c

Collaborative Engineering:

One of the primary benefits of AutoCAD on SGI is the ability to integrate the efforts of multiple people on a project with a variety of collaborative tools. This collaboration is available in many forms and you may find you'll need more than one technique depending on your situation at hand. These collaboration techniques range from live multi-user shared application sessions (X/TeleScreen) to live audio/video teleconferencing (InPerson) to store-and-forward drawing markup (Annotator) to the latest Web-based paradigm (OutBox and VRML) and that old standby; facsimile.

Below I'll relate my experiences with each of these technologies:

National Information Systems has a product called X/TeleScreen that allows you to share any X Window application, including AutoCAD. This allows you to have a true multi-user shared AutoCAD session.

• NIS has some on-line documentation available in ASCII and PostScript form.
• You can even download a demo version to try yourself.

Here's how I set up xtls to work with AutoCAD:

• Edit the file 'tls.apps' and add the following lines as appropriate:
  • %AutoCAD R13% %/opt/acad13/bin/acadr13 % %% %%
  • %AutoCAD R12% %/usr/acad/acad/acad % %% %%

Set up the XTLSDIR environment variable and run the xtls program;

• Select AutoCAD from the application list and 'Launch' it.
• Identify AutoCAD as a shared application with 'Select' (you'll own the 'chalk' at this point).
  • I find I need to 'Select' in both the XTLS and Net Book windows.
• Select a user to share AutoCAD with and open a 'Connection' to that user.
• AutoCAD now appears on the remote user's screen (in view-only mode).
• Pass the 'chalk' by clicking on the user icons in the XTLS screen.

Due to it lower bandwidth requirements I recommend that you use the X/Motif display driver with XTLS. The GL driver will work between two (or more) SGI workstations, but unless you have a good network connection, you may find it to be slower in interactive operations, such as dragging, etc. I would recommend at least a single B-channel ISDN network connection for XTLS.

I have even tried a shared session to a PC running Windows and the Hummingbird eXceed/W X Window server.

If you are working with 3D AutoCAD models, you may also want to look into SGI's Annotator and InPerson products. Both are available from the SGI_TOOLS menu in AutoCAD under the Collaboration sub-menu.

• With Annotator you can mark up (annotate) your model and then forward it to others (via e-mail) for additional markup. This is an excellent choice when working with people in different time zones or with low bandwidth network connections like modems.
• With InPerson, you can either share a snapshot of your AutoCAD screen or a 3D Inventor Scene Graph via the shared white board at the same time you have real-time audio and/or video conferencing. A minimum of a dual B-channel ISDN connection is recommended.

Finally, you could also look into using the Mind Share OutBox web server that comes on all SGI systems. By exporting a VRML model from AutoCAD and placing it in your ~/public_html directory, your model is available for review over the Web.

Print To Fax:

The SGI Tools menu includes a FAX item under the Collaboration section. This feature requires a few separate software packages. First, you'll nee the PostScript Utilities and the HylaFAX telecommunications software (below). In addition, you'll need to have the Practical Extraction and Report Language (PERL) installed. On IRIX 5.x, this is an optional package that should be included on your IRIX execution CD. In IRIX 6.x, PERL is installed by default.

Here's a screen shot of the Print-to-FAX feature in operation.

• The GL Display Driver + Bonus Pack software for AutoCAD. *
• The PostScript utilities provide tools for manipulating PostScript documents. *
• The HylaFAX telecommunication software provides a client-server FAX solution for IRIX.
  • There is even a Windows HylaFAX client available there.
• PERL may also be found on the SGI Freeware CD.

Third Party Solutions:

A number of interesting third-party applications exist for AutoCAD on SGI. Here's some that I know about:

• AEC software from Softdesk.
• ArchT architectural software from Ketiv Technologies.
• Amapi from Yonowat is a 3D modeller that reads and writes DXF and 3DS files (acquired by TGS).
• Medit from Medit Virtual Reality S.L. reads and writes DXF, 3DS and Inventor file.
• Lightscape Visualization System from Lightscape Technologies;
  • To install Lightscape on O2 and Octane systems use the following command line:
    • inst -m CPUBOARD=IP22 -f /CDROM/dist
      
  • Check out these models demonstrating Lightscape Radiosity technique:

    Lightscape Model	Uncompressed	Gzip-ped
    Lightscape Image Gallery	lvsgally.wrl/2.5 MB	lvsgally_wrl.gz/480 KB
    Hall model	hall.wrl/9 MB	hall_wrl.gz/675 KB
    Jerusalem City Hall	chamber.wrl/12.5 MB	chamber_wrl.gz/1.1 MB
    Operating Room	or.wrl/9 MB	or_wrl.gz/845 KB
    Laboratory	lab.wrl/3.3 MB	lab_wrl.gz/1.6 MB

  • CADleaf REDliner from Carberry Technology.
  • Corel Draw from Corel has an excellent image tracing function and can export DXF files.
  • SolidView, a fast RayTracer from Arcavis 3D Computer Graphics.
  • InterChange file converters for IRIX from Syndesis Corporation.
  • ACIS and IGES file Translators from International TechneGroup.
  • ImageStream filters from Inso.
  • AutoDirect a C language toolkit for DWG/DXF files from Marcomp.
  • CLRview visualizer from the Centre for Landscape Research.
  • Walkthru visualizer from Jacobus Technology.
  • The CADalog offers the AutoCAD Shareware Clearinghouse.

    And of course, there are the following resources:

    • The way kool Hot Mix site
    • The mother_of_all_applications_directories

CAD Resources:

• Here is some information on SGI User Groups.
• USENET newsgroups offer a great source of information. You'll need to have a USENET news server (NNTPSERVER) to read and post news articles. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) can supply you with this information. Once you have the server name, enter it into the Netscape Mail & News Preferences/News Server field.
  • comp.sys.sgi.apps
  • comp.cad.autocad
  • alt.cad.autocad
  • alt.cad
• If you don't have USENET access through your ISP, you can also try these popular USENET search engines:
  • AltaVista USENET search...
  • DejaNews USENET search..
• List servers offer information via e-mail. Although listservers differ, you usually can send a short e-mail message with the subject SUBSCRIBE to subscribe to the list, UNSUBSCRIBE to unsubscribe and HELP for additional information.
  • ARCHICAD FORUM FOR ARCHITECTS
    • majordomo@shore.net
  • AUTOCAD
    • listserv@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu
  • AUTOCAD-L
    • listproc@cornell.edu
  • CADAPP-L CAD APPLICATIONS DISCUSSION LIST
    • listserv@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu
  • CADCAM
    • listproc@bnl.gov
  • CADLIST
    • listserv@finhutc.hut.fi
  • CADLIST CAD GENERAL DISCUSSION GROUP
    • listserv@listserv.syr.edu
  • DCALPD-L DATACAD APPLICATION LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING DISCUSSION LIST
    • listserv@listserv.aol.com
  • INTERGRAPH
    • nik@ingr.ingr.com
  • TCAD
    • tcad-request@iec.ufl.edu
  • VA TECH COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN LIST
    • listserv@vtvm2.cc.vt.edu