DWGeditor - opinions? 1

[dgowans]

As someone who knows squat about Autocad (yes, I do consider myself lucky) I'm wondering what those of you who have actually used Autocad think about the DWGeditor. Is it worth a crap? I know SWX wants us to think it's an ACAD replacement, but in my very limited experience it's not. I could be way wrong here, however, which is why I want others' opinions.

For example, we've got an ECO in process that makes a change to a drawing that was done in ACAD. Simple change requiring modifying a number in a BOM table and adding a couple of notes w/ leaders. I thought it would probably be easier for me to make the changes myself rather than delegate it to someone else. Not so much.

First off, when I open the drawing it displays quite differently than the PDF that was published of the existing revision. Then, I can't edit the attributes (may not be the correct term) of the BOM table. It appears to be a block of some sort that either needs to be exploded (can't get it to explode) or edited directly (tried ddatte or whatever the command is and had no luck).

I'm not asking for suggestions on how I can make the changes to this drawing, I just want people's opinions on the DWGeditor. Are what I perceive to be simple changes like this possible in DWGeditor or will it just be simpler to keep a copy of ACAD around for changes to legacy data like the drawing in question?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts......

 

[bluesman0007]

dgowans,

I am by no means an AutoCad expert or even much of a user but I did have a job that required a hydraulics schematic and I used the DWGeditor and it worked fine. In fact I have Mechanical Desktop/AutoCad 2001 on the same machine and found the DWGeditor to actually work better for me. I have been able to do changes in AC like what you are talking about without too much trouble. You might look to see if the things you are trying to edit might be on different layers that the one you are currently on. I've heard others say that the DWGeditor is a simple AutoCad but it has worked okay for me when I needed it. IMHO

Dennis

SolidWorks 2007 SP2.0
Windows XP Pro, Pentium4 3.00GHz
1.5 GB RAM, Nvidia FX500
Logitech Marble Mouse, CadMan

 

[Standing]

dgowans,
Get someone who knows AutoCAD, from your group, to make the changes using DWGeditor. Watch him or her make the changes to see for yourself. That will tell you first hand if DWGeditor will work for you.


Bradley
SolidWorks Professional x64 2007 SP2.2
Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU
3.00 GHz, 3.93 GB of RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400

 

[ctopher]

It's OK. I have AutoCAD and prefer it over DWGEditor. It is OK for SW users to use as a tool for DXF's and importing/exporting geometry. It lacks a lot of simple functions that ACAD has, like XREF & layer controls.

Chris
SolidWorks 06 5.1/PDMWorks 06
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 02-10-07)

 

[PMarinshaw]

I have used ACAD since the first DOS version about 20 years ago. I find that the DWG Editor is almost a seamless copy of ACAD - meaning it is very identical for most tasks. There are still a few of anomolies, like updating dimension formats when you need to change. I would consider the DWG Editor an equal. In fact, I removed my copy of ACAD 2006 in favor of the 2007 DWG Editor.

By the way, to edit the BOM as you described, try "Edit Block Attributes" from the Tools menu. Just retype the text for the block attributes you need to change.

 

[Heckler]

Get someone who knows AutoCAD, from your group, to make the changes using DWGeditor. Watch him or her make the changes to see for yourself. That will tell you first hand if DWGeditor will work for you.

I like DWG editor but then again I just use it to view our legacy data. Our designers hate it because it doesn't feel like the latest ACAD. I was told by one of the designers that it feels like ACAD rev14. But my battle is getting the designers/drafters to actually use SWx and stop converting my data to ACAD

Best Regards,

Heckler
Sr. Mechanical Engineer
SWx 2007 SP 2.0 & Pro/E 2001
Dell Precision 370
P4 3.6 GHz, 1GB RAM
XP Pro SP2.0
NVIDIA Quadro FX 1400
o
_`\(,_
(_)/ (_)

(In reference to David Beckham) "He can't kick with his left foot, he can't tackle, he can't head the ball and he doesn't score many goals. Apart from that, he'

 

[smcadman]

I despise DWGEditor and keep a copy of ACAD 2000i for the times that I do need to modify DWG's or DXF's. I just find ACAD easier to manuever in and easier to manipulate to my liking. That and I have a lot of LISP routines that I still use also. Why get a program that Acts and Looks like ACAD whenever you have the real thing?

SW07 SP2.0

Flores

 

[dgowans]

Why get a program that Acts and Looks like ACAD whenever you have the real thing?

Because it's included with SWX. We've got a limited number of ACAD licenses and a few licenses of SWX and the user base does not necessarily overlap. We are doing all new product development in SWX but still have the need to modify legacy ACAD data. Therefore, I want a program that acts and looks like ACAD but doesn't require me to buy another license of a program which will be used occasionally at best.

 

[pdybeck]

For every seat of SolidWorks a company is licensed for, they are allowed to install and use 3 copies of DWGEditor. For example... 2 seats of SolidWorks = up to use of 6 seats of DWGEditor.

Pete

 

[J-C]

It acts mostly like Autocad....but there are a few quirks with it that may break the workflow of a seasoned Acad user. For instance, the undo command doesn't always work....I don't think its recording every step and sometimes you undo 2 or 3 steps back when you only wanted one. And redo doesn't work to put it back when you realize your mistake. That's my biggest beef with it.

If I had a copy of Acad...I would use it over DWGeditor but I don't so DWGeditor gets the job done when needed.

Jason

UG NX2.02.2 on Win2000 SP3
SolidWorks 2006 SP5.1 on WinXP SP2
SolidWorks 2007 SP2.1 on WinXP SP2

 

[cmclaugh]

I have been using Autocad since r11 and Solidworks since 2001. DWGEditor is like a stripped down more buggy version of Acad. I gets the job done although I have had more crashes with it than with Solidworks itself. I agree with Gildashard in regard to the undo issue. I have come across the same thing. I would prefer Autocad to editor but at my company we only use ACAD/DWG Editor for wiring schematics and data translation of vendor drawings not for mechanical design.