CAXA & IronCAD

[Mike Twining]

Now that (presumably with v2009) CAXA is going to be an "integrated" part of the IronCAD environment, are you guys going to prepare any instruction on how to get CAXA to do some of the same things that native IC drawing can do?

 

I for one messed around with CAXA in the beta, and found it ... interesting... but I gave up on it pretty fast as I found it difficult to re-create some of the native functions of the IC drawing environment. I would suggest that, if you really want people to use CAXA (especially here in the US where it is pretty unknown), you should really have some sort of "CAXA guide for IC users" which addresses some of the more common items like:

 

-Setting up (or better yet transfering) templates

-Setting up (or transfering) BOMs

-Setting up (or transfering) drawing settings (item bubbles, linetypes, etc...)

 

...as far as v2009B4 goes, I see CAXA as WAY more work to use than IC Drawing, or even AutoCAD.

 

Just my $.02.

[Cary OConnor]

Hi Mike,

 

The Beta 4 didn't have all the templates created for CAXA Draft, so I see that it would be difficult. In the latest version and the release, there will be the normal templates.

 

Of course there will be a learning curve for CAXA Draft. It will not be exactly like the ICD and the first integration version will not support all the same viewing capabilities (they will be enhanced in updates).

 

However if you are an AutoCAD user, you should find the environment more capable than the ICD and similar to AutoCAD. There are some commands that are far better than AutoCAD and some that are not.

 

Anyway, we will start posting videos after the release to help highlight key areas and capabilities (or you can request a training course ).

 

Thanks for the feedback,

Cary

 

[fhunt]

Will we get both the IronCAD Drawing system and CAXA? I thought I read somewhere that V12 would come with both.

 

Will CAXA allow me to include colored section views in my drawings? That is one thing I have really missed when making drawings in IronCAD.

[Cary OConnor]

The IRONCAD 2009 XG will include the IRONCAD ICD and the CAXA Draft integrated environment. CAXA Draft is very similar to other industry standard 2D applications. However, this is the initial release and may not have all the same capabilities as the ICD in the view creation area. For example, it does not support shaded views at all in the first release. These can be enhanced in future update. The main difference in the ICD and CAXA Draft is that you have the full 2D capabilities. That means legacy 2D DWG/DXF editing, 2D drafting capabilities, along with the association to the IRONCAD 3D data (associative view updates). Overall, it is a powerful addition to IRONCAD. It will continue to be stronger once more feedback is given from IRONCAD users since this is an integration of 3D and 2D and not just a feedback from a standalone 2D environment.

 

Cary