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Posts Tagged ‘FileFixer’
MicroStation Today — October 2009 (Volume 16, Issue 10)
Wednesday, 14 October 2009MicroStation Today — August 2009(Volume 16, Issue 8)
Saturday, 1 August 2009
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New technology lets you analyze your MicroStation data in ways never before possible!
Friday, 3 April 2009As Axiom’s founder and CEO, I have seen Axiom release a lot of products in the quarter century that we’ve been processing DGN files. But not since 1988′s introduction of FileFixer have I been this excited about a new product.
Instantly find — and zoom in on — any MicroStation element (or elements) in any design file in your current project or at your whole site.
CadExplorer does so much that has never before been possible, that I’ll probably leave you with the wrong idea of what it does if I don’t get you to read the whole article. (As just ONE example, what if you wanted to be able to instantly generate a list of every cell at your site named “High-Voltage Transformer” that doesn’t have a cell named “Warning Sign” within three feet of it?) So please humor me and read the entirety of this article. The most important part of this article (by far) is near the end, where I talk about YOU. It’s only after you read down to there that the uniqueness of CadExplorer will become apparent.
How would you like to be able to interactively find, analyze, explore, report on and take advantage of your MicroStation data in ways never before possible? Just a few of the many things you can do with CadExplorer include:
- Instantly find, using any combination of common MicroStation element characteristics, any MicroStation element (or elements) in any design file in a project or at an entire site.
You can instantly find elements using any combination of color, level, weight, text content, cell name, tag data, element size and many other element attributes. (This feature is sometimes called “Google for MicroStation”.) Like Google, you can interactively refine your search and again get instant results. Additionally, at the click of a button, CadExplorer will open the design file containing the found element or elements, zoom in on them and await your further instructions. - Instantly and interactively search all the design files in any project or at your entire site for elements that violate CAD standards.
When you find something that seems non-standard — say a few design files with the wrong working units — you can interactively drill down and perform more detailed analysis on these files to determine what they have in common. Were they all last modified around the same time? Do they all contain a model named “Plumbing”? Do they all contain a level named “Subcontractor X’s Level”? Do they all reside in the same folder? You’ll be able to interactively explore, investigate and drill down into anything you find in your design files that “doesn’t make sense”. - Find all kinds of oddball errors.
For example, you could instantly get a report of every level name at your site that appears in only one design file. (How much do you want to bet that it’s spelled wrong in that one file?) If there is anything else you can imagine that there should never be exactly one of, you can look for that too. Why not ask CadExplorer to show all the cells that appear anywhere in your design files only once? Quickly scan through the list of these used-only-once cells. How many of them are misspelled or non-standard versions of the cell that should have been used instead? Not sure what one of those cells is? Just click a button and CadExplorer will instantly open up the design file or cell library containing the odd cell and zoom right in on it so you can see for yourself exactly what is going on. - Find all kinds of oddball duplicates.
Got a series of maps where all the text on level “Legal” is the legal description of a parcel of land? No two parcels of land can have the same legal description; right? Ask CadExplorer to display all duplicate text strings in all the design files of your project and you’ll instantly see a list of all the parcels where your designer copied a parcel number intending to change the last couple of digits, but then forgot to make the change. - See how your reference files are being used. Instantly see a list of all your design files and which reference files they use.
Or see a list of each reference file followed by a list of all the design files that include it. The data you get is similar to a RefManager report only the data is available instantly and interactively, without having to wait for RefManager to scan all your design files to accumulate the data. - Get an instant report of how many times each cell is included in a certain set of design files.
Interactively filter (and refilter) the data to your heart’s content. For example, you might want to count only the instances of the cells that appear on certain levels, or in certain models. - Find out stuff that you can think of and we can’t.
The above are just a tiny few, not-terribly-creative examples of the ways you can explore, investigate and report on your MicroStation data. You’re the guy on the CAD battlefield fighting the daily fight. You’re the guy who knows what kind of information you need. The questions you want to ask tomorrow are probably totally different than the questions you’ll want to ask today. That’s why we designed CadExplorer to make it easy for you to interactively ask it almost any question you can imagine about your MicroStation elements, models and files. The examples we gave above pale in comparison to the creative, brilliant and urgent tasks you and your staff will useCadExplorer for.
All of the above are things you can do with CadExplorer right out of the box (but wait, I still haven’t come to the good part).
How is it possible to do all these things instantly and interactively?
CadExplorer has a lot in common with Google. Just as Google constantly scans the Internet, building a database of every webpage it finds, CadExplorer constantly scans all of your design files to maintain a database of all your MicroStation elements and models. CadExplorer’sdatabase is a live, up-to-date mirror (cache) of your actual MicroStation data (which still resides in your design files, exactly where you left it). Your actual MicroStation files are not moved or modified in any way. CadExplorer constantly gathers all the data it needs invisibly. Once you’ve set it up, it does its job totally automatically.
Okay, here comes the good part I’ve been promising you. Once CadExplorer has made all of your MicroStation data instantly accessible, there is practically no limit to what you can do with this data. Axiom can quickly and inexpensively create custom applets to do almost anything your specific site wants to do with this brand-new, never-before-available tool. For example, we could create web applets that let your users instantly query anything you can imagine about your MicroStation data, analyze and massage the results any way you want and display it in a web browser formatted any way you want.
What if your procurement manager wants to receive an automated e-mail the minute your architectural project requires more than 144 “Anti-glare XYZ” windows?
What if, for whatever reason, you wanted every model in your project to have a unique model name? Designer Joe creates a model with a model name that already exists in your project. Joe closes the design file with the illegal model name. A custom CadExplorer application written for you by Axiom automatically sends a text message to your cellphone. And the next thing Joe knows, you’re tapping him on the back.
What if you want your users to be able to click on a custom MicroStation tool button that instantly shows them a list of all the cells in any cell library anywhere at your site, which contains a piece of text containing the substring “Door Detail” on level “Annotation”?
What if you wanted to be able to instantly generate a list of every cell at your site named “High-Voltage Transformer” that doesn’t have a cell named “Warning Sign” within three feet of it?
These may be awful, unrealistic examples. If they are, the reason is simply this: We are not YOU! You are the ultimate world authority on what your site needs. There is no one on Earth more qualified than you to figure out how to create ways of taking advantage of this brand-new technology. The only thing we are trying to accomplish with these admittedly oversimplified examples is to provide a little food for your creative imagination. You tell us what you want — and we’ll create the custom application that does it.
The most exciting product since FileFixer
In the nearly quarter of a century that Axiom has been serving the MicroStation community, no product has ever excited me as much as CadExplorer. Even FileFixer, the best-selling MicroStation add-on since 1988, pales in comparison to the spectacular, time-saving, productivity-boosting benefits I expect CadExplorer to bring to the MicroStation community.
MicroStation Today — April 2009(Volume 16, Issue 4)
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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Fix dead design files fast!
Saturday, 7 February 2009New release now works with V8i
Clearwater, Florida, USA — When design file corruption slows your project down — or worse, brings it to a halt — you don’t have time to mess around. You need the file salvaged now! You need help. FileFixer for V8 gives you that help fast. The latest version from Axiom handles MicroStation V8i files too.
FileFixer continues the tradition of repairing corruption by adding support for design files created by the latest MicroStation version, V8i.
Have you ever had a design file that wouldn’t open? Have you ever been frustrated with MicroStation elements or models that behaved oddly? Have you ever had problems with plotting? For over 20 years, FileFixer has been the tool of choice for CAD managers and CAD users alike to fix these issues. FileFixer gives you the exact technical data you need to understand what’s wrong with your MicroStation V8, XM and V8i files and to fix them fast!
When you run FileFixer, it generates a hyperlinked report. Clicking on a link in the report takes you to the exact user’s guide paragraph you need, speeding your full understanding of the problem, so you can fix your design file that much faster. Here’s how it works: Say you’ve got a project deadline on your hands and a dead design file that FileFixer is reporting as having error “619″. [Editor's note: FileFixer for V8 reports error 619 for elements which have one or more coordinates dangerously close to or outside the design plane or cube.] You probably don’t have a lot of time to study up on the different forms of file corruption, because your boss wants the project done now! The great thing is there’s no research required! Just click on one of the report’s hyperlinked error numbers and a detailed explanation of that error is displayed on your screen. These report hyperlinks provide the shortcut that power users have come to depend on. Of course, if you’re really in a hurry or you don’t need to understand the problem — you just want it fixed — you can still ignore the report entirely and just let FileFixer work its magic automatically. The choice is yours.
In addition to the hyperlinks in the reports, specific help like this is also available for all FileFixer’s settings dialog boxes such as General Settings, Search Settings, Repair Settings and so on.
Using its default settings, FileFixer can detect and repair the vast majority of design file corruption automatically. But let’s face it, design file corruption is infinitely diverse. Any bit, containing “0″ or “1″, out of the millions of bits in a large design file, can potentially contain the wrong value and corrupt the file. To handle this broad range of potential corruption, MicroStation users may need to use FileFixer’s non-default search or repair settings to fully salvage a file. Each of FileFixer’s search and repair settings are thoroughly described in its user’s guide, including advice for when each setting should be used. But what’s the fastest way to find the exact search or repair setting needed to bring a corrupted file back to life?
Each FileFixer settings dialog box includes a help button that immediately displays the relevant section of the FileFixer user’s guide. Instant access to the precise help you need!
With FileFixer, you will never be more than a mouse click away from the exact help you need in order to understand why a design file is misbehaving and what to do about it.
When solving design file problems caused by corruption, FileFixer context-sensitive help is always just a click away.
Smart CAD managers know FileFixer is not just for emergencies. That’s because you can also use FileFixer for preventative maintenance. By simply scheduling regular searches for problems in all of a project’s design files, FileFixer can detect and handle damaged files before they impact projects.
Entirely new forms of file corruption have been discovered in V8 files submitted to Axiom by MicroStation users. FileFixer is the only application that can open and salvage the most severely corrupted design files. There is no other solution.
MicroStation Today — February 2009(Volume 16, Issue 2)
Sunday, 1 February 2009
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Will AutoCAD lose market share? — Bob Moeller points to untapped market.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA — With MicroStation’s new release of Athens, the battle of MicroStation versus AutoCAD is heating up. Bob Moeller, suggests a plan that could give MicroStation a strategic victory in the marketplace.
With over 30 years in the drafting and design industry, Moeller knows what it takes to capture a market sector.
MicroStation Today: As a veteran in this industry, I’m sure that you’ve run into your fair share of problems. What has been your biggest frustration?
For an example, Bentley used to supply a “NUTS.CEL” cell library with each MicroStation software package. However, the last couple of upgrades did not include it. I’ve learned to keep my old cell files when upgrading or purchasing another seat of MicroStation. Providing some basic, standard parts in a cell library like nuts, bolts and fasteners would be a good sign that Bentley was interested in this area.
I have been using MicroStation for machine design since 1987 and it’s a great software package. But Bentley doesn’t seem to know that there is a whole industry of small businesses that use MicroStation to design a variety of products such as assembly machines, drill fixtures and welding fixtures. If you go to Bentley’s site, there’s little if anything to support this market segment.
MST: What are some of the most interesting projects you’ve worked on over your 20 years of working with MicroStation?
The second was a washing machine that washed window glass. We had looked for a glass washing machine on the market but couldn’t find one that would clean the glass to our customer’s specifications. So, I was given the job of designing one. One of the problems that we needed to address was to prevent water from spilling on the floor as that creates a wet, slippery and dangerous environment. The glass needed to be able to enter a wall of liquid, stay submerged while being washed then leave the washing machine tank without spilling any liquid on the floor. The other problem was that the glass had to enter, move through the washing machine and come out the other end all on a horizontal plane. This was quite a trick to do.
MST: How did you first hear about Axiom products and how have they helped you?
MST: Over the last 30 years, I’m sure you’ve seen quite a few companies come and go. What would be your advice to companies that want to get ahead?
MST: If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be?
MST: What do you think MicroStation (or AutoCAD) should do to win the hearts of engineers and CAD designers?
MST: Thanks, Bob.
Fight back!
Sunday, 7 December 2008How to increase your profits in a slow economy
Clearwater, Florida, USA — In a slow economy, software add-ons that consistently save dozens, hundreds or thousands of man-hours aren’t just “nice” things to have, they’re vital.
How much money are repetitive, time-consuming tasks costing you?
David Evans & Associates saves $19,596 per year by using Microsoft Office Importer. Oregon DOT saves $42,000 per year in man-hours by using FileFixer. Barone-Shultz saved just one of their clients $5,400 on just one project using CellManager, a savings of 90% of the total project cost.
Washington Group saved $16,400 using MicroStation Productivity Toolkit on just one project over one weekend and potentially saved millions of dollars in lost income. Valero Paulsboro Refinery saved an estimated $125,000 on just one project using tools included in MicroStation Acceleration Garage.
Increase profits and reduce expenses.
Axiom creates tools for CAD managers and users that not only make their jobs easier, but also help them get projects done faster. In addition, LearningBay’s e-learning courses make users more effective and efficient when using MicroStation and MicroStation products such as GEOPAK and InRoads. LearningBay’s “on demand” e-learning courses produce better results and yet are less than a quarter the cost of offsite training and less than half the cost of onsite training. What’s more, the training can be done over and over to keep skills fresh. That’s simply not possible with either onsite or offsite training without incurring additional costs.
CAD managers spread too thin
According to Robert Green’s “CAD Manager 2005 Survey”, 26% of CAD managers reported that “their number-one frustration was not having enough time to do their job well.” Surprised? Here are some other numbers from the survey:
- Only 31% of CAD managers perform their management duties full time (meaning they have other duties as well).
- 61% are in salaried positions (average base salary: $53,847, or roughly $27 per hour.
- A CAD manager supports an average of 41 CAD users.
- 16% have purchasing authority.
Cost justification
No matter how good a product or service is, you still have to explain its value to decision-makers in a language they understand: money. This is why the CAD manager has to be business savvy and where cost justification comes in handy. The below, real-life examples show savings in terms of man-hours. In each case, one or more Axiom products greatly improved the productivity of the user or users involved and saved the company large amounts of money. According to the previously mentioned survey, the average salary for CAD managers was $27 per hour. Typically, taxes, insurance, benefits, training, management, overhead and other employee-related expenses are about 20% of salary costs. Thus, the following examples use $33 per hour as the company’s cost for the employee’s time. The actual cost of each Axiom product mentioned in the following examples was only a fraction of the overall amount saved by the company by using the product. All of the products mentioned below can be purchased separately or as part of MicroStation Acceleration Garage.
Example 1
One customer needed to change 200 drawings from an existing design for re-use in a new project. The task required all existing reference numbers on all drawings be re-mapped to new project numbers. The estimated time to do this manually was approximately 80 hours. At an average of $33 per hour, total cost would have been $2,640. Using Global File Changer, the actual time spent was 3 hours at a cost of only $99. This is a savings of $2,541 or 96% on this one three-hour project.
Example 2
Another customer, who regularly uses FileFixer, comments, “FileFixer ends up saving us approximately 400 man-hours a year. We couldn’t be nearly as productive without it.” Again, applying a $33-per-hour cost to this example, this results in a $13,200 savings in man-hours each year. Keep in mind that the $13,200 is only the figure for the savings. It doesn’t even begin to take into account the extra profit from all the additional work that gets done in those 400 extra man-hours.
Example 3
Another customer states that, “whenever any MicroStation file came back from the client, our drafters would spend an average of about two hours finding and correcting the CAD standards violations. If one figures that we get about 20 files per submission sent back to us by the client, that it takes a drafter about two hours to spot and correct the violations and that there are about two to three submissions in the lifecycle of our design projects, then there are approximately 120 man-hours per project spent in corrections — time spent not earning any new revenue!” Instead of doing it the hard way, the firm now uses SpecChecker and gets the work done in five minutes instead of two hours. In dollars, that saves $3,960 in man-hours on each and every project.
Example 4
Another customer had 400 design files in a project where a non-standard set of cells was used throughout the design process. They had to replace literally thousands of instances of multiple cells throughout all 400 design files. They were looking at 330 man-hours to fix this and a late delivery of the project. However, using Global File Changer, they were able to update all 400 design files with the “Replace Cells” function in a little over three hours — only 20-minutes of which required an operator to be present. The remaining time was simply the processing time. The total time, including the processing time, was only 1% of the time the design team estimated it would have taken to make the changes by hand. They saved $10,879 just by running Global File Changer — once!
Savings plus increased production
The money saved in man-hours is only part of the picture. What these examples don’t take into account the value of the additional work that the users involved can now get done. In other words, for each hour of work that one of Axiom’s products can save a company, that hour can then be used to generate more income on another project. Free advice on increasing profits
Make the vendors vying for your budget dollars work for you. Use their resources to get your projects done faster and more accurately and don’t be afraid to try and implement new technology. Contact Axiom and schedule a no-obligation, one-on-one, online demonstration with one of our product managers to discuss how the products included in MicroStation Acceleration Garage can greatly increase your rate of production and maximize the return on your budget dollars.
FileFixer dispels myth.
Friday, 7 November 2008Automatic design file repair was once thought to be impossible.
Clearwater, Florida, USA — Before Copernicus, mankind believed the Sun orbited the Earth. Before FileFixer, mankind believed design file corruption could not be repaired automatically.
If you remember this ad, then we would like to congratulate you on your upcoming retirement!
We now take for granted that the Earth orbits the Sun, but there were some who didn’t think that a software program could ever, all by itself, repair design-file corruption automatically. To illustrate the historical significance of FileFixer, here’s a quote from a previously confidential document, recently de-classified and released from Axiom’s archive: “We believe that design file repair is far too subjective to be automated with a satisfactory degree of success,” wrote an Intergraph executive on 8 November 1989.
David Greenbaum, Axiom founder and creator of FileFixer, disagreed with this. His fluency with design file format, intimate familiarity with customer requirements and unrivaled ingenuity made him uniquely qualified to not only prove that idea false by implementing FileFixer automatic design file repair features, but to also make FileFixer easy to use.
The 1989 release of FileFixer is a distinguished milestone in the history of CAD: Design file repair can be automated successfully. After the release, Greenbaum did not stop there. Before the New Year’s confetti floated to the ground in 1990, fewer than 75 days after the quoted statement above, Greenbaum single-handedly adapted FileFixer for Unix workstations and Intergraph VAX mainframes.
The positive impact on the MicroStation (and Intergraph) communities is reflected by this typical customer anecdote from that era: “To put it bluntly, FileFixer is crucial to our CAD technicians’ production. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run FileFixer and cleaned up problems which otherwise would have burned up days and days to repair. This is important because when file corruption problems arise, they not only waste our time and delay project completion, but they end up costing the public incredible amounts of money,” wrote E.S., System Administrator, DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit).
Some MicroStation users, boasting even 20 years of experience, hadn’t yet started their MicroStation careers when FileFixer first offered automatic design file repair. How many software applications can you think of that have been best sellers in their field for almost 20 years? FileFixer’s longevity as a perennial favorite is a testament to the brilliance of its concept and execution.
Early on, Axiom promoted FileFixer with campaigns such as the one above:
Note the tape reel symbolism. (Yes, early versions of FileFixer were delivered on reels of tape!)
And then there was MicroStation V8.
By the time MicroStation V8 was first released commercially, back in October 2001, Axiom’s FileFixer development team had already been working on FileFixer for V8 for more than a year.
V8 introduced the first design file format change ever for MicroStation — really a file format overhaul — and with it came an entirely new universe of design file corruption.
MicroStation users had not previously encountered structured storage corruption (when a V8 file’s internal directory is destroyed), disappearing level definitions, duplicate level definitions or elements existing beyond the edge of the design plane. These forms of corruption are unique to MicroStation V8, necessitating Axiom’s invention of entirely new design file analysis and repair techniques. Although FileFixer for V8 retained the outward appearance of FileFixer, there was an entirely new engine under the hood.
Even though it was rebuilt from the ground up, our customers continue to praise its results: “I like the tools in MicroStation Productivity Toolkit, particularly FileFixer. I use it a lot. FileFixer has saved me many hours of lost work. With FileFixer, I don’t have to go into the archive or rebuild an entire drawing from scratch. FileFixer alone makes MicroStation Productivity Toolkit worth it,” stated R. Saldivar, Pacific Gas & Electric.
If you’re a CAD manager or MicroStation user, you should attend a free, on-line demonstration of this legendary application to learn about common forms of XM file corruption and FileFixer’s automatic search and repair capabilities.
The curse of the mummy’s deadline
Tuesday, 7 October 2008An interview with Romulus III — Chief Architect to Ramses II
Cairo, Egypt — In search of an appropriate interview for the October edition of MicroStation Today, I found myself in Cairo, wandering the streets and looking for a story. A few of the locals informed me that the Egyptian Museum had a healthy collection of mummified ancient Egyptian kings, so I thought — being the Halloween issue — it couldn’t hurt to take a look.
In ancient times, missing a deadline could mean your death.
After wandering through halls laden with artifacts from the tomb of King Tutankhamun, I located Ramses II, arms crossed and with a gold mask covering his face. I kept walking and a few displays down, there was another mummy in an open casket, a roll of papyrus and ancient Egyptian pen laid at his feet.
Intrigued, I picked up the papyrus and was startled to discover… it held blueprints for a pyramid! If I could interview this chap, the article would fit right into the October edition! I picked up the pen and thought for a bit. My eyes darted to the inscribed plate in front of the casket: “Romulus III — Chief Architect to Ramses II”. Suddenly, the mummy started to move!
MicroStation Today: My god!
Romulus III: Aaaaauuuuuuuurrrrrgggghhhhh! Who disturbs my slumber?!
MST: Um… Er, hello. That would be me. I’m a reporter for the monthly periodical called MicroStation Today. It’s a CAD-related magazine… MicroStation specifically. I was wondering, could I do an interview on you? I’m sure our readers would love to hear about your experiences as an architect in ancient Egypt!
Romulus III: Hmmmm… As you have taken my drafting pen, you have incurred the wrath of the dreaded Romulus III — Chief Architect for Ramses II. This, I cannot forgive.
MST: What if I were to replace the pen immediately after we do our interview? No harm, no foul right?
Romulus III: Well, I suppose that would be alright. It is a tad drab just sleeping all the time. What have you got?
MST: Well, you must have a pretty interesting story on how you began as an architect. Can you tell us about that?
Rumulus III: I started off as a mason [someone who builds with cement and materials like stone and brick] when I was 15, carving stones and such. There was a complete lack of wood, so most of our buildings were built of stone, which was just as well, I heard that a lot of them are still standing today. You can’t say that about most structures that old. Anyhow, I wasn’t that fond of manual labor, so I apprenticed under a master architect, and he taught me a lot. By the time I turned 24, I was Ramses’ Chief Architect. I had a lot of respect, but also a lot of responsibilities. Structure design is no walk-in-the-park, let me tell you. I would have given anything for some way to speed it up and handle the problems that kept popping up.
MST: You know they have something like that now, it’s called “MicroStation”. It’s a Computer-Aided-Design software program. It lets you design entire structures with pinpoint accuracy and much faster than traditional pen and papyrus.
Romulus III: That’s amazing! And there are no problems with it?
MST: Sometimes there are, but there are tools like FileFixer and Title Block Manager that help sort those out quickly and painlessly.
Romulus III: Wow! Sounds like those would have been life-savers!
MST: Yeah, I know.
Romulus III: I don’t think you do! I was executed for not finishing the designs for Ramses’ “Thebes Temple Remodeling Project” in time! That man was an insane multi-tasker! He wanted all existing monuments to reflect his divine nature and power, so we had to come up with plans to redesign dozens of existing temples in his image, and he wanted it done in a month!
MST: You could have done it in a week with MicroStation and Toolkit.
Romulus III: Exactly! Now you know what I mean when I say “life-savers”. Anyhow, at least I was given the gift of eternal life by mummification. He must have liked me to some degree.
MST: Yeah… Next question: What do you think is your greatest accomplishment?
Romulus III: The Ramesseum, hands down. [Editor's note: The Ramesseum is a memorial temple that was built by Pharaoh Ramses II in 13th century B.C. It currently lies in ruins across the Nile river from the city of Luxor.] There were three statues of the man [Ramses II], one of them weighed over 1,000 tonnes! It was preceded by two courts and had giant pillars, huge walls, the works! I am definitely proud of that one. I heard it’s not doing so well today though. Pity.
MST: What is your favorite movie?
Romulus III: Well, you’d think that I don’t watch TV, stuck here in my display. However, the museum guard booth is just down the hall a bit, as you can see, and last year one of the guys (“Bakari”, I think his name is) brought his daughter to work. She sat in there and watched a cartoon called “The Prince of Egypt”. Excellent film, very true-to-life stuff. I pulled my wrapping down a bit from over my eyes and watched the whole thing. I laughed so hard, I started coughing up dust!
MST: Yeah, I saw it too, good stuff. Now, what do you predict will be the “next big thing” in CAD?
Romulus III: I had always thought it would be wonderful if they made a special table with instruments attached that helped you measure distances and draw perfect lines and curves on your papyrus.
MST: Yeah, that’s already been done. It’s called a “drafting table”.
Romulus III: Ah, I see. Well… then how about some sort of magic box that can hold thousands and thousands of designs. Maybe even simulate the designing process — allowing you to draw faster and more accurately!
MST: Yeah, we’ve got that too. It’s called a “computer”. And the “Computer-Aided-Design software” I told you about earlier is what simulates the designing process.
Romulus III: So that’s what a computer is? Fantastic! I heard you say “computer” earlier, but I just ignored it. Didn’t want to tie you up for too long here. Anyhow… So you’ve already got that, huh? Okay, well I’m sure there are things that could be improved, like, say a guy needs to make bulk changes to all of his designs? Changing all circles to squares or making all of a certain type of line thicker, that would be a “next-big-thing” wouldn’t it?
MST: We’ve got that too, it’s called Global File Changer and it’s part of Axiom’s Toolkit.
Romulus III: What about when something goes wrong and you can’t open your designs?
MST: FileFixer handles that. It’s also in Toolkit.
Romulus III: Well you know what? You just may have asked the wrong mummy!
MST: That very well may be the case, Romulus. I’ve got to catch a flight in about half-an-hour. Are you ready for me to replace the pen?
Romulus III: (Yawn) Yes, I think so. I’m growing rather sleepy. This is the most excitement I’ve had in the last 700 years!
Romulus crossed his arms and laid back in his display case. I placed the pen and the papyrus back at his feet and made my way outside to flag down a cab. “The Editor is not going to believe this,” I thought, clutching my notebook to my chest. I hopped in the cab and said, “To Cairo International Airport! And step on it!”
