Docupoints Web-Based AutoCAD Solution Adds dtSearch

Docupoints DrawingSearcher provides a 21st century solution to solving the challenges of managing a large archive of AutoCAD drawings. Drawing files are typically kept for the lifetime of a facility, often 20 30 years. It is not uncommon for an organization to have tens or even hundreds of thousands of CAD files online. With such a large number of drawings, finding the correct file can be a time consuming and error-prone task. DrawingSearcher takes a unique approach to CAD file management by providing a Web-based full-text search application for AutoCAD drawing files.

With its latest version of DrawingSearcher, Docupoint sought to enhance its text search capabilities. In addition to providing search on text inside a drawing file, Docupoints goal was to read all the text, attributes (visible and non-visible) and block names in all drawings on a network and index them into a text search engine stored on the index server. For searching, Docupoint wanted DrawingSearcher to find a drawing via a Web browser just like using a search engine on the Web.

Docupoints development team choose the dtSearch Text Retrieval Engine to embed in DrawingSearcher. "We set out with the goal of developing the best possible search solution for AutoCAD," said Steven Potter, President of Docupoint. "It quickly became apparent that the dtSearch Engine provided the highest level of functionality for our application. We were particularly impressed with dtSearchs ability to handle mixed number and character strings as well as its fielded search capabilities. In addition, the dtSearch support team promptly and professionally answered our development support questions".

"dtSearch Corp. is very pleased to be a part of Docupoints Web-based AutoCAD solution," said Kate Tretter, dtSearch Corp.s Vice President of Marketing. "We encourage people looking for AutoCAD searching to try this solution. Its a great supplement to the dtSearch product line for the engineering world."

DrawingSearcher takes advantage of the full range of dtSearch search functionality including:

Full text search Drawings can be located by any text or number string inside the file including visible and hidden attribute values.

Field search For a more selective search, a drop down list allows the user to specify that the search will only retrieve drawings from a particular category. Field search capabilities also allow DrawingSearcher, for example, to limit a search to the title block area of the drawing.

User Thesaurus Abbreviations are common in technical drawings. Docupoints implementation of the dtSearch user thesaurus allows the administrator to quickly identify the abbreviations used and associate them to the full word. Using this function, a search on building also finds the text string bldg.

Custom alphabet capabilities Technical drawings often have alphanumeric strings such as TB-2877:02 that must be searched as a single word. Using dtSearchs custom alphabet function, Docupoint was able to control how mixed text and number strings are indexed.

Advanced Boolean Searches The tabbed interface of DrawingSearcher makes it easy for the user to issue Boolean searches without knowledge of the advanced search syntax.

Using DrawingSearcher involves simply pointing a browser to the URL of the DrawingSearcher server. The built-in Web server provides the user with a tabbed "Portal" interface to select the type of search to perform (basic, advanced, title block and drawing number/XRef). After entering in the appropriate search criteria and pressing submit, a list of drawings that meet the search criteria is immediately returned to the users browser. The user can select from a number of result display options including record type, list type and even a drawing preview presentation. Selecting on the file link automatically opens the drawing for viewing in the users browser.

Docupoints exclusive Whip-n-Post! technology renditions the native AutoCAD DWG file format to Autodesks low bandwidth DWF ("Whip") format for fast viewing of large files, even over low speed Internet connections. User-definable templates allow for easy further customization of search results. DrawingSearcher also supports customization of the portal interface, such as for creating links to drafting procedures, department contacts and industry specific websites.

Finally, Docupoint designed DrawingSearcher to be not only easy to install, but a virtually "zero maintenance" solution. Initially, DrawingSearcher automatically builds a database for all drawings in the locations specified on a network. Subsequently, DrawingSearcher automatically detects additions, changes and deletions, and updates the index accordingly.

For more information, including an online demo, please see Docupoints Web site as http://www.drawingsearcher.com