ZWCAD+ tends to make larger files than AutoCAD, but it is a close match. The table below shows sizes of the same four files when saved by AutoCAD vs being saved by ZWCAD+ (Table 2). DWG File SizesĪnother way to see if ZWCAD+ is doing things differently with files from AutoCAD is to compare file sizes. While this test is very basic, it indirectly tests quite a wide range of features, and so is a good way to establish compatibility of the fundamentals in one simple process. ZWCAD+ matched AutoCAD exactly, which was a good start. Table 1: Results of counting entities in test drawings Below, the table shows the results: entity types and the count of each (Table 1). My four test drawings each contain various entity types.

If parts of the file are structured in a way that the receiving software does not understand, then entities might be omitted, drawn incorrectly, or converted to generic types.įor this first test, I opened several drawings, and then simply counted the entity types that they contained. The software needs to be written in such a way that it can cope with – and understand – all the possible ways in which a valid DWG file can be structured. From my experience as a software developer, I know that reading data from a format such as DWG can be fraught with obstacles. The first thing I did was to check that DWG files opened in ZWCAD+ contained the same list of basic entities that are created by AutoCAD. With the origins of DWG and DWF file formats firmly rooted by Autodesk in AutoCAD, I will use AutoCAD as the benchmark.

When talking about file format compatibility, it is important to understand exactly what ZWCAD+ is trying being compatible with.

I’ll also review their cloud offering and their. ZWSOFT positions its ZWCAD+ software as a strong alternative to AutoCAD, and so in this review I will look at how compatible it is with DWG and DWF files. DWG compatibility: does it read AutoCAD entities? Does it support a cloud-based workflow? And will 3rd-party AutoCAD programs work? But how many can really step in and do the same job? An AutoCAD user takes ZWCAD+ to the test in 3 crucial areas. By William Forty The CAD world is full of competitors to AutoCAD.

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