2004: DWG File Format. Sham & Shinola or Real Value?

What good is a 'secure' file format if the asset can still be edited when
distributed to others for review? Is the 'new and improved' DWG
secure like a bank vault that allows anybody to enter and handle assets
at will?

The proper use of secure certificates in this context would enable the
distribution of an asset such that the asset may be made totally secure
allowing no edits when distributed. The highest and best use of certificates
would also allow role based security provisioning so as to enable selective
editing of the asset which would likely occur using a layering paradigm.

So what are the facts here? More of the typical 'new and improved' or does
the 'new and improved' DWG actually provide meaningful value?

--
<%= Clinton Gallagher
A/E/C Consulting, Web Design, e-Commerce Software Development
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Thanks for your response. I was aware of the passwording function
having read the product reviews.

The application of a digital signature in the context as it has been explained
is totally worthless. Well, it has some value to create the allusion that a file
may be secure while in transit.

I suppose this is good news for a 3rd party developer that will now
create a password manager. After all, how else would a firm track
each of the sheets in a set of plumbing schematics has been secured
using the password PLUMBING?


--
<%= Clinton Gallagher
A/E/C Consulting, Web Design, e-Commerce Software Development
Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin USA
NET
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Thank you, I am aware of the product. Had AutoDesk done their
job correctly the CADLock developer would be looking for a new
development opportunity.

I don't recall his name but we talked via telephone in the early
90's and had a couple good laughs.

I don't neccessarily want to see the small potatos get mashed but having
genuinely secure drawings managed with intelligent role-based
authentication is way overdue.


--
<%= Clinton Gallagher
A/E/C Consulting, Web Design, e-Commerce Software Development
Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin USA
NET
URL http://www.metromilwaukee.com/clintongallagher/

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Worthless is a bit strong. A digital signature (DS) intent is NOT to secure a
drawing. It resembles something like a stamped drawing. The DS shows what is an
authorized use and when it has been modified from the original. It is a legal
signature. Your signature on a document does not secure it from being misused. It
indicates which version of the document you have agreed to. Any modifications that
are done after the DS can then be taken to court as unauthorized use.

The DS is a common idea that is used in a number of applications in the "digital" world.

I agree that there is a need to have a higher control of the drawings through
passwords. I would like to see several levels of control; view, print, copy, and
modify. Each having a seperate password.

Mike

 

Who will use password protection and why?

 

Yep, that is a problem.

 

So Mike, 'useless' is starting to sound more and more pertinent huh? ;-)

--
<%= Clinton Gallagher
A/E/C Consulting, Web Design, e-Commerce Software Development
Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin USA
NET
URL http://www.metromilwaukee.com/clintongallagher/

LaGarde StoreFront 5 Affiliate: e-Commerce Software Development
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I do NOT agree that the Digital Signature is useless. In the field of Architecture
and Engineering, drawings are required by the state to be stamped and signed. As
the world goes digital, the need for an equivelent to a signature is extremly
important. This is what the Digital Signature is answering. There are in fact,
municipalities that are requiring drawings in electronic format. In this case how
do you protect yourself and prove that this is the drawing that you sent. The
digital signature will provide this protection.

This will become more and more a requirement in the years to come.

Useless, Maybe for what you want it to do, but not for what the developers intended.

 

Again I ask, who will use the password feature and why?

 

I can't answer that one for you. If I send a file to someone, I would want to
control what they can do with it, once they open it, not just can they open it. I
my mind the password feature is not developed enough to be useful.

This is a separate issue from the digital signature though.

Mike