FTP and AutoCAD

[Originally posted to autodesk.autocad.2005]

Why can't I get FTP access to work correctly through AutoCAD?

First of all, in the account manager I would like to see an FTP account name
to save with the IP address. When it is saved under the IP address, it is
nearly impossible to know which account I am accessing until I do. This
problem is worse when the IP address for the FTP server is not static. I
would love to see entries such as "Arch Server", "Home Server" and "Details
Server" in lieu of IP addresses.

Next, even though I have an account saved through AutoCAD complete with user
name and password it always asks me for them again whenever I open a file.
If this is done to strengthen security could it be set up as a preference?
I don't feel this level of security is necessary; I would opt for the
grearter convienience of opening the file directly.

Lastly, whenever I finish up with a file and attempt to close it I get an
error stating that the file could not be saved. At this point the only
thing I can do is to save the file to my harddrive and upload it through an
FTP client. This, in itself, is reason enough to not use AutoCAD as a
method to access FTP. Ideally, it would be nice to see a dwl file and a
'read-only' status on the dwg file. This way if someone else tried to
access the same file either through FTP or directly they would be told that
the file was in use.

Has anyone else had these same issues? ..and is there a better way?

Thanks,
Jeffrey K. Ries