Lisbon Municipality: DWF support in ArchiCAD

[Anonymous]

In November 2007 Lisbon's Municipality introduced Autodesk DWF as the standard file format for file sharing and interchangeability, with the approvals of a Law. As a result of that all projects on this municipality must be submitted in this format or else they will be rejected. Although we understand that this modernization process was somehow unavoidable, the chosen file format introduces several problems. In fact, because it is an Autodesk proprietary file format, several other software are unable to correctly meet the municipality standards (for example, also Autodesk's conversion software isn't available for Mac OSX). It's my conviction that by doing so the Lisbon Municipality has excluded and hurted several architects, including ourselves.

As they claim, the introduction of DWF and the consequent simplification of procedures is considered a success and is now being introduced in several other municipalities in Portugal and showcased in other countries.

We know that several costumers and consultants have provided feedback through, Archicad's reseller in Portugal, without results (specially in the Mac platform). We think that Graphisoft should provide a definitive solution to the problem in order to protect their customers. Meanwhile, if that's not possible, Graphisoft should negotiate an exception or transition period.

we've been told that there is a ongoing process against Lisbon's Municipality in the European Court of Justice, so far with no results. That's one of the possible solutions, other solution would be suggesting other similar non-proprietary file formats (DWG, PDF or IFC, like in Denmark), but I believe that the best solution should pass by the upgrading of Archicad to correctly export DWF, because it seems to me that Lisbon is not turning back on this decision.

The following are the problems we are facing when trying to meet the required standards:
- when publishing a layout the resulting DWF will be out of the paper;
- inability to export all layouts as a single DWF;
- layer visibility;
- we are requested to put doors and windows in separate layers. They also request that the zone name and the zone area are in separate layers but I think this one would be extremely hard to accomplish since in Archicad they are the same object;
- 1 unit should equal 1 meter;
- the most difficult part to accomplish is that they demand that the paper space is in the model space scale (one should be able to take the correct measurements in the layout, not the scaled ones - for example in 1/100 scale 1 cm would result in 1 meter not 1 cm).

So far the only way we found to do this is:
- export layouts in DWG using an appropriate translator,
- open the DWG and rescale it to the correct scale,
- finally use Autodesk's software in a PC and convert it to DWF.

Please understand that:
- We don't own a PC, I'm not sure I want one;
- We use Archicad and we don't know how to work with Autocad, weI don't want to learn it, and we're not definitely planning to buy their software.

We figure that the best solution is to upgrade Archicad with a translator, such as the one for DWG and DXF, where one could adjust the output of this file format to meet all of this requirements.

We hope that our contribution is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

vsilva wrote:
In November 2007 Lisbon's Municipality introduced Autodesk DWF as the standard file format for file sharing and interchangeability, with the approvals of a Law. As a result of that all projects on this municipality must be submitted in this format or else they will be rejected. Although we understand that this modernization process was somehow unavoidable, the chosen file format introduces several problems. In fact, because it is an Autodesk proprietary file format, several other software are unable to correctly meet the municipality standards (for example, also Autodesk's conversion software isn't available for Mac OSX). It's my conviction that by doing so the Lisbon Municipality has excluded and hurted several architects, including ourselves.

As they claim, the introduction of DWF and the consequent simplification of procedures is considered a success and is now being introduced in several other municipalities in Portugal and showcased in other countries.

We know that several costumers and consultants have provided feedback through, Archicad's reseller in Portugal, without results (specially in the Mac platform). We think that Graphisoft should provide a definitive solution to the problem in order to protect their customers. Meanwhile, if that's not possible, Graphisoft should negotiate an exception or transition period.

we've been told that there is a ongoing process against Lisbon's Municipality in the European Court of Justice, so far with no results. That's one of the possible solutions, other solution would be suggesting other similar non-proprietary file formats (DWG, PDF or IFC, like in Denmark), but I believe that the best solution should pass by the upgrading of Archicad to correctly export DWF, because it seems to me that Lisbon is not turning back on this decision.

The following are the problems we are facing when trying to meet the required standards:
- when publishing a layout the resulting DWF will be out of the paper;
- inability to export all layouts as a single DWF;
- layer visibility;
- we are requested to put doors and windows in separate layers. They also request that the zone name and the zone area are in separate layers but I think this one would be extremely hard to accomplish since in Archicad they are the same object;
- 1 unit should equal 1 meter;
- the most difficult part to accomplish is that they demand that the paper space is in the model space scale (one should be able to take the correct measurements in the layout, not the scaled ones - for example in 1/100 scale 1 cm would result in 1 meter not 1 cm).

So far the only way we found to do this is:
- export layouts in DWG using an appropriate translator,
- open the DWG and rescale it to the correct scale,
- finally use Autodesk's software in a PC and convert it to DWF.

Please understand that:
- We don't own a PC, I'm not sure I want one;
- We use Archicad and we don't know how to work with Autocad, weI don't want to learn it, and we're not definitely planning to buy their software.

We figure that the best solution is to upgrade Archicad with a translator, such as the one for DWG and DXF, where one could adjust the output of this file format to meet all of this requirements.

We hope that our contribution is appreciated.

Hi.

As Lisbon's CAD Manager I was the guy behind all these issues.
And, I would like to contribute with the following:

First: "other solution would be suggesting other similar non-proprietary file formats (DWG, PDF..." Not exactly...
DWG is a proprietary file format! And an editable one also. DWF is not editable, doesn't require any payed Autodesk software and can be digitally signed. The Digital Signature issue is relevant because the idea is to replace paper. Definitely!
PDF hasn't all the spatial features that DWF provides, which are relevant if you want to use digital drawing as you use paper.
And more... If you want to sign PDFs you have to pay for a Acrobat Professional license! Did you know that? With DWF it's free.

Second: I personally provided Infor with detailed specifications to meet Lisbon's DWF requirements, and Graphisoft supposedly implemented it in ArchiCAD 12.

Third: As Lisbon Municipality's CAD Manager I supported every "Prints and Copies" companies that decided to expand their business "plotting" DWF files. I did it for free, of course.

Last: Regardless of who makes the format (there is always someone, a Multinational Company [Autodesk, Adobe, Graphisoft, Microsoft...]) there is the urgent need of replacing tons of paper with digital information. And DWF is to date the best solution. Or else, prove me wrong. Autodesk hates apart, please.

Henrique Saias

[Anonymous]

Project Summary
With around 10,000 employees and 2,000 contract workers, the Lisbon
Municipal Council (CML) is a very large institution with responsibility for
local governance and development oversight across Portugal’s capital city.
As such, the CML has on staff hundreds of architects and engineers, as well
as hundreds of administrative professionals who need to consult or print
construction drawings in digital format. Needing an easy-to-use and
cost-effective way for all these individuals to share design information,
the CML has embraced the DWF technology and purchased 2,000 seats of
DWF Composer to enable employees across the entire city to review, print,
and archive planning designs digitally.
• Provide easy access to AutoCAD® drawing files without the costs or
training requirements of full AutoCAD seats
• Facilitate email-based sharing of drawings and design files which previously
had to be distributed on CD
• DWF provides a common reviewing format for departments or bodies




Jorge Baptista, Director of the DMAGI, maintains
that DWF and the DWF applications helped solve
what was potentially the CML’s most irksome
problem, that of installing, maintaining and paying
for hundreds of underutilized CAD workstations.
“That is a main reason why we opted for DWF
Composer: it is so much more affordable. The
difference is so dramatic that in many cases we
are saving 75% over single-workstation AutoCAD
seats. There is no better example of the concept of
return on investment.”

[Anonymous]

upintheclouds wrote:
Project Summary
With around 10,000 employees and 2,000 contract workers, the Lisbon
Municipal Council (CML) is a very large institution with responsibility for
local governance and development oversight across Portugal’s capital city.
As such, the CML has on staff hundreds of architects and engineers, as well
as hundreds of administrative professionals who need to consult or print
construction drawings in digital format. Needing an easy-to-use and
cost-effective way for all these individuals to share design information,
the CML has embraced the DWF technology and purchased 2,000 seats of
DWF Composer to enable employees across the entire city to review, print,
and archive planning designs digitally.
• Provide easy access to AutoCAD® drawing files without the costs or
training requirements of full AutoCAD seats
• Facilitate email-based sharing of drawings and design files which previously
had to be distributed on CD
• DWF provides a common reviewing format for departments or bodies




Jorge Baptista, Director of the DMAGI, maintains
that DWF and the DWF applications helped solve
what was potentially the CML’s most irksome
problem, that of installing, maintaining and paying
for hundreds of underutilized CAD workstations.
“That is a main reason why we opted for DWF
Composer: it is so much more affordable. The
difference is so dramatic that in many cases we
are saving 75% over single-workstation AutoCAD
seats. There is no better example of the concept of
return on investment.”

CML Project, Autodesk case study. You can read the full case study here: http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/City_of_lisbon.pdf

This was back in 2005... Then DWF became free... And then Autodesk accepted our suggestion and DWF now supports Digital Signatures...

It was a long ride from then to now...

Henrique Saias