AutoCAD WS is proud to be one of the apps included in the launch of Google Drive. With the AutoCAD WS app you can view all the DWG and DXF files in your Google Drive account. This tutorial will take you through the basic set up and explain how to work with Google Drive and AutoCAD WS to manage your drawings.

Sign up for Google Drive

The first thing you need to do is make sure that you re signed up for Google Drive. Head over to https://drive.google.com and sign up. You will need a Google account to sign up and you can use your existing credentials if you already have a Gmail or Google+ account. Your Google Drive account comes with 5GB of free storage but you can upgrade this as soon as you want more space. You can immediately begin uploading files of any type using the web interface or you can download Google Drive to your computer using this link.

AutoCAD WS App

In order for Google Drive to recognize and allow you to view the DWG and DXF files in your online account, you will need to install the AutoCAD WS app on your Google Drive. To do this simply visit the Chrome Web Store and install the AutoCAD WS app from there. You will then be able to open Google Drive files in AutoCAD WS from any computer where you are signed in to your Google account.

Using Google Drive to View DWGs and DXFs

To view any of the DWG or DXF files in your Google Drive account, right click on the file and select Open With. Then you can select AutoCAD WS. You do not need to have registered an AutoCAD WS account to view the drawings in your Google Drive folder.

Save As and Edit

For now you will only be able to view your Google Drive drawings in AutoCAD WS. You can take measurements and view the different layouts of your drawing but you will not be able to make any changes or annotations on it. There may be more editing features opened up in the future for Google Drive users, but, for now, if you want to take edit and save changes using AutoCAD WS, you will need to use the Save As feature within AutoCAD WS. This will create a copy of your file and upload it to your AutoCAD WS online account which is distinct from your Google Drive folder. If you have never registered with Autodesk, you will need to create a separate account in AutoCAD WS to save your edits.

To learn more about the full range of CAD editing features in AutoCAD WS visit our Tutorials section or start here.

Watch this video for a brief overview of the new features that are explained further below:

3D Support

We have expanded the View Modes with the latest release of AutoCAD WS to enabling toggling between 2D and 3D views of your 3D drawings. Please note that all editing functionality is currently disabled when viewing a drawing in 3D. In each mode you can view your drawings either as Normal or in Grayscale.

Preset Viewing Angles in 3D

The 3D View toolbar comes with a selection of 10 different angles from which to view your 3D model:

• Top
• Bottom
• Front
• Back
• Left
• Right
• NW
• NE
• SW
• SE

In addition to the preset angles you can use your finger to rotate the drawing in three dimensions around a pivot point determined by the center of the current view.

Printing in 3D

The new Plot from mobile feature supports printing from the 3D view.

GPS Support

The new GPS function lets you position yourself within your design leveraging the built-in GPS functionality of your smartphone or tablet to add contextually relevant comments at precise geographic locations.

Please note that the accuracy of the AutoCAD WS GPS function is dependent on the accuracy of your device. You may have to enable the GPS function in order to get accurate information.

Set Location

You can establish a point and then manually adjust the x, y and z coordinates of that pointwithin your drawing. Similarly, you can use the GPS function to identify your specific longitude, latitude and altitude and then manually adjust if necessary.

My Location

With My Location you can position yourself within your drawing and move around making notes and adding comments in specific locations.

Plot from Mobile

With this latest release we have added the ability to plot your drawings directly from the AutoCAD WS mobile app. There are two ways for you to do this this.

First you can plot your drawing as a PDF file and email it to any address in the world.

Secondly you can send your drawing directly to any web-connected HP ePrinter.

When emailing your design you can enter or select an address and add a covering note before sending.

Trim/Extend

We have added these much-requested editing tools to the edit toolbar of the AutoCAD WS mobile app.

Trim

To trim an object you first select the new boundary to which you wish to trim your object. Then tap Trim and select the object you want to trim.

Extend

To extend an object, you first select the new boundary or boundaries to which you wish to extend your object. Then tap Extend and select the object you want to extend.

For a brief overview of the new features check out this video:

Layers Support

With the latest version of AutoCAD WS for Mobile you can now turns layers on and off manually from within the app. This gives you greater control over the way you view your design. Each layer is marked with a lightbulb icon which can be switched on or off to indicate whether the layer is active or not.

We have also made sure that any colors that have been used in layers during the creation of your design will be automatically available for selection from your Color palette.

Accurate Input

For the first time in AutoCAD WS, you can now enter the precise length you want for a line, polyline or the radius of a circle. When creating one of these objects, you can pull up the number pad and manually enter the length you want.

Similarly, you can manually enter the precise distance you want to want to move or copy a selected object. You can also enter the angle you wish to rotate an object.

Area Measurement

Area Measurement simply enables you to get an accurate account of your drawing wherever you are accessing AutoCAD WS. Using the Area Measurement tool you can describe an specific area on your design by tapping for each vertex and AutoCAD WS will instantly calculate its area and perimeter.

Area Measurement works in conjunction with the magnifying glass so that a long tap on the screen will allow you to identify and then snap to the exact point, vertex or circle center that you want.

File Management

We have added some basic file management functionality to the AutoCAD WS mobile app. You can now save a copy of your design and continue working with it in a different version. You can also rename any of your files. These changes will be made to the files in your autoCAD WS online account and will be reflected wherever you access that account.

We have also added the ability to delete files from your AutoCAD WS account using your mobile phone or tablet.

The purpose of this tutorial is to show how you can use the WebdavClient C# class to perform various operations on files and folders located in an AutoCAD WS account.

Using this C# class you will be able to –

• Connect to an AutoCAD WS account
• Query the account file and folder structure.
• Perform different file operations such as copy, delete, rename, create folder.
• Upload and download files from the account.
• Query file metadata such as last modified, permission and thumbnails.
• Launch a drawing in the WS web editor.

WebdavClient class uses the Webdav protocol to communicate with the Autocad WS service.

The WebdavClient C# class relies on the standard Webdav protocol to communicate with the Autocad WS service. This http based industry protocol is supported across multiple languages such as C++, C#, Java and JavaScript. Click here for a tutorial on accessing AutoCAD WS using JavaScript.

Click here to download the C# sample application source code.

Constructor

The constructor of the WebdavClient class expects three arguments:

1. host: The Webdav server addres. For example, if you want to connect to Autocad WS server, use: ‘https://dav.autocadws.com’
2. username: the username of your AutoCAD WS account.
3. password: the password of your account.

The following code creates new WebdavClient class, connecting to Autocad WS Webdav server, with the username ‘someuser’ and the password ’123456′.

WebDAVClient client = new WebdavClient("https://dav.autocadws.com", "someuser", "123456");

PROPFIND
The PROPFIND method is used to retrieve info about files and folders in an AutoCAD WS account.

The Propfind function receives two arguments:

1. remoteFilePath: relative path to the folder/file for which we wish to retrieve information.
2. depth: indicates whether the method is to be applied only to the resource (Depth = “0″), to the resource and its internal members only (Depth = “1″), or the resource and all its members (Depth = “infinity”).

In addition, remember to subscribe your callback function to the PropfindComplete event.

The following code sends PROPFIND request to the server, requesting info for all files/folders residing directly in ‘/Site’ folder.

//subscribe to the PropfindComplete event
client.PropfindComplete += new PropfindCompleteDel(PropfindResponse);
 
// request properties of all files/folders residing directly under the 'Site' folder.
client.Propfind('/Site', 1);

In this example, we subscriberd the function PropfindResponse to the PropfindComplete event. When Propfind is finished, WebdavClient will call the PropfindResponse. This function must have the following signature:

//responseStr is the full XML returned by the server.
//WebdavItemInfo holds partial information about each file/folder retrieved, such as its name,
//relative path and whether it is a folder or a file.
public void PropfindResponse(String folderHref, bool requestSuccessfull, int statusCode,
                                       String responseStr, List files)

We will show an implementation of the PropfindResponse function that prints the names of all items retrieved to the console. We could get the names from the WebdavItemInfo objects, but we will get this info from the full response XML, to show how this XML can be parsed.
Before we look at the PropfindResponse implementation, we should take a look at the response from the Webdav server. The server return an XML which holds info about the files/folders. The following is an example of such xml:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<d:multistatus xmlns:D="DAV:">
  <d:response>
    <d:href>/Site/filea.dwg</D:href>
    <d:propstat>
      <d:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</D:status>
      <d:prop">
        <d:creationdate>2011-12-01T17:42:21-08:00</d:creationdate>
        <d:displayname>filea.dwg</d:displayname>
      </d:prop>
    </D:propstat>
  </D:response>
  <d:response>
    <d:href>/Site/fileb.dwg</D:href>
    <d:propstat>
      <d:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</D:status>
      <d:prop">
        <d:creationdate>2011-12-01T17:42:21-08:00</d:creationdate>
        <d:displayname>fileb.dwg</d:displayname>
      </d:prop>
    </d:propstat>
  </d:response>
</d:multistatus>

As you can see, each files/folder returned in ‘d:response’ tag. In this case, the server returned information about two files, ‘filea.dwg’ and ‘fileb.dwg’. For each file, the server states the creation date and its name.

The following code shows the implementaiton of the PropfindResponse function:

public void PropfindResponse(String folderHref, bool requestSuccessfull, int statusCode,
                                       String responseStr, List files)
{
    XmlDocument xml = new XmlDocument();
    xml.LoadXml(responseStr);
 
    XmlNamespaceManager xmlNsManager = new XmlNamespaceManager(xml.NameTable);
    xmlNsManager.AddNamespace("d", "DAV:");
    xmlNsManager.AddNamespace("WSNS", "WS");
 
    //each child node is a 'd:response' node
    foreach (XmlNode node in xml.DocumentElement.ChildNodes)
    {
        XmlNode propStatNode = node.SelectSingleNode("d:propstat", xmlNsManager);
        XmlNode propsNode = propStatNode.SelectSingleNode("d:prop", xmlNsManager);
 
        XmlNode nameNode =  propsNode.SelectSingleNode("d:displayname", xmlNsManager); 
 
        String name = HttpUtility.HtmlDecode(nameNode.InnerXml);
 
        Console.Out.WriteLine(name);
}

If the account using username ‘someuser’ has the folder ‘Site’ and the files ‘filea.dwg’ and ‘fileb.dwg’ in the folder, the user will see the names of the files printed to the console:

filea.dwg
fileb.dwg

COPY. MOVE, DELETE, UPLOAD
Copy, Move, Delete and Upload are called in the same way as the PROPFIND method, differed in the parameters passed.
You should remember to subscribe a callback function to the appropriate event(DeleteComplete, CopyComplete, MoveComplete, UploadComplete). There is no response to parse in those cases but using the callback, you will be notified when the operation finished and whether is was successfull.

The following code:

1. copies ‘/Site/filea.dwg’ to /OtherSite/fileb.dwg’
2. moves ‘/Site/filec.dwg’ to /OtherSite/filed.dwg’
3. deletes ‘/Site/filee.dwg’
4. uploads a local file from ‘c:\fileg.dwg’ to ‘/Site/fileg.dwg’

//subscribe to theDeleteComplete , CopyComplete  and MoveComplete events
client.DeleteComplete -= new DeleteCompleteDel(FSOpFinished);
client.CopyComplete -= new CopyCompleteDel(FSOpFinished);
client.MoveComplete -= new MoveCompleteDel(FSOpFinished);
client.UploadComplete -= new UploadCompleteDel(FSOpFinished);
 
var overwrite = true;
 
client.Copy("/Site/filea.dwg", "/OtherSite/fileb.dwg", overwrite);
client.Move( "/Site/filec.dwg", "/OtherSite/filed.dwg'" overwrite);
client.Delete("/Site/filee.dwg");
client.Upload("c:/fileg.dwg", "Site/fileg.dwg");

The following code shows the FSOpFinished function that prints to console the message ‘success’ in case the request ended successfully or the message ‘error’ with the status code in case of an error:

public void FSOpFinished(bool requestSuccessfull, int statusCode, String responseStr)
{
    if(requestSuccessfull)
    {
        Console.Out.WriteLine("success");
    }
    else
    {
        Console.Out.WriteLine("error: " + statusCode);
    }
}

Opening drawing in Autocad WS

To open a drawing simply invoke the OpenDrawing method of the client, passing the path of the drawing:

client.OpenDrawing("/Site/filea.dwg");

Download the C# sample application source code.

The purpose of this tutorial is to show how you can use the WebdavClient Javascript class to perform various operations on files and folders located in your Autocad WS account.

Using this JavaScript class you will be able to –

• Connect to an AutoCAD WS account
• Query the account file and folder structure.
• Perform different files operation such as copy, delete, rename, create folder.
• Upload and download files from the account.
• Query file metadata such as last modified, permission and thumbnails.
• Launch a drawing in the WS web editor.

The WebdavClient JS class relies on the standard Webdav protocol to communicate with the Autocad WS service. This http based industry protocol is supported across multiple languages such as C++, C#, Java and JavaScript. Click here for a tutorial on accessing AutoCAD WS using C#.

This tutorial demonstrates how to perform the operations mentioned above in JavaScript. We’ve also embedded the client source code which can download here below. Click here to download full source code of this sample.

var client = new WebdavClient('https://dav.autocadws.com', 'someuser', '123456');

//A handler the implements onSuccess and onError functions
var handler = new PropfindHandler();
 
// request properties of all files/folders residing directly under the 'Site' folder.
client.PROPFIND(handler, '/Site', 1);

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<d:multistatus xmlns:D="DAV:">
  <d:response>
    <d:href>/Site/filea.dwg</D:href>
    <d:propstat>
      <d:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</D:status>
      <d:prop">
        <d:creationdate>2011-12-01T17:42:21-08:00</d:creationdate>
        <d:displayname>filea.dwg</d:displayname>
      </d:prop>
    </D:propstat>
  </D:response>
  <d:response>
    <d:href>/Site/fileb.dwg</D:href>
    <d:propstat>
      <d:status>HTTP/1.1 200 OK</D:status>
      <d:prop">
        <d:creationdate>2011-12-01T17:42:21-08:00</d:creationdate>
        <d:displayname>fileb.dwg</d:displayname>
      </d:prop>
    </d:propstat>
  </d:response>
</d:multistatus>

function PropfindHandler()
{
}
 
PropfindHandler.prototype.onSuccess = function(result)
{
    var names = '';
 
    // each file/folder is defined within a 'response' tag
    var items = this.getElementByTagName(result.content, 'd', 'response');
 
    for (i = 0; i < items.length; i++)
    {
        var props = this.getElementByTagName(items[i], 'd', 'prop')[0]; 
 
        var displayNameTag = this.getElementByTagName(props, 'd', 'displayname')[0];
        var displayName = displayNameTag.childNodes[0].nodeValue;
 
        names += displayName + '/n';
    }
 
    alert(names);
};
 
PropfindHandler.prototype.onError = function(result)
{
    alert(result.status);
}

filea.dwg
fileb.dwg

var handler = new FSHandler();
 
var overwrite = true;
 
client.COPY(handler, '/Site/filea.dwg', '/OtherSite/fileb.dwg', overwrite);
client.MOVE(handler, '/Site/filec.dwg', '/OtherSite/filed.dwg', overwrite);
client.DELETE(handler, '/Site/filee.dwg');

function FSHandler()
{
}
 
FSHandler.prototype.onSuccess = function(result)
{
    alert('success');
};
 
FSHandler.prototype.onError = function(result)
{
    alert('error: ' + result.status);
}

$real_destination_host = "https://dav.autocadws.com";

client.OpenDrawing('/Site/filea.dwg');

AutoCAD WS probably isn’t the first piece of cloud-based software you have ever used and most likely won’t be the last. You may already be used to working in the cloud with your online email service, Google Docs or other software as a service (SaaS) product, but you still need to know that your content is secure.

We felt this was a good time for AutoCAD WS to address the issue of security and to state our commitment to industry best practices for document security.

You can read or download our new white paper AutoCAD WS Security – Cloud Computing and More by clicking the link or the image on the right.

You can also forward this white paper to your colleagues, manager, IT team or whoever is in charge of your company’s data security. Businesses are already adopting AutoCAD WS as a vital design tool both in and out of the office. We want to make sure that the people who are concerned about security feel comfortable using AutoCAD WS – so you can do your job the way you want.

If you have further questions about the security of your drawings in AutoCAD WS, send us an email to feedback@autocadws.com or leave us a message in the usual places.

Through a simple mapping process, you can create a folder on your desktop (or anywhere else) that shows you everything inside your AutoCAD WS account.

Using this folder, you can add or delete files to your AutoCAD WS account. You can also create sub-folders and organize your files the way you want. You can also move or copy files from your AutoCAD WS account to your local drives and vice versa.

Connecting to AutoCAD WS from your Desktop

Windows XP

1. On your desktop Click the icon called My Network Places.
2. In the Network Tasks menu on the left-hand side click Add a network place to start the Add Network Place Wizard.
3. Click Next.
4. Select Choose another network location and click Next.
5. Under Internet or network address, copy the following:
   https://dav.autocadws.com
6. Click Next.
7. You will be asked to enter your credentials. Your credentials are the user name (or email) and password that you usually use to connect to AutoCAD WS.
8. Click OK.
9. You can call this network place anything you like and click Next.
10. Click Finish.
11. A new window will open showing your connection to your AutoCAD WS online account and all the files and folders inside. You can manage these files like you would in any other window by dragging files in or out and using keyboard shortcuts.
12. To create a shortcut hold the SHIFT button and drag the new network place icon to the desktop.

Windows 7

1. On your desktop or in your start menu, find the icon called Computer.
2. Right click on Computer and select Add a network location to start the Add Network Location Wizard.
3. Click Next.
4. Select Choose a custom network location and click Next.
5. Under Internet or network address, copy the following:
   https://dav.autocadws.com
6. Click Next.
7. You will be asked to enter your credentials. Your credentials are the user name (or email) and password that you usually use to connect to AutoCAD WS.
8. You can call this network location anything you like and click Next.
9. Click Finish.
10. A new window will open showing your connection to your AutoCAD WS online account and all the files and folders inside. You can manage these files like you would in any other window by dragging files in or out and using keyboard shortcuts.
11. To create a shortcut from your desktop, right-click on the drive name and select Send to Desktop (create shortcut)

Mac OS

1. Open the program called Finder.
2. Click on Go in the overhead menu and select Connect to Server… from the dropdown list.
3. Under Server Address copy the following:
   https://dav.autocadws.com
4. Click Connect.
5. You will be asked to enter your credentials. Your credentials are the user name (or email) and password that you usually use to connect to AutoCAD WS.
6. Click Connect.
7. A new folder will appear in Finder called dav.autocadws.com showing all the files and folders in your AutoCAD WS online account. You can manage these files like you would in any other window by dragging files in or out and using keyboard shortcuts.

The AutoCAD WS mobile app enables you to view and work with DWG files directly on any Android phone or tablet running Android 2.1 or higher. This free* mobile app can be downloaded from the Android Market.

This tutorial provides a brief overview of the things you will be able to do with the AutoCAD WS mobile app.

Sign in to AutoCAD WS

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the mobile app, you can sign in to your AutoCAD WS account from your device by using your AutoCAD WS or existing Autodesk credentials. If you don’t have an AutoCAD WS account, the mobile app lets you create one.

Please note that you will need to be connected to the internet the first time you open the app.

Open a Drawing

Upon signing in to AutoCAD WS from your Android device, you will see the Drawings window. This window contains the list of drawings and folders that you have uploaded or created. There are a number of ways to upload drawings to your account:

• Using the AutoCAD WS web app through your computer’s browser at www.autocadws.com
• Using AutoCAD 2010 or AutoCAD 2011 once you have downloaded and installed the AutoCAD-WS plug-in
• Using AutoCAD 2012 or AutoCAD for Mac
• Receiving the drawings as an attachent to your Android device’s email client and opening themwhile connected to the internet

See the Getting Started tutorial to learn more.

Tap to open a drawing or to view the contents of a folder. When you open a drawing, you can view, edit and collaborate on the drawing from your device.

Editing a Drawing

The mobile Editor contains a number of toolbars that enable you to edit and markup AutoCAD drawings. You can add basic shapes or make text annotations—perfect for small touch-ups in the field or on the road. Access each toolbars by tapping its icon on the command ribbon found on the bottom of your device’s screen.

Navigation Tips: Using the device’s touch interface, you can pan, zoom, edit, and annotate AutoCAD drawings in the mobile Editor. To pan the drawing,  swipe in the direction of your choice. To zoom in and out, pinch the area you’d like to view. Tap objects to select, then move, rotate, or scale. To select multiple objects, turn on multi-selection and then make a long tap and drag your finger to create a rectangle that will select all objects intersecting it. To stop multi-selection, toggle the multi-selection button on the bottom ribbon off.

The Commands Ribbon. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the Editor’s command ribbon, and the toolbars associated with each icon on the ribbon:

• Draw Tools. Show the Draw toolbar which lets you add new objects to the drawing.
• Markup Tools. Shows the Markup toolbar which lets you markup and annotate the drawing.
• Select Color. Change the active drawing and markup color.
• Undo. Undo the last command.
• Redo. Redo the last command.
• Multi-selection. Turn multi-selection mode On/Off.
• Layouts. Select an alternative layout from the available list.
• View mode. Controls the style in which the drawing is displayed.
• Share drawing. Shares the drawing with other users.

Draw Tools

The Draw toolbar lets you add geometry to the drawing, such as lines, circles, and polylines.

The Draw toolbar contains the following commands:

• Circle – lets you draw a circle by first tapping a center point, and then tapping another point on the perimiter. You can also draw a circle by making a long tap, and then dragging your finger on the screen to draw the radius. Release to complete the circle.
• Polyline – lets you draw a polyline consisting of multiple vertices. Tap a point to add a vertex, or make a long tap and then drag your finger across the screen to draw the next polyline segment . When done, tap the “Done” button.

• Line – lets you draw a line comprising a start and end point. Tap to specify the start point, and tap again to specify the end point. You can also draw a line by making a long tap, then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired length. Release to end the line.
• Rectangle – lets you draw a rectangle by defining two opposite corners. Tap to specify the first corner, and tap again to specify the opposing corner. You can also draw a rectangle by making a long tap, then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired size. Release to complete the rectangle.
• Measure – shows the distance between two points on the drawing. Tap to specify the start point, and tap again to specify the end point. You can also measure a distance by making a long tap, and then dragging your your finger across the screen; release once on the target point to view the distance between the two points.

• Text – lets you annotate the drawing by entering text at a specified position. To enter text, tap the text entry icon from the toolbar, and then type the text in the text window. Click “Done” or “Cancel” to continue.

Extra: Orthogonality and Snapping. When you draw a line that is close being horizontal or vertical by 5° or less, the line will automatically be drawn orthogonally. While performing a long tap or drag operation in the vicinity of a vertex of an intersection, a snapping marker will appear to let you know that releasing your finger at that point will snap the drawn vertex to the target intersection or vertex.

Markup Tools

The Markup toolbar lets you add markups to the drawing, such as revisions clouds. To use this toolbar, you are not required to have editing permissions for the drawing. The Markup toolbar contains the following commands:

• Rectangle – lets you draw a rectangle by defining two opposite corners. Tap to specify the first corner, and tap again to specify the opposing corner. You can also draw a rectangle by making a long tap, and then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired size. Release to complete the rectangle.
• Cloud – lets you draw a revision cloud by tapping a starting point, and then dragging your finger across the area in the drawing that you would like to markup. Release to complete the cloud.
• Text –lets you annotate the drawing by entering text at a specified position. To use the text tool, tap the text icon and then type in the text window. Click “Done” or “Cancel” to continue.
• Pencil Tool – This  tool enables you to draw smoother free-line markups and doodles, with more control. Make a long tap to specify a starting point, and then dragging your finger to describe the line you want. Release to end the line.

Edit Tools

The Edit context toolbar contains tools which enable you to move, rotate, scale, delete objects, and edit text. Once an object is selected, the Edit toolbar will be shown, offering you a choice of the following commands:

• Move – lets you move shapes by specifying a base point and distance. Tap to specify the base point, and tap again to specify the end point. You can also determine the distance to move by making a long tap, and then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired point. Release to complete the move.

• Scale – lets you scale shapes by specifying a base point and a scale factor. Tap to specify the base point, and tap again to specify the scale factor, or make a long tap and  drag your finger across the screen to determine the scale factor.
• Rotate – lets you rotate shapes by specifying a base point and and rotation angle. Tap to specify the base point and tap again to specify the angle , or make a long tap and  drag your finger across the screen to set the rotation angle.
• Erase – Tap the  erase button to delete the selected shapes from the drawing.
• Copy - Copy the selected object and place it again in the drawing.
• Edit Text – only applicable to text objects. Edit the contents of the text object using the text editor.
• Deselect – clears the current selection.

Layouts

AutoCAD WS now supports layouts in addition to the drawing’s model-space. To view a layout, tap the Layout button and select the desired layout from the available list. Tap the Layout button again to hide the selection.

You can view and markup layouts in the same way that you can using the WS web app. Editing of objects in layouts is disabled (switch to the model-space to modify objects).

AutoCAD WS also supports DWG files that are generated in Inventor®. DWG files that we’re generated by Autodesk Inventor software can now be uploaded, edited and shared using the WS web and mobile apps in the same way as drawing files created by AutoCAD.

Controlling View Modes

You can control the way in which the drawing is displayed using the Set View Mode command to either “Normal,” in which the drawing is displayed using its Model-space colors, or to “Grayscale,” in which the drawing is displayed in shades of bkack and gray emulating the effect of viewing the drawing on paper.

Sharing Drawings

You can share drawings with others AutoCAD WS users for online viewing, editing, and download.  Click the “Share” command to show the Share Drawing window. Select the email addresses of your collaborators and type an optional message. Use the permissions control to specify whether your collaborators are allowed to edit the drawing online and/or to download a local copy of the drawing (“Off” for both permission settings allows your recipient to only view the drawing online). If other users are also viewing the drawing simultaneously, using the AutoCAD WS web application or from another mobile device, you will be able see each other’s changes and collaborate on the drawing in real time.

Snap Previews

Snap preview is a feature that enables you to achieve higher precision in the placing of lines or objects and the selection of specific line intersections. Whenever you hold your finger to the screen for a second, a magnifying glass will appear that magnifies and displays the exact area under your finger.

Multi Language

The AutoCAD WS mobile and web apps now support eight additional languages:

• Chinese – 中文
• French- Français
• German- Deutsch
• Italian – Italiano
• Japanese – 日本語
• Korean – 한국어
• Portuguese – Português
• Spanish – Español

The choice of languages was determined by the countries where AutoCAD WS has had the greatest presence.

The language in the AutoCAD WS mobile app is determined by the settings of your Android device. If you have set your Android phone or tablet to a language other than one of the eight listed here, AutoCAD WS will be presented in English by default.

For the AutoCAD WS web app the localization process will be carried out in two stages. With this release, the language of the menus and buttons can be changed by selecting the appropriate flag from the drop down menu. Contextual pop ups, like the sharing window will appear in English. The next release of AutoCAD WS will see these elements translated as well.

The language chosen is applied only to the app, not to any of your files. when you share a drawing the recipient will see the menus in the language he or she has defined.

Upload from Email

Once you’ve installed the mobile app, all DWG and DXF files that you receive as email attachments will be identified in the email client with the AutoCAD WS logo.

The upload from email feature works with all current versions of Android, beginning with version 2.1.

Opening the Email Attachment

Simply tap on the attachment to open it. If you are already signed in to your AutoCAD WS account, the drawing will open immediately. If you are not signed in, you will see the sign-in screen allowing you to sign in using your AutoCAD WS or existing Autodesk credentials. First-time users will be able to create an account from the same screen.

Open and Upload Drawing

Once you are signed in the attachment will open immediately in AutoCAD WS. The drawing will be uploaded to your online account so that you can view it from another mobile device or through the web app.

Syncing Drawings for Offline Use

Opening a drawing that you received as an email attachment will also sync the drawing to your local device allowing you to continue working with it offline. For more details about working with AutoCAD WS offline see the section below headed Offline Support.

The AutoCAD WS mobile app enables you to view and work with DWG files directly on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. This free* mobile app can be downloaded from the iTunes App Store.

This tutorial provides a brief overview of the things you will be able to do with the AutoCAD WS mobile app.

Sign in to AutoCAD WS

Once you’ve agreed to the Apple terms of use and downloaded the mobile app, you can sign in to your AutoCAD WS account from your device by using your AutoCAD WS or existing Autodesk credentials. If you don’t have an AutoCAD WS account, the mobile app lets you create one.

Please note that your device will need a wireless or 3G connection (in the same way that accessing the AutoCAD WS web application requires an Internet connection).

Open a Drawing

Upon signing in to AutoCAD WS from your iOS device, you will see the Files Manager window. This window contains the list of drawings and folders that you have uploaded or created. Please note that to view and edit drawings on your device, you will need to sign in to your account at www.autocadws.com from an Internet-connected PC or Mac, and upload drawings and files using the Upload command in the AutoCAD WS Drawings menu. See the Getting Started tutorial to learn more. If you’re an AutoCAD user, you can upload drawings directly from AutoCAD once you have downloaded and installed the AutoCAD-WS plug-in.

Double tap to open a drawing or to view the contents of a folder. When you double tap a drawing, it opens in the mobile Editor. The mobile Editor lets you view, edit and collaborate on the drawing from your device.

Editing a Drawing

The mobile Editor contains a number of toolbars that enable you to edit and markup AutoCAD drawings. You can add basic shapes or make text annotations—perfect for small touch-ups in the field or on the road. Access each toolbars by tapping its icon on the command ribbon found on the bottom of your device’s screen.

Navigation Tips: Using the device’s touch interface, you can pan, zoom, edit, and annotate AutoCAD drawings in the mobile Editor. To pan the drawing,  swipe in the direction of your choice.To zoom in and out, pinch the area you’d like to view. Tap objects to select, then move, rotate, or scale. To select multiple objects, turn on multi-selection and then make a long tap and drag your finger to create a rectangle that will select all objects intersecting it. To stop multi-selection, toggle the multi-selection button on the bottom ribbon off.

The Commands Ribbon. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the Editor’s command ribbon, and the toolbars associated with each icon on the ribbon:

• Draw Tools. Show the Draw toolbar which lets you add new objects to the drawing.
• Markup Tools. Shows the Markup toolbar which lets you markup and annotate the drawing.
• View mode. Controls the style in which the drawing is displayed.
• Undo. Undo the last command.
• Redo. Redo the last command.
• Multi-selection. Turn multi-selection mode On/Off.
• Select Color. Change the active drawing and markup color.
• Share drawing. Shars the drawing with other users.

Draw Tools

The Draw toolbar lets you add geometry to the drawing, such as lines, circles, and polylines.

The Draw toolbar contains the following commands:

• Circle – lets you draw a circle by first tapping a center point, and then tapping another point on the perimiter. You can also draw a circle by making a long tap, and then dragging your finger on the screen to draw the radius. Release to complete the circle.
• Polyline – lets you draw a polyline consisting of multiple vertices. Tap a point to add a vertex, or make a long tap and then drag your finger across the screen to draw the next polyline segment . When done, tap the “Done” button.

• Line – lets you draw a line comprising a start and end point. Tap to specify the start point, and tap again to specify the end point. You can also draw a line by making a long tap, then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired length. Release to end the line.
• Rectangle – lets you draw a rectangle by defining two opposite corners. Tap to specify the first corner, and tap again to specify the opposing corner. You can also draw a rectangle by making a long tap, then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired size. Release to complete the rectangle.
• Measure – shows the distance between two points on the drawing. Tap to specify the start point, and tap again to specify the end point. You can also measure a distance by making a long tap, and then dragging your your finger across the screen; release once on the target point to view the distance between the two points.

• Text – lets you annotate the drawing by entering text at a specified position. To enter text, tap the text entry icon from the toolbar, and then type the text in the text window. Click “Done” or “Cancel” to continue.

Extra: Orthogonality and Snapping. When you draw a line that is close being horizontal or vertical by 5° or less, the line will automatically be drawn orthogonally. While performing a long tap or drag operation in the vicinity of a vertex of an intersection, a snapping marker will appear to let you know that releasing your finger at that point will snap the drawn vertex to the target intersection or vertex.

Markup Tools

The Markup toolbar lets you add markups to the drawing, such as revisions clouds. To use this toolbar, you are not required to have editing permissions for the drawing. The Markup toolbar contains the following commands:

• Rectangle – lets you draw a rectangle by defining two opposite corners. Tap to specify the first corner, and tap again to specify the opposing corner. You can also draw a rectangle by making a long tap, and then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired size. Release to complete the rectangle.
• Cloud – lets you draw a revision cloud by tapping a starting point, and then dragging your finger across the area in the drawing that you would like to markup. Release to complete the cloud.
• Text –lets you annotate the drawing by entering text at a specified position. To use the text tool, tap the text icon and then type in the text window. Click “Done” or “Cancel” to continue.
• Free Line – lets you draw a free line across the drawing by making a long tap to specify a starting point, and then dragging your finger to the desired length. Release to end the line.

Edit Tools

The Edit context toolbar contains tools which enable you to move, rotate, scale, delete objects, and edit text. Once an object is selected, the Edit toolbar will be shown, offering you a choice of the following commands:

• Move – lets you move shapes by specifying a base point and distance. Tap to specify the base point, and tap again to specify the end point. You can also determine the distance to move by making a long tap, and then dragging your finger across the screen to the desired point. Release to complete the move.

• Scale – lets you scale shapes by specifying a base point and a scale factor. Tap to specify the base point, and tap again to specify the scale factor, or make a long tap and  drag your finger across the screen to determine the scale factor.
• Rotate – lets you rotate shapes by specifying a base point and and rotation angle. Tap to specify the base point and tap again to specify the angle , or make a long tap and  drag your finger across the screen to set the rotation angle.
• Erase –Tap the  erase button to delete the selected shapes from the drawing.
• Edit Text – only applicable to text objects. Edit the contents of the text object using the text editor.
• Deselect – clears the current selection.

Controlling View Modes

You can control the way in which the drawing is displayed using the Set View Mode command to either “Normal,” in which the drawing is displayed using its Model-space colors, or to “Grayscale,” in which the drawing is displayed in shades of bkack and gray emulating the effect of viewing the drawing on paper.

Sharing Drawings

You can share drawings with others AutoCAD WS users for online viewing, editing, and download.  Click the “Share” command to show the Share Drawing window. Select the email addresses of your collaborators and type an optional message. Use the permissions control to specify whether your collaborators are allowed to edit the drawing online and/or to download a local copy of the drawing (“Off” for both permission settings allows your recipient to only view the drawing online). If other users are also viewing the drawing simultaneously, using the AutoCAD WS web application or from another mobile device, you will be able see each other’s changes and collaborate on the drawing in real time.

Upload from Email

Once you’ve installed the mobile app, all DWG and DXF files that you receive as email attachments will be identified in the email client with the AutoCAD WS logo.

The upload from email feature works with all current versions of iOS for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, beginning with version 3.2.

Opening the Email Attachment

Simply tap on the attachment to open it. A dialog will appear to confirm your decision to “Open in AutoCAD WS”. Click on the button to continue opening the file.

If you are already signed in to your AutoCAD WS account, the drawing will open immediately. If you are not signed in, you will see the sign-in screen allowing you to sign in using your AutoCAD WS or existing Autodesk credentials. First-time users will be able to create an account from the same screen.

Open and Upload Drawing

Once you are signed in the attachment will open immediately in AutoCAD WS. The drawing will be uploaded to your online account so that you can view it from another mobile device or through the web app.

Syncing Drawings for Offline Use

Opening a drawing that you received as an email attachment will also sync the drawing to your local device allowing you to continue working with it offline. For more details about working with AutoCAD WS offline see the section below headed Offline Support.

AutoCAD WS Email Video

We have updated this tutorial to reflect the new domain.

Connect to Service is a new feature that has been added to the AutoCAD WS web app that allows you to store the contents of your AutoCAD WS online account anywhere you choose.

Connect to Service takes advantage of the WebDAV protocol to read and write content from and to a wide variety of online or privately hosted storage solutions including Buzzsaw, Box.com, Dropbox, MobileMe, Egnyte and any file server or SharePoint portal.

The Connect to Service feature was designed to be as transparent as possible. This means that regardless of where your content is held, you will be able to reach it from the following apps:

• AutoCAD WS web app through your PC or Mac’s web browser
• AutoCAD WS mobile app available on all iOS and Android phones and tablets.

Making a Connection

In order to connect to your Box.com account, you need to log in to the AutoCAD WS web app. A new Connect button has been added to the Drawings ribbon in the web app.

When you click on the Connect button, the following dialog box will open:

To connect AutoCAD WS to your Box.com account, you must define the URL and enter your Box.com username and password.

Clicking on the star dropdown button offers a list of the most popular services.

Connect to Box.com

When you select Box.net from the list, the URL will be completed for you. Change the domain from “.net” to “.com”.

Simply fill in your Box.com username and password. You can overwrite the New Folder Name or leave it and click connect.

Successful Connection

Once you have connected successfully you will receive this message:

This folder will also be visible and accessible under the same name from the AutoCAD WS mobile app for iOS and Android. The contents of your Box.net folder will sync with your mobile device when it is connected to the internet and be available offline just like your other work.

You will now see a new folder with a globe icon indicating that it points to your Box.com account.

Any changes you make to the files stored in your Box.com account will be applied in that account. If you delete a file using AutoCAD WS it will be deleted from your Box.net account.

DWG files that you upload to this account will not be stored on AutoCAD WS servers.

Rules and Permissions

Sharing

Disconnect