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(continued...) Whilst the ever increasing range of commands and options can provide new benefits, it also introduces the risk of an overly complex and confusing interface.
To address this, task based custom workspaces can be created and readily recalled to show only the toolbars, palettes and menus that are used most frequently for each activity type such as geometry creation or drawing sheet detailing.
A new XML based system has been introduced to replace MNU and MNS custom menu files used in previous releases.
The new CUI files are managed through a tree based Customize User Interface dialog which also has an option to import any previous menu settings.
Autodesk has been careful to ensure that customisation can be preserved between releases and in this release users will be relieved to know that the native DWG file format has not changed in order to maintain compatibility of data.
Blocks can be driven parametrically with the ability to add parameter and action definitions.
Parameters define custom properties and specify positions, distances and angles for the geometry whilst actions define behaviours for how the geometry will move or change.
This in effect enables part of a block to be changed or even hidden as if being an active sub-assembly inside the parent drawing.
Should multiple drawings be open when AutoCAD crashes or a system failure occurs, the Drawing Recovery Manager opens the next time AutoCAD is started.
This displays a list of the previously open files with a preview.
The DWF file format is being extended to incorporate 3D data although in the light of some other more 3D centric products from Autodesk and excellent dedicated solid modellers for mechanical design, vanilla AutoCAD is not likely to be a 3D tool of choice.
There is no doubting the power available in AutoCAD 2006, although for many users needing to generate and manage complex drawings it is likely that numerous previous releases of AutoCAD have been entirely capable.
Autodesk is finding some areas to innovate that will deliver improved productivity, but many enhancements feel more like resolution of niggles or anomalies that could have been addressed several releases ago.
For designers and engineers who have encountered the power of truly parametric geometry creation in other CAD packages, AutoCAD's entity drafting approach feels limiting and outdated.
Although parametric tools have predominantly been implemented in 3D modellers, there have been notable 2D examples that demonstrate the power that could be made available to the army of AutoCAD users who only need to work in 2D.