© 2011 Autodesk Moving from Desktop to Cloud Albert Szilvasy Software Architect, AutoCAD Engineering Team

© 2011 Autodesk Agenda  Why does the ‘cloud’ matter?  Understand how AutoCAD is changing  Understand how to change your apps

© 2011 Autodesk Why does the cloud matter?  Pay as you go computing power  Background tasks (e.g. drawing standard compliance)  Simulations, rendering  Pay as you go storage  Autodesk Cloud Docs  iCloud, Skydrive, Dropbox  Very high speed network  Accessing other web services from your own is fast

© 2011 Autodesk Using the cloud from a desktop application  Rendering  Simulation  Document management  Etc. AutoCAD Add-in

© 2011 Autodesk Using the cloud from a mobile application  Most mobile apps have a ‘connected aspect’  Data is in the cloud (e.g. maps, dropbox etc.)  Battery must be conserved  Examples:  Amazon Silk browser  Evernote  Navigation apps Mobile app

© 2011 Autodesk Add-in Using AutoCAD from a mobile application  AutoCAD WS  Your app? AutoCAD Mobile app

© 2011 Autodesk 7 Desktop vs. Mobile vs. Cloud DesktopMobileCloud CPUCISC & ManyRISC & Few‘unlimited’/pay as you go GPUCommon Rare StorageTBsGBs‘unlimited’/pay as you go NetworkGbitMbitGbit Power‘unlimited’Limited by battery‘unlimited’ SensorsFewManyNone InteractionHigh precisionLess preciseProgrammatic only

© 2011 Autodesk Demo: Running AutoCAD on a mobile device  CAD authoring is difficult on a touch-only device  A traditional desktop app draws a lot of power  There’s room for apps optimized for mobile

© 2011 Autodesk Evolving AutoCAD for the cloud era

© 2011 Autodesk Our goal: Provide AutoCAD as a Service (SaaS)

© 2011 Autodesk Server friendly components  The economy of the cloud comes from maximum resource utilization  Host as many task as possible on a given hardware  Running the entire AutoCAD with UI is expensive  nobody is there to see it, interact with it  Need components that are server friendly  RealDWG = DWG DOM  AutoCAD Core Engine = Real DWG +

© 2011 Autodesk acad.exe.arx apps AcDb (RealDwg).dbx apps AutoCAD 2000 acad.exe.arx apps

© 2011 Autodesk.crx apps AutoCAD Core AutoCAD.arx apps AutoCAD 2011 AutoCAD.arx apps AcDb (RealDwg).dbx apps Osnap Core commands Plot Command processor Input acquisition Viewports Lisp Selection Layouts Toolbars Menus Palettes Dialogs

© 2011 Autodesk AutoCAD Core Technology Stack AcDb (RealDwg) AcCore.crx apps.dbx apps Graphics Subystem Acad.arx apps AutoCAD Core Engine

© 2011 Autodesk Demo: console autocad

© 2011 Autodesk One Core AutoCAD for Windows AutoCAD for Mac AutoCAD WS AutoCAD Core Engine

© 2011 Autodesk One API AutoCAD Core Engine AutoCAD for Windows AutoCAD for Mac AutoCAD WS DBX Apps CRX Apps

© 2011 Autodesk One Backend CRX Apps AutoCAD WS mobile AutoCAD WS mobile AutoCAD WS browser AutoCAD WS browser AutoCAD for Windows AutoCAD for Mac AutoCAD WS (PaaS) DBX Apps

© 2011 Autodesk Evolving AutoCAD Add-ins for the cloud era

© 2011 Autodesk Desktop application  User interacts with mouse/keyboard and sees results on screen  Remote desktop:  Remotes mouse/keyboard events and bitmaps  Latency is a problem  Underutilizes most clients  Form factor mismatch (screen size, pointer vs. touch) Driver OS Driver Application

© 2011 Autodesk AutoCAD to AutoCAD WS Driver OS Driver AutoCAD AutoCAD WS AutoCAD Core Engine Commands, 3D point input, selection 3D primitives Mobile/Browser client Server

© 2011 Autodesk What does it take to be cloud ready?  Your add-in must run on top of the Core Engine  Separate in-canvas UI from out of canvas UI (dialogs)  Make sure that all your ‘business logic’ is accessible via the command line  Split your code:  CRX app: Command line UI  ARX app: Form-based UI  The mechanics are different for each API technology:  C++ .NET  Lisp  COM/VBA

© 2011 Autodesk Useful pattern  ‘Host pattern’  Represent the out of canvas UI as a proxy object in CRX code  Implement the real out of canvas UI in ARX  Proxy holds back pointer to Host  Fallback when Host not present AutoCAD Core Engine Host application (e.g. AutoCAD for Window) XYZDialog Proxy XYZDialog Host IXYZDialogHost

© 2011 Autodesk Porting a C++ application  Main libraries that applications now reference:  Acad.lib, accore.lib, acdbXX.lib  Applications that target the Core Engine should only reference  Accore.lib and acdbXX.lib

© 2011 Autodesk Porting a.NET application  Applications can reference 3 main assemblies:  Acdbmgd.dll, accoremgd.dll, acmgd.dll  Accoremgd.dll:  Much of APIs that used to be in acmgd.dll  Command registration  Prompts, selection  Graphics  Publishing/Plotting  Acmgd.dll  All the out of canvas stuff  Dialogs  Palettes

© 2011 Autodesk Porting a.NET Application  Apps that run on the Core Engine should reference only these:  Acdbmgd.dll, AcCoreMgd.dll  Split your assembly into two:  One that supplies command line UI  One that provides windows, palettes, dialogs

© 2011 Autodesk Porting Lisp code  No vla-/vlax-  COM API is only partially available in the Core Engine  No DCL  Out of canvas UI does no make sense on the server

© 2011 Autodesk Porting VBA/COM code  VBA apps will not work  COM apps (VB6?) may work if they only use a subset of the API  Unlikely since most applications would use the Application object  Port these apps to.NET

© 2011 Autodesk Summary and Call to Action  Mobile & Cloud go hand in hand  Your mobile apps will be hybrids: do some of their work in the cloud  Mobile apps need access to DWG data  AutoCAD is evolving to meet this challenge  Your apps must evolve too  Make your apps scriptable: ensure that functionality is available without dialogs/windows, via the command line  Start separating your code: keep command line UI in one module and move dialog/windows into another

© 2011 Autodesk Related sessions  “Get under the AutoCAD WS hood” Thursday 3:15pm at Delfino 4105.

© 2011 Autodesk Autodesk, AutoCAD* [*if/when mentioned in the pertinent material, followed by an alphabetical list of all other trademarks mentioned in the material] are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.