Protecting my Files

My boss has apparently decided that every single person at my company needs a copy of AutoCAD, even people that don't know how to use it to even open a file. I'm getting scared that people are going to start editing drawings that I've been working REALLY hard on, and even ruining them. I need a way to protect my drawings that isn't immediately apparent to the layman. If my boss knows that I've bombed all my drawings, he'll just make me remove it.

What I really wanted was a LISP-type program that would load per file, that would just undefine the SAVE command or something. But I know that's not possible.

Any suggestions? My work is in danger here.

You could not convince your boss to just supply those same people with a way to view but not edit the drawings?

This is the only option I can think of at the moment. Read it carefully.

http://www.autodwg.com/dwglock/?gclid=COuopdKuxbYCFccx4AodeU4APA

I've been that route. I'm in the middle of that route right now. But my boss is the most arrogant, stubborn man you'll ever meet.

Keep your final copies and revisions on your hard drive or a USB, then you can compare them if an issue arises.

What line of work are you in?

@SWL: Yeah, I do that, too.... but only for active jobs, it doesn't protect older jobs that aren't active, or anything like that.

@ReMark: AV Contracting.

Have you presented your boss with any hypothetical situations? Such as, "What if an unauthorized person makes a change to a drawing that results in a botched job?"

Did you check out dwglock?

Does your firm do work for the entertainment industry there in Nashville?

I have... and he agrees with me, in theory, but then when someone asks, he still just hands out licenses. I think it's going to take a catastrophic failure for him to get it. He's a micromanager CEO, so he has his hands in so many things, he can't ever remember problems past when you tell him about them.

Well when disaster finally strikes you get the satisfaction of saying "I told you so." Tell him you WILL remind him when the time comes and that you WILL do so with great enthusiasm. Not to say that you'll garner any manner of satisfaction from doing so since you probably do not have a mean spirited bone in your body.

@ReMark: Yeah, that will be an extraordinary day! I'm sure...

And right now, to top off the Irish temper, I'm six months pregnant... so my whisky deprived bones are now massively hormonal. He may get an earful.

How many CAD drawings does your company have at the moment?

dwglock isn't an option?

Anything for you. Who am I to run from a Terminator?

OK....I'm back.

The test didn't go as well as planned. Too time consuming. Basic premise was to post a drawing that consisted of a block of the original drawing inserted at a different X/Y scale. Someone without AutoCAD experience would probably not be able to edit it.

BTW...I happen to think pregnant women are beautiful. Just sayin. Hope all goes well for you.

Thanks! I'm not feeling very beautiful right now, and I'm sure the entire company is LOVING my mood swings right now. The CEO told me he was afraid of me killing everyone today. Whoops.

resullins,

why don't you just make your drawings read-only when your done with them that way they can't mess with them unless the take them off of read-only.

resullins,

 

why don't you just make your drawings read-only when your done with them that way they can't mess with them unless the take them off of read-only.

You just answered your own question. Anyone with Windows knowledge knows how to make something not read only.

See if the drawings can be placed on a read only folder for all but you.

DWGLock has a free sample drawing file along with a free trial available at their website. BTW...the program costs $330.

Here is another option you can run by your boss. How about if you create a PDF of the drawing instead for the general masses?

@SWL: I would, but the guy that's the offender handing out licenses is the CEO and IT guys of our company. He'd have to be the one to give me said drive.

@ReMark: We do, but that doesn't mean there aren't morons out there that think they have the know-how and authority to use the real files. And I can't keep all the DWG files for the company on my hard drive, they still have to stay on the server. I like the idea of locking them, but the one you posted can't be unencrypted after it's encrypted, so we'd still HAVE to keep the original, editable files somewhere, and people would find out where that is. I really wish AutoCAD's built-in locking would only lock the file from being edited or deleted, like Excel's, as opposed to locking it from being opened.

Ah... wishful thinking.

Then the only other option I can think of is to go with something like AutoDesk Vault. Have you looked into that in the past?