Detailed File Information

Hello,

I am curious to know if there is a way to get detailed file information. I'm teaching a course this quarter and need to review about 300 dwg files/week for homework and labs. Obviously, cheating is a major issue (copying other files). Students are getting a bit more clever and can get around windows data (accessed/modified/created stamps). I can't help but think AutoCAD has more detailed information related to the dwg file that I can extract to compare files.

Any information you guys may have would be greatly appreciated (especially a batch comparison tool if possible).

Thanks!

From inside AutoCAD I don't believe there is any way to see specific file details other than the file path.

There is a comparison app I think over at the AutoDesk Exchange. Not sure if it will handle more than two drawings at a time.

A lot is going to depend on how the assignments are given. If they are told to draw a rectangle 100 x 100mm starting at 0,0 then they will look the same, whatever you do. If they are just told draw a rectangle then you could x-ref all 300 using 0,0 as a base and expect to see a number of variations. Do they work on class computers or own computers, you can turn on a log file which tells you exactly the sequence of commands entered. You could ask for a copy of the log file.

Use extended data to add unique information (Student name) to the title block and a small object in the drawing, or maybe part of the solution that is to be built upon. This will quickly reveal if they stayed with their file or shared with each other. I have an old one I found years ago, probably on cadalyst, called xdata.lsp. Very easy to use.

Also, weigh the test scores much heavier than the home work assignments.

When the file loads it does report an error but it seems to work just fine. Perhaps one of our resident lisp experts can doctor it up for us.

XDATA.LSP

Back when I was instructing at the local college I used the old "Time" command to see when the dwg was started, no two people will start the same dwg at the same time (seconds). If I catch students "sharing" the same dwg I demonstrated the command to the rest of the class. I only had to do that twice in 10 years. By the time we got to inserting dwgs as blocks and all the ways around beating the "Time" command the students that cheated were all already gone. If they cheated in the CAD classes they cheated in other classes as well. The faculty communicated pretty well back then so either they dropped out on their own or were dropped off the rolls.

Back when I was instructing at the local college I used the old "Time" command to see when the dwg was started, no two people will start the same dwg at the same time (seconds).

Wow. I've been using this since '96 and not once have I typed in 'time'.

I was hoping there was some sort of details command that would spit out information like, "233 objects drawn, 20 objects deleted, saved 36 times". This 'time' thing may be a nice quick option.

I like some of the other suggestions but unfortunately it's a book-driven course designed by someone else that allows students to literally wind up with the same end file.

Total course size is 1000+, I'm responsible for 180 students + 540 dwg files each week, learned the new numbers today (awesome! ).

Edit: I can has grammer

I was hoping there was some sort of details command that would spit out information like, "233 objects drawn, 20 objects deleted, saved 36 times".

This is what the log file gives you, not laid out that way, but it is a text file that lists all commands used, in the order used it even lets you know if a command was typed, from a menu or even grip based editing, so you can see how students work, it doesn't register pan and zoom with the wheel, but everything else is there. It should be fairly straightforward to create a system that spits out a list like you mention giving how many times a command is used etc. But even as it is, you would probably only need check the first few commands to see if files are similar.

The commands "Time" and "Status" give some useful information.