Making a dwg read only?

[gpd]

Hi all

 

Is it possible to make a drawing (dwg format) read only so that one can view it but cannot change the contents. AutoCAD gives the option of applying a password, but this works while opening the drawing and does not make it read only.

 

Thanks.

[Jack_O'neill]

Are you wanting to protect the files inside your own network, or are you talking about sending them out to someone on the outside? In house you can have your IT people set the permission levels to "read only", and grant certain individuals the rights to change things on that drive. If you are working on a stand alone system and just want to keep yourself from accidentally changing something, you can set each file or folder to read only in the windows explorer under file attributes.

 

If you're talking about emailing the file to someone outside, then I don't think there's any way to make it read only other than creating a PDF file and sending that. Even if you send it out with the read only attribute set, it's a simple matter to either reset it or do a "saveas" and name it something else.

 

If I may ask, why do you wish to make it "read only"?

[gpd]

Thanks Jack

 

The drawing are shared by many user on a common drive and someone can modify them intentionaly or by mistake. Apart from giving user read write access to the drive, I was searching for some other solution built into CAD or through some 3rd party software. Anyway thanks again.

[MarcoW]

Read this post, there can be numerous of reasons!

[Jack_O'neill]

Thanks Jack

 

The drawing are shared by many user on a common drive and someone can modify them intentionaly or by mistake. Apart from giving user read write access to the drive, I was searching for some other solution built into CAD or through some 3rd party software. Anyway thanks again.

 

By far, the easiest way would be to restrict access to certain drives. Even then, opened as read only the person can do a saveas and have a copy of the drawing that he can work on. Just won't be able to save it back to that drive. Besides, what happens if the drawing needs a revision at some point? The link Marco posted talks about a number of ways that you can "mess up" a drawing to the point that it would next to impossible to change it, but if you do that and don't have an unmolested copy somewhere, guess what happens when revision time comes....you get to draw it all again from scratch!

 

The reason I asked is that I sometimes request from my customers copies of thier dwg files. Some don't have a problem with it, others act like I've asked them for a kidney. The reasons I ask for them vary, but it usually has to do with either large numbers of missing dimensions or errors from one view to another or things like that. Usually I can find the information I need myself and not have to do a dozen phone calls and/or emails. Occasionally, they are really good, and if I'm doing curtain wall details for example, and their wall details are really good and to scale and all that, why should I draw it again? Saves me time and money and the customer too, if i can lift the surrounding conditions from the architectural drawings. You would think that there are only so many ways to arrange concrete, bricks, metal studs, and drywall but they keep finding new ways to do it. I had one guy flatly refuse to send them saying "you might change something...I can't give you live drawings" so I asked him "One, what would I have to gain by doing that, and two, so what if I did?" Went on to explain that I wasn't asking for access to his network, just a copy of the file, and that his would not change no matter what I did. He thought about it for a minute and finally said, "ok, I guess it would be safe". What it boils down to is that if there is proprietary information in the electronic version of the drawings, there is proprietary information in the paper ones too.