In the Pipes

Free at last

So it's that time of the year when finally we are free to talk about upcoming product features.   We had to wait until after the start of our World Press Day.  Autodesk hosts a press event every year this time to brief the press on the upcoming software releases.  This event always happens right around Valentines Day - guess we are trying to drum up some love?  (Although Valentines Days San Francisco-style involves things like flash mobs having pillow fights, probably not the style of attention that our marketing folks are going for.)   But as soon as the press has been briefed, then we are free to blog about all the cool features.  Nice!

I have to admit that the press is more interested in things like test driving Harmonix Music System's Rock Band (made with Autodesk software!) on the PlayStation3 here than my AutoCAD P&ID demos.  No accounting for taste I guess.  So I'm taking advantage of the lull as a chance to blog.  AutoCAD P&ID 2009 includes some enhancements that I want to highlight in the next few blogs, starting with the data side of things and Export enhancements.

Existing in AutoCAD P&ID 2008, you can look at your component data in Data Manager, and if you want you can export your data to Microsoft Excel.  Whatever data node you are currently viewing in the Data Manager is exported as a sheet in an Excel file.

In AutoCAD P&ID 2009, we've expanded this feature so that you can now export "Active node and all child nodes".  What does this mean?  Well, you can now invoke Export at the Equipment node, for example, and generate an Excel file with a worksheet showing the Equipment node data, but also worksheets showing Pumps, Tanks, Exchangers -- all the child nodes.  In AutoCAD P&ID 2008 you had to export data one node at a time and manually combine them into one Excel file.  Now AutoCAD P&ID 2009, you can do this in one step:

But wait. . .there's more! You can now specify different file formats when you enter the export file name and location.  AutoCAD P&OD 2009 supports export to XLS (the excel 97-2003 format), XLSX (the new Excel 2007 format) or a comma delimited (CSV) format.

Simple productivity enhancements, but they go a long way to make life easier.  In upcoming entries I'll talk more about importing and exporting data with AutoCAD P&ID 2009.  Right now I have to go get some afternoon chocolate before the press eats it all up.

Pipe Specs, Shaan's way

Hey, look at this - Plant is getting popular.  We even have Shaan Hurley thinking Piping Specs these days in his Between the Lines blog.  In case you don't know Shaan, he's the Technical Marketing Manager for Autodesk's Platform Technologies Division which includes AutoCAD.  He has a great blog covering AutoCAD and a whole lot more.

After reading his post, I think we should put him in charge of creating all our sample piping specs.  He does seem to have a thorough understanding of the requierments ;-)

Plant Solutions at Daratech

One of the great parts of my position at Autodesk these days is that I get to attend conferences and interface directly with our client base.  This enables me, among other things, to continue to learn about client issues.  Bringing this information back to the office helps us design better solutions into the software.

I was just in Houston at the Daratech conference last week.   Along with the P&ID team, we had with us Total CAD Systems, the local value added reseller, who are getting into the thick of selling and supporting Plant Software.  We were also showing NavisWorks (now a Autodesk product) as well as integration of P&ID with Vault & Buzzsaw.  Additionally we had our 3D product manager on hand discussing upcoming technology.  I hope to be back to Houston in May for the massive Offshore Technology Conference trade show.  It's another great opportunity to continue discussing Plant software needs with clients.  Plus I've even learned to enjoy Houston across the years - contrary to popular opinion, it is possible to have a good time in Houston!

I'm a bit late in posting this entry because I've been off for the last few days.  I took advantage of Houston's proximity to my former home New Orleans to visit just in time for the Mardi Gras festivities.  If you have never been, I strongly encourage you to make it out some year.  It is an event that has to be experienced to be believed.  I'm now back in the office recovering from the parades, parties, great music, amazing food, and getting my fair share of beads.  Yes, we even fried a turkey - a 14 pound bird @ 3 minutes a pound.  Delicious!

Oh - and Happy Mardi Gras!