Altiva Expands CADconform to Check/Fix and Report on GEOPAK Meta-data

March 1, 2007 (Houston, TX) — Altiva Software announces it has added new functionality to CADconform®, its CAD standards conformance software, that drafts, finds and fixes, and reports on drawing elements that are missing hidden meta-data created by GEOPAK®, a road and highway design tool from Bentley Systems. Both GEOPAK and CADconform are add-ons to Bentley's drafting software MicroStation®.

Features in CAD drawings created with GEOPAK contain meta-data that is not visible to the drafter. This GEOPAK meta-data is critical for advanced processing such as automatically creating quantity reports that provide the amounts of construction materials needed for a project.

However, if the drafter does not use GEOPAK to place the feature in a drawing - either because he may not have the GEOPAK add-on or he simply chooses to use base MicroStation functionality instead - then the meta-data will not be present. There is no visual indication of the error, nothing to indicate to drafters or engineers viewing the drawing that a problem exists. But the missing meta-data will cause errors down the line, such as with GEOPAK quantity reports.

CADconform allows each defined drawing feature to store a valid user data attribute, which can be the GEOPAK meta-data. CADconform requires very little configuring to provide this functionality for GEOPAK by automatically importing the meta-data from Design and Computational (D&C) Manager. Or for other applications, the meta-data can be defined manually in CADconform by clicking on a feature and adding the correct data.

After the attribute/meta-data is defined for a feature, CADconform will identify any elements that do not have the correct meta-data present. So when a drafter runs CADconform's check/fix capability, CADconform will find these errors (even though they cannot be seen) and let the drafter correct them like any other standards-conformance error, in just a matter of seconds. And the drafter does not require GEOPAK to do this.

CAD drawings that conform 100% to CAD data standards, including meta-data, result in accurate processing of the data for such tools as quantity reports.

"CADconform is crucial to the data quality puzzle," explained Altiva Software CEO Philip Hurlston. "CADconform is the piece that ensures the data accuracy required for the type of advanced data processing like that provided by GEOPAK."

Using CADconform with GEOPAK provides these benefits:

• Ensures 100% conformance to CAD standards including hidden GEOPAK meta-data

• Contributes significantly to the accuracy of GEOPAK quantity reports and other advanced processing that uses meta-data

• Allows non-GEOPAK users to create GEOPAK-compliant files, potentially saving software costs

• Provides batch-processing capabilities to report quickly and easily on the accuracy of CAD data received from consultants

CADconform® is a software add-on that works seamlessly between AutoCAD® and MicroStation® to promote and enforce 100% conformance to CAD standards. It is the only product of its kind that provides an encrypted, tamper-proof electronic seal ensuring data integrity and user confidence.

Properly enforced CAD standards provide strategic business value including: re-use of intellectual property stored in drawings, better interoperability and project management, and significant cost-savings and contributions to HS&E.

Altiva Software is the only company dedicated to 100% conformance to CAD standards. It is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices in Germany and Australia.

Visit us on the web at www.altivasoft.com.

CADconform is a registered trademark of Altiva Software, Inc. AutoCAD is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. MicroStation is a registered trademark of Bentley Systems, Inc.

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