SYCODE Founder Publishes Book for CAD Software Developers

SYCODE today released a book titled “OpenCAD – A Step by Step Guide to Developing a Professional CAD Application” written by Deelip Menezes, its Founder and CEO, showcasing the technologies offered by the Open Design Alliance.

Alto-Panaji, India - "I have been keeping a close eye on the ODA and its technologies for quite some time now", explains Deelip Menezes. “SYCODE is a Sustaining Member of the ODA and I have been writing about the issues surrounding the ODA on my blog at www.deelip.com. By means of this book I am taking it a step further by emphasizing the fact that the ODA is not only about reverse engineering the DWG file format. They offer far more than that.”

The book is written as a short story describing the evolution of a CAD application called OpenCAD. The reader starts with an empty Visual C++ project. In each chapter, the reader adds features to OpenCAD, first making it a DWG reader, then a viewer and finally an editor. Finally the reader ends up with a professional CAD application complete with an AutoCAD-like command prompt and plug-in architecture, thereby giving it the ability to be extended by means of DRX plug-ins.

The book is divided into two sections. Section 1 deals with creating the basic OpenCAD application, wiring it up with ODA libraries and adding features to make it a full blown professional 3D DWG viewer. Section 2 deals with adding a command prompt, plug-in architecture and developing a DRX plug-in that converts it into a DWG editor. The book can also be used as a primer for developing DRX plug-ins since the plug-ins developed for OpenCAD also work with any DWGdirect hosted application such as Bricscad V9.

The book comes with complete C++ source code and is available as a paperback book for $99 as well as a PDF eBook for $49.

For more information on OpenCAD, please visit http://www.open-cad.com

SYCODE develops cutting-edge software solutions for Computer Aided Design (CAD). These solutions are in the form of standalone applications or plug-ins that work inside major CAD systems such as AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk VIZ, Autodesk 3D Studio MAX, SolidWorks, Solid Edge, Maya, Rhinoceros, Surfcam, etc.

SYCODE also designs, develops and implements customized software solutions for companies worldwide. The customized solution may be a standalone application working closely with the client's existing CAD application or a plug-in to the CAD application.

The Open Design Alliance is a non-profit membership-based consortium of software companies, developers and users committed to promoting the open exchange of CAD data now and in the future. In addition to setting standards for CAD data formats, the ODA also focuses on the practical matter of developing software libraries of exceptional quality that enable ODA members to develop applications capable of reading and writing the popular DWG and DGN CAD file formats.