DWF is not dead. Long live DWF!

Autodesk VP/IPG CTO, Brian Mathews, was on our team when he invented the DWF format. Our first foray into sharing design data via the internet was a WHIP! plug-in for the Netscape Navigator browser. Internet Explorer had not really emerged on the scene yet. Sun Microsystems had just released Java, so we wanted to call our files whip files (.whp) so you could whip design data all around the web. AutoCAD VP, John Lynch, worried that people would not associate the solution with Autodesk, so we called them Drawing Web Format (DWF) files (.dwf). When applications other than AutoCAD were able to create these files, the name was evolved to Design Web Format (DWF). So I have been a DWF proponent from the very onset. My first blog was Beyond the Paper that was based on what could be done with DWF files instead of just printing them.

Customers have noticed that there was no release of Autodesk Design Review for 2014. They feared that Autodesk was dropping support for DWF. This was of particular concern to Autodesk Vault users where DWF files are an integral part of the solution. This is also a concern for reprography shops who took our advice and archived data as DWF files instead of TIF since DWF files could be scaled up or down to fit the paper without loss of visual fidelity. Adding fuel to the fire is that we shut down Autodesk Freewheel at the end of January. This particularly affected users who purchased McDwiff from the Apple store. McDwiff hosts an Autodesk Freewheel display inside of a native iOS window on iPads.

Program Manager, Susan Scott, has also been with DWF since the early days. Susan recently shared an email with me that I thought I would share with you.

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A couple of weeks ago, we received a request about DWF files that were too large for Autodesk Design Review (ADR) to open. After I explained that ADR would not be updated, I have been helping customers find work-arounds. Along with finding some short-term solutions, I reached out to our ADR and DWF teams. Here is a high-level summary status of ADR and DWF:

• DWF is definitely NOT dead.

• We are investing significant resources on a cloud solution that will allow the sharing of models without sharing the source. This solution will also build collaboration tools because that is one of the strengths of a cloud solution.

• To prove that we are strongly investing into DWF, we already are loading bigger DWF files than ADR can and will be making them available to the workflow of the cloud applications like Autodesk 360, Fusion 360, etc. AutoCAD WS is planning the same for the 2D side of things. Eventually they will merge into Autodesk 360 viewing that covers both aspects.

• ADR will have less and less value as the cloud solution matures.

• The cloud solution is being built in stages and handling larger DWF files is part of that roadmap. Our cloud-teams are looking at Customer Improvement Program (CIP) data from ADR on the most commonly used ADR features today. This will guide their efforts in rounding out our cloud functionality.

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I hope this clears up some of the mystery about what is going on with Autodesk Design Review and the DWF format. With regard to Autodesk Freewheel, we shut it down because:

• The functionality of viewing DWF files is available using Autodesk 360 via the public sharing option. People who publish designs as DWF files need to be members of Autodesk 360, but viewers of those designs do not.

• Autodesk 360 is a superset of the functionality provided by Autodesk Freewheel. We want our customers to experience all of what Autodesk 360 has to offer. There is also a desktop application alternative of Navisworks for users who need more powerful capabilities.

• When customers supplied Autodesk Freewheel with URLs to DWF files on their servers, the first thing Freewheel did was load a copy on to its server and leave it there forever. Every time someone viewed a DWF file, Freewheel checked the one in its local cache to make sure its DWF file was current and used the local one unless the original had changed (also subject to caching time-outs). Users did not have the ability to remove DWF files from Autodesk Freewheel. Autodesk 360 allows file owners (who log in using their credentials) to remove their files and change permissions.

• Autodesk Freewheel is 7 year old technology. A lot has changed. The native viewing experience for Autodesk 360 is based on today's modern HTML technologies instead of old MapQuest-like PNG images that need to be regenerated with every zoom, orbit, or widespread pan command.

• Autodesk Freewheel needed to be maintained separately from the 24/7 monitoring in place for Autodesk 360. Autodesk is conducting security audits of its existing web properties. As an old technology, Autodesk Freewheel would not have fared well by such an analysis.

Autodesk will continue to offer desktop applications bundled into Suites for years to come; however, eventually you are going to want to do everything from your mobile phone or tablet device. Yes we could port our powerful applications to iPhones and the wide variety of flavors of Android devices, attempting to account for the particulars of each one, or we can make our applications available as services from servers in the cloud with lots of CPU power and memory suited to the job. Rather than port solutions like Autodesk Design Review to the cloud/mobile/social world, we will offer cloud-based services to supplant the functionality. Until that time, customers can download, install, and use Autodesk Design Review 2013.

ADDITION 1 BASED ON COMMENTS: The "cloud architecture" is the way forward. Solutions will start with the public cloud and then eventually move to the private cloud. One day you will have a local server in the middle of nowhere — where there is no internet connectivity. Scientists, engineers, and workers (i.e., all team members) will all be using desktops, laptops, phones, and tablets to look at one source of truth (i.e., huge data file on the server) via a local area network instead of everyone having their own copy of the data (i.e., DWF file) that could be out of date. There will also be offline mode support for temporary disconnections from servers like when people travel on airplanes, although more and more flights nowadays seem to be equipped with internet access.

ADDITION 2: Although private cloud support is a ways off, we do have Autodesk Remote today. You can host our applications on your own servers today and access them via your local area network — no internet connectivity required.

Collaboration is alive in the lab.