EXTRANET NEWS * Week of 3 February 2003

Editors: Joel Orr and N'omi Orr

http://www.extranetnews.com

 

1. ADOBE ACROBAT: WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

2. THE LIST

3. FROM OUR READERS

4. TIDBITS

5. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

 

1. ADOBE ACROBAT: WHAT ELSE IS THERE?

 

EXTRANET NEWS editor Joel Orr spoke with Diana Helander, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Acrobat

 

When I first heard of Acrobat—can it really be only 10 years ago?—I honestly didn't "get it." Why would anyone want to replicate paper on a computer screen? Digital data was so simple and clean.

 

It took a while, but it finally got through to me. Paper may go away, but the centuries invested in design, the comfortable familiarity in printed layouts, would be welcomed in the brave world of electronic communications by users.

 

And they have been. Care to take a guess as to how many seats of Acrobat are out there? Adobe thinks about 9 million. But get this: There are one million downloads of Acrobat Reader every week!

 

"Reader is shipped with most new computers," said Helander. "Dell offers an option to upgrade to full Acrobat with every new computer." I've not heard any claims to this effect, but Acrobat Reader may be the most widely distributed computer application in the world.

 

Acrobat has become a way for pre-press content producers to ensure that what gets printed will be just what was designed. That is difficult to guarantee with page-layout programs, and almost impossible with word processors and other applications. Over the years, Adobe has paid attention to the needs of pre-press and won their hearts and minds.

 

But it is not only lovers of layout and people fond of forms who have embraced Acrobat. The engineering world uses it for drawings, as well.

 

Acrobat's output files are termed "PDF," for "portable document format. "We can always rely on everyone being able to read a PDF file," a Milwaukee project manager told me recently. "Who knows if everyone has AutoCAD or Excel or Vision? Acrobat Reader is everywhere." Helander reports that Verizon has required its construction contractors to provide all documents in PDF.

 

PDF has evolved since its introduction. When John Warnock, of Xerox's renowned Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), came up with the idea in the eighties, one of the initial goals for the format was protection of intellectual property. People wanted to be able to distribute documents that could be, say, printed, but not copied—at least, not conveniently, or at full resolution. PDF has always offered those capabilities.

 

But today, there is much more to PDF: You can save a PDF file as an RTF (rich text format) document, and edit it; you can save its images in a variety of formats for other uses; you can embed hyperlinks in the PDF; you can mark it up with text and graphics, while preserving the original; you can create forms with field validation; you can search a PDF electronically; and much more. There is a robust interface to XML, for example. You can use Javascript in PDF.

 

Adobe is also successfully putting PDF forth as a collaborative medium. "In fact, there is a restricted version of PDF, called "PDF/X," that is now an ISO standard," said Helander.

 

The motivation for the engineering community to use PDF is clear: Since engineering documents are legally binding, and since the consequences of modified versions propagating in a project can be disastrous, and since not everyone who needs to see and refer to those documents has a copy of a given expensive CAD program, PDF has been widely adopted. It threads its way through these constraints nicely.

 

A subtle but significant economic point: By issuing PDFs instead of hard copy, you pass the cost of printing down the information supply chain, and eliminate the difficulties attendant to storing and distributing physical documents.

 

Other benefits for engineering users:

  • Document physical size is not a problem; PDF supports documents up to 200 inches square;
  • Acrobat has good encryption capabilities, to support security;
  • PDF is Web-friendly; even large PDF files naturally segment in downloading;
  • PDF is generally less verbose than those of its original documents, taking up less memory;
  • PDF supports a wide variety of vector and raster graphics formats;
  • Acrobat Reader even runs on handhelds, for in-the-field reading of PDFs;
  • PDF seems to be a robust archival format.

 

And for those who need more, Helander adds, "It is now possible to attach as much intelligence as you want to a PDF file." A wide variety of plug-ins from other vendors add features not native to the format; see http://www.adobe.com for a list. Also, see http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdfs/enghowto.pdf, for an "engineering how-to" guide, apparently prepared by service bureau Layton Graphics, Inc.

 

Our take: All other candidates for system-independent document formats have disappeared. Usually, lack of competition leads to smug complacency and a lack of responsiveness on the part of the vendor blessed with such a situation. But this has not happened with Adobe. The company keeps refining its format and software in response to market demands. In fact, it is in harmony with an important trend: A reluctance on the part of engineering professionals to fully embrace new technology, and leave the old behind. In many ways, Adobe's PDF lets you have the best of the old and the new.

 

 

2. THE LIST

 

Total companies: 249 (see who's on The List at http://www.extranetnews.com/).

 

DELETED:

  • eRoom merged into Documentum
  • Construction Zone – gone
  • Dassault's CATweb product is nowhere to be found on their site
  • E4enet.com gone
  • eArgos.com gone
  • VPR.com gone

 


3. FROM OUR READERS

 

Michael Hummel writes:

I would like to comment on your "Extranets will disapear" opinion.  On 11/6/01, I wrote you:

Extranet Trends

1. Engineering firms will continue to monitor the industry for potential improvements and simplifications.

2. ROI of extranets will continue to hold back widespread implementation.

3. Simpler portions of extranets will eventually develop, such as improved FTP file access, with read, copy, edit, and ownership rights. This will be developed into operating systems and/or office applications for file-sharing and collaboration. This will follow after wider use of version-control systems.

4. Hosted sites will again dwindle with cash flow.

5. Some specialized sites will see interim success in the near term, but will be replaced with "built-in" collaboration functions of existing operating systems and office products in the next five years.

Assuming my needs are common to the industry and similar industries, I see common access and sharing of project folders over the Internet as being a necessity. If remote specialists are going to continue to aid in project development, common systems and more widespread use of high-speed Internet access will have to be developed. The ancient FTP process of file-transfer will turn into an always-on link to remote sites with an administrative system built in. Third-party scheduling, email, forums, etc. of current extranets will become common documents available to each user on his/her local system via common file formats. The user will have the ability to schedule regular downloads of updated document versions or obtain the updates by clicking on the link in their Explorer program.

I think this type of system would require common coordinated systems with external writes to assigned remote users, but not an external (extranet) service other than the Internet provider. It would also resolve the ROI problem since the expenses are largely current expenses.

It seems we share the ultimate conclusion.

Michael S. Hummel, P.E.
Project Manager
alfred benesch & company
mhummel@benesch.com
www.benesch.com

Editor's comment: Your views of 15 months ago were indeed similar to mine. With regard to Internet-accessible project folders—I think a little bit of html can go a long way to making such folders secure and their contents auditable; doesn't have to be fancy.

 

 

4. TIDBITS

 

 

  • "The Dandelion Principle: Structuring for Greatness." Preview Joel's upcoming book at http://www.dandelionprinciple.com, and sign up there to receive a series of "seedlings" from "The Dandelion Principle" via email.

 

  • COFES2003, Keynotes: Alan Kay and Jeff Harrow. May 15-18, 2003, Scottsdale Plaza Hotel, Scottsdale, AZ. If you visit the Web site, you will want to come. http://www.cofes.com

 

5. QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

"Honor and shame from no condition rise;

Act well your part, there all honor lies."

 

- Alexander Pope, "An Essay on Man"

 

Entire newsletter copyright © Cyon Research Corporation 2003