DWF (Drawing in Web Format) problems in AutoCAD® R14
Comments by: Odin Cary

See examples / tests in our Exploratorium

Whip!TM 3.1:
Thus far the upgraded Whip drive/plug-in has fixed most of the problems experienced with the previous release.  3D views still don't display, but are not part of this system design and thus we don't expect the 3D stuff yet - chances are that another form of viewer like Autodesk's VoloTM will provide this capability.

All paperspace viewports have displayed well in our tests with some minor glitches around Wipeouts and other anomalies with fonts.   All graphic images that we have imported into both model and paperspace have come through with surprising clarity.

Xref's and Layers:
If you attempt to create a .dwf file of a drawing with Xref's you will not have the ability to control those layers (on/off) in your browser unless you Bind and Explode those Xref'd objects prior to making your .dwf file.  This is both an irritating and valuable feature; for example, in some cases we wanted to provide the viewer with only those layers necessary to toggle colors within architectural spaces and not confuse them with a million other architectural layers.

Background Color:
If you want the drawing to appear as plots on paper, simply set the AutoCAD background color to White via the Preferences Dialogue Box.  If you have problems with object / text clarity, try using Draw Order (DR) to place object on top or below other objects and then make your .dwf file.

Comments and Observations on AutoCAD® R14 and Whip!TM 3.0

Multiple Viewports in Paperspace don't seem to function correctly in the DWF format. One viewport will display correctly and the other(s) will have either no images or odd banding of lines.

Blocks often disappear when subjected to the DWF format or migrate to odd positions. In some cases, many blocks will congregate near each other and near the drawing's origin.

Printing DWF files from a browser, Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape, does not allow for scaling of output. One "work-around" is to always include a bar-graph on DWF files, but printing to common scales would really make this process more valuable.

For more information of DWF and the WhipTM Plug-in look in our LOUNGE.