New Version Allows AutoCAD Users to Share and Use GIS Information without Disrupting CAD Workflow

Redlands, California-February 19, 2009-The ArcGIS for AutoCAD free download by ESRI has radically improved the ease with which users can share and use geographic information system (GIS) content with AutoCAD files while preserving existing CAD workflows. ArcGIS for AutoCAD Build 200, which was released today, offers simple interoperability; it gives AutoCAD users access to enterprise GIS data and imagery published by ArcGIS Server within the AutoCAD environment. It also gives them a means to prepare data with AutoCAD for use in ArcGIS.

ArcGIS for AutoCAD users can view and query enterprise GIS information from countless public and private sites that use ArcGIS Server to publish map services over the Web. This GIS information can prove invaluable to CAD designers or engineers who need more information about the environment and infrastructure that will affect their design decisions. Moreover, they can access the map services in AutoCAD without translating or converting the underlying GIS data. Map service content is automatically projected into AutoCAD based on the coordinate system of the CAD drawing. ArcGIS for AutoCAD Build 200 supports ArcGIS Server 9.3 cached map services, ArcGIS Server map services on secure servers, and free and premium map service content available from ArcGIS Online Services.

In addition, ESRI has developed a data-encoding method called mapping specification for drawings, which has been implemented in ArcGIS for AutoCAD Build 200 and ArcGIS 9.3. This new data-encoding method allows users to create, manipulate, and define how CAD data is organized and attributed as GIS content while remaining true to existing CAD standards. It also offers tools that allow users to create and edit GIS feature classes within standard AutoCAD files and add attributes to any AutoCAD entity. ArcGIS for AutoCAD API tools are also available to build CAD-based, GIS-ready applications. AutoCAD files enhanced with mapping specification for drawings can be used directly as GIS content in applications such as ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS for AutoCAD, or custom AutoCAD applications that have implemented the data-encoding method.

ArcGIS for AutoCAD is compatible with AutoCAD 2007, 2008, and 2009 and ArcGIS Server map services 9.2 and above. To download this free application and to learn more, visit www.esri.com/autocadapp.

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About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.