I had the same questions in my mind when I was offered job at a company
which developed FMIS software and a lot of fmis consulting.
But I really diversified like after we created our software in ARX, I took
the initiative and offered to my boss to develop some internet based server
programs which will feed this info over the web.
Suddenly we became a ASP from a consulting company. We started hosting
client dwf files on our systems. We also let client query the data over the
internet. Finally we started editing data over the internet.
So my advise is treat ARX like any other API like win32 sdk / mfc. Always be
in the look out for new stuff to add weight to your resume.
General trend right now in the industry is people are standardising on 2
languages c# for .Net and Java for J2EE. VB programmer will eventually
disappear. C/C++ will only be useful for pure play software companies like
Autodesk/Microsoft. Most of the communication is done on XML. Web services
are in play too.
Best Of Luck!!
cheers.
jay
"Timothy Dean" wrote in message
news:1A42227EE71B9C23B10011E1749181ED@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I was just layed off from a company similar to yours that creates shop
> drawings for customers. With something like 100 drafters (AutoCAD) across
> the company, I think the potential payoff for customization could be quite
> large. The company has had some bad experiences with trying to develop
> custom solutions and is reluctant to spend any money in this area. It is
> very difficult to sell the idea of how it could reduce shop drawing
> turnaround times and convince them to spend the money. I wonder if this
is
> a similar problem with many companies. How do you "sell" the benefit?
Are
> there better opportunities, in general, working for software companies
that
> create AutoDesk plugins? It sounds like your company is already committed
> to innovating in this area. Are your programmers dedicated full time to
> developing software or do they do drafting as well?
>
> I am experienced with AutoLisp as well. Even though I don't know VB, I
can
> use the same ActiveX automation through C++ as you do with VB. ObjectARX
is
> definately harder to learn, but in some cases, presents a much simpler
> solution. I had one somewhat messy program that I created in AutoLISP at
my
> last job that was solved much easier with a custom ARX entity. The
previous
> program added XData to line objects to represent floor and roof joists in
a
> building. The problem was that the users wanted to be able to break up
> those lines for presentation purposes. I now had one, two, or more line
> objects representing the same joist. When it came time to count the
joists
> for the material list, I had to figure out which lines went together to
> represent the same joist. With a custom entity created in ObjectARX, it
was
> simple. I derived from AcDbLine, added the functionality to the object to
> break itself up anyway the user wanted, and all the information was
> contained in one object. This solution was much easier, although it took
a
> lot more skill and knowledge. I guess my point is once you learn ARX,
there
> are cases where it is easier to use for more complicated problems.
Anyway,
> thanks for the info.
>
> Timothy Dean
>
> "Mike Daugird" wrote in message
> news:ADC8E0B9B5063DAD2BA487E7ADFDCFF5@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > We have 4 full time developers here and none of them know ObjectARX.
> > Lisp and a little VB.
> > I would think you would need to check with the CAD departments of the
> larger companies
> > in your area. You may need to know lisp, VB, the menu and toolbar
> tricks, as well as
> > ObjectARX .
> > We hire people to solve our problems and give us tools to satisfy our
> needs. If it is done
> > in Lisp, VB or ARX I don't care. I am learning ARX because I feel we
have
> a need that
> > only ARX can achieve.
> > I can now see how knowing Lisp or VB would be a definite must. It would
> take a lifetime to
> > create some of our programs all in ARX. The VB code for one of our
> programs is 500 lines.
> > that would take for ever in ARX.
> >
> > I am an electrical engineer, and I learned VB out of need. My
> industry(medical buildings)
> > is always looking for a good CAD developer. When we hire a CAD
developer
> the #1 thing
> > we look for is someone who does not say "it can't be done"
> > You would be amazed at how often we hear that from our developers. We
used
> to have
> > 6 developers. The 2 that are gone had a real problem with "it can't be
> done"
> >
> > We accept that people don't know everything, and a "I will try" or "I
will
> see what I can
> > do" is
> > workable.
> > PS. I would think you could do better in other areas, we don't pay much
> more then 40-45K
> > for
> > our developers. I think that C++ programmers get better pay then that.
> >
> >
> > "Timothy Dean" wrote in message
> > news:B8F02FFA146DE637CA4C3AFD07400C18@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > I am a C++ programmer at a cross roads in my career. I love
developing
> > > ObjectARX applications, but when I search for opportunities in this
area
> > > they seem almost non existant. This seems like a very risky area to
> focus a
> > > career on because it is so specialized. There just doesn't seem to be
m
> uch
> > > of a demand for it as compared to other C++ related areas. With the
> number
> > > of copies of AutoCAD, MDT, ADT, LDT, Inventor, etc... out there, I
would
> > > think that there would be more of a demand. Or is it simply because
of
> the
> > > recent downturn? Or is it the perceived cost / benifit of
> customization?
> > > Any thoughts anybody would have on this or the future demand for CAD
> > > programmers in general would be greatly appreciated. Just trying to
> decide
> > > on a direction. Thanks.
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>