manual

AutoCAD2011ProductivityStudy
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7 ©2010DavidS.Cohn
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drawing.ThefinaldrawingneededtobepresentedonaD‐sizearchitecturalborderedsheetwhichwouldalso
includealegendidentifyingthedifferentoccupancy/usagetypesalongwiththesquarefootageforeach
occupancytype.Figure2showsthecompletedtask#2drawing.
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Figure2:Completedtask#2drawing–afloorplanincludingoccupancyandareacalculations.
BecauseofthenewfeaturesavailableinAutoCAD2011comparedtoAutoCAD2008,Ianticipatedproductivity
improvementsinanumberofareas:
• SettinguplayerswouldbefasterinAutoCAD2011becausetheLayerPropertiesmanagerisanon‐
modalpalettecomparedtoadialogboxinAutoCAD2008.
•
Actualdrawingandeditingtaskswouldbefasterbecausetheribboninterfaceismoreintuitiveand
putscommandswherethey’remoreeasilyaccessed.
• AreafillsaddedashatchpatternswouldbefasterandeasiertocreateinAutoCAD2011becausethey
couldbepreviewedastheywerebeingadded,
whereasinAutoCAD2008,theywouldnotbecome
visibleuntilaftertheywereadded.
• InAutoCAD2011,theabilitytocontroltransparency,tosendhatchpatternstotheback,andtobring
texttothefrontwouldmakeiteasiertoensurethattheareafillappearedbehindotherobjects,
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whereasinAutoCAD2008,thiscanonlybeaccomplishedbyusingDRAWORDERandthetransparent
appearanceoffilledareascontrolledbycreatingacolor‐basedplotstyletablethatusedscreeningfor
thefillcolors.
Thisdrawingtook3hours:5minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2008.Thesamedrawing
tookonly2hours:
32minutestocompleteusingAutoCAD2011,animprovementof18percent.
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