2011

Table Of Contents
The primary use of encryption is to help prevent drawing data from being
stolen. Encryption can also be used to help keep data confidential.
NOTE If you want to attach a password and a digital signature to a drawing file,
attach the password first. Modifications to files, including the adding of passwords,
invalidate their digital signatures.
Quick Reference
Commands
SECURITYOPTIONS
Specifies password or digital signature options for a drawing file.
View Password-Protected Drawings
To view the data in a password-protected drawing, you must first obtain and
enter the password. After you enter the password, it stays with the drawing,
even if you modify and save the drawing, unless you remove the password.
Enter a Password to View a Drawing
To view data in a password-protected drawing, you open the drawing in a
standard way and enter the password. Passwords are not case-sensitive.
Unless a drawing's properties, such as the title, author, subject, and keywords,
were encrypted when the password was attached, you can view the properties
in Properties dialog box in Microsoft
®
Windows Explorer.
A password-protected drawing may contain external references (xrefs) to
password-protected drawings. If you open a password-protected drawing that
contains xrefs, you are prompted to enter the password for the current drawing.
Then you are prompted to enter the passwords of any xrefs whose passwords
are different from a password you have entered in the current session. A specific
password that applies to a drawing or xref generally is required to be entered
once per session.
A drawing and its external references remain password-protected until the
passwords are removed. You generally should remove passwords before
performing batch operations on files, unless you are signing files.
If data in a password-protected drawing is read for any reason by the program,
the password must be entered at least once per session of program use.
1316 | Chapter 35 Protect and Sign Drawings