In a previous DWF Text Search blog posting, I mentioned Buzzsaw, IFilterShop, Google, and Windows Explorer as avenues for locating design data using text strings. Docupoint Discovery is another available tool in the arsenal.
Docupoint Discovery is a software application that works just like a standard web search engine except that it is used to access your AutoCAD drawings across a LAN, intranet, or the Web. With Docupoint Discovery you can locate drawings by the words and numbers stored inside the drawing; simply enter the search string and press the Search button. To view a drawing listed in the search results, just select the link, and the view will open right inside your web browser.
Docupoint Discovery does not require AutoCAD. It is based on Autodesk RealDWG technology. It runs unattended on a server.
Docupoint Discovery has the option to have “watch folders,” a scheduler to auto-run the jobs. This means Docupoint Discovery discovers new DWG files and indexes their content automatically.
Docupoint Discovery has integrated search functionality with their “Smart Zoom”™ technology. Docupoint Discovery uses DWF files to display the search results and zooms the view to the desired text.
To facilitate the Smart Zoom, Docupoint Discovery has an integrated web server for serving up the converted DWF documents.
In the olden days of WHIP!, Discovery was known as DrawingSearcher and Whip'N'Post (which made us chuckle since back then we were all fans of the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post" song). For more info, see the Docupoint web site. Check it out.