Features & Benefits

Any changes made to the standards will be made in one location only. No more distributing CD’s and new CAD Manuals. No more wondering if the consultants and sub-consultants actually received and loaded the latest standards.

No more delivering CD’s of CAD standards to your sub-consultants and trust they load and use them. By enforcing the use of Web Menus and the CAD standards which reside in one single location on the internet, every designer providing service to your company will be creating standardized drawings.

It doesn’t matter what hardware platform you are using or what operating system you are running, if MicroStation or Autocad runs on your computer and you have access to the internet, you can utilize the Web Menus.

The proliferation of internet dependency has broken down distance barriers between company offices. Companies with multiple offices in different cities and states can collaborate on a single project by using a single set of CAD standards delivered by Web Menus. Project managers can now manage their CAD standards between offices and even between sub-consultants because a single Project Web Menu is available to all designers no matter where they live or where they work.

Since Web Menus are not installed on any one computer, they can be accessed anywhere you go, on any computer, with an internet connection. Other CAD Standard management software requires installation on a single machine and you lose the flexibility of using it elsewhere on another computer.

No more flipping through pages of a CAD manual trying to locate the feature you want to draw. Your entire CAD standards are displayed on the Web Menu - allowing you to quickly select and begin placing the proper geometry.

A simple click on one of these feature codes will send instructions to your CAD program to set the proper ‘Level’, ‘Color’, ‘Weight’, ‘Linestyle’ (based on your CAD Standards) and start the ‘Place Line’ command – it’s that easy. The time it takes for you to decide to place “Improved Roads” until you are actually placing the geometry is only a few seconds – compared to 30 – 45 seconds the conventional way.

Avoid the hassle of installing other softwares which are designed to help you manage your CAD standards. If you get a new computer or change operating systems, you must re-install. These softwares can only be used on one machine unless you purchase additional copies for home use. Other Cad standard softwares do not run on all hardware or on all operating systems and for some, you must be ODBC compliant because of the database they have chosen. Web Menus will work on any computer which has an internet connection.

This low cost tool will yield tremendous returns for a company. The subscription rate to the company per person is pennies per hour. When compared to hourly rates for qualified employee’s the Return on Investment of this extraordinary tool is generally recognized in the first day of use each month.

(1) The “Menu” page displays features for the placement of geometry and text. The designer selects a feature and the proper symbology of Level, Color, Linestyle, and Weight will be set instantly. Geometry can then be placed. The designer will make the Text selection and the proper Font, Text size, Color, and Weight will be set for that element’s annotation.

(2) The “Symbol” page displays the various cells or symbols used by the company. The designer finds the appropriate symbol and then can drag and drop the symbol into the drawing.

(3) The “Linkage” page displays the various records of a database table for quick access and linkage to geometry in the design drawing. Create or use your existing bid item codes to link to elements in the drawing. Enter lengths and areas for each from the drawing, then perform the report extraction to create an accurate bill of material takeoff.

The designer can decide what feature to place, select the feature from the Web Menu, and begin drawing in a matter of seconds. By contrast, the conventional method has the designer searching the CAD manual for the feature. Once found, the designer must manually set the ‘Level’, ‘Color’, ‘Linestyle’, and ‘Weight’ and then select the ‘Place Line’ command. For the veteran designer this process may only take 20 seconds, but for the new-hire, this process could take up to 60 seconds or more of indecision.

The designer using the Web Menus has the ability to place geometry into the drawing 5 times faster than the designer using the conventional method of searching the CAD manual for the features to place. With every feature placed from the Web Menu, the designer is getting to the next task of placing the next feature 5 times quicker. When you consider the number of designers on a project and the number of hours worked each day, it is easy to see why Web Menus have a positive effect on the project cost and timeline.

When a designer selects a feature from the Web Menu, the instruction is sent to the CAD application to set that features ‘Level’, ‘Color’, ‘Linestyle’, and ‘Weight’. Accuracy is assured as long as the correct selection is made. By contrast, a designer may make errors when reading from a CAD manual and trying to make these settings manually. Furthermore, if the designer uses the popular ‘Smart Match’ command, they may be propagating errors by matching improperly placed geometry.

With every upgrade to your CAD application software, there must be an upgrade to every 3rd party software you own which works with your CAD application – not with Web Menus. Web Menus are HTML-based and completely universal and do not require upgrading with every change in application software, operating system, or internet browser.

Use the Interoperability Tools within AccuPilot to link database information to geometry in the design drawing to produce an intelligent drawing. Use the database commands within MicroStation to extract the intelligent data for Quantity Takeoffs. This is a must for government agencies who must comply with the new GASB34 ruling on accounting issues.