| Developer(s) | Advanced Computer Solutions (Europe) Limited |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1986 |
| Stable release | 16 / September 2010 |
| Operating system | Windows |
| Type | CAD |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.caddiesoftware.com |
Caddie is a mid-range computer-assisted draughting (CAD) software package for 2D and 3D design. It is used primarily by architects, but has tools for surveyors and mechanical, civil and construction engineers. It was initially designed as a electronic drawing board, using concepts and tools clearly related to a physical board.[1]
Caddie requires a USB dongle.[2] Without the dongle, the program can be used as a viewer and plot station for any DWG drawings, but it can't save drawings after the 14 day evaluation has expired. Caddie works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.[3][4]
Contents |
Caddie started life as student project called Michael Angelo in 1985.[5] The first release version was called Caddie and fit on a single 360 k floppy disk, and was designed for the IBM Personal Computer XT. Caddie was one of the first CAD tools that utilised microcomputers and did not require a mainframe computer with workstation access. Version 1 of Caddie was released in 1986, for MS-DOS. The first version for Microsoft Windows (16-bit) was released in September 1993. The 32-bit Windows version was released in May 1997.[6]
Version 6 was available by 2000. In the same year, a lite version of Caddie was available, called Caddie Budget,[7] with the non-lite version being called Caddie Professional. Version 7 was available in 2001.[8] Caddy Budget Architectural 7 retailed in the UK for £595 in 2003.[9] Version 9 was released in January 2003.[10] Caddie initially used its own proprietary file format. .DRW (Binary) and an ASCII .CEX (Caddie Exchange format). Caddie could also import and export native AutoCad .DWG and .DXF file formats, but since version 10, Caddie rewrote it's core kernels and now uses as native file format OpenDWG.
[11][12] Version 10 was released in March 2005.[13] Version 11 was released in January 2007 and was the first version compatible with Windows Vista.[14] Caddie 12 was released in September 2008.[15]
The latest version of Caddie is version 16, released in September 2010. There are four versions of the product, namely Caddie Professional (the full version), Caddie Budget (the lite version), Caddie Vio (for photo-realistic rendering, based on Lightworks[16]) and Caddie Educational, which is licensed to students even though it has all the functionality of Caddie Professional.[17]
Caddie was originally developed in South Africa in 1985, and it quickly established a significant presence in its home market. The product's position in South Africa began to erode in the 1990s following the lifting of economic sanctions against South Africa, as other CAD packages entered that market. A Microsoft Windows version of Caddie was not released until 1993.
In 1998, Caddie was acquired by the South African software development company Billcad Holdings. By this time, Caddie had about 11 000 users.[18] In 1999, Billcad became Planit Technology.[19] In early 2001, Planit Technologies went into liquidation.[20]
By March 2002, the British company Advanced Computer Solutions (ACS) bought all the rights from the South African holders and also acquired the Caddie operation within South Africa.[21] ACS was previously Caddie's British distributor.[22] ACS has offices in South Africa and the United Kingdom.[23]