-to start this add-in, at the command prompt type keyword AWWT, or click on AWWT icon in Autodesk® AutoCAD® add-ins.

-to ADD drawings locations for which you want to scan and index, click the Settings tab and drag and drop folders of your interest to list. Once folders or files are there, click Scan/Update to finish the process.

-to SEARCH by keyword, once you already have the files scanned, click the Search tab and enter the search words, and your list of file candidates will show up.

Examples of search expression:

-to search for drawing containing words both "blue" and "tower" type: blue tower

-to search for phrase, use quotation marks: "blue tower"

-to exclude words use "-" sign: blue tower -small

-can even type just the beginning of words : blu tow

FAQ

Q: I have added folders to list of folders to scan, but nothing happens.

A: After you have finished with adding or removing items in list, click "Scan/Update" button to finalize.

Q: I have noticed that during "Scan/Update" process, my running instance of AutoCAD has lost some responsiveness.

A: Unfortunately, this happens since AutoCAD is not fully async capable. However, it affects only instance of AutoCAD running "Scan/Update".

Q: I have made some changes in drawings already scanned. When will those changes be visible.

A: Just click "Scan/Update", and program will find all changed files and update data.

Q: Some files were skipped during scan. Why?

A: Because of speed, program will skip all files currently open, damaged or otherwise require user attention for any reason.

Q: What type of AutoCAD objects can this application scan?

A: AutoCAD objects currently scanned are Text, Mtext, Table, Block, Mleader, overridden Dimension and, to some extent, embedded Excel text table objects.

Q: During Scan/Update, Excel starts with "Data connections have been blocked" and asks if to "enable" or "disable".

A: Your dwg is on a network location and contains Excel embedded OLE content. To be able to scan this content, click "enable". Alternatively, you can try to change security zone for your network drive, or in Excel options, Trust center, External Content, click on Enable all Data Connections.

The installer that ran when you downloaded this app/plug-in from Autodesk App Store will start installing the app/plug-in. OR, simply double-click the downloaded installer to install the app/plugin.

You may need to restart the Autodesk product to activate the app/plug-in.

To uninstall this plug-in, exit the Autodesk product if you are currently running it, simply rerun the installer, and select the "Uninstall" button. OR, click Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features (Windows 7/8.1/10/11) and uninstall as you would any other application from your system.

How it works:

In the first step, program will find all files of interest. Then, every file is internally opened and best effort is made to find all the texts bits and remember them.

Once this is finished, simple and instant search is possible by using keywords. You can search by some of words from the drawing, or you can also search by filename.

Security issues:

Your data never leaves your local machine. However, if you scan drawings on network NAS storage disks, then parts of that text will be copied and stored in special protected folders on your local machine. Security of this data depends on security of your local machine.