Product Mgmt SDLC & Distribution Automation Quality & Validation Risk & DFMEA

SDLC & Distribution Pipeline

How ConstructiVision moves from code change to customer delivery — covering the full software development lifecycle, validation process, and distribution path. ConstructiVision 12 for AutoCAD shipped October 1, 2026; the current build is CV 12.32.220 (October 21, 2026).

Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) — CDOV Framework. ConstructiVision is a safety-adjacent construction tool — its shop drawings record the lift points, embeds and weld connections the engineer of record specifies, and a wrong value on a sheet can reach the field. Quality is built in at every stage, not bolted on at the end. Every output is traceable to a requirement, failure modes are analysed before testing begins, and every test validates against a specification.

Development Lifecycle — CDOV Phases

Six sequential phases aligned to the Creveling/Slutsky/Antis CDOV model (Concept → Design → Optimize → Verify). Each phase has a defined quality gate before promotion.

1. Baseline ✓ Complete

Establish reference environments representing known-good states before making any changes.

  • A v11 reference installation (Windows XP SP3) that passes the full AutoIT validation suite
  • A v7.0 master-copy installation, kept read-only as the production baseline
  • Source inventory of the earlier production build against the active development build
  • Total Uninstall registry + filesystem captures from both reference installations
  • v3.60 source recovery: missing modules recovered and archived

Gate: The reference installation runs the full validation script end-to-end with all screenshots captured.

2. Develop ✓ Ongoing

Fix bugs and implement changes in the active development build. Reference builds are read-only.

  • All changes go to the active development build — never to the reference builds or the golden reference installation
  • Small, single-purpose commits, each traceable to a tracked work item
  • Every release lists what it added and fixed in the published release notes
  • Configuration fixes are made by the product itself inside AutoCAD — external scripts are lab aids only, never something a customer has to run

Gate: Code loads without error in a supported AutoCAD release. Every fix links to a tracked work item, and every bug to a DFMEA row.

3. Validate ▶ Active

Measure outputs against specification using automated testing and alpha user testing.

  • AutoIT automation — a menu-validation script exercises every menu command and captures screenshots
  • OCR pipeline — screenshots are converted to text with Tesseract OCR and compared against the golden baseline at ≥95% character match
  • Multiple test configurations — several Windows and AutoCAD configurations, so a platform-specific failure is isolated to the configuration that shows it
  • Field users — engineers doing real project work catch issues scripted automation cannot
  • Log is unreliable — the AutoIT log marks error dialogs as PASS; OCR screenshot comparison is the only source of truth

Gate: All screenshots pass OCR comparison against the golden baseline at ≥95% character match with no instant-fail indicators.

4. Analyze ✓ Ongoing

Every failure is traced to its root cause, logged in the bug tracker, and linked to a DFMEA failure mode.

  • Bug tracker: every bug cataloged with root cause, fix, severity, and DFMEA cross-reference
  • DFMEA RPN scoring: Severity × Occurrence × Detection — items over RPN 100 are priority
  • New failure modes not predicted by DFMEA get new rows added — bidirectional traceability
  • Example: Bug 19 (registry menu keys, RPN 168), Bug 20 (startup crash, RPN 216), Bug 21 (project path missing, RPN 126)

Gate: Every bug has DFMEA cross-reference. Open critical issues have explicit waiver rationale before promotion.

5. Optimize ▶ Active

Drive RPN values down by improving detection controls and eliminating occurrence of high-risk failure modes.

  • Menu routing reconstruction (Bug 18) — every menu item routes to its own dialog again
  • Lab setup hardening — a prevention check for each configuration fix
  • AutoLISP configuration primacy — every configuration fix works inside AutoCAD, without external tools
  • Improvement backlog tracked as work items (error handlers, undo boundaries, hardening)

Gate: RPN for all critical DFMEA rows reduced below 100 or explicit acceptance recorded.

6. Deploy ✓ CV 12 shipped

ConstructiVision 12 for AutoCAD shipped October 1, 2026. The current build is CV 12.32.220 (October 21, 2026), downloaded at simplestruct.com/downloads; installed copies are offered each new build through ConstructiVision's own update prompt. Release gates must pass before promotion.

  • Assemble the AutoCAD .bundle + PackageContents.xml from the validated build
  • Run full mandatory OCR validation on all target configurations and record the report
  • Publish the build and its release notes
  • OV code signing certificate required for SmartScreen trust
  • Next: finalize the Autodesk App Store listing (description, screenshots, release notes, EULA, support contact), submit, and triage review feedback — ConstructiVision is coming to the Autodesk App Store

Gate: All five release gates below pass. Explicit go/no-go sign-off recorded.

Release Gates — All Five Required for GA

Gate 1 — Build Integrity

Bundle contents match intended version. Manifest references correct modules. No missing runtime dependencies.

Gate 2 — Functional Validation

Mandatory OCR workflow executed. No instant-fail indicators. Source and compiled-build behavior differences documented and accepted.

Gate 3 — Stability & Safety

No open critical issues for release workflows. Startup, routing, and file-open paths verified on all target OSes.

Gate 4 — Support Readiness

Known issues list updated. Rollback path documented. Support handoff notes prepared.

Gate 5 — Submission Readiness

Listing content finalized. EULA and privacy policy links valid. Submission checklist complete with all screenshots and release notes.

Distribution Channels

Channel Format Status Use Case
Direct download ZIP + Install.cmd (AutoCAD .bundle) Available Now The current channel: download from simplestruct.com/downloads; after install, ConstructiVision's own update prompt offers each new build
Autodesk App Store .bundle + PackageContents.xml Coming Discovery and install from Autodesk's store for full AutoCAD users — the listing is not live yet
ConstructiVision Web Browser-based, no AutoCAD required Live Projects in the browser at simplestruct.com/cv-web — viewing is free; editing and the AI features need a membership (plans)

MSI/WiX installer permanently sidelined. ConstructiVision ships as a standard AutoCAD application bundle — installed from the direct download today, and from the Autodesk App Store once the listing is live. No standalone MSI installer is needed. Total distribution cost: ~$200/year (OV code signing only).

Platform Requirements — ConstructiVision 12

AutoCADWindowsConstructiVision 12Notes
AutoCAD 2027 (full)64-bit✅Recommended version for now
AutoCAD 2026 (full)64-bit✅Supported
AutoCAD 2025 (full)64-bit✅Supported
AutoCAD LT—❌Not supported
AutoCAD for Mac / AutoCAD on the web—❌Not supported

ConstructiVision was first released for AutoCAD 2000. Its 2000–2024 history is heritage, not current support.

Licensing & Monetization Architecture

Note: Billing, the free trial and token purchases are live. Some in-product enforcement points are still being rolled out — where ConstructiVision does not yet prompt for a token, no token is consumed. Full details: Membership & Tokens.

Website Deployment (simplestruct.com)

The product website deploys separately from the AutoCAD plugin via an automated CI/CD pipeline.

Code Push
GitHub main
→
GitHub Actions
OIDC auth
→
S3 Sync
Private bucket
→
CloudFront
Cache invalidate
→
Live
~2–3 min

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