Drawing verification file used by AutoCAD, a 3D design and engineering CAD application; contains properties that must be conformed to in another drawing; used for defining drawing standards and for detecting violations during the checking process; can be used to specify standards for layer properties, dimension styles, linetypes, and text styles.

Multiple DWS files can be applied to a single drawing. Additionally, AutoCAD's Batch Standards Checker, which uses .CHX files, can be used for defining automated batch processes that check drawings against standards defined in DWS files. Drawing standards files can be saved in the same manner as any other drawing. You can create new drawing, define its properties, and then select Save As → AutoCAD Drawing Standards.

A DWS file is a workspace file created by the Windows version of Dyalog, an APL-based development environment. It contains a workspace, which includes APL objects such as functions and variables. DWS files are used to develop APL programs.

The DWS file is one of the primary file types associated with Dyalog. The file is created by Dyalog in order to store the components of a workspace. It is used for saving and loading workspaces in Dyalog, as well as transferring workspaces. Dyalog may also save workspaces in APL (used in some APL implementations), ATF (transfer file format), and DXF (variant of the ATF format) files. Dyalog is an interpreter of the APL programming language and is used by IT specialists to convert ideas into software solutions. The software includes an application IDE, tools for building graphical user interfaces, frameworks for building web servers, interfacing to common databases, and report formatting and technical charting tools.