[freearchitecture] Re: [PythonCAD] Looking for DXF help

[Steve Hall]

From: Terry Hancock, Fri Feb 13 16:05:25 2004
> On Wednesday 11 February 2004 10:26 pm, Steve Hall wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Has anyone here ever written extensions for A___CAD using
> > > > Python? ....
> > >
> > > like:  http://sourceforge.net/projects/pyacad/

....

> > I guess I was looking for stand alone executables, something that
> > might be created with:
> >
> >   http://starship.python.net/crew/theller/py2exe/
> >
> > Throw in the ability to write GUI dialogs for AutoCAD *with
> > Python* and I begin to see a way to write tools (like our
> > thread-starting .DXF) that can be Free for the imprisoned yet
> > still useful to a Free project like PythonCAD.
>
> I suppose you want someone familiar with Python to tell you you're
> not wasting your time? ;-)

Heh, more or less. ;)


> Sounds like it should work -- a cursory glance at the CVS
> repository....

Thanks much for your analysis here. 


> As for sharing the code with PythonCAD etc, that would obviously
> depend on how close the APIs are. *If* a body of Free Python code
> for AutoCAD existed, I'm sure there'd be motivation to write such an
> API for PythonCAD, to allow them to be used....

Wow, that would be a lot of work. It would also restrain PythonCAD
development to Autodesk's API. Hadn't really thought through that.

I guess I was imagining modules a bit more stand alone like a dwg/dxf
converter, a slide previewer/selector, or a batch PDF printer. (The
last two of which I've already written Lisp towards.) If these worked
from ACAD, at least the Python backend would already be there.

But PythonCAD is so young. It will be years before components like
these will be needed. The core will demand the majority effort for
some time to come. Sigh.


-- 
Steve Hall  [ digitect at mindspring.com ]