CAD graphics with Python: Which lib, pack, tool?

[F. GEIGER]

Hi all,

I'm dev'ing a control app, that has as a part of it a window showing
CAD-drawings.

So I'd like to display drawings coming from DXF files. In the first place
I'd start displaying rectangles and circles, i.e. simple shapes.
Nevertheless, the goal is to scan DXF files for the shapes to be displayed.

PythonCAD comes to my mind. But, alas, yet I did not succeed in installing
it on my Win2k box - the underlying graphics toolkit is missing DLLs.

But anyway, as I do not want to develop a full blown CAD program (I "simply"
want to display, zoom an rotate them), there's probably somthing simpler out
there for my purposes.

My app uses Python 2.3.x and wxPython (2nd latest release, upgrade any time
soon). I dev it on Win2k which will be the first target platform. But I see
Linux as a target already on the horizon.

So the lib should run on Win2k, but not prevent me from running on Linux.
The lib should integrate somehow with wxPython.

OTH, there are graphic libs 'n' packs out there similar to wxPython (was it
FOX?). So, if there are many more pros than cons, I'd consider changing from
wxPython.

Any hint is welcome.

Best regards
Franz GEIGER

 

[R.Marquez]

Hi all,

I'm dev'ing a control app, that has as a part of it a window showing
CAD-drawings.

So I'd like to display drawings coming from DXF files. In the first place
I'd start displaying rectangles and circles, i.e. simple shapes.
Nevertheless, the goal is to scan DXF files for the shapes to be displayed.

PythonCAD comes to my mind. But, alas, yet I did not succeed in installing
it on my Win2k box - the underlying graphics toolkit is missing DLLs.

But anyway, as I do not want to develop a full blown CAD program (I "simply"
want to display, zoom an rotate them), there's probably somthing simpler out
there for my purposes.

My app uses Python 2.3.x and wxPython (2nd latest release, upgrade any time
soon). I dev it on Win2k which will be the first target platform. But I see
Linux as a target already on the horizon.

So the lib should run on Win2k, but not prevent me from running on Linux.
The lib should integrate somehow with wxPython.

OTH, there are graphic libs 'n' packs out there similar to wxPython (was it
FOX?). So, if there are many more pros than cons, I'd consider changing from
wxPython.

Any hint is welcome.

Best regards
Franz GEIGER

I was going to suggest looking into embedding a drawing viewer such as
Volo View as an ActiveX component, until I realized that you want a
cross platform solution. You may want to look at QCad which is GPLed
and cross platform (I think through GTK), but I have no idea what it
would take to embed it into your app. I wonder if looking at the code
and/or talking with the developer you could come up with a simple DXF
reader. (Of course you could study the DXF format on your own as
well, but I think that is what you are trying to avoid.

-Ruben