TechDraw Roadmap

    From FreeCAD Documentation

    Preferences-techdraw.svg


    Here is a rough roadmap of areas to be addressed in the TechDraw Workbench in 2023.

    Current Activity

    • refactoring code into more maintainable pieces

    Primary Focus for 2023

    There are 2 main areas to be addressed in 2023:

    • conversion between drawing geometry and model geometry
      • these conversions are scattered throughout the code
      • the most visible impact is the difficulty in specifying cosmetic geometry
      • cosmetic vertex/edge/centerline now rotates with the parent view.
    • the "lesser topological naming problem"
      • primarily making dimensions survive the renaming of reference geometry
        • Phase1 (reference geometry has a new name, but still exists) implemented by PR #8989
        • First attempt at Phase2 (handling situation where reference geometry has legitimately changed) stalled. Rethinking.
      • also affects face hatching
      • also affects edge appearance attributes

    Work Completed in 2023

    • remove redundant edges from HLR result PR #9280
    • dimension reference name change handling PR #8989
    • RichTextAnnotation fix text size & position in svg export PR #10019
    • improve SVG hatch drawing speed PR #9995 and PR #9885
    • add large ANSI format templates PR #9825
    • fix precision errors in 3d window direction/orientation PR #9577
    • add shaft/hole fit annotation PR #8455
    • add ANSI Y14.5 compatible font PR #8198
    • Replacement for Qt XMLPatterns PR #9104 (Thanks Werner!)
    • zoom improvements PR #10547, #10456
    • hatch speed improvements PR #9995, #9985

    Other Items for 2023

    These items would be nice to address in 2023:

    • drawing overlay
      • allow graphics to be added to a drawing page as on a transparent overlay in traditional drafting. This will build on the SymbolsAndTraces research project and @Evgeniy's schematic workbench.


    Work Completed in 2022

    These items were implemented in 2022:

    • Navigation modes
    • New face detection algorithm
    • PrintAll function
    • Bitmap hatching fix
    • Extension line gaps
    • Section dialog live/deferred update option (implemented as part of complex section)
    • Convert all templates to "plain svg" (implemented for latin script templates)
    • View stacking order
    • Use separate thread for hidden line removal, face finding, section and detail cuts
    • replace ActiveView Svg creation with simple screen capture
    • complex section views
    • easier dimensions from 3d geometry
    • simple dimension reference repair dialog

    2022 Plan Items Not Completed

    These items are still on the infamous TODO list. They will be worked on as and if time allows.

    • Projection group dialog upgrade including live/deferred update option
    • Ability to specify file preferences as relative paths 6707
    • ability to specify units by dimension or page instead of system wide.
    • weld symbol upgrades including ISO/AWS symbology and help text 6313
    • ordinate dimensions 6587
    • broken view 5694
    • improved handling of Draft/Arch objects
    • include sketcher points in drawings
    • Feature Control Frames (GD&T)
    • Threaded hole representation