TechDraw Roadmap



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

Current Activity

 * investigation of geometry conversion

Primary Focus for 2023
There are 2 main areas of work to address 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
 * the "lesser topological naming problem"
 * primarily making dimensions survive the renaming of reference geometry
 * also affects face hatching
 * also affects edge appearance attributes

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.
 * Replacement for Qt XMLPatterns
 * the XMLPatterns component will be removed in Qt6. It will need to be replaced by another XML parsing library.  This functionality is used in Templates and Symbol views.

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