TechDraw Roadmap



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

Current Activity

 * preparation for v0.21 release

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
 * 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

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.
 * implemented by PR #9104 (Thanks Werner!)

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