Third Party Tools
Tool Page
For every serious software development you need tools. Here is a list of tools we use to develop FreeCAD:
Platform independend tools
Qt-Toolkit
The Qt-toolkit is a state of the art, plattform independend user interface design tool. It is contained in the LibPack of FreeCAD, but can also be downloaded at Qt project.
Inkscape
Great vector drawing programm. Adheres to the SVG standard and is used to draw Icons and Pictures. Get it at www.inkscape.org.
Doxygen
A very good and stable tool to generate source documentation from the .h and .cpp files.
The Gimp
Not much to say about the GNU Image Manipulation Program. Besides it can handle .xpm files which is a very convenient way to handle Icons in QT Programms. XPM is basically C-Code which can be compiled into a programm. Gimp product the free .png format used in the wiki.
Get the GIMP here: www.gimp.org
Gitkraken
This is a proprietary git GUI that is very helpful to learn how git works if you're interested in wanting to contribute to FreeCAD. Relevant pages to research:
OBS Studio
Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming. More details on official website : obsproject.com
OpenCamLib
OpenCamLib (OCL) is an open source library aiming to provide computer aided manufacturing (CAM) algorithms. FreeCAD uses OCL in the experimental 3D surface path operations and other experimental features.
StarUML
A full featured UML programm. It has a lot of features of the big ones, including reverse engineering C++ source code....
Download here: staruml.io
Tools on Windows
Visual Studio Community
Visual Studio Community is free for open source projects and small structures. Installation is modular you can add support for a large variety of language including C++ and python.
It can be downloaded at [1]
CamStudio
Is a Open Source tool to record Screencasts (Webcasts). Its a very good tool to create tutorials by recording them. Its far not so boring as writing documentation.
See camstudio.org for details.
Tools on Linux
TODO
- Getting started
- Installation: Download, Windows, Linux, Mac, Additional components, Docker, AppImage, Ubuntu Snap
- Basics: About FreeCAD, Interface, Mouse navigation, Selection methods, Object name, Preferences, Workbenches, Document structure, Properties, Help FreeCAD, Donate
- Help: Tutorials, Video tutorials
- Workbenches: Std Base, Assembly, BIM, CAM, Draft, FEM, Inspection, Mesh, OpenSCAD, Part, PartDesign, Points, Reverse Engineering, Robot, Sketcher, Spreadsheet, Surface, TechDraw, Test Framework
- Hubs: User hub, Power users hub, Developer hub