I'm pleased to announce the twenty-third development release of PythonCAD, a CAD package for open-source software users. As the name implies, PythonCAD is written entirely in Python. The goal of this project is to create a fully scriptable drafting program that will match and eventually exceed features found in commercial CAD software. PythonCAD is released under the GNU Public License (GPL).
PythonCAD requires Python 2.2 or newer. The interface is GTK 2.0 based, and uses the PyGTK module for interfacing to GTK. The design of PythonCAD is built around the idea of separating the interface from the back end as much as possible. By doing this, it is hoped that both GNOME and KDE interfaces can be added to PythonCAD through usage of the appropriate Python module. Addition of other PythonCAD interfaces will depend on the availability of a Python module for that particular interface and developer interest and action. The twenty-third release contains a several bug fixes, the largest of which is the correct restoration of dimension string text properties when the deletion of a dimension is undone. Another fix included in this release is the removal of some deprecated constants flagged by the 2.6 PyGTK release when they are encountered. This release also features the beginnings of the scripting enhancements planned for PythonCAD. The evaluation of user-entered expressions is now more powerful by utilizing Python's exec keyword and invoking the eval() command with an argument storing variables to be utilized during expression evaluation. More enhancements and improvements in expression evaluation and overall scriptability will appear in future releases. A mailing list for the development and use of PythonCAD is available. Visit the following page for information about subscribing and viewing the mailing list archive: http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythoncad Visit the PythonCAD web site for more information about what PythonCAD does and aims to be: http://www.pythoncad.org/ Come and join me in developing PythonCAD into a world class drafting program! Art Haas -- Man once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind. -Thomas Jefferson to James Smith, 1822 -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
