Re: Draw to DXF utility

On 28 Jul, John Cartmell wrote in message
<4d91755a59john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> In article <1aa13b914d.steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> Steve Fryatt <news@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > On 27 Jul, John Cartmell wrote in message
> > <4d91390ee5john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
> >
> > > I did think about it. If complex structures that cannot be
> > > translated can be described by a set of simpler structures that can
> > > be translated then it is merely*(!!) a matter of running a program
> > > to find and substitute. That's what computers are about, isn't it?
> > > Now I appreciate that it might be too much like hard work (eg too
> > > many different complex structures) but I was merely asking if the
> > > approach was possible.
>
> > How about a more sensible approach: just fix Draw?
>
> And if Draw isn't 'broken' then maybe Draw can only be 'fixed' by adding
> an ability to recognise more complex structures - possibly by building
> up its recognition of them by by combining simpler structures.

Possibly, but it would be best to do the interpretation once and not risk
the Chinese Whispers effect of pre-processing. To be honest, I would
imagine (as someone who handles a lot of DXFs at work) that Draw contains
sufficient structures to represent all or the majority of a DXF natively.
It may require some loss of context -- such as converting into simple
lines or curves, or throwing away layer details, or the like -- but a
vector representation would still be possible.

The biggest reason for problems, I suspect, is that the DXF standard does
not seem that standardised. Even between consenting Windows applications,
the results are sometimes a bit odd. The files can also be *big*: the
ones I deal with are rarely less than 2Mb in size.

> It's possible that someone is going to have to do the same sort of work
> - and passing it all on to the Draw developer may not be the fastest way
> of getting the job done.

Aren't those with Select subscriptions paying ROL for this kind of thing?

--
Steve Fryatt - Leeds, England

http://www.stevefryatt.org.uk/

.