Hi John, The plotter code pre-dates the dxflib import code by some number of years. That is the simple reason why the library isn't used for plotting.
If you were to revise the dxf plotting code to use dxflib, I doubt anyone would have any heartburn over this change as long as you worked within the PLOTTER class. As to advice on the approach, I'd start with mapping out the calls you need and ensuring that the overloads in DXF_PLOTTER will work with the calling structure expected by dxflib Let us know if you'd like to be assigned the issue in GitLab. Seth [image: KiCad Services Corporation Logo] Seth Hillbrand *Lead Developer* +1-530-302-5483 Long Beach, CA www.kipro-pcb.com i...@kipro-pcb.com On Sun, Jun 4, 2023 at 9:12 PM John Timms <johngti...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello, > > I am new to the project and interested in contributing on Issue #2446 DXF > export should export dimension items as DXF dimensions (lp:#1832717) > <https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad/-/issues/2446>. > > The 7.0.0 release does not plot KiCad dimension items at all with the > option "Plot graphic items using their contours" selected. With the option > de-selected, then KiCad dimension items are plotted using LINE entities, as > stated in the issue. > > Looking at what would be required to implement the DXF standard's > DIMENSION entity, the minimum change would involve changes to > DXF_PLOTTER::StartPlot() > <https://gitlab.com/kicad/code/kicad/-/blob/7.0/common/plotters/DXF_plotter.cpp?ref_type=heads#L173> > (The > DIMENSION entities require a BLOCKS section to be defined.) in addition to > whatever changes will be needed to the rest of the DXF plotting code. > > Because KiCad allows a number of customizations to the appearance of KiCad > dimension items, the "minimal change" would likely not result in > efficiently reproducing the dimension items exactly as they appear in KiCad > in the DXF plot output. > > I see that QCAD's dxflib is already included in thirdparty, I assume this > is used for DXF import? Rather than reinventing the wheel for plotting > DIMENSION entities, what if dxflib was used for DXF plotting also? > > I assume there is a good reason for the DXF plotter being the way it is > now. Is there a specific design intent that prevents using dxflib to plot? > In general, could I get some advice on what kind of approach to take, what > kind of contribution would be most helpful? > > John > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "KiCad Developers" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to devlist+unsubscr...@kicad.org. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/a/kicad.org/d/msgid/devlist/f84e169d-692f-48d6-981e-f37a3fdfb39cn%40kicad.org > <https://groups.google.com/a/kicad.org/d/msgid/devlist/f84e169d-692f-48d6-981e-f37a3fdfb39cn%40kicad.org?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "KiCad Developers" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to devlist+unsubscr...@kicad.org. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/kicad.org/d/msgid/devlist/CAFdeG-rjYcMsJ5hmt1qdAy%3Di_36yv_YQF6xotfBSJmrLYP2hBA%40mail.gmail.com.
