[Qgis-developer] Bounty on DXF output

[Bill Williamson]

Hi Andreas,

thank you for your reply, now I am wiser. So there is a roadmap?
I find the parallels with the improvement of exporting to kml 
interesting. For me, export to DXF puts the output in the hands of a 
specialised user who will apply their own styling or manipulate the 
output in some way. Export to kml on the other hand is to generally 
create a package for presentation.
I see a focus on integration of an existing QGIS map into a dxf, a 
process to transport the complete diagram. These are understandable 
aspirations. But could you comment on the compliance with the dxf 
format, a more elementary requirement considering the current state of 
dxf output in stable QGIS?
I acknowledge the prerogative of those dev's who are working on it, but 
I am in search of wisdom!
I note that in many cad packages, the workflow to ingest point data and 
produce a dxf (or to create a "terrain") is not trivial. There seems to 
be reliance on the purchase of additional functionality for the cad 
system. There is some value in QGIS being able to deliver such a simple 
type of output in a compliant way.

regards
BillW



--------------------------- Message: 5 Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:32:15 
+0100 From: Andreas Neumann <a.neumann at carto.net> To: 
qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org Subject: Re: [Qgis-developer] Bounty on 
DXF output Message-ID: <512B218F.9060300 at carto.net> Content-Type: 
text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Hi Bill, The problem around DXF export is a 
known-issue and work has already started (in QGIS master) to solve the 
problem. However, it is a time-consuming and complicated task. Most of 
the improvements have to be done in QGIS, some fixes/additions would 
need to be done in OGR. The following sub-items have to be developed: 1. 
Translation of QGIS styling to OGR feature styling. As good as possible 
(more complex symbols do not translate well - or need to be export the 
same feature multiple times). Honoring style rules and map scales for 
the export (one keeps the original coordinates, but still exports with 
the rules of a particular map scale (e.g. for a 1:1000 scale)) 2. Allow 
to specify the DXF layer to be used for the export by - requires an 
attribute called "LAYER" - not sure if this can be any attribute or 
would be limited to the attribute called "layer". 3. Allow to export 
multiple QGIS layers into one DXF file with multiple layers. 4. Text 
label export from both manual and automatic placement - OGR feature 
styles allow text label exports. Export functionality should build 
around it. 5. Conversion of simple markers and SVG markers to DXF blocks 
All of the above means a development effort of approx. 200 hours. I can 
tell you the exact numbers if you are interested. Part one - one of the 
larger chunks is already financed and implemented by company Sourcepole. 
The Swiss QGIS user group (and some Austrian QGIS users) have a strong 
interest in fixing these issues and started funding it. Part 1 is 
already done. We are still looking for sponsors for parts 2-5. Please 
note that DWG is a totally different thing than DXF. All of the above 
applies only to DXF, but also partially for other formats that support 
OGR feature styling, like DGN, MapInfo and KML. This is to let you know 
that development efforts are under way and that we are looking for 
financing of parts of it. The work is done by a professional company 
with contracts - so the hardware bounty is unfortunately not an option 
here. Of course, the work items / contracts can be split up to different 
amounts. Andreas Am 24.02.2013 02:33, schrieb Bill Williamson: