Thirty-fifth release of PythonCAD now available

I'm pleased to announce the thirty-fifth 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 thirty-fifth release contains several improvements dealing with the storage and adjustment of user preferences and image settings. The global user preferences are now saved into a file kept in the user home directory, so the settings are now preserved between PythonCAD sessions. Individual drawing settings can be examined and adjusted via a new set of menus and dialogs. These new dialogs are more complete than the single dialog previously used as well as easier to use. In addition to the preference and setting changes, a variety of bug fixes and miscellaneous code improvements are also present in this new release.

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
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