Interoperability

[zilmosantos]

Hello for all! I don't know if it's a bug, a limitation, my current QCAD version or other problem, so I'm posting here.

I'm having problems working with 3rd party drawings related to fonts.

The attached dwg was made in Tekla Structures (as far as I know) and opens normally on DWG True View 2023.

But QCAD RomanS is not showing Latin characters, the scale of the font is off and I get some unreadable text on Multi-line text.

I managed to manually install a RomanS TrueType font to try a substitution. Now QCAD shows two RomanS, one being tagged as True Type. Problem persists.

I can't change the font of all drawing because it's a 3rd party.

Can someone help with this issue?

Thanks

QCAD PROFESSIONAL 3.27.6

[Husky]

Hi zilmosantos,

Can someone help with this issue?

I don't think so - but I'll provide a few info's to that topic.

But QCAD RomanS is not showing Latin characters, the scale of the font is off and I get some unreadable text on Multi-line text.
I managed to manually install a RomanS TrueType font to try a substitution. Now QCAD shows two RomanS, one being tagged as True Type. Problem persists.

A quick www search showed me that the name RomanS is popular and used for fonts over and over. I found 50+ different fonts all called RomanS. The good news is - one of those fonts will fix the issue. The bad news is - which one!

I can't change the font of all drawing because it's a 3rd party.

Why not? I substituted the drawing font to the QCAD Standard font - looks good to me. Wasn't that the goal that it becomes readable again ...?

Husky-2022.12.22-01.png (83.35 KiB) Viewed 13708 times

Husky-2022.12.22-02.png (68.01 KiB) Viewed 13708 times

[zilmosantos]

Thanks, Husky!

The reasons to don't change the font are:

- I'm not the owner of the drawing, it's a company with it's own patterns;

- It's impractical if I have lots of drawings to work (the font changing evoques some adjustments on the text and title block to fit as intended;

- I tried to change the font to Standard (attached). Still getting arctifacts and off position texts. The curious is that the same drawing (saved in QCAD with the QCAD Standard Font, opens perfectly on TrueView; Seems like QCAD can't read some text codes, but a saved drawing on QCAD with these 'codes' opens properly on TrueView;

My bet is that's more than just a Font issue.

[zilmosantos]

Just a complement for my last reply.

I have installed NanoCAD free version and it managed to open both drawings properly (the one with RomanS and the one with QCAD Standard)

[CVH]

My bet is that's more than just a Font issue.

I can confirm that ...

In the first issue of the file:
> Edit Block 'TITULO'
> Select the text starting with 'xi-3....'
The text has two selection markers because the Text Width is set to 155
> In the Property Editor; Specific Properties; Text field we clearly see that this text is tabulated.
This is because the Property Editor uses a different font.
> Double click on the text in question to edit it
> Special characters are displayed, TABs seems to be reduced to single spaces.
That the first TAB is removed and TABs are displayed as a space is somewhat similar to HTML.
The text will seemingly disappear when you edit it because it is in white on a white background.
> The special characters and the TABs are rendered in RomanS.cxf as question marks.
Simply because those are not coded in the RomanS.cxf font file.
I have no idea how to represent 0x0009 = TAB in cxf because that would be an empty record ...

Apart from the 'xi' we remark several 'xqc' in this Block.
Also remark that the lower 'x' seems to be coded as an 'x' with some kind of short underscore. (See RomanS.cxf)
'\i' would mean Italic in Rich text ... '\qc' would mean Centered.
So it seems that all the formatting information is there but QCAD doesn't handles it correctly.

I think that the only way to force any RomanS.ttf over RomanS.cxf is by simply removing the RomanS.cxf font file.
In the past there was a similar issue with a dxf (=textual) and there was a specific difference in how the font name was stored.
I cannot verify this literal in a dwg file.

Maybe it is an idea to ask for the used RomanS.ttf ...

Regards
CVH

[CVH]

@ zilmosantos

Hi,
This just passed on GitHub:
https://github.com/qcad/qcad/commit/642 ... 6c06e017f3

It seems to handle about 'xi'.
In the same list we find 'qc' and more types of formatting.

I suspect that Andrew has picked up our conversation ...
Not sure that the update is the solution for your formatting issues ...

Regards,
CVH

[zilmosantos]

@ zilmosantos

Hi,
This just passed on GitHub:
https://github.com/qcad/qcad/commit/642 ... 6c06e017f3

It seems to handle about 'xi'.
In the same list we find 'qc' and more types of formatting.

I suspect that Andrew has picked up our conversation ...
Not sure that the update is the solution for your formatting issues ...

Regards,
CVH

Thank you, CHV!

I'm not programming inclined to explore the related code, but as the quote says "ignore advanced paragraph formatting", I understand that it'll simply ignore those characters and not make the same formatting.

On the 3 other CAD softwares I opened the drawing, they could open properly with the font and paragraph formatting. So, just ignore something that other softwares can handle, seems not a great direction to interoperability.

My conclusion for now is: QCAD is a great solution for single users, a group of users that use the same software or for who works from start to finish with QCAD and deliver all in PDF files for a client, for example.

When a user works in cooperation with other companies and need to handle source files in dwg or dxf, and have to send them back or forward and so on, he or she will have encounter barriers.

[CVH]

My conclusion for now is: ...

That's why my last sentence was:

Not sure that the update is the solution for your formatting issues ...

Then again, if you do not alter the formatting sequence that QCAD ignores, you still can edit the text and return the updated drawing.
No harm done.

Not sure if QCAD will ever support all kinds of formatting flavors ...

Regards,
CVH