QCAD.org Forum

Hi All,

Introduction
I am trying to find a new CAD application on Linux since Draftsight (which I have been using for years) has decided to change their licensing model to a hefty €99,- per year even for home use.

For the last several months I have testing a number of CAD apps on Linux and QCAD (Pro) looks to be the best and most professional offering on the market. The licensing model (buy once - use forever) in combination with the price and upgrade policy is very reasonable to say the least.

Question
I am having a problem though with AutoCAD drawings using complex linetypes. Especially the linetypes zig zag and to a lesser extent batting. I cannot get them to show or print properly. I have set the "Display entities with more than..." setting to 5000 and even 100000 but still they pattern doesn't show. I have changed linetype scale to a variety of sizes and checked if I were in Drafting mode (which I wasn't). Still no luck.
The actual question :How do I get to display complex linetypes correctly?

Note that I have tried this with the latest trial version with the premium features enabled and disabled.

Why is this so important you might ask? Well, I have a large amount of drawings of various reconstruction projects of my house. All using complex linetypes like zig zag. I would really like to be able to re-use these drawings for other reconstruction projects in the future.

Looking forward to any suggestion you might have!

Warmest regards,

Sjonnie

Edit: Forgot to add the specs of the system:

Ubuntu 18.04 64 bit
QCAD 3.22.0.0
Build Date: Mar 1 2019
Revision: 2ba5a26
Qt Version: 5.8.0
Architecture: x86_64
Compiler: gcc 4.8.1

Do you have a (reduced) drawing file you can attach? Thanks.

Hi Andrew,

Thank you for your swift reply!

I have added a drawing with two lines; one continuous and one zig zag (in red)

It looks like the linetype definitions in the file are broken.
Try this:
1. Misc > Modify > Reload Linetype Definitions
2. Select the red line
3. In the property editor, change the linetype scale to 1

Hi Andrew,

Followed your steps; reloaded linetypes, changed linetype scale to 1 but to no avail

Saved the DXF and added it to this message.

OK, Not solved yet but it has got to be a problem/issue with the ltypeshp.cxf. I have studied the mm.lin and saw that the linetype was defined in there pointing to ltypeshp.shx. So I copied that over from my Draftsight install to /home/[username]/opt/qcad-3.22.0-trial-linux-x86_64/fonts. I then modified the file /home/[username]/opt/qcad-3.22.0-trial-linux-x86_64/linetypes/metric/qcadiso.lin to point to the shx file. No luck.

So what now?

EDIT: I forgot to copy the accompanying shp file. So I copied that over and restarted QCAD. Unfortunately not solved

Sjonnie wrote: ↑

Thu May 30, 2019 3:01 pm

Followed your steps; reloaded linetypes, changed linetype scale to 1 but to no avail

Works for me. Check you're not in draft mode (View > Draft mode unchecked) and not in screen based linetype mode (View > Screen-based linetypes unchecked). Make sure your installation is not messed up with copied / linked files from other software. This is something that works out of the box in QCAD Professional and does not need fixing.

If you can't fix, create a new drawing, draw a line and change it to zig-zag. If that does not work, your installation is broken and you need to re-install.

Hi Andrew,

Tried your suggestions but no luck. I will remove the current installation and re-install. Keep you posted!

Hi Andrew,

Re-installing and using the trial version the DWG loads just fine. The problem seems to be in the Cripleware feature. So I have only one option: buy the Pro version

Snip from the differences between QCAD and QCAD Professional:

[snip]
24 different line widths
47 built in linetypes

includes 9 complex linetypes with text / shapes
extendable through .lin files, .cxf files

35 CAD optimized line fonts
[/snip]

You didn't mention you were using the free Community Edition... Complex line types are indeed QCAD Pro only. I'll move to the correct forum.

Just to state the obvious: after upgrading to the payed Pro version all is working as expected.

Happy camper over here. Now I only have to forget 30 years of AutoCAD experience

andrew wrote: ↑

Thu May 30, 2019 4:39 pm

You didn't mention you were using the free Community Edition... Complex line types are indeed QCAD Pro only. I'll move to the correct forum.

Well I didn't know until an hour ago that there were that much differences between the trial and the cripled version (where you have to delete a few *.so files). Mind you: I am happy to pay for the Pro version! I just had to be sure it did what I needed it to do; and it does!

Edit: Thanks for your support! It made me decide I had to have the paid Pro version!

@Sjonnie, you've seen but the tip of the "support iceberg". Andrew, Husky and others provide unparalleled support for QCAD. You'll not be disappointed.

Best