Bricscad for Linux: API's
Hello everybody,
Time to provide an answer to the popular question:
which API's can you expect to be available on our first Linux release ?
1) LISP and DCL
Supported !
We might succeed to include the majority of vla-, vlax- and vlr- functions as well,
we consider to base them on a COM-free implementation.
2) COM / VBA
Not supported, out by design.
3) SDS / ADS
The majority of functions are supported.
SDS functions that have windows-specific types in their signature ( like CWnd, CView, CDocument, CWinApp, ...) are excluded.
4) BRX / ARX
Not supported in the first release.
BRX / ARX has strong ties to the windows platform, dictated by multiple header declarations.
The majority of existing BRX / ARX applications heavily depend on windows and MFC.
A possible scenario for the future:
- step 1: we offer a subset SDK, where functions with windows-specific signatures are excluded
- step 2: we gradually extend the SDK with WxWidgets based alternatives for those excluded functions
Technically it's possible, but it involves considerable work, both on our side and the client
developer's side. After all, the client code has to be made multi-platform as well.
The final answer to the BRX question will depend on future demand and potential.
"If and when" is not decided today. For now we focus all our resources to bring
you a first release, without BRX, as soon as possible.
Comments
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It is supported only Lisp (with stipulations and exceptions). But as far as I understand Lisp it is a programming language, instead of addition to Autocad. How I can transfer through this programming language custom objects from ObjectARX in BricsCAD?
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Hi,
I see BRX (or a functional equivalent one) a must for modern cad developing.
I agree, ARX is too deeply tight to MFC (which I don't like at all), but most object oriented apps need a deep acces of
cad elements, if we want to see some useful add-ons to bricscad.
And yes, I guess it'll be a lot of work to add support for it in Linux Bricscad.
Just a question... the windows version will still support BRX or are you thinking to migrate both to a new development environment ?
Ciao
Max
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Not to worry, we keep supporting the windows version of Bricscad + BRX in full :-)
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Hello
I renew this topic which is very important.
It's such a pity that only LISP would be available in Bricscad for Linux.
1) LISP : This language is awful : Lots of Insipid and Stupid Parentheses
2) VBA : I don't like it but it's very useful. Maybe would it be able to use Gambas in further realeses.
For COM, D-Bus seems to be a good equivalent. But it would a lot^infinity of work.
3) SDS : deprecated ( http://www.bricsys.com/bricscad/help/en_US/V10/DevRef/index.html )
4) BRX : The absence of BRX would be severe lack for Bricscad Linux.
I don't think it depends so deeply on MFC. Personally, I use BRX with GTK/GLib. And I compile with Visual Express which don't include MFC.0 -
Just my 2 pence here :-)
Lisp - from what is already available, especially COM related functions (vla-...), (vlax-...), (vlr-...)
this will work "COM-free" ... the advantage is a huge performance boost, around 10 times faster
than under Windows+COM.
As an unintended side-effect, the same "COM-Free" VLA/VLAX/VLR system will be made available
under Windows as well - here, at least 5 times faster ... in average, 15...25 times faster than in
AutoCAD, but 30...50 times faster than AutoCAD under Linux ...
And I run it under VMWare - a native Linux will be even faster.So in summary, Lisp is declared to be "old/ugly" whatever - but is still the most complete API -
virtually identical as under Windows ... and due to huge performance boost it is then possible to
process much more complex drawings, "bigger" code, which otherwise would only make sense with
ARX/BRX code
SDS : personally, I'm not sure why ADS/SDS is always declared to be deprecated ... on one side, it
is usually included in ARX/BRX (so it is a very small subset), on the other side, there is no real need
to eliminate a working API ...
and in fact, Bricscad SDS is mostly working under Linux - the Lisp engine uses this intensively.BRX : yes, some parts are MFC related ... and not easy to re-implement MFC-free :-)
but of course, a huge part is database related, and thus, can technically work under Linux.Many greetings to all !
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The API is a bit low level for some engineers. All they want to know is which plug-ins will be supported. For example, I am specifically interested in whether or not the KTF 7 plug-in will work with the supported API's.
Regards
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Hi
Just another question : what about DRX. Would it be possible to use DRX on Bricscad Linux ?
Thanks
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Hi All,
We probably will keep supporting MFC in BRX for the Windows based applications because we expect that most application developers want to maintain their applications on both AutoCAD and Bricscad based on the same source code.
If there is a reasonable interest from the developers community for BRX based applications on LINUX- accepting some differences compared to Windows based BRX features - then Bricsys is certainly willing to develop a LINUX based BRX where MFC is replaced by WXWidgets.
erik
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