DoubleCAD XT, free commercial use 2D detailing app.

utiler

I've got to admit that progress is slow... I've had a lot of recent hardware problems, resolved only after a format
OUCH!!!!!!

No problem, look forward to them soon.....

HPW

Is DoubleCAD STD or PRO in any way scriptabel like Autocad with AutoLisp/DCL ?

Regards

Hans-Peter

wmanning

There is no scripting language implemented yet. We will be creating a published SDK and then implement scripting. We have been having lots of discussions about that: whether to do LISP, Ruby, Python... If we implement LISP it might be nearly impossible to make it very highly compatible with existing AutoLISP scripts, so that makes us hesitant to implement LISP. We're still taking input if you have suggestions and opinions!

HPW

@unknownuser said:

If we implement LISP it might be nearly impossible to make it very highly compatible with existing AutoLISP scripts, so that makes us hesitant to implement LISP. We're still taking input if you have suggestions and opinions!

It might not be highly compatible (for example compatibel to the latest VisualLisp improvments) but it should be compatibel to the early AutoLisp's.
But also important is any kind of scriptable GUI. So a DCL-compatible solution would be a wellknown Standard. (Intellicad and their clones support this mostly)

Also SketchUp with its Ruby-API has a web-based GUI included.
But there are also alternatives like FxRuby etc.

So keep us informed what (and when) language will get into your products.

My personal vote:

1.Lisp
2.Ruby

jpalm32

Best Free 2D Cad download EVER! Tried them all! This is the best. Brings in SKP also.
Tried some trial and they had more problems with my Autocad files.
I was willing to buy after using Autocad Lite but no upgrade price for my version 1000 bucks NO way.

wmanning

Rather short notice, but we have started running Webinars on DoubleCAD XT and XT PRO. Wednesday, June 10 we'll be doing one on SketchUp to DoubleCAD XT PRO workflow. It will be at 8:30 am PDT (GMT - 7). We'll add more sessions to our calendar including some afternoon sessions to cross over with Asia/Pacific region morning hours.

View upcoming events, and sign-up here:

http://www.doublecad.com/Support/LearningCenter/Webinars/EventsCalendar/tabid/1403/Default.aspx

Hope to see you there!

William

jwlyon1

Just another jealous mac user...

Vote for mac version!!

wmanning

Thanks for the Mac vote...

By the way, I forgot to pointout that the Webinar we did was recorded and can be viewed here for those interested: http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXTPro/ProFeatures/FileInteropampXrefs/SketchUpWorkflow/tabid/1455/Default.aspx

Just click on the videos tab. The first half shows how DoubleCAD XT handles .SKP models, and the second half shows a bit of additional PRO functionality.

William

Edson

i have watched the video and was very impressed by it. however, it has no mac version which kinda spoils the fun for me.

are there any plans for a mac version? if i am not mistaken IDX Renditioner has one and this is a good precedent.

wmanning

I know that we'd like to do a Mac and even Linux versions, but right now there are no concrete plans for that. The DoubleCAD video was shot on a Mac running DoubleCAD under VM Fusion because several of us working on DoubleCAD use Macs too, but clearly a native version would be better.

-- William

linea

@unknownuser said:

...and even Linux versions

wmanning

Yesterday DoubleCAD XT PRO version 2 was released. The free DoubleCAD XT version should follow withing a few weeks at most (I'm told). Since there is a free trial of the PRO, anyone that wants to try v2 can get the PRO free trial and use that until the free XT version arrives.

Lots of changes. For details, see http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXTProv2/NewinVersion2/tabid/1532/Default.aspx.

Main items of interest (?) to SU users: although it is still a 2D application we've made all the architectural tools 3D so that elevations, etc, can be generated easily. We've also updated our COLLADA export (PRO only feature) to include Instances from blocks which will import into SketchUp as components. If you use the architectural tools (AutoCAD Architecture compatible), just select all, make the whole model a block, then export to COLLADA with the export option to Save Blocks and all the windows, doors, stairs, roofs, etc, come in as components. A quick way to kick off a project.

I hope you enjoy it.

William

d12dozr

This is good news, thank you.

Gaieus

Hi William,

Thanks for the heads-up! Looking forward to seeing the new features (although I myself am not a big CAD user)

I hope you don't mind that I "borrowed" an image from the DoubleCAD XT Gallery for The Daily CatchUp article/announcement. Let me know if you'd like me to change it to something else.

wmanning

The free DoubleCAD XT v2 has been released. The XT version doesn't have too much change vis-a-vis SketchUp workflow, but the product has a new installer that provides 30 days free use of the Pro Features, then reverts to the free XT product. New features can be found here:
http://www.doublecad.com/Products/DoubleCADXTPRO/NewinVersion2/tabid/1532/Default.aspx.

During that first 30 days you can make use of the robust architectural tools (AutoCAD Architecture compatible -- but still not DWG 2010 compatible, that's coming soon). When exporting to COLLADA our .DAE filter now has an option to convert all blocks to instances, which SketchUp imports as components. We also convert architectural objects to blocks during the export. This makes it a pretty good way to get AutoCAD Architecture content into SketchUp.

Support forums are at http://forums.doublecad.com

It's still free. Hope you like it.

William

Gaieus

Hi William, thanks for the heads-up.

I also received the newsletter this morning. This "reversed" workflow - via the collada format - sound exciting especially now that dwg/dxf import was stripped from the free version of SU 7.1 (although for the time being, there is the additional plugin, I know).

Maybe with future versions of SU, DoubleCAD will be part of the everyday workflow for free SU users!

tfdesign

@wmanning said:

Thanks for the Mac vote...

Hi William.

Personally, I'm not impressed.

You quote in your personal avatar that you use not only Windows, but OSX too, yet you still have yet to support Mac OSX! Why do you advertise that you use a Mac, yet won't support it?!?

Fellow Mac users, vote with your feet. ixelsoft's 'HighDesign' is an excellent and very underrated Mac OSX based 2D AutoCAD alternative. Highdesign also works well with SketchUp (many of its users are SU users!);

http://www.ilexsoft.com/highdesign/

QCad is also a great 2D ACAD LT alternative (albeit a little underpowered, but it's all there, you just need to work a little harder)- QCad, which runs natively in Linux, runs on Mac and Windows, and can even be used from a USB dongle, from even the most locked-down PC's! (So therefore great for students- not including the great price ).

http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html

regards,

Tom

UPDATE; HighDesign is half the price of the full version of DoubleCAD XT! Fancy that!

http://store.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=6CJ_LIVE&&

Now who says Mac is an expensive system?

wmanning

@unknownuser said:

You quote in your personal avatar that you use not only Windows, but OSX too, yet you still have yet to support Mac OSX! Why do you advertise that you use a Mac, yet won't support it?!?

Hey Tom,

I do use a Mac as you note (and before that used a Lisa, and Apple IIb through IIe, even played with the Xerox Star before Apple), and we have other products on the Mac, such as IDX Renditioner and a version of TurboCAD on the Mac, among others.

With this product we've been going directly at Autodesk and going after the AutoCAD LT user. Since that product is PC only it has been the focus of most of our attention, for now.

With DoubleCAD we've been looking at supporting the Mac and/or Linux, but the way the existing code is written, and some of the limitations of certain licensed libraries, makes porting it to the Mac a massive undertaking. We've done some serious exploration there as our CEO also did a lot of Mac software in the '80s and '90s. But we can't commit to anything at the moment.

So it's not that we "won't support" the Mac, but we "don't" support it right now. If you want to voice those opinions more directly, our CEO reads the DoubleCAD forums regularly and there is a Mac/Linux thread here: http://forums.doublecad.com/index.php?topic=250.0.

William

tfdesign

Thanks for the tip William

Scott M

wmanning,
I went to the link that you posted to download the doublecad xt,free program it tryed to open the link to download the software but would not open,after several minuts a screen poped up sayig that it could not open this sigt so I tryed the trial downlode the same thing hapend.There was another link I found by googling and I was able to download the file but the coade wase rejected when I tryed to install any help?