QCAD

Last updated

QCAD
Developer(s) RibbonSoft
Stable release
3.29.3.0 [1]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg / 23 January 2024;49 days ago (23 January 2024) [2]
Repository
Written in C++ (Qt), JavaScript
Operating system Windows, macOS, Unix-like, Linux
Type CAD software
License GPL-3.0-or-later with exceptions for plugins and add-ons [3]
Website www.qcad.org/en/ OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

QCAD is a computer-aided design (CAD) software application for 2D design and drafting. It is available for Linux, Apple macOS, Unix and Microsoft Windows. [4] The QCAD GUI is based on the Qt framework.

Contents

QCAD is partly released under the GNU General Public License. [5] Precompiled packages are available for 32-bit and 64-bit Linux platforms, Microsoft Windows OS and macOS.

QCAD is developed by RibbonSoft. Development on QCAD began in October 1999, starting with code from CAM Expert. QCAD 2, designed to "make QCAD more productive, more user friendly, more flexible and increase its compatibility with other products" began development in May 2002. QCAD 3 was first released in August 2011 with an ECMAScript (JavaScript) interface as major addition.

Some of the interface and concepts behind QCAD are similar to those of AutoCAD.

QCAD uses the DXF file format internally and to save and import files. Support for the popular DWG file format is available as a commercial plugin based on the Open Design Alliance DWG libraries.

Starting from version 3.7 QCAD is distributed as Professional Trial that works for a limited time, or as Community Edition as source code only, so users need to self compile or remove the QCAD Professional add-on running in trial mode. [6]

Although much of the software source is under the GPL-3.0-or-later license there is also significant functionality [7] not available under a free software license.

QCAD has a large library of different templates. [8] [9]

Multiplatform support

QCAD operates on Linux, macOS [10.7 (Lion) or later], UNIX (FreeBSD, NetBSD), Solaris for x86 and SPARC, and Windows [8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000]. This is of importance for collaboration across a diverse computing environment.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AutoCAD</span> Commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application

AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) software application developed by Autodesk. It was first released in December 1982 for the CP/M and IBM PC platforms as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. Initially a DOS application, subsequent versions were later released for other platforms including Classic Mac OS (1989), Microsoft Windows (1993) and macOS (2010), along with companion web and mobile applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irssi</span> Text-mode IRC client

Irssi is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client program for Linux, FreeBSD, macOS and Microsoft Windows. It was originally written by Timo Sirainen, and released under the terms of the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later in January 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minix</span> Unix-like operating system

MINIX is a Unix-like operating system based on a microkernel architecture. Since version 2.0, it has been Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) compliant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operating system</span> Software that manages computer hardware resources

An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qt (software)</span> Object-oriented framework for software development

Qt is cross-platform software for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platform applications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems with little or no change in the underlying codebase while still being a native application with native capabilities and speed.

In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphical shell. The desktop environment was seen mostly on personal computers until the rise of mobile computing. Desktop GUIs help the user to easily access and edit files, while they usually do not provide access to all of the features found in the underlying operating system. Instead, the traditional command-line interface (CLI) is still used when full control over the operating system is required.

In computing, cross-platform software is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software requires a separate build for each platform, but some can be directly run on any platform without special preparation, being written in an interpreted language or compiled to portable bytecode for which the interpreters or run-time packages are common or standard components of all supported platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scanner Access Now Easy</span>

Scanner Access Now Easy (SANE) is an open-source application programming interface (API) that provides standardized access to any raster image scanner hardware. The SANE API is public domain. It is commonly used on Linux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DTrace</span> Dynamic tracing framework for kernel and applications

DTrace is a comprehensive dynamic tracing framework originally created by Sun Microsystems for troubleshooting kernel and application problems on production systems in real time. Originally developed for Solaris, it has since been released under the free Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) in OpenSolaris and its descendant illumos, and has been ported to several other Unix-like systems.

Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE) is a software interface for Unix and Unix-like computer operating systems that lets non-privileged users create their own file systems without editing kernel code. This is achieved by running file system code in user space while the FUSE module provides only a bridge to the actual kernel interfaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linux</span> Family of Unix-like operating systems

Linux is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution (distro), which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses and recommends the name "GNU/Linux" to emphasize the use and importance of GNU software in many distributions, causing some controversy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BricsCAD</span> Computer-aided design software

BricsCAD® is a software application for computer-aided design (CAD), developed by Bricsys nv. The company was founded in 2002 by Erik de Keyser, a longtime CAD entrepreneur. In 2011 Bricsys acquired the intellectual property rights from Ledas for constraints-based parametric design tools, permitting the development of applications in the areas of direct modeling and assembly design. Bricsys is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, and has additional development centers in Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk, Russia; Bucharest, Romania and Singapore. Bricsys is a founding member of the Open Design Alliance, and joined the BuildingSMART International consortium in December 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FreeCAD</span> Free and open-source 3D CAD software

FreeCAD is a general-purpose parametric 3D computer-aided design (CAD) modeler and a building information modeling (BIM) software application with finite element method (FEM) support. It is intended for mechanical engineering product design but also expands to a wider range of uses around engineering, such as architecture or electrical engineering. FreeCAD is free and open-source, under the LGPL-2.0-or-later license, and available for Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems. Users can extend the functionality of the software using the Python programming language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KVIrc</span> IRC Client

KVIrc is a graphical IRC client for Linux, Unix, Mac OS and Windows. The name is an acronym of K Visual IRC in which the K stands for a dependency to KDE, which became optional from version 2.0.0. The software is based on the Qt framework and its code is released under a modified GNU General Public License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SolveSpace</span> Open-source computer-aided design software

SolveSpace is a free and open-source 2D/3D constraint-based parametric computer-aided design (CAD) software that supports basic 2D and 3D constructive solid geometry modeling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LibreCAD</span> Free and open-source 2D CAD software

LibreCAD is a computer-aided design (CAD) application for 2D design. It is free and open-source, and available for Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems.

Comparison of user features of operating systems refers to a comparison of the general user features of major operating systems in a narrative format. It does not encompass a full exhaustive comparison or description of all technical details of all operating systems. It is a comparison of basic roles and the most prominent features. It also includes the most important features of the operating system's origins, historical development, and role.

References

  1. Error: Unable to display the reference properly. See the documentation for details.
  2. "Releases – qcad/qcad" . Retrieved 18 May 2021 via GitHub.
  3. Qcad – license
  4. Mustun, Andrew (15 April 2021). "QCAD – 2D CAD for Windows, Linux and Mac". RibbonSoft. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  5. Mustun, Andrew (17 June 2013), QCAD 3.1 released as open source, QCAD, retrieved 18 May 2021.
  6. Mustun, Andrew. "QCAD Downloads". QCAD. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  7. Mustun, Andrew (2 March 2021). "QCAD Features". QCAD. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  8. "Example Files and Part Libraries – Architecture: Doors, windows, plants, people, etc". QCAD. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  9. "Example Files and Part Libraries – Electronics: ICs, capacitors, diodes, etc". QCAD. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2021.