20050720

I have been able to create a fairly satisfactory drawing with Q Cad. It has two remaining problems - one of which is a calamity - the dimensions disappear.

If I can get past that hurdle, I suggest we make a decision on a drawing package to standardize on.

Drawing packages are incredibly complex to learn. Partly this is because they are so flexible and have so many options. By picking a reasonable set of options and starting from a template, we may can reduce this to a manageable level of difficulty. If we can standardize on Q Cad, I will put the template I have been using in the files area and prepare a lesson to enable a new user to reproduce the very simplistic drawing I have been using as a test case. Once a prospective user is able to do a simple drawing, they will not feel disoriented and will be motivated to learn to produce the drawings they want.

Hopefully, they will not have to spend several weeks floundering, like I did.

(The dimensioning problem - I am able to enter the dimensions and they look OK. The programmer recommended converting text, including dimensions, to drawing elements (lines and arcs) so it would be easier for other programs to use. When I do that the title block looks OK and translates to the Brava free viewer OK (dwgviewer.exe). But the dimensions are there in some views and not in others - in Q Cad they look OK but after I upload them to Files and then download them, they are not present in either Q Cad or Brava. I tried not converting the dimensions - that didn't work either. I'm still working on it.) - Bobby