[Discuss] OSS/OSHW replacement for DXF?

[abram connelly]

GCode falls into the category of "ask grandpa"?

-Abe

On Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 11:34 AM, j. eric townsend <
jet at functionalprototype.com> wrote:

> [disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice or opinion,  If
> there’s a better forum for this question, I’m happy to take this question
> elsewhere.]
>
> Let’s start with this: DXF is dead, long live DXF!
>
> I’ve spent the past week dealing with a variety of hardware and software
> packages that all handle different versions and features of DXF and am
> ready for an OSS replacement.  Epilog, a generic Chinese laser cutter, a
> Lasersaur, and a Flow-driven waterjet cannot agree on a version of DXF to
> handle simple lines and curves.  I started looking in to “the right DXF
> version” and by the weekend realized I was in a maze of twisty passages,
> all alike.
>
> So lets be grown-ups and ditch DXF to the pile of disorganized, organic
> rules purporting to be standards.
>
> What’s an appropriate substitute?   Here’s where I’m starting:
>
> - DWG: is (and always will be) proprietary
>
> - Teigha: a proprietary replacement for DWG.
>
> - SVG: doesn’t thrill me as it also has too many versions/variation
> problems and isn’t focused on making physical products. (Quick, how big is
> a pixel?)
>
> - IGES: no official changes since '95 or ’96, still used for 3d models by
> the likes of McMaster Carr, but I have had zero luck with exported IGES
> files and digifab hardware.
>
> - millcrum: interesting idea, in development, but it’s parametric and I’m
> allergic to that when it comes to wateriets and class IV lasers.
>
> - EPS: ugh
>
> - PDF: see EPS
>
> - AI: proprietary
>
> - HPGL: I’ll ask grandpa what it was like to walk to school both ways
> uphill in the snow.
>
> - openNURBS:  really open, no copyright or copyleft on the toolkit;
> arguably the standard is defined by McNeel who own the trademark on
> “openNURBS”.
>
> - STL: I haven’t tried 2d STL yet, but I don’t remember seeing it as an
> import option on many of the 2 and 2.5D systems I use.
>
> If this is better placed on a wiki, let me know and I’ll see to that.
>
> —jet
>
>
> --
> J. Eric Townsend, IDSA
> designer | engineer | fabricator
> jet at functionalprototype.com
>
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>
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