New Features – Treesoft Cad

Foreword

Treesoft CAD 7.1 includes many improvements, functional enhancements, and completely new features. In addition, the capabilities of the CAD core, which was newly developed for version 7.0, have been intensively utilized and further expanded.

General

New drawing header

Treesoft CAD 7.1 now supports all Unicode character sets. The data format of the drawing files has been expanded accordingly.

If you were to open a drawing file created with version 7.1 using an older version of Treesoft CAD, the program would inevitably crash. Knowing that we would certainly expand and thus change the data format after developing the new CAD core, we already defined an identifier in version 6.4 that allows the program to recognize that the drawing file was created with a more recent version than the one currently installed. In this case, the following dialog box is displayed:

All older versions of Treesoft CAD do not recognize this identifier and therefore display the following message:

In both cases, automatically canceling the loading process prevents Treesoft CAD from crashing.

In order to read the drawing file created with Treesoft CAD Version 7.1, you must also install the 7.1 upgrade.

Conversion moved to evaluation

In version 7.0, when a drawing file was opened, it was converted to the new data format. As a result, since version 7.0, drawing has been performed with the highest possible accuracy (64-bit floating point arithmetic). Since then, the Autoconnect function has also worked with scaled and rotated symbols.

When saving, the drawings were converted back to the old data format because the evaluation module did not yet recognize the new data format.

With the CAD 7.1 upgrade, drawings are saved in the new data format and with a new drawing header as described above. The evaluation now supports the new data format at least partially, but not yet completely. Where necessary, the evaluation automatically converts the drawing into the required data format.

This means that conversions now only take place during evaluation and no longer every time a drawing file is opened or saved. It also allows us to gradually convert the functions in the evaluation to the new data format, thereby limiting the conversion step by step. As always, all of this happens completely unnoticed by you. Overall performance has once again improved significantly.

Set symbol above catalog tree

The gradual transition from Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) to the Qt application framework has enabled us to significantly improve usability. One result of this is the new dockable windows in the [F2] Place Symbol via Catalog Tree function.

The usability is almost self-explanatory. The buttons “Article,” “Graphic,” and “Name” are no longer necessary because the lists are now superimposed on different tabs. This allows you to detach the lists and drag them to a second screen. It is now also possible to display two lists side by side.

Place symbol above library

Here, we have only changed the command name from Set Symbol to Set Via Library. Everything else, including the hotkey S and the F4 key, has remained the same.

Dialog Text

With the additional foreign language translation module, Treesoft CAD now supports the use of all Unicode character sets, such as Cyrillic and Chinese characters.

In order for you to be able to edit these character sets in the text dialog, the dialog must also be Unicode-compatible. As part of this adjustment, we have completely redesigned the dialog.

We have replaced working with text modules with the auto-complete function. The auto-complete function is more effective, and we are sure that you will enjoy using this convenient feature.

In the above illustration, the auto-complete feature in the drop-down list box displays all texts from the dictionary for the native language of the text that begin with the entry “Sicherung.“

If the Translatable checkbox is selected, texts can be output in the stored languages.

Text display in the status bar, drawing, and dialog box

Texts are now always displayed correctly in the status bar, on the screen, and in the text input dialog. Up to version 6.5, special characters were only displayed correctly on the artboard; from version 7.0 onwards, they are also displayed correctly in the status bar, and from version 7.1 onwards, they are also displayed correctly in the Text dialog, because this is now Unicode-compatible.

ISO 3098 character set is used

In the character set zeichen.set, the individual characters were created in the character set editor from lines, based on the standard font used at the time in accordance with DIN 16. When output to the screen, plotter, or printer, the texts were output as lines. This enabled us to rotate texts in degree increments, enlarge them as desired, and output them in the desired line thickness as early as 1986. In addition, the output on a plotter or printer corresponded exactly to the output on the screen, i.e., WYSIWYG. This was a novelty on the market at the time.

Using the zeichen.set character set when exporting to PDF means that you cannot search for text, because the text is still output as lines during export. To prevent this, we have already incorporated the ISO 3098 character set in version 7.0, allowing you to output text using this character set. We have scaled the ISO 3098 character set so that it corresponds as closely as possible to the character set in the output, but unfortunately 100% WYSIWYG has been lost.

In version 7.1, you can now also use the ISO 3098 character set to create drawings. This makes zeichen.set largely obsolete and it is now only included for compatibility reasons. The ISO 3098 character set is now always the default setting. This restores 100% WYSIWYG.

control technology

foreign language translation

The foreign language translation has been completely redesigned, and yes, you can now also use Cyrillic and Chinese character sets.

To make this possible, the following functional enhancements were implemented:

• The dialog text is now Unicode-compatible.

• The Translate dialog is now Unicode-enabled.

• The Dictionary dialog is now Unicode-enabled.

• Any Unicode-enabled TrueType and OpenType fonts can now be used in Treesoft CAD.

• When a character set is added, it is automatically parameterized. This ensures that the proportions between the different character sets are consistent.

• Each language must be assigned a corresponding character set. In order to be able to output texts in Chinese, for example, the language must of course be assigned a character set that also contains the 60,000 Chinese characters.

native language

native language

For new projects, the first thing you do is assign a native language—either German or English.

For existing projects, the query is automatically displayed when the first drawing file is opened.

Language and alternative language for output

Language and alternative language for output

The 7.1 upgrade has significantly improved translation performance. In Treesoft CAD 7.1, the source language and translation languages are stored directly in the drawing file. This means that there is now only one file containing all selected languages, rather than one drawing per language as in the previous version. As a result, there is now only one file in which changes need to be maintained. The changes are then automatically transferred to all selected output languages.

For display on screen, printing, or PDF export, select an output language and an alternative language. Both can be selected at any time.

For example, if you create a circuit diagram in your native language, German, and want to output it in Chinese, but have only translated the articles into English, then select Chinese as the language and English as the alternative language.

All texts for which a Chinese translation is available will be displayed accordingly. If no Chinese translation is available, the text will be displayed in English.

Auto-complete function

Auto-complete function

When entering text, the text you enter is automatically completed. Here, Treesoft CAD accesses the dictionary. This not only saves a lot of typing, but also prevents incorrect translations caused by typing errors.

Plug-in control technology tidied up

Here, we have revised and improved the assignment of symbols and articles. This makes it easier for newcomers in particular to familiarize themselves with the system.

building technology

cable laying

In particular, the laying of cables across multiple floors and the calculation of cable lengths have been greatly improved.

Improvements in connection evaluation

With the CAD 7.1 upgrade, you can now also scale the Cable/Wire Connections dialog box. This makes editing easier and clearer.

Display and delete line

Display and delete line

We have also significantly improved the display and deletion of cable or line connections. When a line is deleted via the Cable/Line Connections dialog, the line segments spanning multiple floors are now also deleted.

Display cable/wire connections

Display cable/wire connections

Previously, the Display button highlighted the currently selected connection in the building floor plan in color. All other connections were hidden.

Now switch to display mode using the Display button. Here, too, the selected connection is highlighted in color (red). A new feature is that, in the case of lines spanning multiple floors, the line segments laid on the floor above or below are also displayed in color (green) and as dashed lines.

In addition, you can now move the selection in the list to display the selected entry. This allows you to conveniently scroll through all entries and check the relocations.

Improvement of circuit evaluation

You can now also scale the circuit list dialog. We have also significantly improved the deletion and display of circuits.

Delete circuit – Circuit list

When a circuit is deleted via the circuit list, all line segments, including those spanning multiple floors, are now deleted.

Circuit diagrams – Circuit list

Previously, clicking the Display button highlighted the currently selected circuit in color on the building floor plan. All other circuits were hidden.

Now switch to display mode using the Display button. Here, too, the selected circuit is highlighted in color (red). A new feature is that, in the case of circuits spanning multiple floors, the cable segments laid on the floor above or below are also displayed in color (green) and as dashed lines.

In addition, you can now move the selection in the list to display the selected entry. This allows you to conveniently scroll through all entries and check the relocations.

Info function, change position number

If you change the position number at a switch installed on the ground floor that is connected to a distributor in the basement, the changed position number is now also displayed in the connection list and in the circuit list. Up to Treesoft CAD version 7.0, the line had to be deleted and re-laid for this.

Electrical menu, Delete line command

If you now delete a line using the Delete Line command in the Electrical menu, all line segments, including those spanning multiple floors, will of course also be deleted here.

Electrical menu, Delete cable string command

If you now delete a cable trunk using the Delete command in the Electrical menu, all segments of the cable trunk, including those spanning multiple floors, will of course also be deleted.

Delete floor plan

We have improved the display for deleting a floor plan. If you select a different floor plan in the Floor plan selection list box, it will now be displayed directly without flickering. In the Delete floor plan dialog box itself, traffic light colors are now used to indicate whether the corresponding level is occupied or not: red for “unoccupied” and green for “occupied.”

Copy component

Previously, when copying, the rotation angle of the position number was not taken into account and the position number was always applied with a rotation angle of 0 degrees after copying. We have now improved this. The position number is now applied in the original rotation angle.

CAD converter

The new CAD converter PDF/DXF/DWG was first released on June 15, 2015, with upgrade 6.4, build 4, and has been continuously improved since then. We have also further developed this in upgrade 7.1 and once again implemented some of the improvement requests you have sent us. In particular, the improvements to the bidirectional module significantly enhance building technology.

CAD converters in general

Like Treesoft CAD, the CAD converter now also works on a project basis, i.e. the CAD converter now also opens and saves files in the active project. If you open a PDF, DWG, or DXF file outside the active project using the Open File dialog, the original file is automatically copied to the active project when the ZNG file is exported. This improves usability and also ensures that all files associated with the project are stored in the project.

CAD converter bidirectional module

You can now update a floor plan imported via the bidirectional module at any time.

The update is also possible if the scale and/or sheet format have been changed previously in Treesoft CAD Building Services.

During the update, the export area can also be changed, and this is also implemented correctly.

This means we have implemented what was probably the most frequently requested functional enhancement to the CAD converter.

The following video shows you the possibilities this opens up for you.