[cad-linux] Re: CAD with server/client architecture
- From: "Ray Greene" <raygr@xxxxxxxx>
- To: cad-linux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 14:16:30 +1200
Eric, I'm still trying to get my head around the database idea. As I see it,
the
main advantages of using a database are:
1. The application can let the database engine do a lot of the work - good
for scripting languages.
2. The file format is open.
If item 1 was ignored, what other advantages does a database have over a
file format such as DXF or XML? A text-based file format should be able to
contain all of the data a drawing requires, and assuming an interface for the
file format was available for whatever language was being used then it
should be as easy to use that as a database.
Something occurred to me that I would like to include in a CAD package,
that is the ability to create custom objects that use formulas to draw the
object.
For instance a wooden box manufacturer might have a box design that
requires different amounts of reinforcing in the box frame, using different
sizes of timber, depending on the dimensions of the box plus, say, some
complex stress analysis of the design. If this could be put into code, how
would you incorporate this in the database? Would the manufacturer have
to write his own code module for that, then distribute it to anyone who
required it?
My original thoughts for a CAD app included a built-in programming
language, so that the manufacturer could include the code somewhere in
the drawing file so that the recipient could read and manipulate the file
without having to add any modules to his CAD app.
Thinking about it, I guess a programming language could be built into the
database CAD app, or added on as a module. Then we could all use our
favourite language :-)
BTW I'm not arguing in any way against using a database here, I'm just
trying to fully understand the advantages and implications of it.
And thinking (very slowly) out loud...
Ray Greene.
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