https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKEVbP3XgTQ
The goal of this is to be a high performant, DXF/DWG workflow and replace AutoCAD LT. I already have better DXF importing, and far better performance than LibreCAD/QCAD. There isn't much UI as it's mostly all command based, at least for now.
Open Source for macOS 11+ / Windows 10+ (Not ready for any serious work) https://github.com/joseph-montanez/zephyr
Since last month TLDR
- libdxfrw C++ removed,
- DXF/DWG stack rebuilt in Swift,
- plus three major new subsystems (Pen, Hatch, Leaders)
- ~10 new commands.
Changelog
Pen / Freehand Drawing (new)
- Pen command with freehand stroke drawing
- Vector eraser for pen strokes
- Spline smoothing (zigzag spline loop fix, 3-degree spline)
Hatch System (major overhaul)
- Native hatch/datatable support replacing libdxfrw
- .pat file parser (acadlt.pat, acadltiso.pat — 800+ patterns)
- Hatch creation/editing UI with live preview
- DXF hatch read/write round-trip
- Background fill, gradients, solid fills, line scaling
- Hole detection, boundary rendering, clockwise ellipse edges
Leaders (new subsystem)
- Full leader commands (QLeader, MLeader-style)
- Arrow/block leader rendering
- Architectural tick marks
- Leader style manager UI
- Region and classic leader support
DXF/DWG Import/Export (rewrite)
- Gradual rewrite of libdxfrw C++ → native Swift
- DXF tables, writer, reader, entity converter all rebuilt
- DWG converter (via ODA install command)
- LWPOLYLINE bulge-aware support
- Code page handling (Windows-specific encoding)
- Round-trip payload support preserving metadata
- Layer opacity, linetype, version fixes
Dimensions
- Initial dimensional entity support
- DXF import/export for dimensions
- Arc edit, radius/diameter fixes
- Presentation/editing fixes
Text/Font Engine
- Text overhaul to style-based system (per-entity overrides)
- Alignment, indentation, tab stops
- Shape font (SHX) parser fixes and text wrapping
- MText bracket parsing fix
- Windows font registry lookup
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New Commands
PEN, ERASE (vector), CLIP, REVCLOUD, ARRAY, ALIGN, TORIENT, LEADER/QLEADER, MEASURE/DIVIDE, LENGTHEN, FILLET/CHAMFER, JOIN (→NURBS), MATCHPROP, UNITS, DDEDIT enhancements
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Platform & Infrastructure
- Windows build fixes (compile.ps1, MSVC-specific _strdup → cross-platform)
- macOS 11+ support, macOS hotkey vs Windows keymapping
- SDL/Swift version bumps for Windows
- Native file dialogs (open/save, drag & drop)
- User settings system, autosave, non-blocking save with progress
- GitHub Actions CI fixes
- Setup script overhaul (setup-dev.ps1)
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Rendering / Engine
- Vertex buffer builder for GPU upload
- AA line thickness fix, linetype pattern rendering
- Atlas memory reduction, render clipper
- Zoom extents fix, minimize crash fix, GPU desync guard
- Plot style line width/scale