Using python for a CAD program

[David Cuthbert]

baalbek wrote:
> CAD systems available today (Autocad, Archicad, Architectural Desktop, 
> etc) have one huge flaw: they don't store data to a SQL database, but to 
> binary files.

There's a reason for this.  Most CAD data is not in a form (First Normal 
Form) suitable for a relational database.  In addition, the sheer number 
of objects involved in each operation brings performance to its knees. 
Finally, most RDBMS provide (and are optimized for) transactional 
semantics -- for a CAD system, this is wasted overhead.

People dabbled in this years back but quickly discovered just how 
different they are.

If you have access to it, you should take a peek at the source for the 
OpenAccess database.  Although this is for chips, I suspect some of the 
same design principles would go into designing a CAD database.