[PythonCAD] Printing update

[Art Haas]

Hi.

As no new code has shown up in the repo for a while, I think it is good
to say a couple of words as to what sort of progress has been made with
regards to printing lately. Earlier messages to the list have alluded to
my lack of productivity, but the last couple of weeks have not been
entierly squandered.

I can get segments, circles, arcs, polylines, leaders (and the arrow
head), and the basic dimension shapes printed to a page. Text doesn't
yet print, but that isn't because I don't know the PostScript commands
to put some text on a page. The basic string printing command in
PostScript is "show" by the way, and fancier things can be done with
"kshow" and "ashow". Whats hindering text printing is the weak text
support in PythonCAD itself, so I've started working on some text handling
code now. One thing that will change is that the text size will be a float
value, and when the code is done, the text should scale correctly when
you zoom in or out. Currently, text size is given as an integer, and is
always draw at that value (in points), making the text size change
relative to the entities in the drawing. This problems will be fixed
when the text code receives some much needed work.

I'm targeting the next release for some time in August, probably the
second half of the month. Basic printing features will be in the
release, so at long last PythonCAD will be able to waste paper like
most print-enabled software! The paper trusts will be pleased to
hear this news ... :-)

Art
-- 
Man once surrendering his reason, has no remaining guard against absurdities
the most monstrous, and like a ship without rudder, is the sport of every wind.

-Thomas Jefferson to James Smith, 1822