Importing Visio .vsd into Linux program?

Ted Roche tedroche at tedroche.com
Thu Mar 8 10:57:13 EST 2007


Tom Buskey wrote:
>>
>> Both of you should agree on a common tool.  Is Dia available on windows?
>> I think it might be?

It is. However, Dia lacks the ERD-generating functionality that lead to
the choice of Visio.

>> I'd bite the bullet and get Visio.  On wine, win4lin, vmware, qemu or
>> a PC running Windows.

Of course I can do that. This is not a deal breaker for this
consultation, and we have a number of other ways to work around this.

I was exploring the possibility that Visio could produce an
interoperable format document, as I'll always push for an Open tool and
an Open format when feasible. I have exchanged Office documents with
clients for years using OpenOffice.org on Linux and the Mac with few
difficulties. I have converted (one-way) Visio documents for my own use
to OpenOffice.org Draw format by exporting to EPS, EMF/WMF and/or DXF. I
was hoping for a two-way translation but that doesn't seem practical.
Visio's SVG export is badly broken, with non-standard extensions that
make it useless for anything but import back into Visio.

Ultimately, I'm looking for a high-end ERD tool that will let us
reverse-engineer, alter and script changes to a variety of databases
with a native Linux tool. I've worked with several on the Linux platform
but haven't yet found one with the power and capabilities of an xCase or
an ErWin. I am working with a vendor who'll consider getting
functionality working under Wine, if feasible. Indeed, ERD tools are one
of the few reasons I keep a Windows box around.

>>
>> Usually CAD data doesn't translate to other formats well.  The native
>> format usually has something that doesn't translate that well.  One
>> vendor,
>> CADkey, used the IGES (?) standard as its native format to try to get
>> around
>> some of this.  I think QCad uses DXF in its case.

Yes, there's some interesting discussion on the Dia VDX filter pages
about the challenges of converting splines and Bezier curves and NURBS
(non-uniform rational B-splines). Who knew?

Thanks for the suggestions.

-- 
Ted Roche
Ted Roche & Associates, LLC
http://www.tedroche.com


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