BLOCK/ENDBLK grouping lost on DXF to SVG conversion

[michelesponchiado]

Let's suppose that in a DXF file, like the one in the attached zip file, there are BLOCK/ENDBLK clauses grouping meaningful graphic entities:

• please see the following screenshot taken from ezdxf browser applied to the attached DXF file, depicting a BLOCK/ENDBLK sequence containing meaningful paths:

test_gruppo(2).zip

The BLOCK/ENDBLK in the screenshot groups the paths that make the text "passo" in the DXF:

When executing a conversion to SVG file, all the graphic entities contained in the BLOCK/ENDBLK grouping are rendered as different patches, so that the grouping information is lost.

Experimenting your wonderful converter, we found that, while the group can be manually restored after the DXF to SVG conversion, it would be very useful to preserve the grouping information:

• so we made some little changes in the Python code to render the grouped paths as a single path
• this way, the text "passo" is rendered in a single SVG entity
• please see the attached SVG file, converted from the DXF with ezdxf patched as described: it groups together the "passo" text paths

We wonder if such a feature of preserving the grouping defined by BLOCK/ENDBLK clauses could be introduced in a future release of the ezdxf converter.

Many thanks for your help!

[mozman]

Hi!

You want each block reference as a separate group in a <g> element?

This is technically possible, but requires changes to the rendering process of the drawing add-on. The actual implementation must take place in the backend.

I don't know if Matplotlib and PyMuPDF support groups in SVG outputs and how to add them and I don't have much motivation to make these changes.

BTW: ezdxf is not a converter, SVG is just an output format of many for the drawing add-on.