Bicycle computer aided design software
rattleCAD is a parametric 2D computer-aided design (CAD) software specific for bicycle design, in particular for design bicycle frame, developed by the Austrian cyclist and programmer "Manfred Rosenberger" since 2008. The application is written in the programming language Tcl using the Tk-based graphical user interface (GUI).
In 2019, after 10 years being open-source software, "rattleCAD" switched to a proprietary software development model.
History.
In 2008, "Manfred Rosenberger" began developing "rattleCAD" as open-source software for bicycle do it yourself (DIY) makers and bike shops, hosting source code and binary code on SourceForge since January 2010, as an alternative to only few existing proprietary apps in this field at the time, such as "BikeCAD", one of the oldest CAD software specific for bicycle design, developed by a Canadian bicycle rental businessperson and a programmer "Brent Curry" since 2002, and "Linkage", a CAD and CAE software for bicycle design and bicycle suspension simulation, developed by a Hungarian software developer "Gergely Kovacs".
From 31 March to 1 April 2012, the app was exhibited at the "European Handmade Bicycle Exhibition" (EHBE) in Schwäbisch Gmünd.
On 11 April 2012, app has been presented at the "Bespoked 2014" (the UK handmade bicycle show) in London.
On 8 July 2017, Rosenberger presented "rattleCAD" at the "EuroTcl 2017" (15th European Tcl/Tk User Meeting) in Berlin.
On 7 July 2018, at the "EuroTcl 2018" (16th European Tcl/Tk User Meeting) in Munich, Rosenberger presented the "cad4tcl" – an open-source CAD graphics library for Tcl/Tk, extracted from the main "rattleCAD" source.
On 10 December 2018, first "rattleCAD 4.0.0" preview release has been rolled out.
In January 2019, "rattleCAD 3.6.30" has been released. It was the last open-source release.
Source closing.
In 2019, Rosenberger announced ceasing open-source development and switching to proprietary development model for the next "rattleCAD 4.x" releases on the new website.
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;rattleCAD 4.0 will not be free and open source anymore. Basically, there will be timely limited licenses for rattleCAD - a kind of user fee. This will allow me to continue to develop rattleCAD in the future. Since last autumn (2018) a lot has been done in rattleCAD.
Since then app provided via Gumroad as a limited freeware version under donationware payment model (later freeware version replaced with a more restricted demoware version) and as commercial editions for private and professional use under subscription payment model.
As of June 2023, project page on SourceForge still actively used as a discussion board by users and app developers.
Despite the fact that all the old source and binary builds licensed as an open-source has been deleted from SourceForge by developer in 2019, few code snapshots of original code and a fork of "rattleCAD 3.x," hosted on GitHub, and binary of the last open-source "rattleCAD 3.6.30" and older releases, still circulated on the internet as of October 2023, are now collected on the Internet Archive.
Features.
"rattleCAD" provides all the tools needed for design bicycle from preliminary design of basic geometry, adjusted to cyclist body size, to producing full assembly and frame manufacturing documentation:
File formats.
"rattleCAD" supports the next file formats:
cad4tcl.
"cad4tcl" – is an open-source graphics library for Tcl/Tk to build CAD software, developed as a part of rattleCAD. It supports importing SVG and exporting SVG, PDF and DXF files.
svgDOM.
"svgDOM" – is an open-source SVG graphics processing and optimization library for Tcl/Tk, developed as a part of rattleCAD.
References.
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