This is an old revision of the document!


FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

See opposite for table of contents.

General questions

Why doesn't my browser display any picture in the repository?

If you use Internet Explorer, it is natural that the pictures can't be displayed in the elements repository. Indeed, the repository generate the elements previews using the SVG format, which stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. Internet Explorer does not natively handles that format. You can add that support to Internet Explorer by setting up the Adobe SVG Viewer.

You can also use an alternate browser which natively handles that format, such as Mozilla Firefox, Konqueror, or Opera.

Why is my text rendering fuzzy under X11?

QET rendering depending of the screen resolution

For the moment, QElectroTech is designed to run with a 96 Dpi screen resolution. To achieve this, you may add Option “DPI” “96×96” into you xorg.conf file. KDE users may also proceed as follows: KDE Control Center (kcontrol) > Appearance & Themes > Fonts > Force Fonts DPI > 96 DPI.

Diagram editor

How can I easily import many *.elmt files in my QElectroTech setup?

Put these files in the “elements” subdirectory of your QElectroTech configuration directory, i.e.:

  • Under Windows: %APPDATA%\qet\elements (e.g. “C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\qet\elements”)
  • Under Unix: ~/.qet/elements

Refresh the elements panel inside QElectroTech: your elements should appear.

How can I add an electrical element to my diagram?

Choose the element ou wish to add in the elements panel (generally on the left side of the diagram editor). Drag'n drop this element from the panel onto your diagram: the element appears on the diagram.

How to add a conductor between two elements?

The short screenshot that follows shoud answer this question: qelectrotech_add_a_wire_screencast.ogv

Why can't I (entirely) read again my diagram on another user account?

With a QElectroTech 0.1x diagram: If you can read again only a part of one of your diagrams which contains elements from your own collection on another user account, it is probably because you haven't transferred these elements onto the new machine. In this version, QElectroTech does not embed the elements in the project / diagram files. Thus you have to synchronize both accounts' user collections, i.e. copy the elements and categories files from an account to the other one.

With a QElectroTech >= 0.2x diagram: This feature has been implemented, you just have to ensure that your project really contains the elements it needs before transferring it.

Why are my elements slightly offset from my conductors under X11?

If you encounter such a rendering, then you are victim from Qt's bug #178957.

Qt rendering bug

This bug only concerns the screen rendering of the diagram editor. By default, QElectroTech compensate this bug. However if you use a version of Qt that does not show that bug (either because it was solved, or because it does not occur under your configuration), you may get an offset in the other direction. You can then deactivate this compensation by adding the line correct-rendering=false in the [General] section of QElectroTech's configuration file (~/.qet/qelectrotech.conf).

Note: while this FAQ is being written, this bug was officially corrected in no version of Qt. However, from Qt 4.4, it seems to not occur anymore. That's why, from the 0.11 version, the compensation of this bug has ben deactivated by default. If you still encounter this bug, you can activate the compensation by adding the line correct-rendering=true in the configuration file.

Elements editor

Why do I have to be root to modify the elements collection?

See Why can't I modify the elements collection? You will then have no reason anymore to edit the common collection.

Why can't I modify the elements collection?

As an electric diagram design program, QElectroTech needs a certain amount of electrical elements that can be put on the diagrams. Those elements are split up into twos categories: the common collection, provided by QElectroTech, which can be extended and/or modified, e.g. to fit the needs of a company, and the user collection, which groups the user's own elements.

As a user, you should conceptually not modify the common collection's content. Indeed, if you modify or delete elements from this collection, you may be unable to read the diagrams coming from your colleagues or from the others. In the same way, the elements you add will remain unknown from your colleagues or the others.

Prefer using the user collection to stock your creations.

QElectroTech for a company?

In a company, it is possible to modify the common collection so that it ftis to the needs of the company. Typically, all the employees will need a group of elements that are peculiar to the company. Example of implementation:

  • the sysadmin copies the QET collection in a network-shared, read-only folder ;
  • he then adds it the elements peculiar to the company ;
  • he deploys QElectroTech so that it considers the shared folder as the common collection. This can be achieved:
    • either by launching QElectroTech with the –common-elements-dir= option
    • or by setting the right options during the compilation of QElectroTech

Note: the diagrams created with this configuration will be readable within the company but less easily on the outside, at least with the 0.1 version.

What's the matter with the elements names?

In the purpose of easing QElectroTech's internationalization, each element, whatever the collection he belongs to, can receive several names, one per language. The intent is to associate a couple of letters representative of a language (en, fr, es, de, …) to a name. This operation can be done in the element editor, in Edition > Edit names. Having a name in english and a name in french is currently one of the required conditions for an element to be accepted in the QElectroTech's official collection. However, you're free to specify the languages of your choice for your personal use.

How do one stop the definition of a polygon in the element editor?

Right click to indicate the position of the polygon's last point.

Print/export