Known Limitations
Known Limitations
Things that are visible in the interface but do not work yet, and things a CAD user might reasonably expect that GoSurvey does not have. This page exists so you find out here rather than halfway through a deadline.
Current as of version 0.5.3.
Controls that respond but do nothing
| Control | Where | State |
|---|---|---|
| MIRROR | Modify ribbon | Button is disabled. "Mirror — flip selection across a mirror line (not implemented yet)" |
| Poly VP | Layout ribbon | Button is disabled. "Polygonal viewport — coming in a later increment" |
| POLAR | Status bar | Toggles and lights up; polar tracking is not implemented. "Polar tracking (UI only for now)" |
| Layer On / Freeze / Lock | Layer Manager | Stored and round-tripped, not enforced. "On / Freeze / Lock are stored for future visibility and editing rules; all layers still draw" |
| Ctrl+X | Right-click ▸ Clipboard ▸ Cut | The label is shown, but the key is only wired inside the MTEXT editor. Use the menu item |
Insert Field… (Ctrl+F) |
MTEXT editor | "Fields are not supported yet" |
| Background Mask… | MTEXT editor | "Background masking is not supported yet" |
| Paragraph…, Paragraph Alignment, Bullets and Lists, Columns, Combine Paragraphs | MTEXT editor | "Paragraph and column properties are not stored yet" |
Visual style SHADED on a TIN surface |
View ribbon / VS SHADED |
The value is accepted and reported, but surfaces are drawn as triangle edges in all three styles — verified by capturing a TIN at 2D, HIDDEN, and SHADED and finding the three frames pixel-identical. SHADED fills only imported meshes (IMPORTMODEL) and hatches. Lit surfaces are a planned feature |
| Xref display fade | Settings → Display | "Reserved: fade is a placeholder; no fade pass is applied yet" |
| Segments in a polyline curve | Settings → Display | "Hint for spline-fit polylines (not currently consumed; reserved)" |
| Rendered object smoothness, Contour lines per surface | Settings → Display | "Reserved for 3D pipeline" |
| Raster/OLE and 3D display performance options | Settings → Display | Marked as placeholders |
| Import… page setups | Page Setup Manager | "Import page setups from another drawing — coming in a later update" |
| Plotter selection and PDF options | Page Setup Manager | "Plotter selection / PDF options arrive with PDF plotting (a later update)" |
Settings tabs with no controls
These tabs exist for structure and are empty — "(No GoSurvey-specific controls in this section yet.)"
- Open and Save — file-format and recovery options
- Plot and Publish — plot settings live per layout instead
- 3D Modeling — labelled "GoSurvey is 2D; 3D options are reserved." The label predates the 3D work; elevations, orbit, visual styles, TIN surfaces, and model import all work, they are just not configured here
- Profiles — saved option profiles
- AEC Editor
Commands that do not exist
Drawing
SPLINE · POINT (as a drawing command — use CREATEPOINTS) · XLINE · RAY · DONUT ·
SOLID · REVCLOUD · WIPEOUT · TABLE · MLINE
Modifying
MIRROR · STRETCH · EXTEND · BREAK · FILLET · CHAMFER · ARRAY · EXPLODE · LENGTHEN ·
ALIGN exists but is the coordinate-transformation command, not AutoCAD's align
Blocks
BLOCK · INSERT · WBLOCK · ATTDEF · block attributes · dynamic blocks · block libraries.
There is no block support at all. DWG export writes geometry exploded for this reason.
Inquiry
AREA · DIST · LIST · MASSPROP. The only area reported is a circle's, in the Properties panel.
View
ZOOM PREVIOUS · named views · VIEW · DVIEW · multiple model-space viewports · isometric view
presets
Other
XREF / external references · LAYOUT command (layouts are managed from the status bar) ·
PURGE · AUDIT · RECOVER · SCRIPT · LISP or any scripting
Features that are missing
| Missing | Notes |
|---|---|
| Autosave, backup files, drawing recovery | Save deliberately with Ctrl+S |
| Recent files list | Use File → Open |
| Customisable keyboard shortcuts or aliases | Fixed in the program. Right-click behaviour is configurable |
| Command macros or scripting | None |
| Printing to a Windows printer | Output is vector PDF only |
| Snap-to-grid | The grid is a visual reference only |
| Object snap tracking, temporary tracking points | Not present |
Polar coordinate entry (@100<45) |
Use bearing lock: A 45 then the distance |
| Parametric constraints | Not present |
| Annotative scaling of existing text | Changing the plot scale does not resize existing text; it does reposition survey point labels |
| Coordinate system / projection library | Coordinates are unprojected numbers. Use ALIGN to fit to control |
| Unit conversion | The UNITS insertion setting is a relabel only — coordinates are never scaled |
| Native DWG reading | Planned; today DWG needs an external converter |
| Associative dimensions in DXF | Aligned dimensions export as exploded lines plus text |
Import and export gaps
| Gap | Detail |
|---|---|
| Binary DXF | Not supported. "in AutoCAD use Save As → ASCII DXF" |
| DXF paper space | Paper-space entities and title blocks are not imported. The log reports the count |
| Unsupported DXF entities | Reported as N unsupported ENTITIES record(s), never silently dropped |
| DXF export coverage | Some entity types have no export branch yet and are absent from the file. The log names what was excluded |
| DWG export losses | Block definitions and inserts (written exploded), paper-space layouts beyond the first, elevations, block attributes, multileaders, tables, Civil 3D objects and proxies. The dialog lists these before writing |
| Civil 3D COGO points | Custom objects — not in a DXF at all. Use a PNEZD/PENZD CSV |
| Plant 3D drawings | Largely AcPp* custom objects requiring Autodesk's object enabler; unreachable by any third-party reader |
| Model import | IMPORTMODEL brings in geometry only. Materials, animations, and cameras are named in the log as not imported |
Behaviour worth knowing
Not defects, but they surprise people:
| Behaviour | Why |
|---|---|
| Open always uses a new tab | It never replaces what you are working on |
| DXF import keeps existing survey points | Only CAD geometry is replaced, so CSV-then-DXF and DXF-then-CSV both work |
| FBK import replaces the whole traverse | Commit or export first |
| An empty point-group rule matches nothing | Treating "no filter" as "everything" is how a whole drawing ends up in a surface by accident |
| Changing the plot scale moves every point label | Labels are laid out in plotted inches, so the sheet keeps looking the same at any scale |
| Surfaces are not rebuilt automatically | Press Rebuild after importing points |
| Previews follow the cursor; picks commit at the snapped point | Watch the snap glyph, not the rubber band |
| DELETE and ZOOMWINDOW ignore snaps | A nearby snap point would drag a window corner off target |
PLOT has no typed command |
Use the Layout ribbon button |
Reporting
Something here out of date, or something missing that should be listed? Open an issue.
Related
Troubleshooting · FAQ · Command Reference · Import and Export