cadcraft/docs/ui-parity.md

UI parity

Last reviewed: 2026-10-10 · Last updated: 2026-10-10 · Change: minor (dynamic input pointer boxes #60 and press-drag selection windows #63 landed) · Target: Autodesk AutoCAD 2027 for Mac (26.0)

How CADCraft's interaction compares with AutoCAD's: point entry, object snaps, tracking, dynamic input, grips, selection, the command line, chrome and navigation. A drafter's speed in AutoCAD comes from these, so "the command exists" isn't enough: it has to accept the same input, snap to the same points and respond to the same keys. Work items: gaps.md.

Headline (estimated): UI/UX fidelity ≈ 43%. The command line, point syntax, the common running snaps, polar/ortho and the palettes are real. Object snap tracking, extension, parallel and apparent-intersection snaps are toggles with no behaviour; dynamic input is a read-only tooltip; FROM, M2P, TK and point filters don't exist; hot-grip options are advertised but ignored; there are no context menus. Remaining: ≈ 110–170 Opus 5.5 hours.

How this was measured

• CADCraft: read from the source on 2026-10-10 (main at bd2412f): crates/engine/src/{prompt, snap, select, grips, lib, units}.rs, cmd/*, crates/ui-egui/src/*. Not run in this pass.
• AutoCAD: behaviour observed black-box in the running AutoCAD 2027 for Mac (plan/autocad/01-observed-ui.md, local only, with reference screenshots that are never committed), its menu tree (xtask/data/menu-catalog.txt) and Autodesk's documentation.
• Weights (how often a drafter hits each area): point entry 15%, object snaps 15%, tracking and polar 10%, dynamic input 10%, grips 10%, selection 10%, command line 10%, chrome and palettes 10%, navigation 5%, keyboard and context menus 5%.

Area	Weight	CADCraft	Weighted
Point entry	15%	45%	6.8
Object snaps	15%	40%	6.0
Tracking, polar, ortho, grid/snap	10%	30%	3.0
Dynamic input	10%	45%	4.5
Grips	10%	40%	4.0
Selection	10%	40%	4.0
Command line	10%	60%	6.0
Chrome and palettes	10%	45%	4.5
Navigation	5%	55%	2.8
Keyboard shortcuts, context menus	5%	25%	1.3
Total	100%		≈ 43%

Point entry (≈ 45%)

Input	AutoCAD	CADCraft	Evidence
x,y[,z], @dx,dy, @d<a, d<a, #x,y, bare @	yes	yes; # equals absolute because there is no UCS; Z parsed then discarded	prompt.rs:147-180
*x,y (WCS override)	yes	no
Direct distance entry	yes, honours ortho, polar and tracking paths	yes, ortho; polar only through the UI's snapped cursor	lib.rs:782-793
Angle forms: 45d30', radians, grads, surveyor N45dE	yes	yes	units.rs:141-197
Architectural/engineering distances 5'6-1/2"	yes	yes	units.rs:93-140
FROM (base point + offset)	yes	no
M2P / MTP (midpoint between two points)	yes	no
TK (tracking)	yes	no
Point filters .x, .y, .xy, .z	yes	no
Angle override <45	yes	not found
Typed calculator 'CAL	yes	no

Object snaps (≈ 40%)

Mode	AutoCAD	CADCraft (snap.rs:135-334)
Endpoint	every curve, solid/3D vertices, dimension ends	lines, arcs, polyline segments, open ellipses and splines, ray base, solid/trace corners
Midpoint	every curve incl. ellipse/spline arcs, polyline segments	segments only; none on circles, ellipses, splines
Center	arcs, circles, ellipses, polyarcs	arcs, circles, ellipses
Geometric center	any closed polyline, spline	closed LWPOLYLINE only
Node	points, dimension definition points, text alignment points	POINT only
Quadrant	circles, arcs, ellipses	yes
Intersection	every pair, extended intersection	among up to 200 nearby primitives; ellipse/spline pairs approximate (geometry-parity.md)
Extension	yes, with dashed extension path	declared, never produces a point
Insertion	text, mtext, blocks, attributes, attdefs	TEXT, MTEXT, INSERT; no ATTDEF or MLEADER
Perpendicular	every curve, deferred	lines, arcs, circles, xlines; deferred for the first point (#168)
Tangent	circles, arcs, ellipses, splines, deferred	arcs and circles; deferred for the first point; no ellipse or spline
Nearest	every curve	yes
Apparent intersection	projected intersection	same as Intersection
Parallel	yes, with parallel path	declared, never produces a point
Temporary overrides typed at a prompt (END, MID, INT …)	yes	no: the text arrives as plain input
Shift/Ctrl+right-click snap menu	yes	no
Tab to cycle candidate snaps	yes	no
AutoSnap marker, tooltip, magnet, aperture box	yes	marker per mode and name label; aperture from APERTURE; no magnet, no aperture box
OSNAPZ, 3D object snaps	yes	no

Tracking, polar, ortho, grid and snap (≈ 30%)

Feature	AutoCAD	CADCraft
Ortho (F8)	yes	yes (snap.rs:503)
Polar tracking increment	yes	yes, one increment, dashed ray and "Polar: d < a°" tooltip (snap.rs:510, canvas.rs:838-843)
Additional polar angles, relative to last segment	yes	no
Polar distance snap (PolarSnap)	yes	no
Object snap tracking (acquire points, alignment paths, intersections of paths)	yes, F11	toggle only: the F11 button and flag exist, nothing acquires points or draws paths
Grid (rectangular, major lines, adaptive, limits)	yes	rectangular, major lines, adaptive display
Snap (rectangular, isometric, polar snap)	yes	rectangular from 0,0 only (snap.rs:531)
Isometric drafting (ISODRAFT, isoplanes F5)	yes	status-bar toggle with no effect
Drafting Settings dialog	yes	yes (dialogs.rs:36-80)

Dynamic input (≈ 45%)

AutoCAD's heads-up input (F12) has editable pointer-input fields (x, y), dimensional input fields (length and angle) with Tab between them and lock icons, relative-by-default second points, dimensional input on grips, a prompt with clickable options and a down-arrow menu. CADCraft has pointer input boxes since #60 (crates/ui-egui/src/dyninput.rs): value boxes beside the cursor while a command asks for a point; second and later points default to polar distance and angle (DYNPIFORMAT = 1 for Cartesian); , and < lock a value and move to the next box; Tab types the separator; Enter sends a relative entry (DYNPICOORDS = 1 for absolute) and fills an empty box from the cursor; a plain number stays direct distance entry. Missing: dimensional input on grips (length/angle fields while stretching), lock icons, the prompt with a down-arrow options menu (DYNPROMPT), and DYNDIM.

Grips (≈ 40%)

Feature	AutoCAD	CADCraft
Stretch grips per object type	yes	lines (midpoint moves), arcs (start/mid/end), ellipses (axes), polylines (vertices; segment midpoints move or reshape the bulge), dimensions (text and definition points), MLEADER, viewport, wipeout, spline (grips.rs:79-270)
Text/MText grips	position, width, column grips	move the whole object
Hot-grip modes with Space/Enter cycling	Stretch, Move, Rotate, Scale, Mirror	yes (canvas.rs:58-67)
Hot-grip options: Base point, Copy, Undo, Reference, eXit	yes	advertised in the prompt but not parsed; the engine's JSON grip commands accept copy, the UI never passes it
Several hot grips at once (Shift-click)	yes	no (one handle)
Multifunctional grip hover menus (Add Vertex, Remove Vertex, Convert to Arc, Lengthen …)	yes	no
Grip dimensional input (length/angle fields)	yes	no
Dynamic block grips	yes	no (no dynamic blocks)
Grip appearance (GRIPSIZE, colours, hover)	yes	GRIPSIZE honoured

Selection (≈ 40%)

Feature	AutoCAD	CADCraft
Pick, implied window (left→right) and crossing (right→left)	yes	yes, coloured and dashed rectangles (lib.rs:576-589, canvas.rs:823-836)
Keywords W, C, WP, CP, F, BOX, AU, SI, M, G (group), CL (class)	yes	All, Last, Previous, Add, Remove only (lib.rs:595-599, machines.rs:77-80); fence only as a JSON parameter
Press-drag selection windows (PICKDRAG)	yes	yes (#63, PICKDRAG = 2)
Lasso	yes	no
Selection cycling (SELECTIONCYCLING)	yes	toggle nothing reads
Selection preview, hover highlight	yes	hover highlight
PICKADD, PICKFIRST, PICKAUTO	yes	PICKADD (Shift), PICKFIRST
QSELECT, SELECTSIMILAR, FILTER	yes	QSELECT dialog; no SELECTSIMILAR or FILTER
Object isolate/hide (ISOLATEOBJECTS, HIDEOBJECTS)	yes	no (only layer isolate)
Groups selectable as one (PICKSTYLE)	yes	no

Command line (≈ 60%)

Feature	AutoCAD	CADCraft
AutoComplete (commands, sysvars, mid-string, synonyms)	yes	command list with Tab to accept (cmdline.rs:30,176,317); no sysvar or mid-string search confirmed
Aliases	about 250 in acad.pgp	144 aliases across the commands (counted from source)
History (F2), Up/Down recall	yes	yes
Transparent commands ('zoom, 'pan, 'osnap)	yes	yes (lib.rs:496-503)
Enter/Space repeats last command	yes	yes
Clickable keywords in the prompt	yes	yes (cmdline.rs:253-267)
UNDO with Mark, Back, BEgin, End, Auto, Control	yes	count only, whole-document snapshots capped at 2,000 (lib.rs:477, edit.rs:56)
SETVAR for every system variable	~1,000 sysvars	about 60 session/header variables by name (sysvars.rs)
Scripts (SCRIPT, .scr)	yes	script text via CLI/MCP/control; no .scr file command
Floating/docked command window, transparency, lines of history	yes	floating overlay, history lines setting

Chrome and palettes (≈ 45%)

Feature	AutoCAD for Mac	CADCraft
Menu bar	11 menus, 491 leaf items	same 11 menus; 245/491 items covered (233 by cargo xtask parity, which counts engine commands only, plus 12 UI-only items: see parity-checklist.md)
Tool Bar, File tabs, Start tab, layout tabs	yes	yes
Tool Sets palette (Drafting, Modeling, … with flyouts)	yes	yes for 2D groups
Properties Inspector, Quick Properties	yes	yes (every control acts or is visibly unavailable, #182)
Layer Properties Manager (filters, states, VP overrides)	yes	yes
Blocks palette, Content	yes	Blocks window (click to insert, #28)
Status bar toggles	~25	most toggles; Annotation Visibility and Workspace do nothing
ViewCube	interactive 3D	clickable for 2D (Top/Home → extents); dragging does nothing (#7)
Navigation bar, SteeringWheels	yes	no
Workspaces	Drafting & Annotation, 3D Modeling	no
Options / Preferences dialog	many tabs	no (issue #23)
Customisation (CUI, aliases editor, tool palettes)	yes	no
Themes	Dark, Light	Dark, Light, System (#179)
Accessibility	VoiceOver basics	AccessKit through eframe; screen-reader coverage untested; magnifier issue #39

Navigation (≈ 55%)

Feature	AutoCAD	CADCraft
ZOOM Extents, All, Window, Previous, In/Out, Center, Scale, Object	yes	yes, 50-entry history (cmd/view.rs:107-149)
ZOOM Realtime (drag), Dynamic	yes	no
Wheel zoom about cursor, ZOOMFACTOR, ZOOMWHEEL	yes	fixed factor (no ZOOMFACTOR)
Middle-drag pan, double-middle-click extents	yes	yes (canvas.rs:538-583)
Trackpad two-finger pan, pinch zoom (macOS)	yes	yes (#58)
Named views (VIEW)	yes	no (VIEW table not read or written)
Tiled model-space viewports (VPORTS)	yes	not confirmed: VPORTS maps to paper-space MVIEW
3D orbit, ViewCube drag, SteeringWheels	yes	no (M11)

Keyboard and context menus (≈ 25%)

• Shortcut table: 25 entries (Cmd shortcuts, F1, F2, F3, F7–F12) plus 21 command .key() shortcuts. AutoCAD for Mac's defaults are similar in number; F4 (3D osnap), F5 (isoplane), F6 (dynamic UCS) are missing.
• Delete erases the selection on macOS (#64); Escape cancels.
• No right-click context menus anywhere: right-click is Enter, clear selection or repeat (canvas.rs:651-660). AutoCAD has context menus on the canvas (per selection, per command), the command line, palettes and tabs.

Revision history

Date	Change	Summary
2026-10-10	minor	Dynamic input 15% → 45% (pointer boxes, #60); press-drag windows (#63); total 40% → 43%
2026-10-10	major	First UI-parity audit: point entry, snaps, tracking, dynamic input, grips, selection, command line, chrome, navigation, keys