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ispyisail edited this page Sep 9, 2026 · 2 revisions

QElectroTech Historical Information - Source Materials

Gathered from: qelectrotech.org, qelectrotech.org/wiki_new/, qelectrotech.org/forum/

From Main Website (qelectrotech.org)

  • Description: "A free software to create industrial complex electric diagrams"
  • Scope: Supports electrical diagrams, plumbing, geothermal, air-conditioning, layout, hydraulics, pneumatics, domotic, PID, photovoltaic, swimming pool plumbing
  • Latest Version: 0.100 (with over 8,000 symbols)
  • License: GNU/GPL
  • Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Copyright: 2026 - the QElectroTech Team
  • Note: Suggests ongoing collective development rather than single creator

From Wiki (qelectrotech.org/wiki_new/)

  • Last Documentation Update: July 5, 2020
  • Version References: Notes for version 0.2 documented
  • Major Initiative: QElectrotech 2.0 and code redesign ("Refonte du code") were planned
  • Features: Tracking system for "what has been done and what will be done"
  • Structure: Includes version-specific documentation and roadmap tracking

From Forum (qelectrotech.org/forum/)

  • Community Size: 3,747 registered users, 21,856 total posts, 2,959 topics
  • Most Active Categories:
    • FR: Aide, suggestions — 1,124 topics, 7,571 posts
    • EN: Help, suggestions — 850 topics, 4,815 posts
    • Code/Programming — 91 topics, 1,231 posts
  • Languages: French, English, German support
  • Specialized Areas: CAD element sharing, DXF import/export, Python plugins, platform-specific help
  • Activity: Posts dated through September 2026 (currently active)

From GitHub Repository

Origins & Founding

  • Founded: 2007
  • Founders: Xavier and Benoit (French students)
  • First Release: Version 0.1 (March 9, 2008)
  • Xavier's Role: Primary architect, base application development, key technical decisions
  • Founder Exit: Xavier and Benoit stopped participating around 2013

Post-Founder Development

  • After 2013, new developers and contributors took over stewardship
  • Project transitioned to community-driven model
  • Maintained by collaborative team (current: "QElectroTech Team")
  • Kept alive and actively developed with regular updates

Release Timeline

Recent Releases:

  • 0.100 (January 25, 2024) — Latest stable

    • Terminal Strip/Terminal Strip Editor
    • 8,000+ symbols
    • Improved export/print handling
    • Better rotation, flip, mirror operations

  • 0.9.0 (January 6, 2024)

    • Speed improvements (launch, open project)
    • DXF import in element editor via dxf2elmt
    • HDPI scaling support
    • 8,274 elements across 1,097 categories

  • 0.8.0 (May 5, 2022)

  • 0.7.0 (May 5, 2022)

  • 0.6, 0.61 (May 6, 2022) — Imported from SVN

Development:

  • Nightly builds available (May 10 onwards)
  • Qt6 port in active development

Current State

  • User base: Individuals, educators, students, professional electricians globally
  • License: GNU/GPL
  • Actively maintained with regular features and translations
  • Version 0.100.1 or 0.200.0 planned with newer Qt6 framework

From QET Code Refactoring Wiki (refonte_du_code_de_qelectrotech)

QET 2.0 Refactoring Initiative

This is a major architectural redesign effort to address accumulated technical debt and modernize the codebase.

Historical Context

  • 2006 — QET started as a student project with architectural limitations
  • 2012 — Original creator left, Joshua inherited the project
  • Problem: "Spaghetti code" and poor modularity accumulated over time
  • Solution: Comprehensive refactoring (QET 2.0)

Refactoring Goals

  1. Decouple code into distinct, well-separated modules
  2. Remove band-aid solutions
  3. Improve code clarity
  4. Restructure for modern functionality
  5. Enhance maintainability for external contributors

Major Technical Changes

File Format Redesign:

  • .elmt → .selmt (with proper SVG namespace)

  • Direct SVG import capability in element editor

  • Separate graphical from non-graphical data (dynamic text, terminals, info)

  • .qet → zipped structure with SQLite database

    • Simplified .qet file with folio lists and element coordinates
    • SQLite database for comprehensive metadata
    • Separate folders for images, elements, title blocks
    • UUID-based cross-referencing

Architectural Improvements:

  • ActionPool singleton — Centralize QActions from QetDiagramEditor
  • Persistence layer abstraction — Separate serialization from domain logic
  • Conductor system redesign — Electrical potential as first-class concept with inheritance
  • Element prefix standardization — Unified system
  • Auto-numbering simplification — Intelligent formula support
  • Xref flexibility — Enhanced cross-reference system
  • Text rendering — Switch from points to pixels
  • Independent text handling — Simplified structure

Home tools

qelectrotech

Getting Started

Home

🌐 Languages — English · Français · Deutsch

Downloads

Windows without admin rights — the portable archive, no installer

Quick Start Guide

User Manual

FAQ

Tips & Tricks

Guides

Conductors — wire properties, what feeds which export, cables, and hops where wires cross

Wires per terminal — limit the wires on a terminal, chain wiring instead of stars

Printing and exporting — paper, PDF, images, and what each path does differently

Linking elements — master, slave, terminal

PLC modules — I/O tables and linking a wire to a specific point

Using the element editor — drawing tools, saving, checks

Grid size and element size — why symbols aren't all the same scale, and scaling one without leaving the grid

Preferences reference — what each settings page does

Saving and loading settings — your whole setup in one file, to copy or keep

Keyboard-only control — mouseless QET, and what still needs a mouse

Mouse modifiers — what Shift, Ctrl and Alt change while you drag

3D mouse — SpaceMouse pan, zoom and buttons

Aligning items — snap symbols back to the grid, or line them up

Pictures on a sheet — labels, crop, transparency, what they cost in the file

Arcs and curved wires — the Arc tool, pulling an arc in or out, rounding a corner with a fillet, dashed arcs for lighting layouts

Grouping items — select, move and copy several items as one

Finding your place on a sheet — go to a cell like B13 or 4-B7, keep the headers in sight, show the cell limits, zoom and pan

Showing and hiding kinds of items — hide texts, wire numbers, shapes, pictures, tables or cross-references on every sheet

Drawing faster — place without dragging, the S shortcut bar, command search, gestures

Customising QElectroTech — keys, toolbar size and contents, the gesture ring (partly pending)

Managing collections — folders, writability, building your own shortlist

Templates — reusable multi-element blocks, placed by double-click or drag

Search & Replace — bulk property changes

Building a nomenclature query — the BOM/summary table builder

Linking wires across pages — sheet reports

Variables & formulas — %f, %{label}, sequences

Auto-numbering — schemes, sequences, freezing

Terminal strips — strips, levels, bridges

Title block templates — the .titleblock format

Importing EPLAN parts (.edz) — EPLAN Data Portal

DXF import & export — two unrelated features, one format; command-line export and layers

The project database — the in-memory SQLite cache

File formats
Elements XML
Project XML
Development

Building from Source

Contributing Code

Automating QET — CLI, XML formats, external tools

CLI Reference — command line usage

JavaScript Scripting — --run, geometry editing, undo

MCP server — let an AI assistant read, verify and edit projects

Connecting an AI assistant — setup for Claude, Copilot, Gemini, Codex, Cursor, LM Studio

Script buttons — stored scripts with an icon, by hand or by an assistant

Live mode — an assistant working in the open project while you watch

Macro recorder — record a task by hand, for an assistant to script

Development Roadmap

Vision — proposal, under discussion

Developer Tools

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History

Community

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