I'm sure this thread has everyone over at NCPlot sweating bullets.
I'm all for 'open source' code. Its great if you want to take someones work and change it to fit your needs. It is also a good way to get software for ZERO cost. Open Office has cost Micro$oft millions in sales. This is good for the software users but very very bad for the software industry.
Imagine if you will, there is a OPEN MACHINE SHOP where anyone can get machine work done for free. Get my point now? Where would the incentives be for you or anyone in the machining industry to improve their methods and spend the hundreds of thousands on machine tools? (or hire software engineers) Why would anyone pay you to do the work if they can get it done for free?
Anyone that has read or posted in this thread that understands programming in .NET, C++, Java, PHP or any language also understands that its a lot of work! I do it because its fun for the same reason I make parts. I enjoy the work but, none the less, it
IS work.
With that said...
If you want to buy a fully functional back plotting app instead of hacking existing code or using partially functioning code, I have a very nice .net app for plotting G-Code called CodeChop.
It does everything a CNC editor needs to do.
Number Removal and renumbering lines with 0 padding if needed.
Find / Replace.
Expansion and compression of the text so its easier to read.
Undockable edit window.
Independent zoom window. Great for multiple monitor setups.
It also understands Sub Program calls.
It includes a RS232 com app. This Com Panel app searches for all com ports you have. It doesn't assume you only have com1 to com4. It can find any com port up to com255. It will save as many port configurations as you have hard drive space. Com Panel is
FREE with the demo. You can run as many instances as you have com ports. It can be used with DNC but doesn't have all the features of a well written DNC app.
There is also a point/arc filter included. This works well when there are no conjoined arcs. If there is, you must be careful with using it as the tangential connection where the arcs meet can throw the filtering algorithm for a loop and cause under/over shoot.
What sets my app apart form most of the other back plotting programs is, It uses OpenGL for the graphics. It parses the G-code and converts it all in to code that OpenGL can plot. This allows to freely spin, pan and zoom the plot window in real time. If you modify the G-Code, you have to click the update button so the changes in the g-code are re-parsed.
You can center mouse button click on the path and it will take you to that line of g-code that makes that move. This also works in reverse.
There are a number of lockable buttons on the top menu bar such as, Auto centering the window on the selected line. This is very handy when single stepping the program.
Lighting levels can be changed as well as the STL's color.
Here's a couple of thumbnail images. Click to enlarge to actual size.
There is a demo version to try out, just go
Here and download it.
As you can see in the above image, It can import ASCII and Binary STL files.
There is more info about CodeChop
Here.
CodeChop may not run on all versions of OpenGL. It works great up to 3.1 but be cause of the use of gllist, may not function on the new 4.0 version of opengl. Try out the demo before buying to make sure it will do the job for you. (for some unknown reason, gllist has been deprecated in the last version of OpenGL and even some vendor versions of 3.1 There are no issues with nVidia 9800 and earlier cards)
I'm after constant improvement in CodeChop and would appreciate any input. You can post any ideas at the support forums.
Thanks for reading....
--Mike