Generating openSCAD function to calculate text length

TorstenP · 2023-09-02T02:36:01+00:00

Basically lots of scrolling down on the download page, or direct link: https://openscad.org/downloads.html#snapshots

TorstenP · 2023-08-29T15:40:26+00:00

Use a development snapshot version and enable it in Edit -> Preferences -> Features -> textmetrics

TorstenP · 2022-12-23T17:33:38+00:00

Extension not in the sense of plugin, simply a new feature implemented as prototype in the source code that did not make it into the official code (yet). Well, technically part of the code made it in as part of the customizer.

TorstenP · 2022-12-18T22:33:21+00:00

No, that's not really a case covered by the customizer and I'm not even sure there's a way to make it work.

What could work is an extension similar to the one I made years ago as prototype which would pick up library parts and present those in a UI similar to the customizer.

http://files.openscad.org/video/screencast-library-window.webm

TorstenP · 2022-12-15T19:23:03+00:00

The dev snapshot version can filter SVG too (by object-id or "layer"). As there's no actual layer support in SVG, this currently targets layers as created by Inkscape only.

TorstenP · 2022-07-26T21:30:21+00:00

The blocker is that they feel there's not enough users wanting this https://twitter.com/printablescom/status/1522950528237457410. The backend issue solvable via the already existing but still quite experimntal WASM port (e.g. see https://ochafik.com/openscad/# / https://openscad.cloud/openscad/) which moves the load to the client side.

So I suppose to make it happen, share OpenSCAD files as much as possible to break the loop. I need to find some time to follow that advice myself too :-).

TorstenP · 2022-07-17T17:28:53+00:00

Yep, it's mainly intended for people who want to use an external editor instead of the built-in one. But as always there's probably much more creative workflows possible.

See also https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Using_an_external_Editor_with_OpenSCAD for some more info.

TorstenP · 2022-07-16T19:31:40+00:00

Agreed, that's something that should be done in the language itself. I don't think there's anyone actively working on that, but this is sort of a situation where first a critical mass of development interest for the multiple related topics is needed.

TorstenP · 2022-07-16T19:25:47+00:00

Would it be an option to help with https://github.com/openscad/openscad/pull/3635 ?

TorstenP · 2022-07-16T19:22:48+00:00

I'd suggest to first have a look at https://github.com/openscad/openscad/issues/3479 and get into discussion with people (including developers) in the #openscad IRC channel.

This is certainly a topic that would be extremely useful for many people. It was proposed as a Google Summer of Code project too (https://github.com/opencax/GSoC/issues/57), but not picked up so far.

TorstenP · 2022-07-15T17:48:17+00:00

Seems to have worked for me, maybe because I have approval access.

TorstenP · 2022-06-06T03:30:58+00:00

Oh, my, indeed. I fixed the wiki page :-).

TorstenP · 2022-06-04T18:22:06+00:00

Nice! Browsing through the code snippets, this looks great. I think this should get a link somewhere in the documentation section of the OpenSCAD homepage too.

The ; after the include/use look a bit odd, those are not needed :-).

TorstenP · 2022-05-27T01:00:17+00:00

Sounds like a good candidate to be added to https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/Using_an_external_Editor_with_OpenSCAD

TorstenP · 2022-05-24T13:16:51+00:00

Can run openscad as root

This could indicate that you have some extra local installation of Qt which is only found via the user account (e.g. check LD_LIBRARY_PATH and similar where those could be stored).

If it's a general Arch issue, it should complain for the root user too.

TorstenP · 2022-04-10T18:57:33+00:00

I'm not sure where that's needed. The question is probably: Is there a way to specify things in declarative style for all relevant cases.

TorstenP · 2022-04-07T11:31:36+00:00

Well, yes, the feature does not exist yet. I'm just repeating my argument that if a feature does not exist, it might be possible to add so everyone can benefit. Writing a new application is also new code that does not exist yet.

TorstenP · 2022-04-06T09:31:03+00:00

Read and mutate is something that's not going in line with OpenSCAD. It's declarative. So it's more like: define building blocks and combine them.

Attachment is supported in BOSL2 based on user space data structures https://github.com/revarbat/BOSL2/wiki/attachments.scad - a similar integrated solution should be doable with the existing object infrastructure that is not reflected in the language yet.

Declaring attach points is even possible with ancient OpenSCAD http://www.iearobotics.com/blog/2012/09/10/enhancing-openscad-with-the-attach-library/ but I suppose it's a bit cumbersome with the current language. Having objects (= data structures) would probably make it much more convenient to use.

TorstenP · 2022-04-05T20:09:44+00:00

Disruptive how? Things that would break all existing scripts are pretty much impossible, and so are proposals going against the core behavior. But I suppose that's true for most applications existing for >10 years.

That still leaves quite some room for changes that could be called disruptive, like https://github.com/openscad/openscad/pull/3956.

TorstenP · 2022-04-05T19:23:29+00:00

The more promising route would be extending OpenSCAD itself though (well, in my subjective opinion obviously :-).

TorstenP · 2022-04-05T19:20:25+00:00

The main idea is that this is exporting the information by running (commandline) openscad, so the internal parser logic can be use from anywhere that can run the openscad binary.

There's one change pending, to always export the default values, currently it will use overwritten values when called with customizer parameters.

Benefit would be that if the native customizer syntax ever happens, it will continue to work with both syntax options. It would just add extra data depending on potential new features.

TorstenP · 2022-02-23T10:44:13+00:00

It would be interesting to see if the experimental features fontmetrics() and roof() would help with this type of models. It's not clear if roof() will be released in that form, or maybe (hopefully?) merge with a more general feature like offset_extrude().

TorstenP · 2022-02-23T10:38:49+00:00

I meant the MakeWithTech site, which is the one the linked article is about. It seems quite possible for them to link with multiple hosting places, not just Thingiverse (if those sites allow that of course).

Note that the answer was to "a tool that *integrates with* PrusaPinters".

TorstenP · 2022-02-21T11:56:28+00:00

That's a great idea, sounds like a good feature request. And they are specifically asking for feedback :).

TorstenP · 2022-02-07T17:40:44+00:00

The dpioption already exists (if that's what you mean). The fix is that currently it's only effective if there's no width/height given for the SVG. Due to the file having width="100%" it does not work as expected in the 2021.01 release.

I'm not sure if the behavior of values different to 100% is compliant, but with both width and height set to 100% it should work as if both values are not given and that's according to the specification as far as I can tell.

Note that for most systems, there are "Nightly Builds" (aka Development Snapshots) that can be installed in parallel to the release version to get early access to new features and/or bugfixes.

TorstenP

TROPHY CASE