Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: SimonD on December 16, 2006, 05:00:38 PM
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Hi,
Sorry if this has been asked before but I am working on the principle that "The only stupid question, is the one you don't ask"
I have just installed my first trial of Mach3 and have stumbled into a (hopfully trivial) problem...
I have installed the program on my House PC to "get used to it" before installing it in the workshop.
My PC is set to 1280x1024 resolution, as this is the native res of the LCD.
I also have my fonts set to 120% (otherwise they are too small to see!)
When I open Mach3 the fonts do not fit in their boxes properly. So I tried the "Config... Fonts..." menu. This does not actually change the fonts in any window and it does not save the setting between 2 opens of the dialog. Well that is not exactly true... If you change the font face then it remembers it, if you change the size then it does not.
Am I missing something??
Thanks
Simon
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If you need to have the DRO's larger you will need to make a new screen set :(
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I just want the standard display to have all the numbers actually fit inside the boxes! It looks terrible at the moment, in fact unreadable.
I have attached a screenshot...
Simon
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It will work upon Mach restart.
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Thanks for the reply, It doesn't work even after restarting the PC let alone Mach3.
Has anybody actually tried it?
Change the font SIZE from the standard 18point to something like 10point.
Close down/reload the screens/reboot the machine whatever, nothing, it still shows as 18point.
The picture I posted is as it appears "OUT OF THE BOX" Surely this is not right?
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I have tried to replicate your problem but I cant get it. I set the windows fonts to Extra Large and still Mach3 shows OK. By your description of the config menu I presume you have version 1.84, if so then try again with the latest version. Also might help trying the auto screen enlarge option in general config (I think config state in 1.84)
Hood
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I had to change my screen res. in control panel to get mine straight.
Brett
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I have just downloaded and installed v2.0.026 and the problem is the same...
See attched.
I have also attached a pic showing where the screen font size is changed in windows so you can replicate.
Auto screen enlarge just makes it worse.
If you change the font size in the Mach3 dialog shown in the last picture does it stay put?? It doesn't on my system.
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Try setting your windows fonts from the appearance tab rather than the advanced page of the settings tab. In the mean time I have changed it and now have to reboot, what a pain ;)
Hood
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That's just like mine looked before uping the screen res. I'm using an lcd tv for a monitor.
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OK changing the fonts the way you are doing it does screw everything up in Mach. Try putting them back to normal size then on the appearance tab change them to large or extra large and see if its OK.
Hood
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If I set the fonts like you suggest then yes it does make Mach3 fonts look ok. However the reason for changing them in the Windows Global Settings is that it is then Global, it changes the size of ALL windows fonts, not just the select few which obey the Windows Theme Sizes.
With the fonts set to Large or Extra Large as you suggest it does not affect all fonts and so some text is still too small.
IMHO Mach3 should be calculating the actual size of the selected font, not just assuming the font is of a known size and adjusting the box size accordingly OR Allow you to select a font size which will actually fit in the fixed size boxes!
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I wont comment further or I might say somthing I regret ;)
Hood
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I take it you don't think this is a bug then ???
Bugs are inevitable in Software development. However, I do find it hard to believe that nobody has asked why the Mach3 Font Selection Dialog allows you to select a Font size but then ignores it completely.
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I may be able to respond properly later.
Hood
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Ok now I am no longer talking as a part of the Mach forum except from being a member like you heres what I think.
The software is $160, you get one hell of a program for that. There is one full time programmer (Art Fennerty) and one part time (Brian Barker) and lots of volunteer helpers. The work they put into this extremely capable software is unbelievable.
They then get people coming here and moaning and greetin' about something stupid like font size. Most of us would either change the screen resolution to what it is stated is best for this program (1024 x 768) or make our own screen.
As I said this is my opinion and nothing to do with Artsoft or this forum.
Its the last I will say on this matter and I appologise if you think I am being a bit strong in my criticism but when I see people (not just you) coming on here and more or less demanding that things need fixed it makes my blood boil. Civility costs nothing and often pays big dividends.
Hood
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Hi:
The font selector is there only to allow a font to be selected, it wont size anything.
You need to select 96DPI in your settings to fix it, the 120 you have will not work..
Art
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Hood, I have removed your moderator status due to your request to do so.
You may speak freely and not feel like you are representing Artsoft in doing so.
I would like to remind all here, that every member is a volunteer, including moderators, and does not receive any payment.
My feeling is that people who give of thier time here, do so because of a gratitude towards a great program, and a constant willingness to add to it and improve it.
Thanks to ALL those who give so generously to aid others.
Benny
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Thanks Benny
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Hats off to Hood. The greatest of the great. ;D Even with out the title, you are still my hero as well as many others. You are a great help.
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like I have said many times before, you must lead a sheltered life if you class me as hero material, ask Mark he will put you straight ;)
Hood
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Hi Guys:
(Hood, you kill me.. :) , you didnt need to drop moderator status to say that, hell I woudl have..
In repsonce to the oringal question, MAch3 is NOT a normal windows program. Try changing the size of
the edi tboxes in a normal windows program. Yes, yes.. I should have removed the font size question, but thats a canned
routine for allowing font size, so i was too time stressed to get around to it.. I put my time as i can to the most valuable things ,
tiny details like that are insignifigant, so Ill get to that when I can.
Anyone that thinks Mach3 shoudl operate like a "Normal " windows program is not thinking deeply enough, Mach3 runs windows,
not the other way around, and this imposes certain contraints on its operation, Someday, Ill kill that entry abouit size, it was only added at all
for one person who wanted to use a cryilc font.. But thats the way it is, that user needed it, I had time, so I added it.. :)
Anyway, I mainly wanted to kick in for Hoods sake, keep up the good work, youre a permanent moderator in my view.... And welcome to be reupped to
that status at any time, I owe you way way more than one..anytime you need anything, just yell..
Art
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You guys really are touchy! All I asked was a simple question.
Instead of being told it is a bug, work around it. I get jumped upon.
I write software too so know how easy it is for bugs to get in I also know all about allocating time. However I will not slag off my potential customers in a public forum.
I don't care if the software is Free or $160 price should have no reflection on quality.
It is a sad world when people cannot express an opinion.
Merry Christmas
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It is a sad world when people cannot express an opinion.
Merry Christmas
It was nothing to do with Artsoft, so dont go down that road, that is exactly why I resigned from mod before I expressed my PERSONAL opinion.
Why do you have to turn up the font size? I have an 18" TFT, have it at the same res as you and have no problem reading the fonts at standard size?
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Hi:
I do appologise for any hard feeling, email is a terrible mechanism to transfer feelings or ideas,
sometimes the way something is worded can trigger someone into feleling picked upon, (from both sides).
You original question had overtones of "Surely your screwing up.." written over it when I read it, and trust me,
normally, I would take such things with a grain of salt, but we all have our days. :) , Im willing to bet youve
spat at your wife on occasion for what she thought was a simple question. So if Ive offended you, for that
I appologise, it was really all intended as more "off the cuff" type of replying..
and DO have a Merry Christmas.. :)
Art
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Why do you have to turn up the font size? I have an 18" TFT, have it at the same res as you and have no problem reading the fonts at standard size?
The reason is one of personal preference and comfort. I spend 8-10 hours staring at a very high resolution CAD station all day long. By the time I get home I find that my eyes are quite tired and so I find it more comfortable to use a slightly higher resolution for text. Changing the font size in the Themes menu does not change the font sizes in most applications, the only way to get them larger is to change the global settings which is what I do.
I do apologise for any hard feeling, email is a terrible mechanism to transfer feelings or ideas,
sometimes the way something is worded can trigger someone into feleling picked upon, (from both sides).
You original question had overtones of "Surely your screwing up.." written over it when I read it, and trust me,
normally, I would take such things with a grain of salt, but we all have our days. :) , Im willing to bet youve
spat at your wife on occasion for what she thought was a simple question. So if Ive offended you, for that
I appologise, it was really all intended as more "off the cuff" type of replying..
and DO have a Merry Christmas.. :)
Email is a terrible medium as intination is completely lacking. I did try very hard with the original post to not make it not sound like a complaint, which is why I entitled it "Doesn't Appear to Work" and ended it with "Am I missing something??"
For me the biggest issue was that the Config Font Dialog looked like it was offering to change both the font face and the font size, however this was not happening.
The first 2 replies appeared me to miss the point I was trying to get across which meant I had not explained it properly.
My subsequent reply of "The picture I posted is as it appears "OUT OF THE BOX" Surely this is not right?" was not meant as a criticism of the software, more a statement that I assumed the view displayed on my PC was not as you intended the software to look.
Things then went downhill as I got more frustrated at trying to explain the problem I was experiencing...
It wasn't until your explanation that the Font dialog is only supposed to change the Font Face that it became clear what was happening. Perhaps a simple line of text in the dialog or a change in the dialog title would have prevented the confusion. In fact I doubt I would have posted at all if I knew it wasn't supposed to change the font size.
Oh well. Hopefully water under the bridge.
The CNC hardware hasn't arrived yet as I have only just finished converting the Mill to work Digital Readout using the YADRO Digital Caliper Interface. (Writing my own Windows based DRO software)
Ultimately I would like to have the YADRO interface populate the Mach3 DRO's for visual confirmation of where the actual table is located. I realise that Mach3 will not use the DRO's for feedback.
Currently running my software concurrently does not seem to have an adverse effect on the performance of the Mach3 DriverTest but I will have to see.
Best Regards and No Hard Feeling I hope.
Simon
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:)
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OK reason I asked regarding having to increase the font size is I was wondering if you would notice the slight degradation if you reduced the screen resolution. I know fonts can take on a slightly fuzzy appearance but with the latest tft's I think this is minimal. Even the 6yr old IBMs I have here reducing the screen res to 1024 x 768 still comes up with sharp fonts and images.
Hood
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Another thought is if you are using XP you could set up another user account and have the screen res to suit Mach, then it would just be a case of switching users if you wanted to go from your normal use to having a play with Mach.
Hood
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What kind of output does your digital caliper put out? if its TTL you may be able to hook them up to Mach to give you readouts in Mach.
Hood
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Aahh.... just like the good ol' days... huh? Benny? Art?
I recall much the same when early development of Mach2 was under way!
Peace and happiness to all....
John (bloy)
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Spending so much time sat in front of a PC, I am used to the way it is now and am reluctant to change it, I changed keyboard a few years ago and got RSI in my little finger from stretching to find the Ctrl Key which was further away than I was used to!
I will find a way around it now I know it is nothing stupid I am doing and nothing I can do about it in Mach3. I had not thought about setting up a different user account in XP, that may be the best way forward.
The Calipers output a wierd binary encoded absolute position see http://www.yadro.de/digital-scale/protocol.html The ones I am using on the mill give the 2 * 24 Bit protocol.
The YADRO Hardware interface reads the values from the scale and send them to the serial port when requested.
My software (and the YADRO DOS Software) calculates the actual position from the binary data stream.
I am currently assuming I will need to write some software to be interface between a Mach3 Macro and the YADRO interface so that the macro can populate the DRO's in Mach3
Simon
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Well afraid when you start talking about macros and such I will bow out ;)
Hood
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Like I said, that is the ultimate goal, but I am a long way off that yet. I have to get the thing to cut metal (preferably not itself) first before I start to worry about interfacing the DRO's. It may not even be possible, but the theory sounds good.
The main reason for putting the Scales on the machine is to make the manufacture of the bits to convert to CNC a bit easier!
Now if only the postman would deliver some hardware then I could make a start!
Simon
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Not sure what you have but when I did a manual Bridgeport conversion I made the X and Y brackets first as they were the easy ones. I then used 2 axis CNC to make the Z Axis parts, it made things a lot easier.
Hood
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I don't want to re-raise what is obviously a touchy subject, but is there a solution to the 'large fonts' problem? I know it can be done from the 'appearance' tab rather than 'advanced/large fonts' but this is horribly clunky and really not the way to do it for best overall results in Windows.
Most modern screens are both big and have a lot of pixels (my Dell 2407's are 1920 x 1200) and REALLY need large fonts set to be readable. Windows provides a mechanism to handle this if all screens are coded using "dialog units" whereby it calculates the display font and display element size based on dialog units and a multiplier/divider calculated from the dpi setting (I've written several screen designers that do it this way and it works well (though not quite perfectly in all cases)).
Just wondering if there was a solution to this other than using 'appearances' which isn't acceptable. Has anyone designed a screenset using 'large fonts'?
Thx
Colin
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It look like I am not the only with the same problem. I want to have the gcodes font "bold". Tried but the problem persists...
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You can't actually change the font size. If you change the font, the new font may be a different size then the one used to design the screen. The only reason to change a font would be for a custom screen. If you change the font back to the default font, the numbers should fit in the DRO's.