Machsupport Forum

Mach Discussion => Mach Screens => Works in progress => Topic started by: santiniuk on April 09, 2006, 07:08:30 PM

Title: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 09, 2006, 07:08:30 PM
Hi,

After seeing Benny's exotic screensets I thought I'd have a bash at making one. Well it was more of a joint effort with Mr Bean and something to do late at night...

Firstly I was learning Screen 4 and secondly I have no artistic talent.

But more dissapointingly I think our method  creating the screen is wrong. The buttons are all individual graphics. I have a decent PC so have not noticed any speed problem but I see the later screens appearing have one graphic with defined 'hotspots'.

Is this the new way to go ?

I have discovered some of the bugs and limitations of screen4 on the way and hope to see these fixed soon. i.e LED states not correct on loading.

The attachement is for a 1024*768 screen although the bottom section would need to change as the actual graphic is larger than this and I forgot about the task bar and title bar  ;D

I call this screen Mach Blue..... Because...... It's Blue........

Forgot to say it was work in progress but is now about to be abandoned......
Title: Re: About to abandon a screen set - Mach Blue
Post by: ynneb on April 09, 2006, 07:28:50 PM
You idiot :) Why would you abandon this, its fantastic.

Funny though, I have thought to abandon my screen because of poor download numbers.

I would strongly encourage you to continue with your develpoment. I suspect it may be more accepted than my screen.

Keep up the fantastic work.
Title: Re: About to abandon a screen set - Mach Blue
Post by: Brian Barker on April 09, 2006, 08:04:14 PM
So Benny are you going to help him finish it :) ...

IF you guys need any VB send it to me and I will do it when I have time.
Title: Re: About to abandon a screen set - Mach Blue
Post by: ynneb on April 09, 2006, 08:23:56 PM
Quote
So Benny are you going to help him finish it ?
I will HELP him, but I wont finish it for him. This is his design and he needs to get full credit for it.

Santini, The only reason I do hotspots over one BMP is because, as you will already know, it is very tricky to get the BMPs to appear over each other correctly.
It also enables you to have irregular shapes for buttons instead of only rectangular buttons.  The other advantage is that its easier for the computer to render one big bmp than 30 smaller individual ones. I dont know if you noticed how quick my screens swap pages.
That been said, I suggest you use the method that works best for you.  There is no work in taking a screen capture of your current work in mach and then using the one BMP and putting hotspots over it.

You will be in very big trouble with me if you dont complete this screen set.


Art has noticed there are still issues that need fixing up with screen 4. I dont know how long it will take to correct these issues, and aslo add the other options i have requested. Even so, dont adandon this project, keep working on it untill you are happy with the results.
Title: Re: About to abandon a screen set - Mach Blue
Post by: sshneider on April 10, 2006, 01:03:15 AM
Sorry to jump in and change the subject but,

Benny I wouldn't be bummed out re: low download numbers.  It's a BETA.  A Ton of ppl don't want anything to do with Betas because, by their nature they are problematic and require R&D to get to a full release.  I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. 

Just keep in mind that for every "Maestro of Mach" there are 20 of us that are struggling to understand how to get our motors turning and what the heck backlash is. 

Personally, I think your screen set is cool (I did download and install it) and I also like the MachBlue set that Santini posted.  But if it's not a final tested release, it's like sitting inside a concept car with no engine- Looks cool, it rolls & steers, but it's not going to get you anywhere fast.  IMHO, this is the reason more have not tried it.

Sid
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue" ( Should I continue working on it?)
Post by: santiniuk on April 10, 2006, 07:09:06 AM
Hey Benny,

I have to agree with Sid, you cannot call it a day yet. Your screen postings were the motivation behind my attempt.

I'm not sure why your not getting the feedback deserved on the latest screenset. It looks damn impressive and combines a lot of functions.

Hang on in....

In fact it wasn't until I examined the construction of your set that I noticed the one image background trick. Quite a nifty idea ! and seems to work well with the button animations etc. Actually as this is my first attempt with screen designer I now understand the various posts that you have made requiring changes and additions to the designer. Oh bring on Z levels !!! and that almighty cure to the white line below text boxes....
Keep banging Art's door on this....

The reason for my original post was really to reflect on the multiple image route I used rather than the one. On reflection as you say there shouldn't be a lot more work to combine these images to a single panel and use the Hotspot method although the plan was to retire MachBlue to a "could of been".

Will speak to my partner in crime Mr Bean and see what can be done....

Cheers
 
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue" ( Should I continue working on it?)
Post by: washcomp on April 10, 2006, 08:44:56 AM
I think we have two choices:
1)  Go with the flow of the screens bundled with MACH and leave tweaking to rugged individualists
2)  Do a bit more work on the Screen Designer interface to allow the average mortal to tackle the screens.

I think there are a couple of structural improvements which Art might consider, which should enhance things:

Assuming that there are maybe 100 common functions (a subset of which sows up as the vast majority of buttons on any MACH screen), there may not be a requirement for each screen set to individually program each button.  As an example, it the "Mist Cool" button always does the same thing (or the "Jog/Step to the right button for that matter), the function could be explicitly called by simply assigning a hot key "key stroke" or input to it, assigning it to a button name (on a tabulation list) and calling it a day.  Basically this would allow someone to pull up the default table of functions within a window in SD and make modifications without going button by button.  It would also allow someone to add a standard button with full default feature set (including VB code) by simply drawing it and referencing the variable on the list.

If each of the button graphics now had a standard name (how many names do you need to define "E-Stop?), then as long as the button sizes for a given function were the same, a single variable could be set defining the directory where the button graphics for that design were kept.  This would allow people to change button cosmetics quickly without overwriting others.

The ability to "break" text from the button as a separate layer would allow buttons to be re-scaled without affecting the text and would allow alternate text (foreign language, or specialty tool for example) on a screen without re-creating button structures.  Call this text a "transparent" bitmap layer.  This would be used in conjunction with the concept of "stacking" bitmaps.  If all the stacked buttons were opaque, and all the text transparent, then only the top text and button could be seen.  Upon assigning a button location, a small table could pop up allowing a choice of which graphic and label could be seen under what condition.  This combines the functionality of a button, its reverse function, an LED, etc. into one spacial unit.  If not invokable, the button could simply turn to the background screen color an "disappear" or alternatively become a universal "greyed out" color.  If START had been hit, then STOP would appear as the only viable option, etc.  There will of course be exceptions where there are more than one choice, but I think these can be addressed easily on an individual basis. 

I feel implementation of the above concepts will allow more intelligent and versatile screens to be quickly constructed (rather then creating more intelligent screen artists :-) . 

Standing back and looking at the user interface reminds me of the discussions about the lines drawn between CAD, CAM and CNC.  On screen designing, you have the physical tool, the interface mechanism between the screen and the physical tool and the GUI interface between the human and the screen.  What I'm proposing is a methodology to make the last section of this command chain more user friendly by allowing the designer of the interface a greater ease in quickly creating more innovative solutions without worrying about the rest of the underlying code structure.

Just a couple of thoughts,
Jeff


Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ftissera on April 10, 2006, 06:36:49 PM
Please Santiniuk don't stop your blue screens set ! to nice !

Hope testing your screens a day  :)

Thanks in advance

Francis
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 15, 2006, 06:03:09 AM
Hello,

Let me add my voice to the others... Do NOT abandon this screenset!

It is one of the finest I've seen. Please finish it...

Ballendo

Hi,

After seeing Benny's exotic screensets I thought I'd have a bash at making one. Well it was more of a joint effort with Mr Bean and something to do late at night...

Firstly I was learning Screen 4 and secondly I have no artistic talent.

But more dissapointingly I think our method  creating the screen is wrong. The buttons are all individual graphics. I have a decent PC so have not noticed any speed problem but I see the later screens appearing have one graphic with defined 'hotspots'.

Is this the new way to go ?

I have discovered some of the bugs and limitations of screen4 on the way and hope to see these fixed soon. i.e LED states not correct on loading.

The attachement is for a 1024*768 screen although the bottom section would need to change as the actual graphic is larger than this and I forgot about the task bar and title bar  ;D

I call this screen Mach Blue..... Because...... It's Blue........

Forgot to say it was work in progress but is now about to be abandoned......

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue" ( Should I continue working on it?)
Post by: ballendo on April 15, 2006, 06:13:37 AM
Jeff,

The idea of a database-driven screenset is an interesting and powerful one. It certainly works well in other software...

As for the start/stop idea; I fully agree. We have too many one function buttons eating up screen space. Having said that, you CAN already do as you've suggested with the text. Witness the job/machine button for the toolpath display. I don't know if multiple bitmaps for a single button have been implemented yet, but that's one I'm hoping for... (been away from "modding" M3 for some time; so don't know what's been done compared to what was gonna be done at this point.) The text already IS "separate"; but the underlying button AFAIK must remain the same.

Ballendo

II think there are a couple of structural improvements which Art might consider, which should enhance things:

Assuming that there are maybe 100 common functions (a subset of which sows up as the vast majority of buttons on any MACH screen), there may not be a requirement for each screen set to individually program each button.  As an example, it the "Mist Cool" button always does the same thing (or the "Jog/Step to the right button for that matter), the function could be explicitly called by simply assigning a hot key "key stroke" or input to it, assigning it to a button name (on a tabulation list) and calling it a day.  Basically this would allow someone to pull up the default table of functions within a window in SD and make modifications without going button by button.  It would also allow someone to add a standard button with full default feature set (including VB code) by simply drawing it and referencing the variable on the list.

If each of the button graphics now had a standard name (how many names do you need to define "E-Stop?), then as long as the button sizes for a given function were the same, a single variable could be set defining the directory where the button graphics for that design were kept.  This would allow people to change button cosmetics quickly without overwriting others.

The ability to "break" text from the button as a separate layer would allow buttons to be re-scaled without affecting the text and would allow alternate text (foreign language, or specialty tool for example) on a screen without re-creating button structures.  Call this text a "transparent" bitmap layer.  This would be used in conjunction with the concept of "stacking" bitmaps.  If all the stacked buttons were opaque, and all the text transparent, then only the top text and button could be seen.  Upon assigning a button location, a small table could pop up allowing a choice of which graphic and label could be seen under what condition.  This combines the functionality of a button, its reverse function, an LED, etc. into one spacial unit.  If not invokable, the button could simply turn to the background screen color an "disappear" or alternatively become a universal "greyed out" color.  If START had been hit, then STOP would appear as the only viable option, etc.  There will of course be exceptions where there are more than one choice, but I think these can be addressed easily on an individual basis. 

I feel implementation of the above concepts will allow more intelligent and versatile screens to be quickly constructed (rather then creating more intelligent screen artists :-) . 

Standing back and looking at the user interface reminds me of the discussions about the lines drawn between CAD, CAM and CNC.  On screen designing, you have the physical tool, the interface mechanism between the screen and the physical tool and the GUI interface between the human and the screen.  What I'm proposing is a methodology to make the last section of this command chain more user friendly by allowing the designer of the interface a greater ease in quickly creating more innovative solutions without worrying about the rest of the underlying code structure.

Just a couple of thoughts,
Jeff



Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 15, 2006, 06:20:17 AM
Hi,

After seeing Benny's exotic screensets I thought I'd have a bash at making one. Well it was more of a joint effort with Mr Bean and something to do late at night...

Firstly I was learning Screen 4 and secondly I have no artistic talent.

I call this screen Mach Blue..... Because...... It's Blue........


Ummmm... You DO have talent IMO. <G>

 BTW, "art" is not really what we're after here IMO. Rather you have the type of talent that typifies a graphic designer; CLEAR visual communication.

And THAT's what IMO is missing from some of the other more "artistic" approaches.

So now i'd like to ask you also which program(s) you've used to create this screen's objects?

Thank you in advance,

Ballendo

P.S. Is Mr. Bean feline, canine, or H.sapien?

 
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 15, 2006, 11:42:08 AM
Just for the record.  I'm a definitely a H.sapien.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 16, 2006, 09:34:49 PM
I'm pleased you clarifed that Mr Bean..... You sound like a bloke but since I haven't met you I wasn't quite sure :)

Anyway it's another late night and the pair of us are burning the midnight oil messing around with some Mach screen concepts.

The Original Mach Blue screen has been pushed aside while we thrash around some other ideas. The images shown below are not just dumb screenshots they are actually working screens from the 1st page in Mach3. Over the next few nights we plan to bash out the remaining pages.

So here they are. The usage of layers has allowed many styles to be experimented with.......

So here is the first of a few shots.

Lets call this one..... MachDarkBlue
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 16, 2006, 09:43:34 PM
I am a bloke, but I always wear my runner-bean suit for our late night collaberations.

The MachDarkBlue looks nice I agree, but I thought you liked the pink one too.  I was dissapointed you hadn't posted it.  So here it is.


Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 16, 2006, 09:45:02 PM
 ;D ;D ;D

Well your true personality is shining through that screenset Mr Bean.....

I thought you had a high pitched voice....

I'll try and salvage some credability for us with a Manly MachBlack Post !
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ynneb on April 16, 2006, 09:48:33 PM
Quote
The images shown below are not just dumb screenshots
Nothing wrong with screen shots, its good to post working progress and quage potential user feed back.

Quote
I am a bloke,
Beano, welcome to this forum. What sort of a bloke posts pretty in pink screens :)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 16, 2006, 09:50:31 PM
Okay then.  Now that we know where our talents lie.  I'll handle the screensets for the girls and you can do the boys ;)

Beat this:

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ART on April 16, 2006, 09:51:33 PM
I LOVE these screens..  Keep it up... PLEASE!!! ..

Art

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 16, 2006, 09:54:55 PM
hmmmm

You said it was cough medicine you were taking......

Have you checked your monitor calibration ???

I think the Alpha layer has gone a bit wrong :)

Benny, my reference to the 'dumb screenshots' was only to confirm that we are actually creating a working screen. Some of the images we will be posting may not actually reflect this :)  We may get diverted on the way but the end result will be a screen we hope people like.

Ermm.... How about MachSilver
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ynneb on April 16, 2006, 10:03:50 PM
Hey Beano, that LSD must have really kicked in.:)  Will the next one be a flower power one.
Keep em coming. It will really annoy one or two traditionalists. Ask me how I know.

Fantastic work guys :)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 16, 2006, 10:07:36 PM
I'm not totally insane.  Despite the copious amounts of cough medicine I consume.

I'm kinda sensing santini is a bit of a dullard, preferring the boring ones.

Here's the same set with a copper effect on the panels.

We captured a few different backgrounds to see what kind of style people prefered.
It's actually pretty easy to make a range of backgrounds and produce more than one screenset.

Just 5 more screens to go.......


Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 16, 2006, 10:10:46 PM
Well It's MachSteelBlue from me.....

I know it's getting a bit late in the night Beano.. Are you suffering from sleep depravation ?


I cannot belive you posted our pink theme..... You promised not too :)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: Brian Barker on April 16, 2006, 10:13:10 PM
It is nice to see you guys having fun!
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 16, 2006, 10:15:43 PM
Damn you.  Santini.

MachSteelBlue was my ace card to redeem myself for the humiliation of posting all the girly ones.

That is actually my favourite and will make into a complete screenset.

Oh well.  I have one more "colourfull" one in the bag.  So here comes Mach-Chrome-Gold

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 16, 2006, 10:20:02 PM
Well I'm out screens I can post with some hope of pulling back some credability......

Please Beano..... Think of the reputation..... ;)


Well thats about it from the Laurel & Hardy boys. After creating these screens I now appreciate the work that you do  on the screens you produce Benny. Our screens have been created over a few night MSN sessions and splitting the work up makes it so much easier. Hopefully we have your attention now Art and maybe you could do a couple of fixes /  requests for us on Screen4. It's either that or you never know what creation Beano will produce.... Trust me I've seen some of them...... ;) Mach Pink is only a taster of what he can create......


Benny, You have more experience than anyone with Screen 4. How about a thread where we can list any issues or future proposals.. i.e how on earth do you move a really small LED around. It seems impossible to get it to move when really small.

Goodnight....
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 16, 2006, 10:31:23 PM
Proof that these are actual working screens.  Here's a shot of our graphic loaded into screen4.

It's been fun and given us something to do late at night.  But now we have to get back to it, and make the rest of the set.
It's actually easier working with someone else.  It keeps the motivation going.

Hopfully it won't be too long before we have a set you can download to try.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 17, 2006, 02:56:44 AM
Mr.Bean,

Would you send me the .set of any of these(machsteelblue preferred) in its current state? I'd like to try moving some buttons around whilst keeping the general look/feel...

I assume you're using Realdraw as well?

Thank you,

Ballendo

ballendo*@*yahoo.com (remove *)

Proof that these are actual working screens.  Here's a shot of our graphic loaded into screen4.

It's been fun and given us something to do late at night.  But now we have to get back to it, and make the rest of the set.
It's actually easier working with someone else.  It keeps the motivation going.

Hopfully it won't be too long before we have a set you can download to try.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 17, 2006, 03:26:17 AM
SantiniUK,

I've just looked back at this one because it seems you've lost something in the derivatives just posted...

While they look great and i LOVE the "sheetmetal panel" effect, please have another look at this one against them--side by side as it were--and see if you agree that the arty of the new has outweighed the clarity of the old...

Are you using RealDraw?

Could you please send me the .set file of this unfinished "Mach Blue" screen? (Or just the realdraw file, if that's what it is...) I'd like to pursue fleshing this one out.
 
As for your questions below: keep in mind that a screeen using indiviudual items is more configurable forthe end user than one which has all the buttons in place on a background bitmap. For instance, with this screen I can change around some buttons IN S4 without much trouble--to suit my "ideal" arrangement within YOUR major groups. But in the bitmap background version I have to edit the bitmap, reassign the functionality of the hotspots, etc. MUCH harder IMO. 

What S4 bugs and limitations? Please list them for Art/ John/ Brian/ Us ?

Thank you,

Ballendo


But more dissapointingly I think our method  creating the screen is wrong. The buttons are all individual graphics.
Is this the new way to go ?

I have discovered some of the bugs and limitations of screen4 on the way and hope to see these fixed soon. i.e LED states not correct on loading.

I call this screen Mach Blue..... Because...... It's Blue........

Forgot to say it was work in progress but is now about to be abandoned......

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 17, 2006, 04:17:20 PM
Well it looks like Mr Bean & Myself got a bit carried away last night. Nothing better than those 4am sessions....  :)

Ballendo, I guess that screensets are every much a personal thing. I look back at our original post and hope that the later screens have not gone too 'Arty' as this is certainly not our intension. Apart from the brushed panel look not a lot else changed.

The original screen used more than 50 seperate graphics and on my main PC which is 3Ghz + I didn't see any change in screen updates. On some lower spec machines I have I did find them not as responsive although I would say it was acceptable.

I'm afraid the single bitmap background and hotspots makes it so easier to develop. In our case we split the work with myself generating the button graphics and the screen 4 settings. Mr Bean did the hard work doing the background panels with cutouts for the button icons and generated a lot of themes. It worked well, MSN allowed us to chat the design through and the new MSN 8 beta has a superb feature of folder sharing allowing us to syncronise our work effortlessly. (The MSN 8 Beta is a closed one but I do have some spare invites if anyone would like one. It has some good new features).

Our aim for the 1st screen we would release is 1024*768 and would follow the original screen that is bundled with Mach 3. Nothing radical at this stage to rock the boat. Hopefully we are on track to do this.

Unfortunately as you say the method for screen producing now does not really lend itself to tweaks or changes when released.

We are not using RealDraw. The unfinished .set for Mach Blue was abandoned. I don't think I have a copy of it either but I will take a look.

If you post some ideas or layouts that you would like we could always try and adopt a screen for you.

Cheers
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: bpmufx on April 18, 2006, 02:42:38 AM
Hey guys,

Pretty cool screens, some a little more colorful than others.
I have something to suggest, something I also mentioned to Benny in his screen post.

As a test for how the GUI actually works with a user try squinting your eyes while pulling a little farther away
from the monitor. Ask yourself if there is enough clearity and contrast between the data and the underlying graphics.

The reason neutral gray works so well and is found in so many GUI's is that ANY color is pretty visable against it without
conflicting (either in contrast or in compliment). A compliment conflict example is to put red text over green backgound.
when looking at it the two colors combined makes a kind of neutral mud color.

I'm not suggesting that you're breaking these rules, just thought you may consider the affect of certain colors and their effect on the user.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 18, 2006, 08:34:38 AM
Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. I agree that clarity should be an essential part of the screenset. I'm hoping at least one or two of the screens posted meet this. Certainly the darker colour ones. I'm not quite sure on Mr Beans Mach Pink however :)

I have a query. I need to add 3 labels for the leds shown next to the reset buton. But what are they for ?

Can someone please advise what these should be labelled.

Thanks

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ynneb on April 18, 2006, 06:36:07 PM
Yes i have wondered what they meant too. I just left them out, on my screen.
I guess if they are not labelled they cant be that important, and I think you will find that the status bar and ticker keep you informed better to whats happening..

You mentioned about moving tiny LEDs, no doubt you may have discovered you can select then by dragging a square over them and using the arrow butttons on your keyboard. Pain I know, but works.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 18, 2006, 08:04:54 PM
Thanks for that Benny. For now the leds are there with no name....
I cannot believe I hadn't tried the arrow buttons to move graphics. I cannot understand it as I actually program and use these keys during form layouts  ::)
It makes it a lot easier !

Well we didn't manage to progress far tonight. We had hoped to move onto the MDI screen but we found that when we tried our layouts on a 1024 * 768 screen it didn't go to plan and exceed the taskbar etc.... I blame Mr Bean and he blames me :)

So hopefully he pulled it together and with some tweaks we hope our 1st screen - Program run is almost complete. I managed to convince him to develop the pink theme low key......

So.. rather than plod ahead doing all the screens and then getting feedback we will do one. Tweak / amend on any comments and then move on.

The attached zip file contains 3 colour themes. Mach Blue, Mach Dark Blue and Mach Steel Blue.

If you wouldn't mind giving them a try we would appreciate it.

Extract the zip and copy the contents to the c:\mach3\bitmaps\MachTestScreens folder.
You will need to make the MachTestScreens folder

The .set files should go into the c:\mach3     folder.

(Paths obviously change if you have a different location)

Using Mach3 you should be able to try them out.

Note this is only the Program Run Screen. After 1st loading. Minimize mach3 then restore it to fix the led state bug.

Good luck !
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 18, 2006, 10:27:03 PM
We are not using RealDraw.

Weeelllll, What ARE you using???

Thank you in advance,

Ballendo
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 18, 2006, 10:35:02 PM
Hi,

I have a query. I need to add 3 labels for the leds shown next to the reset buton. But what are they for ?

Can someone please advise what these should be labelled.

Thanks



If you open the screen in S4, you can double click on the LED's to see what they are...

From bottom to top:
Estop, or OEM16
Estop, or OEM17
OEM 19

About those "or's" above...

Art uses these LED's during development, and the OEM codes are alternately used with the ESTOP system function. (I asked him this same question several months back)

So... I wouldn't bother with labelling them... (As Benny sez, they may be deleted from a screen with no ill effect.)

ART, Brian, James, Benny,
A suggestion for Screen4: How about an OEM lookup table attached to Screen 4? (In the video for S4 Art suggests loading the docs and using that... Wouldn't it make sense--and be FAR easier to use--if the OEM numbers mapped into S4 the same way the system functions do???


Ballendo
 
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 18, 2006, 10:36:19 PM
[ART, Brian, James, Benny,

Doh! Sorry JOHN, not James.

Ballendodo
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 19, 2006, 06:04:47 AM
Ballendo,

Thanks for the info on the LED's. It looks like they will be removed if they offer no real use.

Regarding the graphics the buttons are created in Xara Webstyle and Mr Bean is using Photoshop for the panels and anything clever !

You requested the steelblue .set Did you manage to try out the zip file above ?

Thanks
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 19, 2006, 10:31:40 AM
Hey Santini.  I downloaded your screen set.  Very nice, but it seems vaugely familiar to the one's I'm working on. ;D

I couldn't believe we'd made the screens the wrong size.  The Main bitmap was 1024*768.  I completely forgot about the task bar, also the window title and top menu strip.
Although neither of us had checked, I will take the blame like a man!!

The side bar of the window is only about 4 pixels and was easy to account for, but all that vertical space was a lot to lose, and meant a complete redraw, shuffling stuff, a bit here and a bit there.
Hopefully we're good now and it looks okay on a 1024*768 screen.

It's all been good practice tho' and the remaining screens should be much faster, proving we don't stuff it up again.
I know these screens are perhaps not to everyones taste, but we tried to stay close to the original layout, but with a more "gelled" feel to the screen.

I actually prefer the lighter colours myself.
If there are any requests for a particular colour, we'll do our best to accomodate it.

Cheers.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: marcel beaudry on April 19, 2006, 05:23:15 PM
hello to all

is there a functionnal mach3 screen for lathe that i can use the color that i saw where just eye catcher fantastic work

marcel beaudry
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 20, 2006, 06:22:12 AM
Marcel,

Unfortunately I don't have a lathe as I would love to try out Mach3 with one. I remember as an apprentice quite some years ago having great fun using one......

Ref your question about a screenset for a Lathe, I don't think we had any plans to make one but I'm sure we could do one after completing the Mill screen. A quick look at the lathe .set and it looks like a lot less work !

I'm sure Mr Bean wouldn't mind :)

Cheers

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: marcel beaudry on April 20, 2006, 03:23:06 PM
thank you i will wait
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 20, 2006, 08:01:52 PM
Well another night's MSN with Mr Bean and we hopefully have the second page near completion. The MDI Screen.

The more we are doing this the easier it is becoming. The remaining pages should hopefully come together quickly.

Our tactic is basically I generate the Buttons and then put my feet up for the rest of the night :)

Well it's close to that. The buttons are generated and Mr Bean Then blocks out the estimated space for the panels.

He sends this space and between us on screen4 we move the hotspot overlays into a rough position. From here he is fine tuning the layout and doing the button 'cutouts' and a bit of tinkering with Screen4 takes place.....

It was a hard job but I think he's forgotten the pink theme ;)

Toolpath page next....

A shot from Mach Steel Blue attached...
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ynneb on April 21, 2006, 07:08:25 AM
I have made the first video of 3 . I wasnt that confident, and unfortunately I sound like a tin can. :(

http://www.machsupport.com/bennys*********/Untitled.html
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: washcomp on April 21, 2006, 10:18:30 PM
Before standardizing on a screen color scheme, it may pay to do a bit of research into what colors stand out best in contrast to what colors.  If I'm not mistaken, it is generally considered that yellows have the best visability.  While blue is cool, it may not be the best choice for optimal screen viewing.  Now, don't get me wrong, this is not my field of expertise and I don't want to meddle, but I just thought it may pay to research things a bit and create a scheme that is engineered to the human eyes.

Just my 2 cents.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,
Jeff

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 22, 2006, 04:28:30 PM
Quote
Before standardizing on a screen color scheme, it may pay to do a bit of research into what colors stand out best in contrast to what colors.

That's very true.  All the screens we are developing are now grey untill we come up with some good backdrop colours.

Another night whizzes by on MSN.  If we were in a car.  Santini is steering, and I'm working the pedals.
This is really santini's baby.  I'm just doing some of the GFX to help out a bit.

Anyway.  Here's a shot of the ToolPath window.  I think we're done on this one.

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ART on April 22, 2006, 06:12:21 PM
Very nice. I really like this "Blue" set.
The colours are very comfortable..

Art
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: washcomp on April 22, 2006, 06:38:06 PM
Just an observation that black on blue on grey may not be the most visable selection.  Just remember that the thrust of this project should be a screen with a demonstrable functional advantage (while not introducing defects) over the default screen.  Cosmetics should be less important than increased function.  After the tool control functionality is optimized, then cosmetics should be improved (until such time as they negatively impact function).

Regards,
Jeff

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 22, 2006, 09:25:26 PM
Thanks for the feedback Art. It's just the kick we need as our 2am sessions keep going :)

Jeff, I'm with you on the requirement of a clear screen with good visability. All I can say at this stage is that the final colour scheme is really up in the air. There are some factors in Screen 4 that will drive the final scheme we produce but at this stage If Mr Bean gets his way who knows what we end up with ! It will however be based on a blue button scheme but the layers function in Photoshop is allowing all sorts of colours to be tried.....

It's also true to say that the screen captures we are showing are not as good as the true image when running in Mach3. Resizing and some extra compression is just dulling the clarity a little.

Tonights session resulted in the Offsets screen which I personally feel is showing some real character. Beano was complaining of a headache but he managed to keep going and really excelled with some ideas. Just wait till we get to the Diagnostics screen !!! There's not an inch of spare screen space free.....

A couple of points to note are that rather than a common header bar which we had, we now change the colour of the button of the visible page. It's working quite well in practice.

So I think it's worth at this stage showing a before and after shot. Obviously people have there own taste...............

I'm giving the lions share of the credit to Mr Bean on this ;)

Cheers



Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: Brian Barker on April 23, 2006, 09:43:42 AM
If you guys get this up and working I will make an install file for it! if someone wanted to have that screen set thay would just have to download and install. 
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 23, 2006, 06:19:59 PM
Quote
If you guys get this up and working I will make an install file for it! if someone wanted to have that screen set thay would just have to download and install.

An installer would be fantastic.  We still have a few more screens to go yet.
Actually, Santini is beavering away at Screen4 as I type this.

I'm waiting for him to send his work back right now, so I can tweak the GFX some more.

Once we get the screens done, we just need to settle on a background colour.  Then you can roll us an installer ;D.  Great stuff.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ballendo on April 23, 2006, 06:44:12 PM
Gauge is misspelled as guage in the screen just posted...

FWIW Starrett just spells it Gage.

Hope this helps,

B

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 23, 2006, 07:55:13 PM
Well it's approaching 1:00AM and were getting close to finishing the settings screen.

Just to annoy Santini.  Here's a very "PINK" work in progress.  Don't worry it won't stay this way.

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: Brian Barker on April 23, 2006, 07:59:54 PM
If he gets stuck on screen 4 skip it and and make a list of what needs to be fixed. I willl help you by doing anythign that you can't get to work
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 23, 2006, 08:08:07 PM
:)

Thanks for the faith Brian ;)

Beano got the easy shift tonight !

This damn setting screen must have been put together by someone after a good drinking session.....

I see the light ....... Or are my eye's deceiving me and we have another 'Pinky' screen popped up.

Ok Back to the fun......

(Thanks for the installer offer. I'm sure we would like to take this up.)

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ynneb on April 23, 2006, 08:24:31 PM
Actually Brian, it would be good if we could set up a universal installer shell. So that any of us could use it.
I have only worked out how to use the SFX installer in Winrar, but unfortunately it only extracts the files to one directory.
I know with mosts screens there needs to be fonts installed to the font directory, the .set to the main mach directory, and the BMPs to the Bitmap directory. Is it hard to build  a universal shell where we can just drag our files into and create an  exe from that ?

I know winamp has a universal tool for such file extraction.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: Brian Barker on April 23, 2006, 08:34:19 PM
I have an installer program that I got a few yreas ago that I was going to do it with... I am not going to make any code to get this done so i am going to have to make the install files my self :(
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 26, 2006, 06:33:18 PM
Well it's been a few nights since our last chance to get together. The Settings screen was a bit of a struggle as bits just seemed to be all over. I'm sure it all makes sense to those that use the functions but for amateurs like Mr Bean and Myself we were not sure on some functions. So hopefully we have clarified the screen a bit by putting 'frames' around what we think are related items. Please let us know if this is not the case.

As we mentioned earlier the final screenset colour is not finalised and as such some more experimentation with colours was tried. A limiting factor of Screen 4 is the font/label sizes and colours you can use. Not important really but by doing the labels as a graphic it's allowed a bit more variation. With this in mind Beano thrashed out a few colour schemes for labels etc. Certainly not in a final state but hopefully close the screenshot shows the concept. Note the attachement is scaled to allow better viewing in the forum but suffers from clarity when you do this. The real image at 1024 * 768 looks clear.
If we decide to go with this labelling method then the previous screens will be updated.

Art's latest release of Mach3 today has also made an improvement in the visuals as the Leds now have a fade to them. (Not shown in the screencap.)

Diagnostics screen next.... I think a beer or two is required to get through that one......

Cheers
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: washcomp on April 26, 2006, 07:12:55 PM
I like the yellow labels - they stand out nicely :-)

Jeff
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ynneb on April 26, 2006, 07:35:08 PM
Quote
Art's latest release of Mach3 today has also made an improvement in the visuals as the Leds now have a fade to them.

Better than that you can use your own design for LEDS.
There is a trick however you need to design the on off state for the LED in one block, and the block needs to be twice the width of the height exactly.
You will need to make them as PNG so the do not display as square.
See example.

Esentially you will now be able to do something like this http://www.machsupport.com/bennys*********/buttons.html
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: washcomp on April 26, 2006, 07:46:23 PM
Due to Benny's relentless pestering :-) , I have posted copy (as an attachment) of the screen set I was working on about a year ago as a new topic under Mach Screen called "Development Screen set from about a year ago".  I am humbled by your work here, but there still may be a few usefull ideas from looking at what I did.  I wrote a bit of a description in the new folder, so I won't bore you with it here.  Be gentle - it's my first upload here :-)

Regards and good luck,
Jeff

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 27, 2006, 05:07:17 AM
Benny,

GREAT news on the led's. I have some questions.

I visited your page and the flash demo looks cool. The question however..... Is it possible at this stage with Screen 4 to use these alternative image styles.

You mentioned block heights and size requirements etc but I see no way to select another image style in Screen 4 ?

Any tips from the graphics master appreciated ;)


Jeff,

The yellow touch is for you :)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: washcomp on April 27, 2006, 06:16:45 PM
Screen set is coming out nice.  One suggestion that you might look at:

I found while fooling around with mine (on another branch of this thread) that the square inch (mm?) surface area of a square was the same as a "lozenge" shape.  On the other hand, it was easier to hit with a mouse (or a finger if on a touch screen) without hitting the adjacent button.  It might make for an interesting (tedious?) experiment to fool around with the concept.

Regards,
Jeff
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 28, 2006, 07:52:52 PM
Well another weekend is here......

Jeff, will take your comments onboard for future screens. (If we ever do any more !)

We are so far down the line now that any button size changes would really cause headaches.

I'm currently twiddling my thumbs waiting for Beano to sync some new stuff across. He's probably trying some new shades of pink out on the background :)

I hope he doesn't move on to pastel shades.......

Some great tweaks on the later Mach releases this weak. The Hi-Res screenmode feature for scaling is awesome. It *Must* be tried if your enlarging these screens.

The ability to define our own LED's is so tempting but for now we will use the standard ones. Maybe the next screen.....

Right.... Beano has finally woke up.... Back to work......
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 28, 2006, 08:36:54 PM
I'm having a nightmare this end.  Sounds to me like Santini's in the ********* too!

This is my third attempt at this post.  I keep stuffing it up.
Straight to the goodies, because I can't be bothered to rewrite this post yet again.

Here's the Diagnostics screen.

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ynneb on April 28, 2006, 08:48:10 PM
Looking good guys. Nearly time to post it as a beta ?

Takes longer to make a screen than you initially thought didnt it ?
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 28, 2006, 08:52:18 PM
Man, I think we should call it a night.....

I need a beer to keep me going...

Same comments for the screen above. It's scaled for forum but looks a lot better at 1024 * 768.

The attached screen here shows (hopefully) where we are starting from......... I reckon this was the worst screen so far. Beano really grafted on this one.

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ART on April 28, 2006, 08:56:18 PM
Now thats a nice diags screen..

Art
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 28, 2006, 09:13:38 PM
On the downward slope now :)

We took the easy route on the G-Code and M-Code screens and used the standard bitmaps. Beano did threaten to type them out again but soon changed his mind... (For Now.)

After a few flips of a coin I lost.... So here's the exciting G&M screens.......

Art if your watching.... And I know your extremely busy but if it's possible to add it to your screen4 change list would it be possible to allow you to type a Hot-Key value in rather than it recording the keypresses. i.e I'm changing buttons to image buttons (clear) and have to do the hot keys as well. It would be really easy if I could just copy the decimal value already there instead of doing the keypresses which I have to look up...Thanks.

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 28, 2006, 09:34:03 PM
I think the 6 main screens are finished. :-\  We still have the MPG flyout panel to recreate and I think we'll end up doing the G & M code lists in the same font and colour as the rest of the screen labels.

Santini is sending the files as I type this, so that we can make a start on the MPG.
Geez, he's some kind of slave driver.

This seems like a good point to show our efferts so far, all in one shot.

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ART on April 28, 2006, 09:50:58 PM
Now thats a screen set that may just have to go into the relase package.. Thats a real work of art. No pun intended..

Great work. I love the fixups..

 I just uploaded a new MAch3, take a look at its new bitmaps.. YOu might like the capability for surround leds I just added.. The new reset button is surrounded as well as severla others on the main screen. Probably wont fit on yours, but another nice toy to have. :)

Art

Ill see about giving you type in hotkeys..
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: DAlgie on April 29, 2006, 01:37:34 AM
REALLY hate to ask, is a lathe screenset of interest to you guys? Maybe even with larger touchscreen buttons for the basic run functions.... (hiding under my desk now...)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: Graham Waterworth on April 29, 2006, 04:06:13 AM
Absolutly amazing!

You must do a matching Lathe set, I would feel very left out if you didn't.

Graham.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 29, 2006, 08:20:36 PM
Well another night kicks in and the MPG screen is all that is left to do hopefully.....

I hope tonights session goes better than last night.... we both were cursing and swearing to each other on MSN and even had to resort to a prior backup....

In fact it might not be a good night, Beano is already complaining about space available.... The buttons are too big... so it's my fault no doubt...

DAlgie / Graham - Thanks for the kind words. No promises but Beano does have a lathe so the carrot is dangling for him now with a lathe set :)

Art - More goodies with the led surrounds. Nice touch !

Oh well time to hunt out the hotkeys....... :-[
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on April 29, 2006, 10:28:35 PM
At last.......

The final screen is complete and the full series should be complete.

The colour scheme is up for debate but for now the 'Beta' release will probably use the silver scheme posted in the later screens.

I'm tired, Mr Bean is tired so the full package won't be posted tonight. We will wrap this up tomorrow and post for comment / improvements / and any bugs.

I did have chance today to try the screen in my garage with a 1024 * 768 panel. It did look quite nifty :)

A special thanks to Beano

(Oh - watch this space for Beano's special limited edition Mach Pink screenset!)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on April 29, 2006, 10:40:14 PM
Although it's late, (getting on for 04:00 AM here).  How could I resist an invitation to post a special limited edition "Pinky" version.

Well I think we made it.  Just need to double check things, then release the files tomorrow.  You sound like you need some sleep Santini!




Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: washcomp on April 30, 2006, 05:01:51 PM
We now have, easily available, four different approaches to building screens:

1)  The screen which comes with MACH3
2)  Benny's beta screen
3)  The Blue Screen
4)  My screen (originally based on a template that Brian had suggested, then influenced by the Mach Lathe screen).

I think all have advantages and drawbacks when functionality and use is compared.  I think that there should be a discussin of (no egos allowed here) the good, the bad and the ugly of each approach so that a "best of class" approach could be created to enable future screens to take advantage of the parallel development.

While I think there should be no constraint on artistic approaches, I think that certain approaches to screen layouts and syntaxes provide advantages over others and all screen sets could benefit.  I suspect that a discussion about different approaches would help us all. 

We might even ask Art to change how things are handled if it makes sense :-)  (An example may be a "middleware" approach to optimise screen interfacing (who knows?)

Anyway,

Interested in what you think?

Jeff

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on May 02, 2006, 06:38:53 PM
Jeff,

We are certainly no experts in screen design but you raise a valid point. One thing for sure it's a time consuming job !

The problem I have is I only touch on what features Mach offers on my home CNC. It would really take an expert or someone really familar with the program to outline screens that are the optimum.

We have a few more projects on the horizon but enjoyed our late night sessions with the screen designs.

For now, the beta screens are available here :-

http://www.cnc-builder.co.uk/insomniax/

Another colour release today... MachBlue..... (I think this is how the thread actually started - I don't know how the silver got added......)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on May 06, 2006, 08:14:46 PM
Folks.....

For those that requested a matching Lathe Screenset, how could we resist ?

http://machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=617.0

Cheers
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: PaulWC on July 15, 2006, 08:44:01 PM
Hi santiniuk & Mr. Bean,

After my struggles with Screen4, I thought I would try your InsomniaX screen sets. All I can say is *Marvelous*... keep up the great work.

A couple of questions...

I noticed some of the button drop shadows show some polarization, even though the file is 24-bit. Is that a result of resizing, or did the screen get reduced to 16-bit at some point? The "Rewind" button in the following example shows what I'm seeing:

http://www.coinet.com/~pwc/Mach3Screen/InsomniaxScreenInfo1.jpg

The G-Code display on the "Diagnostics" page is somewhat pixelized, and difficult to read. Is there a particular font I should have on my system for the clearest display?

http://www.coinet.com/~pwc/Mach3Screen/InsomniaxScreenInfo2.jpg

Thanks again for the great effort you two have put into these screen sets. Please don't take the above as whining... just want to make sure I got all the pieces on my system for the best display. My display is set to High - 32-bit on WinXP Pro.

Paul, Central OR
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on July 17, 2006, 06:31:40 PM

Quote
I noticed some of the button drop shadows show some polarization, even though the file is 24-bit.

That's our fault.  Some of the button images at certain sizes, didn't export to transparent gif format with very clean edges.
Cleaning up the edges would have had to have been done manually, pixel by pixel, and to be honest we we're a bit lazy regarding that, and left them as you see them.

Quote
The G-Code display on the "Diagnostics" page is somewhat pixelized, and difficult to read.

Again.  That's down to us.  The "Diag" screen is pretty cramped for space and we almost left the Gcode window off that particular screen.
We moved a few things around and managed to squeeze the Gcode window in, but it had to be small.  That's why the text is hard to read.
To be honest if I were looking at the diagnostics screen, chances are I'd be monitoring something other than the Gcode text.
Generally I'd run in the "Program run" or "Toolpath" Screens.
But I guess everyone's different.

So...  It's not you.  That's just how the screens are.


Regards.
Mr Bean.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: PaulWC on July 17, 2006, 08:57:12 PM
Hi Mr. Bean,

Again, I wasn't complaining... you two have put too much good work on these screens for any gripes. Very minor "blems" have nothing to do with the usefulness you've provided!

I am curious... I noticed both your screen backgrounds, and those provided by the Mach3 install are not native 1024 x 768 72dpi. Is there a reason they are smaller nnnn x nnn 100dpi?

I used to do Desktop Publishing for years, and pixel / point per inch count was a big deal en route to the printers / imagesetters... especially for color separations. ;)

Paul, Central OR
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: mrbean on July 18, 2006, 07:00:34 AM
I checked the background images, and they are 72 pixels per inch.

The reason they are not 1024*768 exactly, is because some of the screen (at 1024*768), is occupied by things such as the "Windows TaskBar"
Even Mach has non graphical areas.  For example, the menu bar at the top of the screen, also there is a vertical border to one edge.

The screens were designed for a native resolution of 1024*768, and while Art has made some big improvements regarding screen stretching to display on higher res screens, they still fit better on a native 1024*768.

Regards Mr Bean.



Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: PaulWC on August 14, 2006, 01:15:12 AM
Hi santiniuk & Mr. Bean,

Another couple of items... While using the "Offsets" screen, I inadvertently clicked the Edge Finder Icon rather than the "Select" button for the X- axis. The "Y" DRO updated rather than the proper "X" axis. I checked the VB Scripts for the Edge Finder Icons and they are: Y+ is SetDRO(0, *-* X+ is SetDRO(1, *-* Y- is SetDRO(0, *-* X- is SetDRO(1,.

And the other... the "Center" icon is not centered.  :)
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: krymis on August 29, 2006, 05:39:17 PM
hey i loaded the mach blue screen set.  Its great but when i load Mach3 with the blue screen it keeps saying Requesting emergency stop.  I hit the rest and it does nothing.  I keep getting the same message.  How can i fix it?

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on September 01, 2006, 04:19:33 AM
Krymis,

Apologies for the delay replying. For some weird reason, my internet provider (BT) is putting all of the notifications from this site into it's spam filter :(

I have to manually check the filter to see the posts on here.

Regarding the screenset this shouldn't cause any problems with the emergency stop feature.

By default what you describe occurs in Mach unless you go in and configure the port / pins etc.

Have you done this ?

Cheers
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: nikl on November 02, 2006, 01:01:50 AM
Hi There,
I downloaded and started using the MachBlue screens recently. I keep experiencing
a problem in the Program Run screen. I get an ERROR 904 when I click on the Conversational button and the Material Selection screen comes up. The Pop-Up box asks if I want to attempt recovery. If I click on NO, Mach 3 errors and closes.
If I click YES, I get another pop-up with ERROR Code 9991.
Help! I love the MachBlue screens, but need to fix this problem if I want to continue using them.
nikl
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on November 03, 2006, 04:12:29 AM
Nikl,

Apologies for the delay. Again my spam filter hid the automail from the board to alert me of your post.

Unfortunately, I am unable to veryify your problem as the Conversational  is an extra that needs to be purchased. (I think!)

I really need the help of someone else to check this problem.

I'm not sure if our screens would cause an error as they are basically just a front end calling up certain codes when buttons are clicked. Saying that I don't know Mach well enough to use it in anger.

Good luck, I hope you get an answer, sorry cannot be of more use.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: chad on November 03, 2006, 04:30:34 AM
This is a confirmed bug.   Art knows about this one (i have the same problem. At This point i don't know if it is a Brian or Art problem. My unfortunate workaround is to unload mach blue  :(

Chad

Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on November 03, 2006, 04:35:37 AM
:)

I did get a notify this time.

Thanks for the confirmation Chad. Not good news for Nikl but at least we know the problem exists.....

I'm not sure if there is anything we can do with the screenset to fix it ?  ???
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ART on November 03, 2006, 08:47:13 AM
Hi Guys:

  Sorry, I was unaware of this one, its listed now for repair. So its only when the conversational button is pressed? Weird..
Art
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: nikl on November 03, 2006, 10:57:13 AM
Hi Art,
It happens to me only when I click the Conversational button.
I tested it last night and it occurs on the Mach Silver Blue screen too.

My current workaround is to use the Drop Down "Wizards" and then
select the Newfangled Solutions Handy Wizards from there. It works fine that way.
 :)
nikl
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: ART on November 03, 2006, 11:24:32 AM
Hi Guys:
  Found and fixed for next release.

Thanks for the bug,
Art
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: nikl on November 03, 2006, 11:51:16 AM
Art,
"you-da-man"!
Thanks, we all appreciate your effort!
nikl ;D
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: santiniuk on November 06, 2006, 11:53:26 AM
Great service again.

Thanks Art.
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue" Toolpath display
Post by: nikl on November 19, 2006, 06:17:28 PM
Hi all,
I noticed the toolpath display does not reset when I double-click on it.
This only occurs in the Toolpath Screen, not the Program run screen.
It resets fine on the Program Run screen.
This happens in the Mach Blue and the Mach Steel Blue screen sets.
I am running release 1.84.
Thanks!
Nik
Title: Re: An unfinished screen set - "Mach Blue"
Post by: akransom on May 06, 2008, 09:09:45 AM
Comment from a relative newbie.  I  had problems getting the axis centering upgrade installed.  Turned out to be loose nut on the keyboard.  Here are my suggestions.  1.  Setup an installer for full axis zero feature install.  2. Add a button that will do X, Y and Z. Include documentation so script can be modified for the diameter of the hole in probe plate.  Really an fantastic job!  This has opened a lot of possibilities for me now that I can do accurate tool change during a run.  I am working with a AutoCAD and intro CNC instructor at the local high school on a lawn chair he wants to build.  He has no idea about the real world.  So far he has 12 unique parts with 6 that need to be milled on both sides and 4 require a tool change. So far about 15 hours of machine time required.  I think it would be almost impossible without your tool change feature.  I figure that he will have to sell them for about $1500 USD to make a decent wage!  I am writing off this project from hell as a great learning experience.  Thanks for all your work on this project.