No problem. I understand to a degree. But I see all sides of it. Documentation will always be behind development. While there is always documentation to be worked on Mach4's is pretty good and getting better all the time. But not all things require documentation. The documentation for the CvDistTolerance wizard is built into the wizard. This is also true for the the CV tuning wizard but there is doc for it too. It is simply a screenshot of the wizard. When you launch the CvDistTolerance wizard read what each dialog says and you will know about all there is to know about it. It populates the CV feed rate table/wizard. So does the CV tuning wizard, they just do it 2 different ways. You can also manually populate the Cv feedrate wizard (that was the only way until the other wizards were developed). Or run one of the wizards that does then go in and tweak any value you want to. It is all set up to be very flexible because that is what users want and in certain instances legitimately need. However with great power comes great responsibility. From a development/documentation point of view it would be much easier to give users less freedom.
TBH, it does sound a bit like you are venting. It sounds like your upset that you are learning so much. That is not good. If that is the case then you really need to consider if building a CNC really is a hobby of yours. If it isn't you would probably be far better off to hire someone to build it for you or buying a turn key package capable of meeting your requirements. Building CNCs is not like running a mobile phone app. It requires the builder to know and understand certain things (no matter what control you use or where you are staring from). But so does any other hobby. Like hunting for example. Most folks enjoy expanding their knowledge of their hobbies and understand that doing so requires some of their time. If not, Field and Stream, HotRod magazine and a nearly endless list of others would never have existed. They did pretty well even though they did not take the time to define every term in every article a new comer may not be familiar with. I will be the first to admit that most coming to DIY CNC are far less knowledgeable about their new hobby than most wanting to take up hunting or build a Hot Rod. But I also know we can't possibly provide enough information to cover every thing that everybody doesn't know/understand. CNCs are a combination of lots of things. The control is just one part of it. And Mach is the simplest and quickest to learn by a long shot that I have ever seen. But also know that I have been working on CNCs for over 25 years. Electrical, mechanical and electronics for way more than that. I still learn new stuff all the time. If I didn't I would be bored and loose interest. DIY CNC requires you know or learn some things just to get motion. You can stop at that or take it about as far as you want to.
If DIY CNC is truly a hobby of yours read, watch and listen to everything you can find about Mach and CNC in general. Play with Mach. See what all you can find, figure out about it. Break things and fix them. In a nutshell, waste a lot of time and have fun doing it. Always test and play in a copy of your real profile, screen, module, etc. That way if you really break something bad you can go back to your real stuff and start from a known good point. Copy it again and break the new copy too. It's fun, or it should be at least.
Below is a perfect example of the documentation and where you can find the latest release of Mach4 (which is what I recommend). But if 4162 does all you need it to, there is no reason to update. Once I get a machine doing all I want it to I never update it. I put a copy of anything I did custom, plugins, etc. and the installer on a thumb drive so I can restore it if ever needed.
Copied form the Mach4 CNC Controller Config.pdf
"Downloading
Download the installation package from
www.machsupport.com . Click on the download link and
save the self-installing file on the desktop or in a convenient folder. Mach4 needs to be install as
administrator, this can be done by right clicking on the self-installing file and telling it to “Run as
Administrator”. If installing in a remote location the installation file can be saved and moved to a
machine that has no web access. The file will require a CD or USB drive to have adequate storage
volume."
Now it doesn't give you a direct link to the latest version. It just takes you to our home page. From there if you hover over Software, Mach4 will be listed in the drop down. Click on it and that takes you to a page that has a link to Download Mach4. This is just one of many ways to get the latest release of Mach4. All of this and multiple other ways could also be added to the documentation but does it really need to be? Typically the shorter you can make the documents the better chance you have of them being read. We purposely condense them to as short as possible but still provide the necessary information.
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