Comments for MeshCAM Blog http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:57:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Gerry http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8783 Gerry Fri, 12 Aug 2011 12:57:41 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8783 I prefer standard help files myself. Much quicker to use than pdf and html. I prefer standard help files myself. Much quicker to use than pdf and html.

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Robert http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8781 Robert Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:34:09 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8781 Thanks for the feedback Ted. wxWidgets is the UI library I use and, as you pointed out, it's not that configurable without re-implementing a lot of it with the new features in mind. I do like the idea of the help with CTRL pressed so I'll have to think about that and see if I have a reasonable way to emulate that. Thanks for the feedback Ted. wxWidgets is the UI library I use and, as you pointed out, it’s not that configurable without re-implementing a lot of it with the new features in mind.

I do like the idea of the help with CTRL pressed so I’ll have to think about that and see if I have a reasonable way to emulate that.

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Ted Milker http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8779 Ted Milker Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:13:37 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8779 One thing that I really like about ZBrush(3D high-poly modeling software, if you are not familiar) as a software is that all of the help for every tool is integrated straight into the interface. I can hold Control over any menu or tool and get a detailed explanation of what that tool is or what the menu item is going to do. You may not be able to facilitate this everywhere since you are using Windows dialogs and not a completely custom UI like ZBrush but you could take a page from it. MeshCam is pretty user-friendly, you may as well extend that to the help too. Integrate it as tooltips that pop up to explain something and push the feature on new users when they first start it. If I hover over the image or checkbox for Waterline, it should give a decent description. If I hover over "Stepover" it gives me a brief description of what that is. Creating new tools could really use this helping users get started adding their own tools, especially since MeshCam does not come with any presets. I would recommend not using HTML files. They are not really searchable except page-by-page(or hacky solutions that break a lot) which is frustrating. PDFs are fine when the page count is low but incremental searching by a word or phrase gets tedious as the file gets longer, especially if it is a commonly used word. Make sure to have a solid table of contents for a PDF and a matching set of bookmarks so it can be accessed at any location in the PDF. CHMs are a pretty nice balance, even if they are not OS friendly and take a bit of work to get a nice and useful set of documentation. CHMs are definitely not that great to edit. You could always switch to a wiki(even if only you and people you choose can edit it) if you prefer Wordpress. Just make sure you populate it before you switch and provide an offline snapshot or something with releases. The worst is when someone switches to a wiki and has not populated it with very much and expects the info to just pop out of nowhere. I was just thinking as I was reading your blog posts that they would make great additions to the help files too. One thing that I really like about ZBrush(3D high-poly modeling software, if you are not familiar) as a software is that all of the help for every tool is integrated straight into the interface. I can hold Control over any menu or tool and get a detailed explanation of what that tool is or what the menu item is going to do. You may not be able to facilitate this everywhere since you are using Windows dialogs and not a completely custom UI like ZBrush but you could take a page from it.

MeshCam is pretty user-friendly, you may as well extend that to the help too. Integrate it as tooltips that pop up to explain something and push the feature on new users when they first start it. If I hover over the image or checkbox for Waterline, it should give a decent description. If I hover over “Stepover” it gives me a brief description of what that is. Creating new tools could really use this helping users get started adding their own tools, especially since MeshCam does not come with any presets.

I would recommend not using HTML files. They are not really searchable except page-by-page(or hacky solutions that break a lot) which is frustrating. PDFs are fine when the page count is low but incremental searching by a word or phrase gets tedious as the file gets longer, especially if it is a commonly used word. Make sure to have a solid table of contents for a PDF and a matching set of bookmarks so it can be accessed at any location in the PDF. CHMs are a pretty nice balance, even if they are not OS friendly and take a bit of work to get a nice and useful set of documentation.

CHMs are definitely not that great to edit. You could always switch to a wiki(even if only you and people you choose can edit it) if you prefer WordPress. Just make sure you populate it before you switch and provide an offline snapshot or something with releases. The worst is when someone switches to a wiki and has not populated it with very much and expects the info to just pop out of nowhere.

I was just thinking as I was reading your blog posts that they would make great additions to the help files too.

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Robert http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8778 Robert Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:05:59 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8778 Good call- changing it now. -Robert Good call- changing it now.

-Robert

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Randy http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8777 Randy Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:45:40 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8777 Robert, I've been playing with the toolpath wizard some, and I think it's very good. I like the "you should use a flat endmill" reminders for 2.5D tool choosing. I'd suggest having the wizard enable "Don't machine top of stock" by default for 2.5D jobs. I had to check that manually. Randy Robert, I’ve been playing with the toolpath wizard some, and I think it’s very good. I like the “you should use a flat endmill” reminders for 2.5D tool choosing. I’d suggest having the wizard enable “Don’t machine top of stock” by default for 2.5D jobs. I had to check that manually.

Randy

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Robert http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8776 Robert Thu, 11 Aug 2011 18:06:38 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8776 I agree completely Ted- the manual will get a rewrite to become more of a guide rather than just a dry set of definitions. That's part of the reason that the blog has started to get more "How-Tos". My plan is to publish the content here and then edit it into the manual after I get feedback. For some reason, writing content in Wordpress is easier for me that writing it in my help file editor. I am debating the format of the help file in the future. Should it remain as a Windows help file, or should it become HTML or PDF. Any thoughts? -Robert I agree completely Ted- the manual will get a rewrite to become more of a guide rather than just a dry set of definitions. That’s part of the reason that the blog has started to get more “How-Tos”. My plan is to publish the content here and then edit it into the manual after I get feedback. For some reason, writing content in WordPress is easier for me that writing it in my help file editor.

I am debating the format of the help file in the future. Should it remain as a Windows help file, or should it become HTML or PDF. Any thoughts?

-Robert

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Ted Milker http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8775 Ted Milker Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:43:41 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8775 It would help new people if you updated the help files to explain what "Pencil", "Waterline" and "Parallel Finishing" and other things are along with everything else in the primary workflow path(Generate Toolpaths, Tool setup screens). You explain their options but you do not give a description of what it is going to do. As a new trial user, I found the help file pretty much a brief sketch of the menus and windows. The Getting Started video was more helpful in some cases. It would help new people if you updated the help files to explain what “Pencil”, “Waterline” and “Parallel Finishing” and other things are along with everything else in the primary workflow path(Generate Toolpaths, Tool setup screens). You explain their options but you do not give a description of what it is going to do.

As a new trial user, I found the help file pretty much a brief sketch of the menus and windows. The Getting Started video was more helpful in some cases.

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Randy http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8768 Randy Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:58:05 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8768 Cool, thanks Robert. That'll be great. Randy Cool, thanks Robert. That’ll be great.

Randy

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Robert http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8767 Robert Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:24:17 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8767 It will be changing back to a text-based format in the near future so that will absolutely be possible. -Robert It will be changing back to a text-based format in the near future so that will absolutely be possible.

-Robert

]]> Comment on MeshCAM V5 Preview Release by Randy http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/releases/meshcam-v5-preview-release/#comment-8766 Randy Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:15:07 +0000 http://www.grzsoftware.com/blog/?p=726#comment-8766 I'd really appreciate the ability to maintain the tool table. Since it isn't something a comma-delimited text file any more, I'm not even able to do something simple like sort the tools by number. And the only way to access the table seems to be to set up a dummy job, go to the tool picker and look at the existing table that way. Either a stand-alone utility or a menu item in MeshCAM to bring up and edit the table would be great. I need to keep my tool tables coordinated between MeshCAM, SheetCam and Mach3. If I change a tool in one I need to update it in the other two also. Randy I’d really appreciate the ability to maintain the tool table. Since it isn’t something a comma-delimited text file any more, I’m not even able to do something simple like sort the tools by number. And the only way to access the table seems to be to set up a dummy job, go to the tool picker and look at the existing table that way. Either a stand-alone utility or a menu item in MeshCAM to bring up and edit the table would be great. I need to keep my tool tables coordinated between MeshCAM, SheetCam and Mach3. If I change a tool in one I need to update it in the other two also.

Randy

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