Build 13
I just uploaded build 13. It doesn’t contain any new user functionality- just a bug fix on a problem that Richard in Germany found and the addition of a new license code system. Old codes will continue to work (if I haven’t made any mistakes) but a new system will be rolled out when I can move V3 to “release” status. I get some pretty odd support emails regarding registration so I’m hoping this new system will give users better feedback about what might be wrong if they are having trouble.
Also, the analytics data is starting to flow in and I finally have enough to start looking at it to draw some simple conclusions. So far I’ve been blown away by one feature being used extensively that I almost dropped because I don’t hear from many people using it. (Sorry, I can’t share exactly what that feature is- I’d hate to help competitors). If the trend in the data continues, and I can update the analytics to give me a bit more detail, then I’ll probably look at what I can do to expand the feature in the future.
I’ll say it again, if you want your favorite features to get extra attention then please enable the Customer Experience Program when installing the program.
Build 11 Released
I just uploaded Build 11 with a couple of fixes for old post processor bugs and one memory optimization for models with a large number of small triangles. I was able to complete a toolpath from an STL with over 1.8 million triangles so this is a noteworthy improvement.
http://www.grzsoftware.com/v2dl.php
Post Clarification
It’s been pointed out to me that my comment a few days ago, “I’ve just ended the dumbest event in MeshCAM development in a long time” sounded like I was criticizing the user for having an older CPU and expecting it to work forever. This is absolutely not what I meant. The dumb part was that I did not take the time to read the change log or this blog earlier in the debugging process. If I had, the whole thing could have been cleared up very quickly. Sorry for any misunderstanding.
I Need 2D DXF Files
The title says it all. I’m adding some features that will require the loading of 2D DXF files and I need to get an assortment to be able to test my code. All CAD programs tend to do things a little differently and DXF files are really a pain in my experience as a CAD user. Ideally, I would like the following:
- A small file with some lines, arcs, circles, and maybe a freeform curve.
- The files should only have a few entities so I can debug it manually if I have to.
- The curves should be converted to polylines on save.
- Please name with file something based on the name of the CAD program and the settings used to generate it. For instance rhino4-acad2004polylines.dxf if it were from Rhino with the “Autocad 2004 Polylines” save option.
You can send them to me or post them in the DXF thread in the Development forum.
Thanks in advance.
Build 10 Released
I’ve just ended the one of the more humbling events in MeshCAM development in a long time. I got an email from Richard in Germany saying that he recently applied a WinXP update and MeshCAM now crashes immediately upon startup. Build 5 worked but the later ones failed. This is one of the most difficult cases to debug since it’s impossible to reproduce and I don’t have access to the machine. Also, the change from Build 5 to Build 6 coincided with me getting a new laptop so I immediately assumed it was a problem with my build environment or related to the XP update.
Richard and I spent about a month trying various updates and tests to find the root cause. By the second week of testing I was contacted by another user with similar problems so I began to get really worried. Along the way I found a similar problem caused by a missing manifest file for the tbb.dll file that MeshCAM depends on, although this didn’t help Richard at all. I was just about to have him dig into Dr Watson to get me a dump file when I though, “I should check out the blog to see what I was talking about near Build 5.” Sure enough, I saw that I made the change to SSE2-only CPUs at this time and, sure enough, Richard had an Athlon XP CPU that lacked the necessary SSE2 support.
By now, I’ve wasted enough time with this (because I didn’t bother to read the blog) and I never want to deal with this again. The new installer includes both SSE2 and non-SSE2 builds and will automatically install the right one when the installer is run. I should have done this at the start but I really didn’t think that old CPUs would be commonly in use for higher-end applications like CAD/CAM. My assumptions have failed me again but hopefully this will solve the problem for good.
Build 10 also include updated translations for Spanish, Japanese, and Russian. The German translation is not ready yet so that will be build 11 which, if no bugs are reported, will become the “release version” of MeshCAM 3.
It would help if users could check the about dialog after install to see if there is the phrase, “No SSE2” is there. It should not be there for Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 and newer chips. P3, Athlon XP and older should show “No SSE2.”
As always, let me know what you find in this release.