CamBam plus beta 0.9.7c (untested release)

[10bulls]

The latest 0.9.7 release is now ready for wider testing.

http://www.cambam.co.uk/download/untested/cambam-plus-beta-release-097c.html

This is a very early release of version 0.9.7 so please be on the lookout for bugs and treat any gcode created with caution until this release has been more widely tested.

I have made the installer so that it will not overwrite the current stable CamBam version.
Version 0.9.7 will have its own program folder and a new shortcut will be created: 'CamBam plus 0.9.7'.
It also won't overwrite the existing file handler, so you will need to start this version of CamBam then use File - Open, or drag files onto it from Explorer.

Details on the changes in 0.9.7 can be found at the link above, or from the Help - Contents menu option within CamBam, under the 'What's New?' section.

The main feature of this release has been user interface improvements including multiple selection and drag dropping in the drawing tree, together with extra multi-threading support and ability to cancel long running operations.

There have been some improvements to the 3D waterlining reliability as described in the What's New section.
This is an on-going process and a more thorough review of all the toolpath generation routines is planned soon.

I hope you enjoy using this new release and as always, bug reports and other feedback is always welcome!

Andy Payne [10Bulls]

[10bulls]

A new 0.9.7 bug fix release has just been uploaded (rev D)

This is available from the same page as the previous post:

http://www.cambam.co.uk/download/untested/cambam-plus-beta-release-097c.html

Please uninstall any previous 0.9.7 releases using control panel's Add Remove Programs, before installing this new release.

The main purpose of this release is to fix the problems with floating point number parsing and formatting on systems that use commas for decimal points in their regional settings.
(Thanks Lazer!)

A bug was also fixed that was reported in this post:
http://www.cambam.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=797.0
This affected trimming polylines with certain shapes.
(Thanks Andy)

[10bulls]

Another new 0.9.7 bug fix release has just been uploaded (rev E)

This is available from the same page as the previous post:

http://www.cambam.co.uk/download/untested/cambam-plus-beta-release-097c.html

As before, please uninstall any previous 0.9.7 releases using control panel's Add Remove Programs, before installing this new release.

Bug fixes in this release...

* Problem with start point not always detected should be resolved. This also should fix some toolpath optimisation inefficiencies.

* A Polyline offsetting problem was fixed with certain shapes.

* Improvements to toolpath cut ordering for 3D surfaces. DepthFirst should now be much more reliable, but this is still being tested.
It is still safest to use LevelFirst cut ordering for 3D waterlining for the time being until this new fix has been thoroughly tested.  However if you are willing/able to run simulations, DepthFirst is worth considering as initial results look promising and the toolpaths can be more efficient.

[10bulls]

Another new 0.9.7 bug fix release has just been uploaded (rev F)

This is available from the same page as the previous post:

http://www.cambam.co.uk/download/untested/cambam-plus-beta-release-097c.html

Unless there are any problems with this release, this version will become the latest stable release version.
As such, the installer now registers version 0.9.7 as the default file handler for Cambam (.cb) files.

Revision F new features!

* Will now generate around 300 lines of g-code after evaluation has expired!
That's right, CamBam plus can now be used to generate around 300 lines of gcode without the need to purchase a license. 
There is still the 40 evaluation sessions where it is possible to generate unlimited lines of gcode.  The 300 line limit will kick in after the evaluation period has expired.

* Added new post processor macro {$arccentermode} and ArcCenterAbsolute / ArcCenterIncremental values to handle Mach3 G90.1 & G91.1 codes.
This should avoid the common problem of 'crop circles' when the default arc center mode is set differently between CamBam and Mach3.
The Mach3.cbpp and Mach3-CV.cbpp files have been modified to take advantage of this new post processor macro.  The feature can also be used to define g-codes for selecting incremental/absolute arc center modes for other target controllers by making similar changes to their post processor (.cbpp) files.

Revision F bug fixes

* Fixed new bug when parsing text STL files containing multiple spaces.

* Rudimentary interpretation of extrusion direction for 2D arcs in DXF files.
Some CAD programs (like Sketchup) appear to occasionally set extrusion directions in DXF files for 2D entities such as arcs, which can have the intended result that the arc should be mirrored.

* Improved handling of rotations and mirroring for Arc entity apply transformations.

* OpenGL initialisation now checks AntiAlias setting. Attempt to fix occasional OpenGL issues with some hardware.
There have been a couple of reported problems with the OpenGL view on certain hardware.
This change is intended to either fix or at least rule out certain causes.
If you are experiencing OpenGL problems, try turning off AntiAlias in the View menu within CamBam. You will then need to restart CamBam. 
I would love to hear any feedback on whether this does or doesn't fix anything as I am unable to recreate these problems on any hardware at my disposal.