Manual for developing cura plugins

[arcadi 0]

Hi geeks,

I'm looking for plugin development manual in the web, but I can't find anything...

Do you know where I can find some tutorials or similar?

Tnks

[ahoeben 1,654]

What sort of plugins would you like to develop?

The old Cura had "plugins" for postprocessing gcode. The new Cura has those as well, but calls them "scripts". The new Cura also has many "plugins"; almost everything from USB printing to Layer View, from Cura Connect to moving, scaling and rotating models, all of that is implemented as "plugins".

So, what sort of "plugins" would you like to create?

No, there are no tutorials as far as I am aware, but I could point you to simple plugins that are relatively easy to understand and learn from.

[peterson79 0]

I am also looking for some info on plugin development, specifically sending commands to, and getting info from, the attached printer.

[ersinkecis 0]

On 11/9/2017 at 10:12 PM, ahoeben said:

No, there are no tutorials as far as I am aware, but I could point you to simple plugins that are relatively easy to understand and learn from.

I want it, if is it possible. 🙂

Thank you very much.

 

Meanwhile, I'm a fan of your plugins. 👍

[Rabbit-o 0]

I want to develop and debug post processing scripts. 

 

The section of develop is almost easy, reading other PPScripts and having some python knowledge, but debugging is a pain, open cura, "execute" the PPS, see the result, close cura, modify the PPS, open cura, "execute" the PPS, see the result, close cura... so boring. I tried this thread, but without any result:

 

I could be a great idea to have a manual to configure how to develop and debug PPScripts, or just an easy "cura_pps.exe" to invoke it with parameters like the gcode, the PPS, and in the batch window see what is happening or something to stop/continue each processed line from the gcode.

 

 

 

[ahoeben 1,654]

12 hours ago, ersinkecis said:

I want it, if is it possible. 🙂

 

What sort of plugins would you like to create?

[Guest maht]

Currently we have a wiki on GitHub https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/wiki/Creating-Packages

 

I'd really like to do something more comprehensive than this though, so your suggestions are noted and I'm watching this thread.

 

We were already banding some ideas about this around, maybe something like a readthedocs template. What would you like to see?

[Rabbit-o 0]

2 hours ago, maht said:

Currently we have a wiki on GitHub https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/wiki/Creating-Packages

 

I'd really like to do something more comprehensive than this though, so your suggestions are noted and I'm watching this thread.

 

We were already banding some ideas about this around, maybe something like a readthedocs template. What would you like to see?

 

I understand that this post is only for plugins, is'n it?

 

May i open another to learn about post-processing scripts? Is it possible?

 

Thank you so much in advance

 

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Rabbit-o

[Cuq 111]

51 minutes ago, Rabbit-o said:

May i open another to learn about post-processing scripts? Is it possible?

 

 

[Rabbit-o 0]

16 minutes ago, Cuq said:

 

 

 

Thank you so much Cuq!

Rabbit.

 

Edited June 17, 2020 by Rabbit-o

[Guest maht]

16 hours ago, Rabbit-o said:

 

I understand that this post is only for plugins, is'n it?

 

May i open another to learn about post-processing scripts? Is it possible?

 

Thank you so much in advance

 

 

 

Ah I see. The post processing plugin is indeed a plugin. Within this particular plugin you can add python scripts that will post process your GCode as it exits CuraEngine. You can see them here https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/tree/master/plugins/PostProcessingPlugin

 

More recently when we refer to plugins we refer to the ones distributed through the Marketplace, which behave a little differently. That's what I was talking about above (and I'd still love to hear what ideas you might have for documentation there).

[ersinkecis 0]

On 6/17/2020 at 2:34 PM, ahoeben said:

What sort of plugins would you like to create?

For example, I want to write a plug-in about electricity consumption.

[ahoeben 1,654]

That sounds like an "Extension" type of plugin:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Uranium/wiki/Plugin-Types#extentions

An example can be found here:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/UraniumExampleExtensionPlugin

 

It also sounds similar to this plugin, but you'll have to update it a little before it will work in Cura 4.6:

https://github.com/zoff99/ElectricPrintCostCalculator

At the very least you would have to update the api in plugin.json from 4 to 7, but you also have to change from Preferences.getInstance() to CuraApplication.getInstance().getPreferences(), and there is likely more.

 

See also the plugin documentation for Uranium, the framework Cura is built on:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Uranium/wiki/Creating-plugins

Here are some more basic examples:

https://github.com/Ultimaker?q=example

 

 

[ersinkecis 0]

On 6/19/2020 at 8:49 AM, ahoeben said:

That sounds like an "Extension" type of plugin:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Uranium/wiki/Plugin-Types#extentions

An example can be found here:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/UraniumExampleExtensionPlugin

 

It also sounds similar to this plugin, but you'll have to update it a little before it will work in Cura 4.6:

https://github.com/zoff99/ElectricPrintCostCalculator

At the very least you would have to update the api in plugin.json from 4 to 7, but you also have to change from Preferences.getInstance() to CuraApplication.getInstance().getPreferences(), and there is likely more.

 

See also the plugin documentation for Uranium, the framework Cura is built on:

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Uranium/wiki/Creating-plugins

Here are some more basic examples:

https://github.com/Ultimaker?q=example

 

 

Thank you for the information you provided. I will evaluate.

[Aln 1]

On 6/16/2020 at 10:34 PM, Rabbit-o said:

debugging is a pain, open cura, "execute" the PPS, see the result, close cura, modify the PPS, open cura, "execute" the PPS, see the result, close cura... so boring.

Is there no support anywhere to deal with this ungodly cycle of modify the Python code, double-click on an STL to load up Cura, go get a coffee or something because Cura is DEATHLY slow, slice, check results, close Cura, lather, rinse, repeat.  Surely we can't be the ONLY people who think that this is a REALLY crummy way to test and debug code.

 

What is the correct development cycle to develop, test, and debug post-processing Python scripts?

[ahoeben 1,654]

8 hours ago, Aln said:

What is the correct development cycle to develop, test, and debug post-processing Python scripts?

 

Modify the Python code, double-click on an STL to load up Cura, go get a coffee or something because Cura is DEATHLY slow, slice, check results, close Cura, lather, rinse, repeat.

[Cuq 111]

48 minutes ago, ahoeben said:

Modify the Python code, double-click on an STL to load up Cura, go get a coffee or something because Cura is DEATHLY slow, slice, check results, close Cura, lather, rinse, repeat.

 

I think you forgot :  

Modify the Python code, delete the log file, double-click on an STL to load up Cura, go get a coffee or something because Cura is DEATHLY slow, slice,  analyze the log file, check results,  analyze the log file,  close Cura, lather, rinse, repeat.

[ahoeben 1,654]

Kidding aside, it is mostly how I develop my plugins.

 

The biggest difference is that I run Cura from source which shows the log output directly as Cura starts. Also my Cura starts up in 15-20 seconds, so I can keep my coffee intake moderate.