FreeCAD plugin (official thread)

[thopiekar 46]

Here another thread regarding one of my plugins. As I see not too many discussions about the FreeCAD plugin so far, I would like to advertise to use only this thread for discussion.

This way many users can meet at one place and help themselves or I can give support of course, too.

 

PS: I noticed a bug in the plugin that will merge all bodies of all objects in a CAD file. If someone is interested to test, please let me know.

 

• Website: https://thopiekar.eu/cura/cad/freecad/
• Installation guide: https://thopiekar.eu/cura/plugins/installation/

Edited May 21, 2019 by thopiekar

[thopiekar 46]

@RobyRob You can find the macro (Python script) for the conversion inside the plugin here:

https://thopiekar.eu:5443/cura-cad-integration/CuraFreeCadPlugin/blob/master-updating-conversion-script/CuraFreeCADPlugin/scripts/convertIntoSTL.py

This is the one I use in the latest unreleased package. As far as I understand, after opening the file I should be able to get the active object via native_file.ActiveObject, no?

So the differences you probably see, is that you have unsaved changes. The plugin runs FreeCAD and the mentioned macro in the background. It doesn't know anything about the unsaved changes someone made inside FreeCAD's window at the moment.

Edited April 21, 2019 by thopiekar

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

I'm working with FreeCAD-dailybuilds. Is there another possibility to get working the plugin than installing the stable version of FreeCAD?

[thopiekar 46]

I guess, you are using Linux, right?

 

PS: The bug fix works for you?

Edited April 23, 2019 by thopiekar

[RobyRob 0]

@thopiekar In Freecad It seems the ActiveObject is the last created one (may be a bug) You can check it in Pyton Console with >>> App.ActiveDocument.ActiveObject.Name    after create more body/object

 

But it is not a problem: I think you have just to know that if you have more object/body ( say a cube and a cylinder) you must do a fusion as last step.

 

 

 

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

3 hours ago, thopiekar said:

I guess, you are using Linux, right?

 

PS: The bug fix works for you?

I'm sorry, yes, I'm using Linux.

 

And I don't know if the bugfix works, because I have not installed FreeCAD-stable only for the plugin. This is not an acceptable solution for me (I am a morbid perfectionist...).

[thopiekar 46]

4 hours ago, RobyRob said:

@thopiekar In Freecad It seems the ActiveObject is the last created one (may be a bug) You can check it in Pyton Console with >>> App.ActiveDocument.ActiveObject.Name    after create more body/object

 

But it is not a problem: I think you have just to know that if you have more object/body ( say a cube and a cylinder) you must do a fusion as last step.

 

 

 

Hmm, so there could be two ways of importing something into Cura, right? Once by using an active object, as I do now, or by looking for visible bodies.

I guess the method with the visible bodies could get interesting when printing with multiple extruders.

[thopiekar 46]

2 hours ago, UbuntuBirdy said:

I'm sorry, yes, I'm using Linux.

 

And I don't know if the bugfix works, because I have not installed FreeCAD-stable only for the plugin. This is not an acceptable solution for me (I am a morbid perfectionist...).

Well, if it is not too difficult for you, then add the binary directory of your installation to the $PATH environment variable.
Or (as I do) upgrade FreeCAD using the FreeCAD PPA. Currently, they deliver version 0.18.0 in it.

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

25 minutes ago, thopiekar said:

Well, if it is not too difficult for you, then add the binary directory of your installation to the $PATH environment variable.
Or (as I do) upgrade FreeCAD using the FreeCAD PPA. Currently, they deliver version 0.18.0 in it.

I am using the FreeCAD PPA, but the daily builds...

Well, I believe it would not be too difficult to add the binary directory, if I would know where to find the $PATH environment variable...

[thopiekar 46]

@UbuntuBirdy Personally, I prefer the second answer (modifying .bashrc):

https://askubuntu.com/questions/60218/how-to-add-a-directory-to-the-path

 

PS: The new version is on its way:

Edited April 23, 2019 by thopiekar

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

hmmm ... either my faith in my ability was too strong, or it is not because of the missing path...
Can the reason be that the daili builds is started not with the command "freecad" but with "freecad-daily"???

[thopiekar 46]

Could be. I'm using the stable PPA. Does an "freecadcmd-daily" exist, too?

The plugin is using the freecadcmd command line application to do the conversion from FCstd to STL automatically.

If another name is used, then it won't be recognized.

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

That's it! I changed the "FreeCADcmd" to "FreeCADcmd-Daily" and now it works perfect! Thank you so much for your plugin and your support!!!

[thopiekar 46]

7 minutes ago, UbuntuBirdy said:

That's it! I changed the "FreeCADcmd" to "FreeCADcmd-Daily" and now it works perfect! Thank you so much for your plugin and your support!!!

Haha, no problem. I think I need to think about adding a window for overwriting the path to the executable and overwriting the executable name 😅

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

2 minutes ago, thopiekar said:

Haha, no problem. I think I need to think about adding a window for overwriting the path to the executable and overwriting the executable name 😅

Would it not be easier to query the two or three options and execute them accordingly?

[thopiekar 46]

1 minute ago, UbuntuBirdy said:

Would it not be easier to query the two or three options and execute them accordingly?

Yes, would save them in the settings storage and recover them on each load of a file. Within a settings window in the menu, they could get changed or reset. Think that might be something interesting for all commandline-based plugins (Blender and OpenSCAD), too.

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

I am happy with every solution, even if I have to rewrite from hand to daily like now...

[thopiekar 46]

Could someone with an Apple laptop do me a favour and test the unreleased plugin above?

 

Thanks!

[thopiekar 46]

Found the bug. Made the changes on the script with FreeCAD 0.18, but some functions are not backwards compatible to 0.17. Made it working for both now.

[thopiekar 46]

New testing release:

https://thopiekar.eu:5443/cura-cad-integration/CuraFreeCadPlugin/-/jobs/1300/artifacts/browse

 

I just touched some minor things when working on the SolidWorks and Inventor plugin.

Would be great if you could give it a try.

 

Thanks!

[UbuntuBirdy 56]

Made my FreeCAD-Daily adaptation and it works like a dream! Thanks again!

[leoheck 0]

Hey guys, where should I post issues for Freecad Plugin? 

 

I am running Cura 4.2.1 with Freecad Integration plugin 0.3.1. It can't open my FCStd files from Freecad 0.18.3.

Please, can someone reference me where this plugin is being developed?

 

As I could verify, It works with Frecad <= 0.18.2 only.

[thopiekar 46]

Hello Leo,

 

there are problems uploading a new release with corrections for FreeCAD >= 0.18.0.

Hope I'll manage to resolve the issue together with Ultimaker soon.

[leoheck 0]

Hello thopiekar, thanks for the reply. Is there any thing that I can do to help you?

Edited August 20, 2019 by leoheck

[leoheck 0]

I am still investigating this issue. Now, I have cura 4.3.0 with FreeCAD integration 0.3.2.

The macro runs flawlessly from the command line but I was not able to run it with Cura.

 

I am thinking the issue is in the CommonCLIReader.py but it is just a guess.

 

Maybe it is a bug on executeCommand. I am discarding this one.  It looks good.

 

Cura just say "Invalid File, Failed to load"

Edited November 4, 2019 by leoheck