How to contribute to the Cura Project

[LordHokage 7]

Hi everyone!

I have been working on python and my fair share of C++. I would like to contribute to the Cura project and slicer. I have more experience with Python but I am not too sure on where to begin and start. I have done some open source work but wouldn't consider it important.

 

Any response is appreciated ;)

[ahoeben 1,990]

What sort of things would you like to contribute? Do you have certain features of fixes in mind?

 

Ultimaker Cura consists of two main parts: The frontend ("Cura") and the backend ("CuraEngine"). The frontend is written in Python/QML, and the backend in C++. Both are hosted on github (https://github.com/ultimaker/cura resp. https://github.com/ultimaker/curaengine), and both projects accept "pull requests" for contributed fixes and features.

 

Either way, you are probably going to want to start with setting up a development environment, so you can run Cura "from source". What OS will you be developing on?

[LordHokage 7]

I use Windows 10 (not 11 just yet ;)). Like previously mentioned, my Python is wayyyy sharper than my C++. I don't have anything in mind but would like to help out the Cura team and donate my time to this project. I think that it is quite exciting. Just thinking out loud: could someone hook me up with the Cura team to help them out?

[nallath 1,124]

2 minutes ago, LordHokage said:

Just thinking out loud: could someone hook me up with the Cura team to help them out?

Sure, and done 🙂

First thing i would recommend is making sure that you can run Cura from source. I expect that will take you some time to setup. If you run into any issues, feel free to ask help. We've tried to keep our running from source guides up to date as much as possible, but it's always a bit of a moving target.

[LordHokage 7]

So I'm in? That's cool. Thanks! Like I said, I am predominant on Python but I'll try C++ if you need me to. I will start building Cura from source, is it hard and possible on Windows?

Edited June 25, 2021 by LordHokage

[nallath 1,124]

It's an open source project 🙂 Anyone can contribute!

You can find the instructions here: https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/wiki/Running-Cura-from-Source-on-Windows

[nallath 1,124]

Whoops. Re-reading them, I already see some inconsistencies with the running from source guide.

It should be possible to get it running with them, but we are now using a higher python version as described in the guide

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by nallath

[LordHokage 7]

Okie. I'l follow the guid and post anything here. When do I get my first "assignent"? I don't really have any ideas hence I asked the previous question. Can I first get some work on the Cura frontend first (since its in Python)? If so, how would I set that up?

Edited June 25, 2021 by LordHokage

[ahoeben 1,990]

There are no assignments. There is a LONG list of "defered" issues which are basically very valid bugs or features, but Ultimaker devs will not be spending time of them because there is too much work to do that is deemed more important for Ultimaker. But many people will thank you for having a go at them.

 

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A"Status%3A+Deferred"

[LordHokage 7]

1 minute ago, ahoeben said:

There are no assignments. There is a LONG list of "defered" issues which are basically very valid bugs or features, but Ultimaker devs will not be spending time of them because there is too much work to do that is deemed more important for Ultimaker. But many people will thank you for having a go at them.

 

https://github.com/Ultimaker/Cura/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3A"Status%3A+Deferred"

Ok. Thanks. I will do that. How do I set up my computer to work on the Cura frontend - that's what I'm interested in (I keep saying this) because I predominantly use Python.

[ahoeben 1,990]

You could set up a full "from source" installation as outlined in the article linked to by @nallath. But personally I prefer skipping getting CuraEngine to compile, and just set up a python virtual environment with the required modules and bits from a released version of Cura.

 

* Check out the Cura and Uranium and libCharon repositories in separate folders

* Alongside those two folders create a bin folder containing the following files extracted from an offical Cura release:

Arcus.pyd
CuraEngine.exe
libgcc_s_seh-1.dll
libgomp-1.dll
libifcoremd.dll
libimalloc.dll
libiomp5md.dll
libmmd.dll
libstdc++-6.dll
libwinpthread-1.dll
nlopt.dll
pynest2d.pyd
Savitar.pyd

* Create a Python 3.8 64 bit virtual environment, and add the bin folder, the Uranium folder and the libCharon folder to the PYTHONPATH

* Install the following modules:

appdirs==1.4.3
atomicwrites==1.4.0
attrs==20.3.0
Automat==20.2.0
certifi==2019.11.28
cffi==1.13.1
chardet==3.0.4
colorama==0.4.4
colorlog==4.8.0
comtypes==1.1.7
constantly==15.1.0
cryptography==2.8
decorator==4.4.0
hyperlink==21.0.0
idna==2.8
ifaddr==0.1.7
importlib-metadata==3.10.0
incremental==21.3.0
iniconfig==1.1.1
keyring==23.0.1
mypy==0.740
mypy-extensions==0.4.3
netifaces==0.10.9
networkx==2.3
numpy==1.19.5+mkl
numpy-stl==2.10.1
packaging==18.0
pip==21.0.1
pluggy==0.13.1
py==1.10.0
pycollada==0.6
pycparser==2.19
PyHamcrest==2.0.2
pyparsing==2.4.2
PyQt5==5.15.0
PyQt5-sip==12.8.1
pyserial==3.4
pytest==6.2.3
python-dateutil==2.8.0
python-utils==2.3.0
pywin32==300
pywin32-ctypes==0.2.0
PyYAML==5.1.2
requests==2.22.0
scipy==1.5.4
sentry-sdk==0.13.5
setuptools==49.2.1
Shapely==1.7.1
sip==4.19.24
six==1.12.0
toml==0.10.2
trimesh==3.2.33
Twisted==19.10.0
typed-ast==1.4.2
typing==3.7.4
typing-extensions==3.7.4.3
urllib3==1.25.6
zeroconf==0.24.1
zipp==3.4.1
zope.interface==5.3.0

For some of these modules, it is going to be easier to use a wheel from https://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/ instead of pip.

 

Unless I forgot something (which is entirely possible), you should then be able to run Cura from source by going into the Cura folder and running python cura_app.py

[LordHokage 7]

2 minutes ago, ahoeben said:

You could set up a full "from source" installation as outlined in the article linked to by @nallath. But personally I prefer skipping getting CuraEngine to compile, and just set up a python virtual environment with the required modules and bits from a released version of Cura.

 

* Check out the Cura and Uranium and libCharon repositories in separate folders

* Alongside those two folders create a bin folder containing the following files extracted from an offical Cura release:

Arcus.pyd
CuraEngine.exe
libgcc_s_seh-1.dll
libgomp-1.dll
libifcoremd.dll
libimalloc.dll
libiomp5md.dll
libmmd.dll
libstdc++-6.dll
libwinpthread-1.dll
nlopt.dll
pynest2d.pyd
Savitar.pyd

* Create a Python 3.8 64 bit virtual environment, and add the bin folder, the Uranium folder and the libCharon folder to the PYTHONPATH

* Install the following modules:

appdirs==1.4.3
atomicwrites==1.4.0
attrs==20.3.0
Automat==20.2.0
certifi==2019.11.28
cffi==1.13.1
chardet==3.0.4
colorama==0.4.4
colorlog==4.8.0
comtypes==1.1.7
constantly==15.1.0
cryptography==2.8
decorator==4.4.0
hyperlink==21.0.0
idna==2.8
ifaddr==0.1.7
importlib-metadata==3.10.0
incremental==21.3.0
iniconfig==1.1.1
keyring==23.0.1
mypy==0.740
mypy-extensions==0.4.3
netifaces==0.10.9
networkx==2.3
numpy==1.19.5+mkl
numpy-stl==2.10.1
packaging==18.0
pip==21.0.1
pluggy==0.13.1
py==1.10.0
pycollada==0.6
pycparser==2.19
PyHamcrest==2.0.2
pyparsing==2.4.2
PyQt5==5.15.0
PyQt5-sip==12.8.1
pyserial==3.4
pytest==6.2.3
python-dateutil==2.8.0
python-utils==2.3.0
pywin32==300
pywin32-ctypes==0.2.0
PyYAML==5.1.2
requests==2.22.0
scipy==1.5.4
sentry-sdk==0.13.5
setuptools==49.2.1
Shapely==1.7.1
sip==4.19.24
six==1.12.0
toml==0.10.2
trimesh==3.2.33
Twisted==19.10.0
typed-ast==1.4.2
typing==3.7.4
typing-extensions==3.7.4.3
urllib3==1.25.6
zeroconf==0.24.1
zipp==3.4.1
zope.interface==5.3.0

For some of these modules, it is going to be easier to use a wheel from https://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/ instead of pip.

 

Unless I forgot something (which is entirely possible), you should then be able to run Cura from source by going into the Cura folder and running python cura_app.py

Thanks! That seems the way to go for me. I'll update here when I get the time to do everything and get it working. 

[LordHokage 7]

17 hours ago, ahoeben said:

Check out the Cura and Uranium and libCharon repositories in separate folders

Could you please clarify what you mean by Check out? Does that mean download, unzip and put in those folder or something else. I am a little new so I am slightly confused to such jargon. Additionally, what do you mean by PYTHONPATH? For the record, I use Miniconda. I have created a VEnv thus far and have installed all those libraries (phew!). Finally, how would I make changes. Would I download the front end Python scripts and make the edits, then submit a pull request. I am pretty excited and can't wait to start some dev work!

Edited June 26, 2021 by LordHokage
Don't @ me.

[ahoeben 1,990]

If you want to contribute to Cura, you are going to have to get to know "git", a version management system. There are many tutorials on youtube about how to use git. There is a nice integration into Windows Explorer called "TortoiseGIT", though some developers frown on some of the simplifications and limitations it implies. Many IDEs have git functionality integrated. I use a combination of tortoisegit and the command line git.

 

The workflow is that you "fork" the repository on github into your own account, then "git clone" that onto your local machine. Now you can make changes, though it is best to make those changes into a new "branch". One branch per feature/fix. Once you have confirmed the fix/feature to work for you locally, you "commit" the changes locally, and then "push" them to your forked repository on github. From there, you can make a "pull request", which is a request to the Ultimaker devs to have a look at the changes you made to your repository and "merge" (or "pull") them into the main repository. Once you looked at one or two youtube videos about git workflows, the terms in quotes will start to look familiar.

 

The PYTHONPATH is an environment variable like PATH, which points to (additional) folders where Python looks for modules.