MDI and Jogging at the same Time ?

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02 Oct 2018 18:42 #118370 by ben_benson
Hi Folks,

this has propably been asked before, but forum search went nowhere useful:

Is there any workaround to have the Axis MDI Tab active while still be able to jog with keyboard and the jogwheel ?
Would really make the work on the lathe a lot easier ...

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02 Oct 2018 20:18 #118376 by Grotius
Hi Ben,

Maybe that is hard coded in Axis.
I think it can be done if you click with your mouse on the gremlin screen while the mdi tab is open. The black screen where
the picture of your product is.

Normally mdi is only active when pressing the mdi command execute button. That's how i write gui code.
The Manual and Auto mode is then inactive.

You can see it sometimes. Linuxcnc has a 3 state mode. Automode, MDI mode or Manual mode.
Some screen widget's will go of in auto mode, such as manual move button's will go off.

MDI is a sensitive item. I only use it for test purposes.
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03 Oct 2018 00:49 #118383 by cmorley

Hi Folks,

this has propably been asked before, but forum search went nowhere useful:

Is there any workaround to have the Axis MDI Tab active while still be able to jog with keyboard and the jogwheel ?
Would really make the work on the lathe a lot easier ...


That is hardcoded behavior in AXIS, not easily changed AFAIK.
Is it the annoyance of switching back the tab each time that is the problem?

Chris M
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03 Oct 2018 07:10 #118391 by ben_benson
Yeah, it is the switching between manual and mdi (F3/F5) that makes working on the lathe with a lot of repetitive moves so cumbersome. I might dig into keyboard shortcuts for move macros....

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03 Oct 2018 21:30 #118424 by Grotius
Hi Ben,

# With joints_axes support and jogging while mdi
# (ref: emctaskmain.cc:allow_while_idle_type())
# behavior is better without changing tabs upon detecting
# a task_mode change.
# Restore behavior with this local var: enable_tab_change
this is found in the source code of axis.py line 775

Do you currently use a newer linuxcnc version?
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05 Oct 2018 12:30 #118470 by andypugh
I use the "Touchy" interface, which allows you to press the "jogging" button while on the MDI screen.

On My lathe I additionally have a button on the lathe apron above the jogwheels that toggles halui,mode-manual, which enables jogging.
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08 Oct 2018 08:13 #118531 by ben_benson
Hi Grotius,

tanks for the input - have you tried changing the enable_tab_change to TRUE ?

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23 Oct 2020 21:21 #187028 by JetForMe
Has anyone tried making this change? I don't like that I can't jog on the MDI tab either.

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20 Apr 2021 00:09 #206487 by kentavv
Setting enable_tab_change to TRUE alone in 2.8 axis didn't add jogging on the MDI screen.

(I've been comparing Axis 2.7 and 2.8. Something changed in Axis 2.8 breaks jogging with VistaCNC pendents while in MDI.)

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21 Apr 2021 06:08 - 21 Apr 2021 06:23 #206616 by cakeslob
The mdi window uses the same keys as keyboard jog, so when the mdi takes focus, it probably binds the keys for mdi, and same when manual tab takes focus
from axis.py
def ensure_manual(*event):
        s.poll()
        if not manual_ok(): return
        if  (     all_homed()
             and (s.motion_mode == linuxcnc.TRAJ_MODE_TELEOP)
                  or
                 (s.motion_mode == linuxcnc.TRAJ_MODE_COORD)
            ):
            set_motion_teleop(1)
        else:
            ensure_mode(linuxcnc.MODE_MANUAL)
            set_motion_teleop(0)

    def ensure_mdi(*event):
        # called from axis.tcl on tab raisecmd
        if not manual_ok(): return
        set_motion_teleop(0)
        ensure_mode(linuxcnc.MODE_MDI)
        set_motion_teleop(1)
        s.poll()

axis.tcl
proc set_mode_from_tab {} {
    set page [${::pane_top}.tabs raise]
    switch $page {
        mdi { ensure_mdi }
        default { ensure_manual
                  focus $::pane_top.tabs.fmanual
set _tabs_manual [${pane_top}.tabs insert end manual -text [_ "Manual Control \[F3\]"] -raisecmd {focus .; ensure_manual}]

It also doesnt keyboard jog if its on any other tab, other than jog tab, but the mode doesnt actually change when the tabs are switched, it appears to stay in manual until an mdi is issued. this is confirmed by loading the halui config and and joging while in mdi tab.
that being said, if you did a keybind to a non axis(the gui) jog pin, it would probably work. I dont know how it would behave with the jog tab, but you would probably have 2 sets of keyboard jog.
To make it work, you would probably need to bind it to a key that you wouldnt normally type into mdi, and probably have to erase them, because the mdi doesnt lose focus after a command is issued, so all your keyboard jogging will be entered into the mdi text entry. but on the opposite, if mdi did lose focus, you could jog and but then you have to click the mdi box every time to type. so, you can keyboard jog with , but it will be the same amount of clicking if not more. if you have a pendant or external buttons, it looks like it will work if you connect them to halui jog pins.
I have been dealing with it in the opposite, as keyboard jog is very convenient, I often accidentally jog while navigating a user tab with the arrow keys, which can sometimes be dangerous.
Last edit: 21 Apr 2021 06:23 by cakeslob.

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