How does the ttt tab work?

I have ttt tab in my ngcgui-1 as shown in the attached figure. It says to make a ttt sub. In a terminal I typed truetype_tracer and a gcode file was listed to machine a "Hello Wold" sign using open type and I saved it as I g code file. Sign is shown in attachment 2.

I searched the DB but could not find a ttt sub. So how do I make a ttt sub?

I want to use the ttt sub to generate g code to make signs and engravings.

Thanks for your help,
Bob

On your first attachment on the text line you have "bob" That is where you can add the text.

Then look further down under font you will see a long button marked...

Make ngcgui - compatible sub file and new tab

Click on it.

Rick G

Thanks Rick G

I passed my mouse over that button many times and did not see it change to the link color which in this case is to near the background color.

The ttt g code goes into auto.ngc in the configs/sim/ngcgui directory. I have to copy it into nc_files and rename it. Is there a directory selection save box available for the ttt save function? It is a pretty standard method of saving files.

Thanks for your patience and help,
Bob

After hitting the long button a new tab will appear, similar to other tabs, look for the autosend and deselect it, you will then be prompted for a file name.
This allows you to save a file rather than send it directly to linuxcnc

Look at the...

noauto - no auto send (makeFile, then manually send)

Option in ngcgui

linuxcnc.org/docs/html/gui/ngcgui.html


Rick G

Hi Rick G

I reread the ngcgui options and added noauto option. It works OK.

After saving a single arc2 I then tried to open the file in preview. It give me an error which I attached. I also attached the arc-t3.ngc g code file and my ini. Do you see how to solve this error?

Two steps forward one step back. A couple of days ago I made a file with 4 db25s in a line and it worked OK.

Thanks again for your patience and help,
Bob

O.K.

You might have saved the file in a directory that is not in the ngcgui search path.

Take a look at...
Section 3. Libraries

In the link above. And try saving your file in one of the directories or add the directory that you want to use to the path.

Pay attention to

LinuxCNC and ngcgui use the first file found when searching directories in a search path. With this behavior, you can supersede an ngcgui_lib subfile by placing a subfile with an identical name in a directory that is found earlier in the path search. More information can be found in the INI chapter of the Integrators Manual.

Rick G

Re:
"Near line 37of
/home/bob/linuxcnc/configs/sim/ngcgui-bob/auto.ngc:
Unable to open file <arc2>"

The ini file contains:
[RS274NGC]
PARAMETER_FILE = sim.var
SUBROUTINE_PATH = ~/linuxcnc/nc_files:~/linuxcnc/nc_files/ngcgui_lib:~/linuxcnc/nc_files/ngcgui_lib/utilitysubs
USER_M_PATH = ~/linuxcnc/nc_files/ngcgui_lib/mfiles

so it looks like it should work except tilde (~) expansion in ini files
is not available in linuxcnc 2.5.x.


If you are using linuxcnc2.5.x, try using:
SUBROUTINE_PATH = /home/your_user_name/linuxcnc/nc_files:/home/your_user_name/linuxcnc/nc_files/ngcgui_lib:/home/your_user_name/linuxcnc/nc_files/ngcgui_lib/utilitysubs
USER_M_PATH = /home/your_user_name/linuxcnc/nc_files/ngcgui_lib/mfiles


Tilde expansion in ini files was added to git master by commits like:

git.linuxcnc.org/gitweb?p=linuxcnc.git;a...839c0f5ec575ef1064bc

Hi Rick G:

I made up 4 users so I have one that I do not change and the others I try different changes on. I like the ~ so I can copy the Ini from one user to another. I also use the../../../. The ~ seems to work but I will switch over to the ../../../ which serves the same purpose.

When I mistype a search name LinuxCNC does not start and shows a list of error messages so I have to get the paths corrected. When I do not have a sub in the search path LinuxCNC starts and an error window pops up with the missing subs listed and the search paths. I am beginning to use this info to quickly correct the errors.

I did many changes of the DB structure to have the configs all in one path and a library of subs in another. My DB structure stays close to the distributed one. I read a statement that LinuxCNC is very adaptable but I should have waited to change it until I understood it better.

It is a good learning experience, Now I am going to start using my desktop 2.5D router again. I made my machine 3 years ago but had to stop. I have several small projects I want to make plus try using subs to make parts and do small tasks. I use TurboCADCAM for part design and cutting.

Thanks again for your help,
Bob

Glad to hear you are making progress.

Rick G