v 2.0.0 Errata

[Command Line]

Hi,
I'm new to BabaCAD, but a longtime CAD user with a modest level of LISP development. I was referred here by a friend who is also a lisp guru with the CAPD tools used by the BLM and Forest Service in the U.S.

I have run into a number of issues with the 2017 release, but let me first say a big thank you for doing this. I am working on a bicycle part invention in the evenings on my own and I am at a point where I need to have a mounting bracket made with a CNC mill.

That said, I hope this commentary is helpful for improving the product and I am interested in donating some money for your continued efforts and commitment.

Now the issues:
1. The commands I loaded through appload will run on the command line but not in the dynamic entry box
2. The space bar does not equal enter in the dynamic entry, but it would be nice if it did--kind throws me off
3. The object properties pane does not display a global elevation for objects, but the dxf does populate a value of 0 for the "30" dxf code. I really need this fix to be able to export a gcode file for a CNC mill. Also, the properties pane for 3d polylines only shows the elevation for one vertex at a time. A global elevation field would be helpful even if it displayed *VARIES* for vertices at differing elevations. Of course it would be helpful to change the elevation of all of the vertices for selected objects using this field.
4. I'm running Windows 10 and downloaded the BabaCAD exe install earlier today. I drew a 3d poly and then typed C for close, and it appeared to close. But there were two issues. a) when selected, the Is Closed value in the properties pane displayed as No b) When I saved and reopened the drawing, the closing segment was gone.
5. The PEDIT command and JOIN command are not included to allow me to join a line to a polyline. Nuts.
6. I drew a rectangle 90mm x 45mm in the xy plane, then I copied and pasted it into the same place. I executed the move command and selected the topmost rectangle, then pressed enter, entered 0,0,0 for the base point and 0,0,45 for the destination point. The object disappeared completely. I tried this more than once with both a 2d and 3d polyline. Same result.
7. "SAVE" and "SAVEAS" commands do not appear in the library so far as I can tell. These are essential if a user wants to save to a newer version after having made some tentative changes that might not be best to make permanent.
8. There does not appear to be a DISTANCE command (DI typical shortcut) to just screen print the distance between two points of interest.
9. F8 is the Ortho on / Ortho off toggle that I am accustomed to. Is ortho mode even available at all?
10. FILEDIA is a CAD global variable. I did not see that it is defined. I think the domain of valid values are 0 and 1, maybe a 2, but I can't think of what that would be used for. I believe 0 returns a command line dialog for file saving and 1 returns a popup GUI.
11. I also did not see the LIST command as defined.
12. Did not see a UNITS command or dialog as loaded (UN typical shortcut)
13. OP or OPTIONS also did not seem to be a valid command.
14. I took the liberty to develop a lisp file of common aliases for commands that I use frequently. I hope it is of some use to you. I plan to also develop the lisp to combine the COPY and PASTE commands to work just like in CAD. Here is the code I can share so far:

Code: [Select]

;; command aliases

(defun c:c ()
 (command "circle"))

(defun c:e ()
 (command "erase"))

(defun c:l ()
 (command "line"))

(defun c:m ()
 (command "move"))

(defun c:u ()
 (command "undo"))

(defun c:ss ()
 (setq CurrentSelection (ssget)))


[babadmin]

Thank you for your interest in BabaCAD. I must say that you are just second person who offer to donate for BabaCAD, and BIG thank to you for that, but I cannot accept it, cause I have not accepted from the first guy (also one american, that was 3 years ago) and it's obvious that donation from two guys can't help much in BabaCAD development. But, your review is maybe more valuable for me and for other users, so I must say thank you again.

Now, i will try to anwser to your questions:

1. commands defined with lisp DEFUN function and loaded by APPLOAD will run if typed in Dynamic Entry Box, but auto-complete can't find it cause it's populated at the start of  BabaCAD (i will see in next service pack update to solve this, so auto-complete to know about these commands too).

2. Will fix it,

3.
   a) Z coordinate is displayed and editable in properties pane only for 3D objects like LINE, POINT, 3D POLYLINE, but not for circle, arc, 2d polyline...
   b) to see or get access to n-th vertex of polyline/3dpolyline, just select it and type vertex index (for example 5 for 5th vertex) in "Vertex" field in Properties pane
       or select polyline and once click on vertex which coordinates wants to be displayed in Properties pane (X,Y,Z coordinates) like as you want to move vertex (and
       cancel move by type "Esc" or just click on same snaped vertex coordinate). After that you can also edit coordinates of selected vertex.
   c) you can change Z coordinate of all vertices of 3d polyline object: first type -1 in Vertex field (top field in Geometry section of properties pane for 3d polyline
   object), then type value in Z field. All vertices will move to that Z coordinate.

4. Will fix it,

5. Polyline, 3D polyline and Spline edit are included, just with different command name (also look for icons at Ribbon bar at right). PLINEJOIN, PVERTEXADD,
    PVERTEXDEL, BREAK...

6. Solution in 3. (I will check if bug exists for moving z-coordinate by typing in command line).

7. I don't understand this. SAVE and SAVEAS exists, just click on BabaCAD icon on top-left (there is also New, Open, Print....)

8. I can put distance command later, but you have properties pane LENGTH, then DIMALIGNED, then you stand on grip point and length of line/polyline segment will
    be displayed also

9. Ortho is depricated cause you have object tracking feature (OTRACK) which is more usable and it's replacement for ortho, so just follow tracking lines...

10. no FILEDIA

11. there is LIST command, maybe it's not included in auto-complete (type LIST in command line)

12. UNITS are welcome, will be there soon (I hope)

13. I put some options in menu (ribbon) bar, but if you like to change options in dialog, ok, will add it

14. Thank you for sharing this LISPS with other users. I also think that many automation tasks can be made using lisp, I just don't have a time for scripting.
      Forgot to tell that these commands or any other .lsp script can be loaded automatically at startup if you edit bcad.mnu file in \Program
      Files\BabaCAD\BabaCAD\Support folder.

Regards,
Mirza

[Command Line]

7,8,11,12,13 and possibly 5 are items I can add to the list of commands through lisp now that I know where to look for the formal command definitions, and I plan to get to it today. Thanks for your response, and I really do want to donate money to the cause. I can do lisp, but editing an executable is beyond my expertise so I want to help where I can.

[ubiquity]

Re: Q7
While I am more used to using mouse to do many things now I can see how it might be useful to be able to do almost everything from the command line too.
That said, BabaCAD is a wonderful, evolving program and it is great to have such a responsive developer.
LISP is somewhere on my future learning path so I cannot contribute there at the moment but looking at many posts in this forum it seems most of us are interested in the continued development and success of BabaCAD.
Cheers
Paul