Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] CPNC Programming

> I hate to sound negative, but the more I look at "CPNC" the more it
> looks like a "Windows" approach to CNC. What I mean is "Windows"
> was supposed to be the "answer" to people that didn't know or want
> to learn how to run a computer. The result is that if you can't
> point and click, the system won't let you do what you want unless
> you either use a different OS or you jump a bunch of hoops and
> defeat the system.
>
> The real place for conversational programming is in a CAD/CAM system
> that will then output the G code. IF you take that approach, and
> run the CPNC in a separate window, and let CPNC just be a code
> generator that will send the G code to the control or to a file I
> think it would probably be a good addition to EMC.

Right. The user interface choice is always positioned as
"interactive-flavored editor OR batch-flavored programs-which-write-
programs", but the correct choice is AND. Sometimes I want to
position holes with a mouse, sometimes I want to use the "bolt circle
wizard", and sometimes I want to write a program to position the holes
for me.

What I'd *really* like is a framework that helps me integrate and
combine many sources of gcode. For an example of this philosophy,
check out the Linux program "gimp" (http://www.gimp.org), which is
similar to Photoshop. Gimp has "plug-ins", small programs similar to
a "bolt circle wizard", and a scripting language so you can drive
anything from either the mouse or program code. Most operations have
a GUI interface AND a program interface. The user picks whichever
interface is more convenient for the task at hand. If you develop a
process that you'd like to use again, you slap an interface on it and
*it* becomes a plug-in or a script. "Stand on my shoulders, not on my
toes", etc.

If I was going to write something like this, I'd consider learning
Eiffel or Sather (http://www.gnu.org/software/sather,
http://www.icsi.berkeley.edu/~sather) for the language, and OpenGL
(http://www.opengl.org) for the display.

Brian