Repetier-Host: comments on the GUI
Posted by dzach
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Repetier-Host: comments on the GUI July 19, 2012 11:32AM |
I very much like the functionality of Repetier-Host. The temperature graphs are a great tool for tuning the hot end.
The PID defaults in the firmware came out unbelievably good the first time I ran the heater.
Here are some comments on the GUI based on a Kubuntu 12.04 Linux installation that can hopefully make (a Linux) user's experience better.
1. The initial screen comes up with the panels minimized. This is rarely a useful default, it would be better to store window and panel sizes and positions and restore them upon restart.
2. The pause dialog does not show all the text:
Also, it gives the impression it is a modal dialog, while it is not. It might be better if all action controls appeared at the upper right corner, together with the Emergency Stop button. Printer settings could go to the left side, together with SDCard and other settings buttons.
3. The Set temperature fields are supposed to be user editable but change values as the printer runs a job. This is unexpected and annoying, as it is sometimes necessary to try many times to defeat the software and set the desired temperature. The software target temperatures could appear in <current>/<target> combination labels in place of the current temperature labels as they stands now.
4. The Emergency stop does not appear to be working when the printer is waiting for an M109 temperature target. The target temperature remains set and the only way to stop it is to push the disconnect button. The Emergency button takes action only after the target temperature is reached, but by then it is too late.
5. Since all of the "Config" menu items are settings, it would be more intuitive to label the menu "Settings" and omit the word "settings" from the individual menu items.
6. Menus "Config->Skeinforge settings" and "Slicer->Skeinforge setup" are duplicates.
7. "Config->3D settings" is better understood as "3D viewer settings" or "3D viewer" if the word "settings" is omitted.
8."Config->Printer settings" is better understood as "Config->Connection" or "Settings->Connection", since it is the program connection parameters that are set and not the printer ones, which are set in the firmware.
9. "Slicer->Slic3r setups" "Slicer->Skeinforge Setup" and "Config->Skeinforge settings" are all about file and directory settings. They could go under menu "Config" (or the proposed replacement "Settings") in the same menu item i.e. "Settings->Slicer" and be presented on the same dialog window, thus unifying two now disjoined dialogs .
10. The distinction between "Internal slicing parameter(s)" and "Internal Slic3r configuration" is not clear. Maybe the latter should be renamed "Bundled Slic3r configuration" to make it differ from the "Internal slicing parameter" which in turn would be clearer if it were renamed "Settings->Test. generator" and included the dialog "Printer->Test case generator"
11. It would be nice to have a possibility to define some gcode for both "Pause" and "Kill" job. I usually use the pause button to change some parameter or even the filament so it would be useful if some code could be run at that time, that would e.g. raise the head a few mm so that it is not in contact with the part being printed.
12. It would be nice for the temperature graph to have a "moving window" choice, where one can go back and review the history at the set zoom level. This is useful when e.g. measuring and comparing temperature overshots. As it is now, there is no possibility to go back and examine the history of the graph unless the zoom is changed to a very long duration, thus loosing the necessary detail.
Thank you much for this software. I'm just discovering what it can do, and it feels like it can do a lot.
EDIT:
#8 Oops, there are other panels in that dialog window which very well justify the title, so I deleted #8
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2012 05:31AM by dzach.
--------------------------------------------------------
3D extruder performance tests
dzach's ORDbot Hadron build
The PID defaults in the firmware came out unbelievably good the first time I ran the heater.
Here are some comments on the GUI based on a Kubuntu 12.04 Linux installation that can hopefully make (a Linux) user's experience better.
1. The initial screen comes up with the panels minimized. This is rarely a useful default, it would be better to store window and panel sizes and positions and restore them upon restart.
2. The pause dialog does not show all the text:
Also, it gives the impression it is a modal dialog, while it is not. It might be better if all action controls appeared at the upper right corner, together with the Emergency Stop button. Printer settings could go to the left side, together with SDCard and other settings buttons.
3. The Set temperature fields are supposed to be user editable but change values as the printer runs a job. This is unexpected and annoying, as it is sometimes necessary to try many times to defeat the software and set the desired temperature. The software target temperatures could appear in <current>/<target> combination labels in place of the current temperature labels as they stands now.
4. The Emergency stop does not appear to be working when the printer is waiting for an M109 temperature target. The target temperature remains set and the only way to stop it is to push the disconnect button. The Emergency button takes action only after the target temperature is reached, but by then it is too late.
5. Since all of the "Config" menu items are settings, it would be more intuitive to label the menu "Settings" and omit the word "settings" from the individual menu items.
6. Menus "Config->Skeinforge settings" and "Slicer->Skeinforge setup" are duplicates.
7. "Config->3D settings" is better understood as "3D viewer settings" or "3D viewer" if the word "settings" is omitted.
8.
9. "Slicer->Slic3r setups" "Slicer->Skeinforge Setup" and "Config->Skeinforge settings" are all about file and directory settings. They could go under menu "Config" (or the proposed replacement "Settings") in the same menu item i.e. "Settings->Slicer" and be presented on the same dialog window, thus unifying two now disjoined dialogs .
10. The distinction between "Internal slicing parameter(s)" and "Internal Slic3r configuration" is not clear. Maybe the latter should be renamed "Bundled Slic3r configuration" to make it differ from the "Internal slicing parameter" which in turn would be clearer if it were renamed "Settings->Test. generator" and included the dialog "Printer->Test case generator"
11. It would be nice to have a possibility to define some gcode for both "Pause" and "Kill" job. I usually use the pause button to change some parameter or even the filament so it would be useful if some code could be run at that time, that would e.g. raise the head a few mm so that it is not in contact with the part being printed.
12. It would be nice for the temperature graph to have a "moving window" choice, where one can go back and review the history at the set zoom level. This is useful when e.g. measuring and comparing temperature overshots. As it is now, there is no possibility to go back and examine the history of the graph unless the zoom is changed to a very long duration, thus loosing the necessary detail.
Thank you much for this software. I'm just discovering what it can do, and it feels like it can do a lot.
EDIT:
#8 Oops, there are other panels in that dialog window which very well justify the title, so I deleted #8
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/20/2012 05:31AM by dzach.
--------------------------------------------------------
3D extruder performance tests
dzach's ORDbot Hadron build
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Re: Repetier-Host: comments on the GUI July 25, 2012 08:14AM |
When slicing with Skeinforge, Skeinforge's messages are echoed in the log panel. However, in Linux, the end-of-line characters are not printed properly and this results in long and hard to read lines, like in the attached picture.
--------------------------------------------------------
3D extruder performance tests
dzach's ORDbot Hadron build
--------------------------------------------------------
3D extruder performance tests
dzach's ORDbot Hadron build
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