Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Java Host Software
I've changed the RepRap control panel in the Java host software so that it'll work under Java 1.5. It used to require Java 1.6 (which isn't on the Mac yet), so moving it back a step was a real pain. It's checked into the svn repository.
It's mostly there, plus a little added functionality. You can now pause a build, Sto(re) the current machine coordinates in the XYZ tab, hit the Rcl (recall) button to load those stored coordinates into the destination location, move the machine about, restock the extruder, etc etc, then hit Rcl again then Go there to get back to where you left off, then resume the build. It turns the extruder off when you pause, but doesn't automatically turn it on again when you resume (as you won't always want this). Turn it on in the extruder panel before resuming if that's what you want.
You need swing-layout-1.0.3.jar in your classpath for all this to work. This requirement will go away when we finally move to Java 1.6 (as its equivalent is in there already), but for the moment it's in the lib directory for your convenience.
It's mostly there, plus a little added functionality. You can now pause a build, Sto(re) the current machine coordinates in the XYZ tab, hit the Rcl (recall) button to load those stored coordinates into the destination location, move the machine about, restock the extruder, etc etc, then hit Rcl again then Go there to get back to where you left off, then resume the build. It turns the extruder off when you pause, but doesn't automatically turn it on again when you resume (as you won't always want this). Turn it on in the extruder panel before resuming if that's what you want.
You need swing-layout-1.0.3.jar in your classpath for all this to work. This requirement will go away when we finally move to Java 1.6 (as its equivalent is in there already), but for the moment it's in the lib directory for your convenience.
Labels: host software, java
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While Java 6 is available for latest version of OSX (10.5), Apple has no plans to port JDK1.6 to their older operating system versions.
The newest versions of Java for various OSX versions are:
OSX 10.5 (released Oct 2007) - Java 6
OSX 10.4 (released Apr 2005) - Java 5
OSX 10.3 (released Oct 2003) - Java 1.4
OSX 10.2 (released Aug 2002) - Java 1.4
Supporting just Java 6 limits RepRap to Mac’s that have been upgraded or bought in the last 9 months; compared to 3+ years for Java 5.
From Suns site (Java.sun.com) we can see that Java 5 only has 15 months left to live:
‘From ‘J2SE 5.0 is in its Java Technology End of Life (EOL) transition period. The EOL transition period began April 8th, 2008 and will complete October 30th, 2009, when J2SE 5.0 will have reached its End of Service Life (EOSL). Customers interested in learning more about Sun's Java Technology Support and EOL policy’
To me it would seem to make sense to support JDK 1.5 until more Mac owners have OSX 10.5+, remembering that Suns support ends in Oct 2009. By Oct 2009 the window of upgrade/buying will be 2 years, which seems a more reasonable requirement than less than 9 months old ;-}>
The newest versions of Java for various OSX versions are:
OSX 10.5 (released Oct 2007) - Java 6
OSX 10.4 (released Apr 2005) - Java 5
OSX 10.3 (released Oct 2003) - Java 1.4
OSX 10.2 (released Aug 2002) - Java 1.4
Supporting just Java 6 limits RepRap to Mac’s that have been upgraded or bought in the last 9 months; compared to 3+ years for Java 5.
From Suns site (Java.sun.com) we can see that Java 5 only has 15 months left to live:
‘From ‘J2SE 5.0 is in its Java Technology End of Life (EOL) transition period. The EOL transition period began April 8th, 2008 and will complete October 30th, 2009, when J2SE 5.0 will have reached its End of Service Life (EOSL). Customers interested in learning more about Sun's Java Technology Support and EOL policy’
To me it would seem to make sense to support JDK 1.5 until more Mac owners have OSX 10.5+, remembering that Suns support ends in Oct 2009. By Oct 2009 the window of upgrade/buying will be 2 years, which seems a more reasonable requirement than less than 9 months old ;-}>
Thank you Adrian! Not being able to run the host software on my main machine (a Macbook) was the major obstacle keeping me from doing more host software development.
Thank you so much!!!
Thank you so much!!!
awesome, just tried this on my macbook running 10.4. didnt know where to find the .jar mentioned, but a quick google search turned up this: http://mirrors.ibiblio.org/pub/mirrors/maven2/org/swinglabs/swing-layout/1.0.3/swing-layout-1.0.3.jar
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