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GComb

GComb is an open-source quick and easy Java tool intended to ease the lives of all 3D printing hobbyists by providing a look inside a “sliced” GCode file and a better view of what is going to be printed, before it is printed. It works by parsing GCode files and producing an image for each layer of the printed object, any of which can then be viewed.

GComb was originally written on Mac OS X using Eclipse with Java version 1.7.0_25, and was made for a Makerbot™ The Replicator Dual printing Skeinforge 50-generated GCode files. The jar file in the package was compiled for use by Java versions 1.5 and greator but, its compatibility on different operating systems and utility for different printers and slicers than those it was written for is not assured. However, we coders did our best to make sure that our implementation would not depend on comments in GCode or slicer-specific details, so it should work given files generated by Slic3r and others as well as Skeinforge.

Known Bugs

The layer slider does not always refresh when a new file is opened with the open button. The increment and decrement buttons can still be used for navigation.

Usage

To use without modification double click on the provided .jar file and select a gCode file from your file system with the FileChooser that appears on your screen. A window will show up with the first layer of your object displayed on screen. The slider to the right of the window changes layer, and the slider on the bottom allows zoom. Zoom brings the new display to the upper left hand corner of the current display so make sure to zoom in small steps. The Open File button allows you to choose a new object to examine without relaunching the program, the Increment Layer button brings the display one layer up, and the Decrement Layer button brings the display one layer down. The text field near the bottom right corner of the window displays the layer you are currently on and can be manually reset to change to a layer you want to examine in a leap.

GComb is licensed under the BSD 2-Clause license, which reads:

Copyright (c) 2013, Ethan Pailes and Alaric Krapf
All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer
in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT
SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.