[PyCAM-devel] Merged data handling branch into master

[Lars K. <li...@su...>]

Hello,

maybe "new data handling" does not sound too exciting, but in fact it is! :)


I just merged a branch that I was working on for the last months.

It changes the way pycam handles its data (tools, tasks, ...).
Now everything is represented in simple dicts/lists and can easily be imported
and exported as yaml.

This allows some new ways of using pycam:
- write a processing description (in yaml) on your own and run it
  non-interactively
- use the GUI to create and export a processing description (in yaml) and
  load the same workspace later or simply execute it non-interactively
- submit bug reports with your complete workspace setup in order to simplify
  reproducing problems (I will add embedding of external files (e.g.  models)
  into the workspace settings later)
- embed pycam's toolpath generator into external programs (a web application?)

Feel free to take a look at the current master and report problems or suggest
improvements.

I think this new master can be the base of a new release quite soon. I would
just like to implement the following details before publishing this release:
- handle broken configuration files (e.g. missing model files) gracefully
- re-add support for touch-off settings (GCode for tool changes)

Documentation of non-interactive usage is currently missing.  Maybe someone
wants to tackle that?

Happy exploring!

Cheers,
Lars