Workbench switcher

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triplus
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Workbench switcher

Post by triplus »

Could it be implemented in a better way? When i work in FreeCAD it kind of breaks my workflow. I don't know what proper solution would be and how other users feel about this and because of that i decided to ask to share some ideas.

Maybe a toolbar with buttons for workbenches on it? Toolbar would be quite long i understand but because toolbars are customizable average user would probably use toolbar with 3 to 5 buttons on it? Workbench switcher could be left for users that prefer it over toolbar with buttons? Toolbar is just one implementation that i can think of right now probably there are other options too.
pperisin
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by pperisin »

They can be in the Right-click menu.

So right-click - Workbenches - (choose wb)

Regards
Petar
wmayer
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by wmayer »

IMO having the workbenches as toolbar buttons is a bad idea because it requires too much space. And with the current implementation the workbench switch is implemented as an "action group" so that it always inserts a combo box instead of separate buttons and thus it is not customizable by the user.

If we really need to change this then I would follow Petar's idea to have it accessible in the context-menu. BTW, may I ask you in which way it breaks your workflow?
pperisin
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by pperisin »

What can break my workflow is if I accidentaly switch to complete. then there is no popup menu, and I have to scroll in menus.

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Petar
triplus
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by triplus »

IMO having the workbenches as toolbar buttons is a bad idea because it requires too much space.
I would agree if toolbar would not be customizable and if i would think most users use all workbenches.

-This could be "special toolbar" in some way and maybe it could have checkboxes for wanted workbenches in preferences? Then it would not be hard to customize this toolbar?

-Users that use all workbenches would have longer toolbar that is true but they would also benefit a lot by having point-click option to change them? I just can't imagine fast workbench switching between all available workbenches with current solution.
BTW, may I ask you in which way it breaks your workflow?
I can speak only for myself and i can't pinpoint just one thing. It's a mix of things like:

-Everything else in toolbars is point-click that is simple and fast concept but with workspace switcher it a different story and you have to use workspace switcher a lot.

-Sometimes i don't know why it does not open on click. I can only use scroll wheel to change workbenches and when i do that a lot of times i end up in workbench Complete or none... This ends up in View -> Workbench -> ...

-More than half of workbenches i never use. Moving with mouse trough all the options can be a challenge if u want fast workflow.

I am not sure context menu would solve much for me for things i mentioned. It would just be "workbench switcher" in another place?

For faster workflow content of Tasks tab from Combo View could be integrated in right click context menu. For operations like create sketch when clicking on surface, pad when clicking on sketch... from inside right click context menu. This integration could end up being useful.
Last edited by triplus on Tue Jan 31, 2012 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jriegel
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by jriegel »

With the implementation of the assembly I will introduce a more automatic switching. E.g. when you double click a
MainPart FreeCAD will switch automatically to the PartDesign. If you double click a assembly or product object it will
switch to Assembly. If a sketch is edited to the Sketch workbench...

I thought already replacing the wb switcher with a menu structure which sort the wb's more systematically.
Stop whining - start coding!
wmayer
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by wmayer »

There is also a very easy way to add this functionality to your local FreeCAD version. All what you need to do is creating some .FCMacro files in your macro directory. For instance to make a macro to load the Mesh workbench create the file WorkbenchMesh.FCMacro and add these two lines:

Code: Select all

import FreeCADGui
FreeCADGui.activateWorkbench("MeshWorkbench")
Repeat this for all other workbenches you want an own command for. Now go to Tools > Customize > Macros. There is a combo box with all macros. Select the macro you want and set menu text, tool tip, ... and an icon and press Add. Repeat this for the other macros.

Now go to the tool bars tab and select on the right side the workbench for which you want to add the tool bar. On the left side select the group "Macros". Now create the new tool bar and add all macros you want. Press the Close button and restart FreeCAD.

But note, there is one little inconvenience. You have to add this tool bar to all workbenches manually.
pperisin
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by pperisin »

Can I customize right-click menu?
wmayer
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by wmayer »

No, not for existing workbenches. But you can implement your workbench in python and add all the commands you need to menus, tool bars and context-menu.
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yorik
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Re: Workbench switcher

Post by yorik »

I also liked the context menu wb switcher idea... In the context menu we could have a subgroup with all the workbenches, this would be fast and easy to use...

Jürgen's idea is also good, for example now the Arch walls are based on sketches. When you draw a wall, an underlying sketch is added. Sometimes you want to edit the sketch, then, when you edit, it could quickly switch to the sketcher, then switch back. How do you do it, Jürgen? I could do something similar in the arch module...
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