Choose which workbeches load at start up [Feature Request]

[Palingenesis]

It would be nice if in: Preferences => Workbenches.
In the list of workbenches available, there was a checkbox next to each workbench available, to select it to load on start-up.

My main work is usually done in Part Design.
I have created a custom tool-bar that uses some commands from Draft, so when FreeCAD first loads, I have to open Draft then back to Part Design, so that all commands in my custom tool-bar is occupied.

It would be nice if there was a choice of which workbenches load at start-up.

[carlopav]

hello and welcome to the forum, you can find the setting in Preferences->General
Preferences_Editor

[PrzemoF]

@carlopav , I don't think it's the same functionality the OP requested. I'm open to correction on this.

@Palingenesis, if you need something _now_ you can easily record macro that will load all your favourite workbenches. It will look like this (recorded and tidied up a bit):

Code: Select all

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

# Macro Begin: /home/przemo/.FreeCAD/Macro/load_wb.FCMacro +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
import FreeCAD
import Fem

Gui.activateWorkbench("FemWorkbench")
Gui.activateWorkbench("SketcherWorkbench")
# Macro End: /home/przemo/.FreeCAD/Macro/load_wb.FCMacro +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++[code]

[/code]

[adrianinsaval]

there is autoload addon: https://github.com/triplus/Autoload/
but it would be nice if the feature was in main FreeCAD, or even better if it autoloaded workbenches with commands that were added to a global toolbar

[Palingenesis]

Thank you for your replies.
I have installed "Autoload"
It is just what I was after.

It would be nice if this got incorporated into Preferences =>> Workbenches.

[openBrain]

It would be nice if this got incorporated into Preferences =>> Workbenches.

Actually I don't think. Not on that particular add-on, but if FreeCAD starts integrating everything that is useful for one or the other, it will quickly become a huge mess, hard to maintain as well.

[onekk]

... but if FreeCAD starts integrating everything that is useful for one or the other, it will quickly become a huge mess, hard to maintain as well.

But if FreeCAD don't integrate some "most wanted" things directly in the "main sourcecode" it will be a pain, maybe using some voting system to choose and inquiry some "most wanted" features, and having a way to "discriminate" users to exclude "spammers" will be a "decent way" to proceed.

I'm seeing much noise about the "toponaming issue", and many request about to "use the XXXX CAD way to do things" actually and in the recent past. Many of them with users with a "low post count" and "recent subscribers".

Not to criticize, only to discuss about FreeCAD near future.

Regards

Carlo D.

[Zolko]

if FreeCAD starts integrating everything that is useful for one or the other, it will quickly become a huge mess, hard to maintain as well.

Current AppImage contains the "Glider" and "asm3" workbenches, which are not part of the core source code distribution. The core source code contains workbenches like "OpenSCAD" and "Robot" and "ReverseENgineering" which are very specialized and probably not used by 99% of the users (I don't even know what they do)

On the other hand, a pre-loading of workbenches is a crucial function for 100% of advanced users who are regularly using more than 1 workbench.

[chennes]

For the record (I'm the one who wrote the Preferences->Workbenches UI), this is on my radar, and I think would be a pretty easy, and low-impact, addition. It should not add much complexity to either the user interface or the backend code. I don't have a timeline on when I'd get to it (so someone else feel free to volunteer!) but it has been requested a couple of times.

[dxp.dev]

On the other hand, a pre-loading of workbenches is a crucial function for 100% of advanced users who are regularly using more than 1 workbench.

+1