[Bdi4emc-help] AXIS Development Updates

Fri Mar 10 03:22:50 CET 2006

General news:

We rely on our users for feedback.  If AXIS won't compile for you,
doesn't work, or just acts in some quirky way you don't expect, let
me know.  My e-mail address is <jepler at unpythonic.net>.  I also read
these mailing lists.

On an experimental basis, I'm providing read-only, anonymous CVS access
to AXIS.  The repository name to use is
    :pserver:anonymous at axis.unpythonic.net:2401/cvsroot
and a typical first-time checkout procedure would look like
    export CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous at axis.unpythonic.net:2401/cvsroot
    cvs login
    # hit enter at password prompt
    cvs -z9 co axis

Important branch names are:
    HEAD: for ongoing development post-1.2
    maint1_2: for the 1.2 and 1.2.x releases
    maint1_1: for the 1.1.x releases

AXIS 1.1:

There's a new point release of AXIS 1.1, called AXIS 1.1.3.  Except for
the version number and an emc2 build fix, it is identical to AXIS
1.1.3rc1. Except for another emc2 build fix, it is identical to AXIS
1.1.2.
    http://axis.unpy.net/index.cgi/downloads/01141952313
Barring the discovery of important new bugs, I don't anticipate any new
releases from the 1.1 tree, especially since AXIS 1.2 will have a final
release soon.  In particular, if new incompatibilities with emc2 are
introducd, they may go unfixed in AXIS 1.1.

AXIS 1.1 is believed to work on emc1, bdi4emc, and emc2 HEAD and Testing
systems.

AXIS 1.2:

AXIS 1.2 is still in the release candidate process.  The latest version
is 1.2rc3, released on March 6.  I'm not aware of any significant bugs
in 1.2rc3, and if there are no further code changes I intend to release
1.2 on March 20.  Please send bug reports, translation updates, or new
translations before then.
    http://axis.unpy.net/index.cgi/downloads/01141663025

AXIS 1.2 is believed to work on emc1, bdi4emc, and emc2 HEAD and Testing
systems.

AXIS 1.3:

AXIS 1.3 is currently under development.  New features that are now at
least partially implemented include:
    * Support for 4-axis machines in the preview and backplots.

    * The emc2 "run-in-place" install doesn't install files outside the
      emc2 directory.  For bdi4emc users, this means it is now possible
      to use emc2 and AXIS without overwriting any bdi-supplied files!

    * The colors of the preview and backplot can now be configured
      through the X Resources database.  See rs274/options.py for the
      configurable items.

    * [DISPLAY]INCREMENTS can be used to select a different set of
      increments for jogging.  Decimal and fractional values are
      supported, so that an imperial user can jog by "1/32" inch if he
      wants to.

    * Additional code has been added to try to make files that don't
      specify G20 or G21 still show a preview plot that reflects what
      emc will do.

There is no set feature list or release schedule for AXIS 1.3.  You can
get snapshots of AXIS 1.3 (which will sometimes be badly broken):
    http://axis.unpy.net/index.cgi/downloads/nightly

AXIS 1.3 is believed to work on emc1, bdi4emc, and emc2 HEAD and Testing
systems.  However, unless there is community interest, we may
discontinue support for emc1.

Jeff Epler
<jepler at unpythonic.net>