Programming Camp

[bill.young]

Hey,

We've been trying to find a good time to host a "Programming Camp", and since so many of the people that have shown interest had already planned to attend Bill Palumbo's Camp at the end of October, we're thinking that we'll have it in New Jersey on the Friday before his Camp...Oct 30th. We're aiming it at ShopBotters with a knowledge of programming fundamentals that might want to do things like:

* create specialized or OEM applications that interact with the ShopBot Control software,

* develop add-in virtual tools,

* create parametric project files for ShopBot's 'Project Wizard' system, or

* just learn to take advantage of the extensive programmability of the ShopBot Control software.

The Camp will be very hands-on so you'll need to bring a laptop, and since we'll be using Visual Basic 6 for our programming examples you'll need a copy of either VB5 or VB6 (not VB.net). If you don't have the full version there's a free downloadable "Controls Creation" edition that you can get from Microsoft, and the "Dummies" book folks sell a bundle with a demo version of the software and their "VB6 for Dummies" book that will work fine for the Camp.

Those of you that aren't programmers already won't be left out, though. If you just want to learn a little bit about using the programming commands in the ShopBot language, we'll be doing a session on part file programming on Saturday at Bill's. It will cover topics like using variables and getting user input using the INPUT statement, and you won't need to know anything about programming for this session...just have an interest in learning a little about it.

If the Friday Camp sounds interesting, send me an email and I'll put you on the list. Because of the hands-on nature of this Camp we'll probably have to limit the number of people a little, so the sooner you get in touch the better!


Bill

[Brady Watson]

Put me at the top of the list, Bill! I've got VB6 Enterprise loaded on my laptop and I'm ready to do some hacking!


Definately count me in for the Friday session.

-Brady

[bill.young]

Hey Brady,

You're at the head of the line!

Bill

[bill.young]

Oops...I got the date wrong. It's Friday Oct 29th, NOT Friday Oct 30th!

Sorry 'bout that.
Bill

[fleinbach]

Can I come too?

[edcoleman]

Bill:

Great idea. I haven't used VB, but this is a good excuse to get the "dummies" book and start reading! Sign me up...

-Ed

[harold_weber]

Hey Bill,

If you still have room, please put me down for your Visual Basic class. Just the other day I was thinking of some jobs I run about once every two months that would benefit from some interactive programming.

Harold Weber

[daveiannone]

Sounds good to me Bill.....Count me in if there is still room...
Thanks, Dave

[bill.young]

Hey Guys,

I've added y'all to the list. We'll be sending out emails soon with more detailed info on the Camp, a list of what you'll need to bring, and what you'll need to do before the camp to get ready.

See you then,
Bill

[superior]

Me too, uncle Billie, me too. Count me in, can't wait.
Come on October......
Doug

[dirk]

Bill,
I emailed you be sure I'm on list
Dirk

[zeykr]

Unfortunately I don't have enough vacation time this year to make the camp but would love to have copies of any handouts, examples or information you come up with for the camp. Maybe it can be posted someplace after the camp?

[bill.young]

Doug and Dirk,

I've got y'all on the list...we're up to 10 already. I've also heard from quite a few folks like Ken that can't fit it into their schedules, so will try to get as much of the info online as possible.

Bill

[paul_n]

Bill...
Wanted to attend, but I also have a schedule issue, so the online data will also be of interest to me.

Thanx
Paul

[bill.young]

Hey,

We've got room for about 3 more in the Friday Programming Camp so if you're interested make sure you let me know before it fills up.

Bill

[Matt Barinholtz, Covenant House Washington (Unregistered Guest)]

Please add me!

Matt Barinholtz - Covenant House Washington

Locked and loaded in the schedule!

Hope there's room!

Matt

[davidallen]

I'd be interested. if there's still room, please sign me up.

[bill.young]

Hey David and Matt,

I've added y'all to the list and that fills the Camp up.

Bill

[superior]

This may be the ultimate experience in the ShopBot camp series.Image the likes of all the talented, qualified people in the class, including the instructor.Really pleased to see David in the fold. I am really looking forward to this.
Doug

[paco]

Will there be some kind of a CAMP REPORT; I really wish I could be there (I'm away!)... This aspect of my new machine enthuse me bad!!! (still, there's many more aspects to be interest of...) Sure I'd like to know if it was fun but it's more about it's content that I'm very curious about...

[bill.young]

Hey Campers,

A couple of quick notes on the Programming Camp...

*) I sent out emails a couple of weeks ago with some general info on what you need to do to prepare and what you need to bring. If you signed up for the camp but didn't get the email, please drop me a line and I'll re-send.

8) The camp is going to be at the Quality Inn Tom's River, which is right down the road from Bill P's shop. We'll post directions in the next couple of days.

See you in a couple of weeks,
Bill

[phil_o]

For the sake of us who don't know - What sort of things can be achieved with Visual Basic programming on the Shopbot?

[bill.young]

Hey Phil,

Visual Basic is a fairly easy to learn language that lets you quickly put together a user interface...all the Virtual Tools in the Windows software were written with it. It has a lot of text-file tools that let you can read and write ShopBot files and manipulate the info in them. You can also start the ShopBot software in a bunch of different ways from within a VB program and pass it a file to run, so it's a good choice for creating a custom interface that a tool operator could use. And since the ShopBot sbp file format is very Basic-like, it's an easy transition.


In reality there are dozens of other programming languages that you could use to do the same sort of things, but I not a very sophisticated programmer and haven't found one that's as quick to learn and easy to work with.

Bill

[webbhead]

A note for those who use CorelDraw, you can use VB (actually VBA- a subset of VB) to automate CorelDraw for designing/modifying/exporting drawings. It has incredible power for doing large batch operations, auto fillet & chamfer, removing overlapping nodes in imported clipart, & doing precise math based drawings.

Some sample VBA scripts (macros) from Alex Vakulenko can be found at http://www.oberonplace.com/vba/drawmacros/index.htm. His site is a great resource for learning VBA for CorelDraw. Also, CorelDraw has a Scripting newsgroup you can subscribe to with your mail program (news://cnews.corel.com/corel.graphic_apps.draw-script). You can find out anything from basic stuff to automating the design of gears etc.
John

[srwtlc]

Hey Bill,

Wish I could make the programming camp, but.....

What version of Visual Basic would you recommend for someone that would like to get into it a bit without costing an arm, leg, & first born? Which are you using for the various Virtual Tools? Do you have any recommendations of some tutorials?

Scott

[bill.young]

Hey Scott,

I don't claim to be a "real" programmer by any means, and subscribe to the "If it works it's good enough" school of programming. I have little or no experience with other programming languages, so take this information for what it's worth.

I use and like Visual Basic for a couple of reason. I started playing with programming when I got my ShopBot so that I could work with dxf files, and the only thing available to me was QBasic which was installed with Windows 3.1 and DOS. It really did everything I needed to do EXCEPT create an executable file (you had to start QBasic and then run your program) and create a "Windows-y" interface. When Visual Basic came along it solved both problems, and was similar enough to QBasic (and the programming elements of the ShopBot language) that it seemed like a good choice to try. VB makes it awfully easy to do a quick user interface, and once you learn a couple of text-file commands it makes it easy to take inputs from a user, create a ShopBot file from them, and interact with the ShopBot control software which is basically all that you need to do. Also, as John mentioned above, a dialect of Visual Basic named VBA is used as a "macro" language to let you automate a multitude of programs including EXCEL, Corel Draw, and some versions of TurboCAD. All of the Virtual Tools so far have been written in Visual Basic 6, except for the vcarve "kernel" that does the calculations in Typesetter which was written in C.

If you want to try out Visual Basic there are a couple of ways to get started. If you just want to learn a little bit about VB you can get the “Visual Basic 6 for Dummies Deluxe Compiler Kit“ from Amazon for $30 or so. It has the Dummies Book for VB6 and a demo version of the Visual Basic software. It's a cheap and easy way to get started, but the downside is that you can't create a stand-alone program with it so have to run all your programs from within their version of Visual Basic. It's not the tool for creating your own Virtual Tools but is a cheap and easy way to learn the basics and be able to test them out. You might also look for a copy of the "Learning Editions" of Visual Basic 5 and 6 that Microsoft Press used to put out...they do everything you'll need to do, come with an instruction book, and create stand-alone programs that you can use as Virtual Tools.

Visual Basic is going through a transformation to become VB.net, and I'm being forced to learn how to work with it because that's what the new Project Wizard software will be using. There are a lot of differences between the older versions and the .net version and I must admit it's not a smooth transition for me. I don't know enough about it yet to say if it will work well interacting with the ShopBot software, but if I was just starting out I would look seriously at VB.net and the new Microsoft language C#.

You can get the Standard version of VB.net for around $100, which comes with a book and some tutorials on CD. There's also an open-source project named "#develop" that's free and lets you program in either VB.net and C#...that's the software that I'm currently playing with. There are a bunch of books on learning both Visual Basic and VB.net...just check Amazon or a local bookstore. I'll also try to make some of the information from the Programming Camp available after the camp, but no promises on that...it's an awful lot of work to get that sort of stuff put into a presentable form.

Finally a quick disclaimer...as with all my postings this is just my opinion and experience, and is in no way official ShopBot policy or even the opinion of anyone else there.

Sorry...this ended up being awfully long-winded!
Bill

[srwtlc]

Hey Bill,

Thanks for the info! Long winded is good for making an informed decision. I appreciate it!

Scott

[bill.young]

Oops, I was just reminded that I had forgotten to post directions to the programming camp. It's not far from Bill Palumbo's shop at all, so much of the directions are the same. The camp will "officially" start at 9, but we'll be there early for coffee and donuts. Looking forward to seeing y'all there.

Bill



From the South;
If you are taking the ferry over from Lewes, De. To Cape May, N.J. just get on the
Garden State Parkway, and head North to exit 82A. . This will put you on Route #
37 West. Follow that for about 2 miles until you come to “Mule Rd.” ( Just past Oak Ridge Parkway/Cardinal Rd.)where you will make the jug handle Ü-Turn” and now head BACK Eastbound on Route #37. Immediately after making the jug handle turn you will turn into what looks like the parking lot for Burger King, but as you do you will see the Quality Inn right behind it.
Actual street address for Map quest etc. is; 815 State Highway # 37 West, Toms River, NJ Phone there is; 732-341-2400

If you are coming North on Interstate # 95 ; take I-295 into New Jersey . Take it
North until you reach route # 70 ( approx. 35 miles..).Go east on route # 70 until
you reach the outskirts of Lakehurst, and connect with route # 37. Follow the
signs Eastbound toward Seaside Heights. In about 5 miles you will come to “Mule Rd.”
and just after the intersection is a Burger King. Pull into the Burger King parking lot and you will see the Quality Inn right behind it.. Then when in the park follow the instructions above..


From the North;
You can take the New Jersey Turnpike to exit 11 and then get on the Garden State Parkway. Go South until you reach exit 82A and follow the instructions above.


From the West;
Cross into N.J., and if coming through Philadelphia connect with route # 70. Then
follow instructions from the above paragraphs.
If coming from the Northwest you can take I-78,I-80, or I-195 across the state to
the Parkway, then follow instructions from the North.

[sdfine@excite.com]

Bill,

Is it too late to add one more person. I'd like to come to the Camp also.

Steve Fine

[fleinbach]

Steve,
If it makes a differance ther will be one extra place as I was supposed to be there but won't be able to make it. I still intend on showing up Saturday.

[sdfine]

Thanks Frank. I spoke to Bill and there is an extra spot for me. See you on Saturday.

Steve