Novice, confused about saving files

I open a SCAD file and change a parameter in Customizer. The change is reflected in the display when I click Preview or use F5. If I then save the SCAD, a JSON is automatically created with the same name. But when opened in my text editor I see that does not reflect the change.

I had assumed I could use the JSON as a work around for what strikes me as an odd feature of openSCAD, namely that changes in Customizer are not automatically reflected in the code pane.

Where am I going wrong please?

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OK, I think I now see the answer is embarrassingly obvious: I need to use Save Preset, yes?

Still seems rather counter intuitive though, that changing a parameter in Customizer does not ripple through the code?

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Thanks. Guess I’ll have to get into the habit of ignoring Customizer then. Otherwise, keeping track of changes seems potentially messy.

BTW, have I become anonymous as the result of unsubscribing from the mailing list?

Terry

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Thanks, understood. I’ll switch to the approach you suggest and see how I get on. It’s easy to modify parameters in the editor window when the code is prominently parametrised. But that’s not always the case in the files I’ve downloaded, and changing all instances can then be relatively difficult.

Terry

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OpenSCAD mailing list-2 wrote

BTW, have I become anonymous as the result of unsubscribing from the mailing
list?

Terry

No, there are some mailing systems (or methods* users use?) which have the mail headers different.
(* different reply options?)

e.g. Your quoted message

To: [hidden email]
X-MailFrom: [hidden email]
Reply-To: OpenSCAD general discussion <[hidden email]>
Subject: [OpenSCAD] Re: Novice, confused about saving files
From: Terrypin via Discuss <[hidden email]>                              <<====== this
Cc: Terrypin <[hidden email]>

Nabble then can't match the From:

v's

From: MichaelAtOz <[hidden email]>                                           <<====== this
To: [hidden email]
X-MailFrom: [hidden email]
Reply-To: OpenSCAD general discussion <[hidden email]>
Subject: [OpenSCAD] Re: Complex model - reducing render time

I have noticed primarily yahoo.com aol.com and some others.
Still trying to find a workaround.

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Thanks Ken. Of course, as a beginner I see Customizer from a different angle to that taken by a developer. I was pleased to be able to modify parameters so easily. But after a succession of these (some followed by actual prints), i wanted to open the latest code for further learning and editing. So I was baffled why the code remained unchanged since I’d downloaded it. And my changes were unavailAble in a SCAD file!

From discussion here I now gather that is by design, although I remain somewhat unclear why.

Also, could you explain what advantage stems from bringing my text editor into the workflow please?

Terry

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Thanks but I still don’t get it, sorry! I’m using only the forum, so....?

It’s trivial I know (adding my sig fixes the anonymity) but is there really no simple fix to display ‘terrypin’ rather than ‘OpenSCAD mailing list-2’?

Terry

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On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 12:57:06AM -0700, Terrypin via Discuss wrote:
> From discussion here I now gather that is by design, although I remain
> somewhat unclear why.

As you (not addressing you, terry) can see, the users don't understand
the customizer and how saving works.

I'd object to writing changes in the original file: That's the original
file and should not be touched.

But allowing the user to save a "customized XXX" would be welcome.
Avoid duplicating data, so the customization file would have:

customization of <location of scad>
parameter1=...

etc.

When loading the parameters need to be matched to the scad file again,
and you need to do something when it doesn't match. But when the scad
is stable, then it becomes easy to save/archive different
configurations of an scad file as "printed on 21-03-2021" or "as sent
to shapeways jan 2 2021" or "uncle john's present 2021".

        Roger.

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your a is going up.  -- Chris Hadfield about flying up the space shuttle.
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Thanks Roger. Naturally I'd never (knowingly!) over-write the important original file. Just as I avoid that in all other apps (Excel, Word, Cura, my text, image and video editors, etc). But what is the downside of OpenSCAD saving all changes, including those made so conveniently in Customizer? With the familiar warning whenever an existing file is about to be over-written with the same name.

Terry

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On Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 04:32:09AM -0700, Terrypin via Discuss wrote:
> Thanks Roger. Naturally I'd never (knowingly!) over-write the important
> original file.

Data duplication in whatever form is bad. Leads to all sorts of bad
stuff.

There should be as little "double data" as possible.

Computing environment example: 35 years ago as a young programmer I
took the easy way out: I could have added a parameter to a function
that would make it do a slight variation of what it was supposed to
do. Instead I copied the function and just changed what needed to be
changed. That bit me in the behind when a bug was found in the common
code between those now-two routines. Twice. (bug found and fixed, then
2 weeks later: Didn't I fix this bug before? Same symptoms!)

"real world" example:

I've moved my company. So I notified the bank: I've moved, this is the
new address.

All is fine I get the statements at the new address and
everything. Then... (2.5 years after the move!) I notice my creditcard
has expired. When I call them, it turns out the creditcard division is
"separate enough from the bank" to have their own
addresses-database. Not updated from the main bank-database.They
probably mailed me the new card at the old address. That card is still
floating around somewhere.

So you saving the whole file under a new name causes data duplication:
A bug that you might find in the original will now need fixing is all
the variants you've made!

Nop head has explained why overwriting the defaults in the main source
file is not a good idea.

        Roger.

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**    Delftechpark 11 2628 XJ  Delft, The Netherlands.  KVK: 27239233    **
f equals m times a. When your f is steady, and your m is going down
your a is going up.  -- Chris Hadfield about flying up the space shuttle.
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Thanks but I still don’t get it, sorry! I’m using only the forum, so....?

It’s trivial I know (adding my sig fixes the anonymity) but is there really no simple fix to display ‘terrypin’ rather than ‘OpenSCAD mailing list-2’?

I don't know about the forum, but on the mailing list you come through as "Terrypin via Discuss", with a CC of "Terrypin [hidden email]".

(And the Reply-To is set to the mailing list... evil, evil, evil.)


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[ AST ]

I don't think there's any chance that a beginner will think of it in terms of the AST.

The Customizer is not a tool that edits source code; it's a convenient way of building simple GUI's for parametric models
[... ]

but maybe it would help you to not see the Customizer as a tool to 'edit' models, but only as one to 'customize' existing models. In this model it makes much more sense to have separate 'presets' that are distinct from the source code itself.

Yes, I think those are the right mental model.

PS on the other topic of this thread - for me the big advantages of using an external editor are [...] 2) I can have that editor on another monitor and have more preview screen real estate for the OpenSCAD GUI on another monitor.

Edit / Preferences / Advanced, check "Enable undocking of Editor and Console to separate windows".  If you have a lot of screen real estate, it's the only way to fly.


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<Wrapped message - DMARC mitigation>
OK, I'm clearly on my own about this then. So I'll defer to the experts rather than press my case further!

However I'd appreciate suggestions on how to overcome the minor frustration that prompted this thread. Six weeks into this hobby I'm working with several types of SCAD file and workflow differs between them. Files for simple learning exercises are irrelevant in the present context. If there are any parameters, or I add them, I don't use Customizer but edit directly.

There are also more complex models that I'm impatient to use to get stuff printed, even before fully understanding the code. Take the current example of nophead's 'Polygonal hole test'. I downloaded the SCAD from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6118 to
C:\Users\terry\Dropbox\3D Printer\PROJECTS\Polygonal_hole_test\nophead original\polyholes.scad
and opened it in OpenSCAD then gave it the new name and location of
C:\Users\terry\Dropbox\3D Printer\PROJECTS\Polygonal_hole_test\polyholes-e1.stl
where the '-e1' suffix indicates my first edit.

It's not parameterised so I customised it by editing the code as shown. (This was to get a much smaller 'test template', as I mainly want holes for the lids of small project cases, with size M2, M3 or M4 screws/bolts.)

I then saved the STL as polyholes-e1.scad, opened that in Cura for slicing, where I saved an image including settings as polyholes-e1.jpg, and then saved the result as polyholes-e1.gcode and printed it.

All four file types have identical names for fast access.

Suppose I then decided that I'd like to add a seventh hole. I could simply open my latest edit and proceed to make that further change.

If the model had been parametrised, at this stage of my ignorance I might have impatiently sacrificed the learning opportunity and used the Customizer. But that would not have allowed me to save an appropriately named new SCAD file. My intuitive workflow - one I'm used to in just about every other application, such as those I listed earlier - would then be broken.

Terry (who doesn't know an AST from an elbow! )

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<Wrapped message - DMARC mitigation>
Thanks Michael, but that doesn’t seem to have worked.

BTW, I first tried sending this reply using the ‘Reply to author’ option, but that resulted in an ‘invalid’ email returned.

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