QtQuickVcp

Table of Contents

• QtQuickVcp?
• Getting Started
  • Install or Update Machinekit
  • Prepare Machinekit
  • Prepare your Configs
  • Cloning the User Interfaces
  • Install the Machinekit-Client
  • Test it
  • Setup mklauncher
  • Using mklauncher
• Contributing
  • Work flow
  • Building and installing
  • Easy Way - Vagrant
  • Generic Requirements
  • Android
  • Mac - OS X and iOS
  • iOS
  • Linux
  • Windows
  • Building QtQuickVcp
  • MachinekitSDK
• Developing QtQuickVcp
  • Choosing the right QML module
  • Creating new QML based Components
  • Adding QML files to the QML module
  • Creating new C++ based Components
  • Adding C++ classes to the QML module
  • Creating a new QML module
  • Adding the QML module to the project

The QtQuick Virtual Control Panel

QtQuickVcp?

QtQuickVcp is a Machinekit component which adds the ability create new user interfaces for Machinekit written in Qt/C++/QML.

Unlike GladeVCP all user interface functionality can be implemented in QML only.

QtQuickVcp is designed with the aspect of remote interfaces on mobile devices and embedded systems in mind.

A UI is designed once for a specific form factor and can then be deployed to any mobile, embedded or desktop device over the network.

The repository contains the QtQuickVcp library.

A generic client implementation and binary distributions can be found here Machinekit-Client

More details about QtQuickVcp and how it can be installed can be found in the QtQuickVcp Wiki

Online documentation for some QtQuickVcp classes can be found here QtQuickVcp Docu

Getting Started

Please take a look at the YouTube video of HelloWorld in QtQuickVcp

More detailed videos for specific areas will follow.

Install or Update Machinekit

If you have no Machinekit installation please follow the installation steps in Machinekit docs

If you already have Machinekit installed make sure it is up to date:

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get upgrade

In some cases you need a dist-upgrade to upgrade packages from non-debian repositories.

    sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

NOTE: When executing the dist-upgrade, make sure you have only the Debian and the Machinekit repositories activated.

Alternatively, you can update the relevant Machinekit packages manually by running sudo apt-get install <machinekit packages>.

Prepare Machinekit

To enable remote communication you have to set REMOTE variable to 1 in the ini-file:

    sudo nano /etc/linuxcnc/machinekit.ini

NOTE: Enable remote communications only in a secured private network. At the moment Machinetalk has no security layer.

Prepare your Configs

To use mkwrapper and Machinetalk for your existing configurations you have to do 3 modifications.

Modify the INI-file

Linuxcnc needs to know which user-inferface it should use. For mkwrapper you need to edit following in the DISPLAY section:

    DISPLAY = mkwrapper
    INTRO_GRAPHIC =
    INTRO_TIME = 0

Modify the HAL-file

For some user-interface you need a running Haltalk server. You can add one to you existing configuration by adding following in the beginning of the HAL-file:

    # start haltalk server
    loadusr -W haltalk

Create a Run-Script

Machinekit configurations need a few actions to be performed before linuxcnc can start. Take a look at the following script and modify it to fit your configuration.

Name it <name of your configuration>.py and run chmod +x <filename> to make it executable.

NOTE: The example run script contains commands that you may not need for your specific setup. Please read the comments carefully and uncomment and modify commands that you may need for your setup.

#!/usr/bin/python

import sys
import os
import subprocess
import importlib
from machinekit import launcher
from time import *


launcher.register_exit_handler()
launcher.set_debug_level(5)
os.chdir(os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)))

try:
    launcher.check_installation()  # make sure the Machinekit installation is sane
    launcher.cleanup_session()  # cleanup a previous session
    # Uncomment and modify the following line if you create a configuration for the BeagleBone Black
    # launcher.load_bbio_file('myoverlay.bbio')  # load a BeagleBone Black universal overlay file
    # Uncomment and modify the following line of you have custom HAL components
    # launcher.install_comp('gantry.comp')  # install a comp HAL component if not already installed
    launcher.start_process("configserver ~/Machineface ~/Cetus/")  # start the configserver with Machineface an Cetus user interfaces
    launcher.start_process('linuxcnc xyz.ini')  # start linuxcnc
except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
    launcher.end_session()
    sys.exit(1)

# loop until script receives exit signal
# or one of the started applications exited incorrectly
# cleanup is done automatically
while True:
    sleep(1)
    launcher.check_processes()

Modifications for 3D Printers

The Machineface user interface is especially designed for controlling 3D printers.

Therefore it features some additional controls for heatbed, extruder temperature and more.

It implements following a set of MCodes as well as a few HAL signals

You may also want to take a look at the source code of Machineface: DisplayPanel.qml

Cloning the User Interfaces

At the moment two user interfaces based on QtQuickVcp exist:

Machineface: a user interfaces designed for the use with small screens especially for 3D printers

Cetus: a full-featured user interfaces that should provide something like Axis

Clone both user interfaces on your device with Machinekit installed. I recommend forking the user interfaces on GitHub and cloning the fork so you can push modifications upstream quickly.

To modify these user interfaces a simple text editor is sufficient. Using a text editor with syntax highlighting for QML might improve the development experience. (e.g. Kate or Qt Creator)

    git clone https://github.com/strahlex/Cetus.git
    git clone https://github.com/strahlex/Machineface.git

Install the Machinekit-Client

For desktop platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac) you can find binaries here: Machinekit-Client releases

You can find the Android client here

Please note: the Android client installed on Android >= 5.0 is not able to discover Machinekit.

If you an idea how to deploy the iOS client besides the Apple App Store please contact me.

Test it

Now its time to start your configuration:

./<name of your start script>.py

It may be useful to start the configuration at boot: Starting a Machinekit configuration at boot

Now start the Machinekit-Client on the desired platform. For some networks it may be necessary to enter the IP address of the Machinekit device manually (Unicast).

Setup mklauncher

With newer versions of QtQuickVcp the entry point for the Machinekit-Client has been changed to the mklauncher service. Please follow the steps here for more details Using mklauncher

Using mklauncher

Mklauncher is the new entry point for Machinekit-Client. It acts as a remote version of the Machinekit Launcher. Usage is quite simple

mklauncher --help

for details

The only thing you need to add to your Machinekit configarion is a launcher.ini file.

[MendelMax]
name = MendelMax CRAMPS
description = DIY 3D printer
command = python run.py
variant = with one extruder

More examples can be found at MendelMax-CRAMPS and the-cooltool-config.

Once you have create a launcher.ini file and you configuration is ready for testing you can start mklauncher by typing following command:

mklauncher .

The dot in the end means that mklauncher will recursively search for launcher.ini files in the current directory. NOTE that this can be very slow if you do this in your home directory.

Once you have successfully launched mklauncher you are ready to connect using the Machinekit-Client

If you have a embedded Machinekit setup e.g. on the BeagleBone Black, it is recommended to start mklauncher at boot using systemd. Use this guide for reference:

Starting a Machinekit configuration at boot or use this script register.py.

Contributing

Work flow

• Create an issue in the issue tracker (e.g. Fan control missing)

• Fork the git repository.

• After you have coded some cool new stuff please create a pull request and link it to the issue.

Building and installing

QtQuickVcp is very versatile and is available for following platforms:

• Windows Vista or newer

• OS X Mavericks or newer

• Linux (tested on Debian Jessie)

• Android 4.x or newer

• iOS (no binaries yet)

Please note that intalling QtQuickVcp can be very cumbersome for most platforms. However, since QtQuickVcp use remote deployment of it is not necessary that you build QtQuickVcp e.g. for Android. Instead please take the easy way and use the Machinekit Vagrant box for development.

The Machinekit-Client serves as universal client application. You can download binaries for all supported platforms.

Please only try to build and install QtQuickVcp on you own if you feel confident to do so and if you plan to contribute to the QtQuickVcp project.

Easy Way - Vagrant

The easiest way to get a running MachinekitSDK, QtQuickVcp and Machinekit installation is to use the Vagrant configuration.

Follow the steps provided in the repository and you will have a working installation with a few clicks.

Generic Requirements

QtQuickVcp has the following requirements:

• Qt SDK with Qt 5.2.1 or newer (Qt5.6 preferred)

NOTE: Qt 5.4.2 to Qt 5.5.1 will not work on Linux

• Protocol Buffers - version 2.5.1 or newer

• ZeroMQ - version 3.x or newer

Android

Build instruction for Android toolchain on Linux

Prerequisites

• Install Qt SDK for Android

• Download and extract Android NDK and Android SDK to ~/bin

Stand-alone Android toolchain

First create a Android Stand-alone toolchain:

    sudo ~/bin/android-ndk/build/tools/make-standalone-toolchain.sh \
        --install-dir=/opt/android-toolchain --arch=arm
    export PATH=/opt/android-toolchain/bin:$PATH

libsodium

Not yet necessary. You can skip this step.

    git clone https://github.com/jedisct1/libsodium.git
    cd libsodium
    git checkout v1.0.8
    sh autogen.sh
    ./configure --enable-static --disable-shared --prefix=$OUTPUT_DIR
    make
    sudo make install

ZeroMQ

Alter and execute the following commands

    mkdir tmp
    cd tmp/

    export OUTPUT_DIR=/opt/zeromq-android
    export RANLIB=/opt/android-toolchain/bin/arm-linux-androideabi-ranlib

    git clone https://github.com/zeromq/zeromq4-x.git
    cd zeromq4-x/
    git checkout v4.0.7

    # fix compile problems
    mv tools/curve_keygen.c tools/curve_keygen.cpp
    sed -i 's/\.c\>/&pp/' tools/Makefile.am
    rm -f tools/.deps/curve_keygen.Po

    ./autogen.sh
    ./configure --enable-static --disable-shared --host=arm-linux-androideabi \
        --prefix=$OUTPUT_DIR LDFLAGS="-L$OUTPUT_DIR/lib" CPPFLAGS="-fPIC \
        -I$OUTPUT_DIR/include" LIBS="-lgcc"
    make
    sudo make install

    cd ..

Protobuf

    export PATH=/opt/android-toolchain/bin:$PATH
    export CFLAGS="-fPIC -DANDROID -nostdlib"
    export CC=arm-linux-androideabi-gcc
    export CXX=arm-linux-androideabi-g++
    export NDK=~/bin/android-ndk
    export SYSROOT=$NDK/platform/android-9/arch-arm
    export OUTPUT_DIR=/opt/protobuf-android

    # Latest and greatest, you might prefer 2.5.0 since it is usually installed in your distro
    git clone https://github.com/google/protobuf.git
    cd protobuf
    git checkout v2.6.1

    ./autogen.sh
    ./configure --enable-static --disable-shared --host=arm-eabi --with-sysroot=$SYSROOT \
        CC=$CC CXX=$CXX --enable-cross-compile --with-protoc=protoc LIBS="-lc" --prefix=$OUTPUT_DIR
    make
    sudo make install

Mac - OS X and iOS

Prerequisites

• Update OSX to the latest version (or you may not be able to deploy to your device)

• Install XCode from the App Store

• Install XCode command line tools

• Install MacPorts

• Install Qt SDK for Mac OSX and iOS

Then run

    sudo port selfupdate
    sudo port install libtool automake m4 autoconf pkgconfig

ZeroMQ

OSX

Install ZeroMQ to /opt/local

    git clone https://github.com/zeromq/zeromq4-x.git
    cd zeromq4-x
    git checkout v4.0.7
    sh autogen.sh
    ./configure --disable-static --enable-shared --prefix=/opt/local CC=clang CXX=clang++ \
        CXXFLAGS="-std=c++11 -stdlib=libstdc++ -O3" LDFLAGS="-stdlib=libstdc++"
    make
    sudo make install

iOS

Installs ZeroMQ libraries for iOS to /opt/zeromq-ios

    git clone https://github.com/strahlex/libzmq-ios
    cd libzmq-ios
    chmod +x libzmq-ios.sh
    sudo ./libzmq-ios.sh

Protobuf

OSX

Since Yosemite one needs to compile a protobuf library that is compatible with libstdc++.

    git clone https://github.com/google/protobuf.git
    cd protobuf
    git checkout v2.6.1
    sh autogen.sh
    ./configure --disable-shared --enable-static --prefix=/opt/local CC=clang CXX=clang++ \
        CXXFLAGS="-std=c++11 -stdlib=libstdc++ -O3" LDFLAGS="-stdlib=libstdc++"
    make
    sudo make install

iOS

See this which installs protobuf to /opt/protobuf-ios

    curl    https://gist.githubusercontent.com/strahlex/847dc5f320a21f1a9977/raw/f3baa89c9aa7ff3300d4453b847fc3d786d02ba8/build-protobuf-2.6.1.sh --output build-protobuf-2.6.1.sh
    chmod +x build-protobuf-2.6.1.sh
    sudo ./build-protobuf-2.6.1.sh

Linux

The following steps are tested on Debian Jessie. For other distributions please use the äquivalent packages if available.

VirtualBox users see Machinekit Vagrant

Do not enable 3D acceleration or OpenGL will not work inside the VM.

Prerequisites

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install build-essential gdb dh-autoreconf libgl1-mesa-dev libxslt1.1 git

Protobuf and ZeroMQ packages

    sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 43DDF224
    sudo sh -c \
    "echo 'deb http://deb.machinekit.io/debian jessie main' > \
    /etc/apt/sources.list.d/machinekit.list"
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install pkg-config libprotobuf-dev protobuf-compiler libzmq3-dev

Protobuf from source

    git clone https://github.com/google/protobuf.git
    cd protobuf
    git checkout v2.6.1
    ./autogen.sh
    ./configure
    make
    sudo make install

ZeroMQ from source

    git clone https://github.com/zeromq/zeromq4-x.git
    cd zeromq4-x/
    git checkout v4.0.7
    ./autogen.sh
    ./configure     # add other options here
    make
    make check
    sudo make install

Windows

If you want to use Windows in a VirtualBox VM please enable 3D acceleration for Qt to work properly.

Prerequisites

• Install everything to C:\bin

• Install Microsoft Visual Studio of your choice

• 2015 Community Edition

• 2013 Express Edition

• Install Qt SDK for Windows (Use the MSVC2015 or MSVC2013 version depending on Visual Studio)

• Install a Git command line client (VS2015 comes with Git, Git for Windows is also fine, select add to Windows Path in setup)

• Create a link from your users directory to C:\bin

• Run in cmd window as administrator: mklink /D C:\Users\%USERNAME%\bin C:\bin

ZeroMQ

Open a cmd window:

    cd C:\bin
    git clone https://github.com/zeromq/zeromq4-x.git
    cd zeromq4-x
    git checkout v4.0.7

Now start Visual Studio and open the solution C:\zeromq4-x\builds\msvc\msvc11.sln say yes to migrating the project to the new format.

Wait a few seconds until parsing the header files is finished. Then select the Release build.

Now right click on the libzmq project in the Solutions Explorer and click build.

Now select the x64 build.

Now right click on the libzmq11 project in the Solutions Explorer and click build.

Copy the libzmq.dll and libzmq.pdb files from zeromq4-x\bin\Win32 to the Qt\<version>\<release>\bin folder.

Same for x64

Protobuf

Open a cmd window:

    cd C:\bin
    git clone https://github.com/google/protobuf.git
    cd protobuf
    git checkout v2.6.1

Now start Visual Studio and open the solution C:\protobuf\vsprojects\protobuf.sln say yes to migrating the project to the new format.

Wait a few seconds until parsing the header files is finished. Then select the Release build.

Now right click on the libprotobuf project in the Solutions Explorer and click build. See MSVC2015 below

Repeat this step for libprotobuf-lite, libprotoc and protoc.

Copy the libprotobuf.lib files from protobuf\vsprojects\Release to the Qt\<version>\<release>\lib folder.

Copy the libprotobuf.pdb files from protobuf\vsprojects\Release to the Qt\<version>\<release>\bin folder.

Repeat for x64 in protobuf\vsprojects\x64\Release.

MSVC2015

Even if you have the option to use MSVC2015, use MSVC2013 instead by changing the platform tool set to Visual Studio 2013, as you will get this kind of compiler error with MSVC2015:

error C2338: <hash_*> is deprecated and will be REMOVED. Please use <unordered_*>.
You can define _SILENCE_STDEXT_HASH_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS to acknowledge that you have received this warning.

If MSVC2015 is the only option you have, add _SILENCE_STDEXT_HASH_DEPRECATION_WARNINGS=1; to "Preprocessor Definitions" entry under Project Properties. See also C++ Hash Deprecation Warning

Building QtQuickVcp

After you have all the requirements installed clone and build the QtQuickVcp repo

    git clone https://github.com/strahlex/QtQuickVcp

Before building the project modify the paths.pri file if necessary.

Build from Qt Creator

Open Qt Creator and open the QtQuickVcp.pro file. Select the Qt version you want to build against. Before building the project add these additional make commands to your project settings: install, docs and install_docs

Build the project in release mode (or debug mode if you want to debug QtQuickVcp and you application). Now you should have a working QtQuickVcp installed to your Qt version.

Setup Qt Creator

Per default Qt Creator’s QtQuick designer does not work with custom QML modules. Therefore, it is necessary to enable building a working QML emulation layer. This can be done in the Qt Creator preferences Tools > Options…​ in the Qt Quick register by selecting the Use QML emulation layer that is built by the selected Qt option. The build path is automatically completed.

Build from command line (Linux only)

The following steps assume that you have the Qt SDK installed in ~/bin/Qt/

    # set QMAKE
    QMAKE=~/bin/Qt/5.*/gcc*/bin/qmake
    QT_INSTALL_PREFIX=~/bin/Qt/5.*/gcc*

    # download and install QtQuickVcp
    git clone https://github.com/strahlex/QtQuickVcp
    mkdir -p build/QtQuickVcp
    cd build/QtQuickVcp

    $QMAKE ../../QtQuickVcp
    make
    make docs
    make install
    make install_docs

MachinekitSDK

If you also want to have QtQuickVcp specific wizards and extensions for QtCreator please continue with the install instructions for the [MachinekitSDK](https://github.com/strahlex/MachinekitSDK)

Developing QtQuickVcp

This section is for developers who want to extend the functionality of QtQuickVcp.

If you are new to Qt and/or QtQuick I would recommend you to read the Qt documentation and follow the getting started and tutorials: http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5/gettingstartedqml.html

Choosing the right QML module

QtQuickVcp is split into several QML modules:

• Machinekit.HalRemote - Non GUI HAL remote pins and components

• Machinekit.HalRemote.Controls - UI items such as Slider and ProgressBar combined with HAL pins

• Machinekit.Controls - Generic UI items not combined with HAL pins (can be used for non HAL projects)

• Machinekit.PathView - GCode path and progress views

• Machinekit.VideoView - Video views, e.g. for mjpeg-webcam streams

You can find these modules as separate folders inside the src folder of QtQuickVcp. E.g. the folder containing the module Machinekit.HalRemote is src/halremote

Creating new QML based Components

QML files are the preferred way of creating new visual QtQuickVcp Components. Just create a new QML file using the New File dialog and then you can either use the Qt Quick Desinger or the text editor to develop your components. I recommend you to use the text editor as you will learn how to use make use of QtQuick faster and the Designer is currently far from perfect.

A good way to start is looking at the existing QML Components and how they are implemented. Please make sure you make use of anchors or layout based positioning wherever possible as it saves computation power and makes your UIs scaleable.

Adding QML files to the QML module

You need to add the newly created QML files to following places in order to make them work when the QML module is deployed.

• .pro file of the module to the QML_FILES variable

• .qrc file of the module

• plugin.cpp of the module to the qmldir structure

• .metainfo file in designer folder

Creating new C++ based Components

For some functionality it is necessary to develop C[]+ based QtQuickVcp Components. This may include visual items that need access to native OpenGL painting instructions, visual items that use QPainter to paint on a canvas and non visual items that need performance, access to Qt/C+ functionality or native C/C++ libraries.

Adding C++ classes to the QML module

You need to add the C++ classes to following places in order to make them work when the QML module is deployed.

• plugin.cpp of the module with qmlRegisterType

• .metainfo file of the Qt Quick Designer plugin

Creating a new QML module

TODO

Adding the QML module to the project

• QtQuickVcp.pro (OTHER_FILES, doc folder)

• src/src.pro

• doc/config/qtquickvcp-project.qdocconf (sourcedirs)