3D Printer control via Gambas

Its easy to write some Gambas code to provide basic control of a 3D printer.

You just need a good G-code reference list.

These notes were born out of a few experiments I recently conducted with my Creality CR-10-V3

Working with the Linux /proc directory

This strange directory contains some interesting & useful stuff.

 

Accessing data contained in its files is pretty easy.

So in this post I explore its treasures with some simple Gambas code.

a WifiScanner written in Gambas Script

I've been looking for a suitable application to write using Gambas Script, as a means of demonstrating its possibilities.

10 years ago I created a Gambas GUI app called WifiScanner which fits the bill.

So I've just stripped it down and created a script version.

Gambas Scripts

If you are familiar with Gambas (or Basic) you shouldn't have too much trouble writing Gambas scripts.

Although scripting is often used for small programming tasks, it can be used to create more ambitious projects.

It may also be useful on headless/GUI-less systems, like the Raspberry Pi.

Gambas: using external C libraries

It may be useful sometimes to use C-language library functions in your Gambas programs.

There may be a performance advantage in writing your own C functions or you may simply wish to use existing C libraries.

Here are my notes which may help you get started.

Gambas: using external Gambas libraries

The Linux programming language Gambas can use functions from external libraries.

This post gives a few simple examples to supplement the information in the Gambas Documentation.

Gambas MP4Box: a batch .h264 to .mp4 video packager

Using RaspiVid software with a RaspiCam results in a .h264 encoded video file.

Most media players require .h264 to be "packaged" into a suitable video container format like .mp4.

This very simple Gambas project uses the program MP4Box to convert or package a bunch of .h264 files into .mp4 files ready to be edited or played using popular applications.

Gambas cli programming: ncurses text based user interface

Many command-line programs are more than just one liners.

They often need to display data and allow users to interface by both viewing data and making selections.

In this post I look at the Gambas component gb.ncurses and attempt to make an interactive display.

Gambas: command-line programming

I must have been using Gambas for small projects since I fully switched to Linux for my home computing needs almost 10 years ago.

Gambas was a natural choice for me as I'd spent several years in industry using Visual Basic, Delphi and Turbo Pascal.

But up until quite recently, it had not occurred to me that there might be some benefit in using Gambas for command-line programming.

Checking your internet connection: a simple Gambas project

A few weeks ago I noticed my internet radio was dropping out for a few moments at a time.

Further investigation showed I was sometimes losing the internet altogether.

So I decided to create a simple program to monitor internet availability.

Gambas with Class

The simple principle of "code re-use" is an easy way of reducing project development time and improving the quality of your software.

It is clear that using existing code snippets will save you time by avoiding the task of "re-inventing the wheel".

And if you also keep a personal store of code that you have previously designed and tested, this should help improve the quality of your software projects.

Gambas is no shrimp

It may mean "prawn" in Spanish, but in the world of computing, Gambas is a visual programming language for Linux.

 

The Gambas application is an integrated development environment (IDE) which not only allows you to create, edit, run and debug your software, but also create executables (programs) and package them for distribution and deployment to other Linux computers.

 

This post does not cover the Gambas language in any detail, its more of an over-view which takes you through the whole process of creating an application, from writing a very simple program to creating a deployment package.

Gambas is more than just a language, it is also a rapid application development system, making it an ideal starting point for those wishing to learn programming or for programmers taking their first steps with Linux...