Learning coding

Ok, I just finished the Automating PC-DMIS online course... Where should I go next to learn more about how to use this with DMIS?

A fun one for me was to re-create a scripts that floating around here somewhere that takes all programs in a directory and reads all of the probes used and tips for each one. I adopted to use as much Object Oriented Programming as I could, what a blast!

I would create small checker/helper programs to assist you in developing part routines... think of the one thing you always forget to do when writing Pc-Dmis part programs.... like forgetting to change that pesky default tolerance you forgot to correct.

Another would be to figure out how to send arguments to console applications and/or how to fire console .exe from within Pc-Dmis.

One major improvement with automating PCDMIS I learned along the way was using a "BackgroundWorker" (there are other ways to accomplish this as well) to execute certain tasks. One thing you'll eventually notice is that when you hit a button and the buttons "freeze" until the code block(s) finish executing, running a part program for example.

Below is an example of launching pcdmis with a BackgroundWorker. I just copied and pasted this so if you have a question about what something is let me know

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Data;
using System.Windows.Documents;
using System.Windows.Input;
using System.Windows.Media;
using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
using System.Windows.Navigation;
using System.Windows.Shapes;
using PCDLRN;
using Microsoft.VisualBasic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO.Compression;
using System.Threading;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Windows.Interop;

namespace PCD_Operator_App
{
/// <summary>
/// Interaction logic for LoadScreen.xaml
/// </summary>
public partial class LoadScreen : Window
{
private const int GWL_STYLE = -16;
private const int WS_SYSMENU = 0x80000;

[DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern int GetWindowLong(IntPtr hWnd, int nIndex);

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern int SetWindowLong(IntPtr hWnd, int nIndex, int dwNewLong);

public LoadScreen()
{
InitializeComponent();

BackgroundWorker backgroundStartup = new BackgroundWorker();
backgroundStartup.WorkerReportsProgress = true;
backgroundStartup.DoWork += startup_DoWork;
backgroundStartup.ProgressChanged += startup_ProgressChanged;
backgroundStartup.RunWorkerCompleted += startup_RunWorkerCompleted;
backgroundStartup.RunWorkerAsync();
}
void startup_DoWork(object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e)
{
bool startCondition = true;

Process[] pcdStartupCheck = Process.GetProcessesByName("PCDLRN");
if (pcdStartupCheck.Length > 0)
{
startCondition = false;
}
else
{
Type PCDRLN_Application = null;
object PCDObj = null;

PCDLRN.Application PCDApp = null;

try
{
PCDRLN_Application = Type.GetTypeFromProgID("PCDLRN.Application");

PCDObj = Activator.CreateInstance(PCDRLN_Application);
}
catch (System.Exception em)
{
MessageBox.Show(em.Message);
}

PCDApp = new PCDLRN.Application();

PCDApp.OperatorMode = true;

PCDApp.Visible = false;

PCDApp.ApplicationEvents.OnMachineConnected += new IApplicationEvents_OnMachineConnectedEventHandler(onMachineConnect);

void onMachineConnect(Machine machine)
{
//MessageBox.Show("machine connected");
//loadScreenStatus.Content = "PC-DMIS active, connecting to machine...";

startCondition = false;
}

if (startCondition)
{
WindowSearcher homeWindowSearch = new WindowSearcher();
homeWindowSearch.BeginWindowLook_Home();
}
}
}

void startup_ProgressChanged(object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs e)
{

}

void startup_RunWorkerCompleted(object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e)
{
new MainWindow().Show();

this.Close();
}

private void WindowLoaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var hwnd = new WindowInteropHelper(this).Handle;
SetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_STYLE, GetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_STYLE) & ~WS_SYSMENU);
}
}
}

Um... yeah... I question all of it. This is my first time getting into any kind of programming except programming part programs in DMIS. Maybe I should have them send me to the local community college for classes.

I bought a book here that got me started, I liked it a lot. Answered a lot of questions not regarding pc-dmis. Now that I've taken a few college level courses in coding, a lot of them follow these books very closely. Learning this will start to happen much quicker as you go along, like putting a puzzle together

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Visual-Step-Developer-Reference/dp/1509307761/ref=asc_df_1509307761/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312125971120&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=56322634205378343&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016977&hvtargid=pla-527352025378&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=61316180839&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312125971120&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=56322634205378343&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016977&hvtargid=pla-527352025378