Update to Qt5 / FlatCAM 8.5

[Alex Ivasyuv]

Since Qt4 is not supported on latest macOS, it’s difficult to install and build FlatCAM.

[Geoffrey McRae]

Debian 11 will be dropping support for Qt4, and as such very likely Ubuntu will also.

[Olof Tangrot]

The setup_ubuntu.sh script does not work with Ubunut 20.04 LTS. There are no Qt4 apt packages for python3.

[Marius Stanciu]

You could compile it from sources… if you are really set in running the 8.5 version.

[Olof Tangrot]

It == Qt4? I mostly wanted to provide some experience based data on the presence of Qt4 in the latest Ubuntu LTS version. And also notify about the misleading install instruction for Ubuntu that does not work on that version.

[Marius Stanciu]

Basically I took over the development for FlatCAM in the Beta branch. I do my development there and I’m not interested in reviving a really old version like FlatCAM 8.5.
But it’s not such a big deal to port the Master branch from PyQt4 to PyQt5, perhaps it’s full day work so if someone has the motivation they could do it.
While I am not willing to do it myself (wasted time from my point of view), if someone will do it I will help with advices if they encounter issues.

[Marius Stanciu]

Hi,

I do understand that some people will still want to run the old FlatCAM due of computation limitations (running it in things like Raspberry Pi or the like) so I’ve completed the port process to PyQt5 and also I’ve added some fixes to make it foolproof to near-future deprecations in the Shapely module.

I tested it by running it on Python 3.9 64bit + PyQt5.15.1
See the new branch that I just made on the FlatCAM repository named: old_flatcam_pyqt5. https://bitbucket.org/jpcgt/flatcam/branches/

IMPORTANT: I do not offer support for this branch so if you see errors please fix them and make a pull request against this new branch.

Enjoy!
Marius (Beta branch maintainer)

[Olof Tangrot]

This installs the packages for me it probably can’t push it up to the branch directly. It seems possible to start flatcam afterwards no other tests made.

                            libfreetype6-dev \
                            python3-dev \
                            python3-simplejson \
                            python3-pyqt5 \
                            python3-numpy \
                            python3-scipy \
                            python3-matplotlib \
                            libgeos-dev \
                            python3-pip \
                            libspatialindex-dev \
                            python3-tk \
                            python3-shapely \
                            python3-rtree \
                            python3-svg.path

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[Olof Tangrot]

I have never used this program before but it does not seem to be possible to select shapes, from a loaded gerber file, for deletion. Nor does seem to be possible to use the drawing tools.

[Marius Stanciu]

Hi Olof,

I recommend to you the reading of the manual here: http://flatcam.org/manual/index.html which was made for the last official version of FlatCAM. In the Master branch there are a few changes but overall you will understand what can be done in FlatCAM 8.5 and what not and what you need to do to have access to the Drawing Tools (Geometry Editor).

[Olof Tangrot]

Ok, the geometry I tried to edit was a random Gerber photoplot corollary to some Maxim application note. It’s kinda heavy to load but I don’t think that is the problem. When when I try to Edit Geometry the SW reply with ‘Select a Gemetry Objekt to edit’ and seem to be stuck there. The photo plot seem unselectable and the tools remains locked. It is possible to create a new geometry object in the same project, and there the tools might be used and the resulting geometry updated. Though the photo plot orginated geometry object seems not possible to change. But mayby this is not an intended feature.

[Marius Stanciu]

But mayby this is not an intended feature.

Exactly.

For the features you are looking try the Beta branch. Yet, if you can’t read the manual for FlatCAM 8.5 then it is not that likely that you will be able to understand more on the Beta branch…

[Olof Tangrot]

You told me to use old_flatcam_pyqt5. Then which branches is the correct one?

[Marius Stanciu]

Hello,
There is no correct branch. There is only the one you need to use.

The master branch is now old and not supported. It holds the development over the latest official version of FlatCAM which was 8.5.
It contains a very simple app, easy to use for beginners, but it could not be run in modern OS’s due of relying on the PyQt4 package which is now obsolete. I’ve ‘revived’ that branch by creating the old_flatcam_pyqt5 for the people that need an application that is easy on the processing power and therefore usable in SBC’s that run Linux, like Raspberry Pi.

For a couple of years I took over the development of FlatCAM and kept the results of my work in the Beta branch. While I do my programming and usage with Windows OS in mind (this is what I use) the sources found in the Beta branch can be run in Linux/MacOS environments too and many users just done that. You can search on YouTube some videos that show you how others have done by using the keyword: flatcam. You will get videos with both flavors of FlatCAM: the old official FlatCAM (8.5) and the more newer versions of FlatCAM Beta (they start with versions 8.9 and up).

But the application under the Beta branch is much more heavy on PC and require a lot more dependencies to fulfil due of many more features that I’ve added over the years. Therefore you will need a modern PC to run the app (perhaps no older than 10 years).

More than that, the default Graphic Engine for the Beta branch is based on OpenGL (3D accelerated) by the help of the VisPy package but this is known not to work with older integrated video controllers (like Intel HD4000 or older) so I’ve added also the old 2D Graphic Engine that should work on all systems but that require you to make some changes in the Preferences (Menu → Edit → Preferences).

And now that we got to Preferences … there is now a plethora of new settings which create issues for most new users. And there is no manual for the Beta version.
So it’s safe to say that if you can’t get around with FlatCAM 8.5 (what you basically have in the old_flatcam_pyqt5 branch) then it is more than likely that you will be lost while trying to use the Beta branch.

Best,
Marius