Bestow "Drag and Drop" ability on the 'Prime Tower'

[GregValiant]

Is your feature request related to a problem?

(I thought I had seen a request like this previously, but I couldn't find one.)

Changing the prime tower location is clumsy.
The user must find the location settings and then figure out that the location of the prime tower is actually a function of: "Prime Tower Size", "Raft Extra Margin" (when applicable) as well as the "Prime Tower X Position" and "Prime Tower Y Position". Couple that with the fact that the "center" of the prime tower is not at "Prime Tower X / Prime Tower Y".

If the prime tower were a mesh (a quasi-mesh?) then the user could drag it to where they wanted it. I don't think the current code would need to change much (said the guy who wouldn't have to do it). All the settings would be ignored by the mesh and only it's X and Y location would be passed onto the "Position" settings. Visibility could be controlled as it is now.

Describe the solution you'd like

Click on the Prime Tower.
Drag it to the desired position.
The new Prime Tower X and Prime Tower Y get transmitted back to the setting boxes. There might have to be some code to calculate the position from the location.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Change the X and Y location several times until the Prime Tower shows up near where I want it.

Affected users and/or printers

All multi-extruder machines.

Additional information & file uploads

No response

[wawanbreton]

Hey, I totally agree with this idea 😄 we actually had a ticket for it a while ago, but it was rejected at this time because this is quite a lot of work and not really an important feature. But we do keep it somewhere in the back of our mind...
An other option is to have a smart auto-placement of the prime tower, depending on the nozzle switch position and placed models, but I guess at some point one would want to manually adjust it for some reason.

[GregValiant]

I figured it was something that must have come up previously. Even my little bit of naïve and uninformed thinking about this keeps coming up with problems.

Totally ignoring all the problems, my thought says that the basic need is an "avatar" object that is only adjustable by "XY translation". It's other properties are tied to the Prime Tower Settings and it's visibility is tied to "Enable Prime Tower".

All the user can do with the "avatar" is drag it to a new XY spot. When the mouse button is released, the Prime Tower Location is transmitted and the current "Shadow" (which could be invisible) snaps to the location. For all other functions, the avatar is ignored.
Going the other way - changing certain Cura settings (Prime Tower Size, Build Plate Adhesion, Prime Tower Brim, etc.) causes the XY size of the avatar to change.

After that's done, all you really need to do is everything else.

[HellAholic]

I hereby formally submit my proposal for the name of the feature:
"Knight the Tower"

[GregValiant]

Wait a minute, you can't just do that. It's against the rules (which I have to admit - I make up as I go along).
We have to have an official poll. No name will be considered unless it is supported by more than 1 human being (your AI doesn't get a vote.)
I'm putting my support behind "Tower in Drag".

[HellAholic]

Here me out: "DragOn Tower" 😝

[GregValiant]

Is that your new official suggestion? Does it supersede "Knight the Tower"? Should it have a "-" in it?

Official Github Drag and Drop Tower naming ballot:

"Knight the Tower"
"Tower in Drag"
"DragOn Tower"

@wawanbreton you want in on this? I'm currently working on the prize list. Could be as nice as the UM pin that I got for something. In fact it probably will be the UM pin I got for something.

[wawanbreton]

I'll let you have the fun and glory on this one, finding fancy names in English is not my thing 😛 ... And I also have a pin 😁

[HellAholic]

Couple of additional details for the avatar:

• Should link to the convexhull addition condition for the prime tower (prime tower enabled but no prime tower will be generated scenario since it's a single extrusion print)
• Needs a mesh with a special texture and color for identification (not adding it to the export or ignoring while slicing is possible)
• Should have the Z locked at 0 (disable Z axis on the translate tool for the avatar?)
• Scale tool has two options: link it to the size of the prime tower OR disabled)
• Other tools such as Rotate, paint, per model, support blocker,... disabled for the avatar
• Probably easier to link the size of the avatar to the size of the disallowed area (includes prime tower size, brim, ...)

[GregValiant]

A special tool that only acts on the avatar? (A "translate" tool with no Z arrow?)
The right-click menu gets a couple new commands when a machine is dual extruder. Could "move prime tower" be added to that and be enabled when the avatar is the chosen model?

[GregValiant]

Oh yea - Erwan's choice is now "The Tower formerly known as Prime".

[wawanbreton]

* Needs a mesh with a special texture and color for identification (not adding it to the export or ignoring while slicing is possible)

That would definitely be a specific mesh with a specific shader for easy identification. And if I were to do it, I would generate a shape that looks like the actual tower (with the larger base) and to the upper model height.

* Should have the Z locked at 0 (disable Z axis on the translate tool for the avatar?)

Disable the Z axis would be perfect, now sure how easy this is

* Scale tool has two options: link it to the size of the prime tower OR disabled)

Hmm, I was not thinking about scaling it, but that could prove extremely convenient indeed, since when I am using it as purge, I change the size multiple times until I find the proper one that allows me to purge just enough without having a huge tower.

* Other tools such as Rotate, paint, per model, support blocker,...  disabled for the avatar

Definitely, not sure how easy this is to do

* Probably easier to link the size of the avatar to the size of the disallowed area (includes prime tower size, brim, ...)

The disallowed areas already rely on the setting, so if dragging the tower actually change the setting, that should work automagically

[HellAholic]

"Geronimo!"
https://github.com/HellAholic/NameToBeAnnouncedAfterPoll/tree/main

Also before the pitchforks are aimed, the name will be updated after a poll, but needed something for the repository and the files and trying to put a non-generic name on the classes and files is just... No.

[GregValiant]

Well someone has been busy.

I haven't installed it (to lazy to download the files) but it's a nice video!!