FREECAD BUILD

this template repository is configured to use freecad-build. the included Makefile contains targets to generate STEP, GCode, and 3MF for any FreeCAD FCStd files in the repository.

quick start

follow the installation instructions for freecad-build

make a simple change to examples/example-part.FCStd in this repository and save it

display a visual diff of the change:

git difftool -x freecad-difftool -d

limitations

if a part is modified but its parent assembly is not subsequently saved, the assembly diff will be skipped by git

preparation

add the contents of gitconfig-example to ~/.gitconfig:

cat gitconfig-example >> ~/.gitconfig

NOTE: alternatively, add to .git/config for each repo you want to enable this in.

usage

diff

NOTE: the following assumes that at least one FCStd file has been mmodified, otherwise nothing will happen:

visually diff all modified FreeCAD parts and assemblies in the repository:

git difftool -t freecad -d

after a wait relative to the complexity of the exported part, a FreeCAD window will open with at least two and at most four features.

Previous: the exported part from HEAD

Modified: the exported part including modifications in your worktree

Additions: any geometry which was added by your modifications (green)

Subtractions: any geometry which was removed by your modifications (red)

NOTE: the first two features are always present, the others are present only if the diff is non-empty

export

export STEP files for any present FCStd files:

make step

build a specific STEP file:

make examples/example-assembly.step

NOTE: as usual with make, target files will only be rebuilt on subsequent runs if the source file has changed.

generate 3MF or Gcode for a part:

make examples/example-assembly.3mf
make examples/example-assembly.gcode

other file formats are supported by freecad-export, but would need to be added to the Makefile.

here's an example using freecad-export directly:

freecad-export examples/example-assembly.FCStd examples/example-assembly.iges

troubleshooting

check the log output on the console, make sure there are no recompute errors.

inspect the Modified and Previous features to make sure they look as expected.

run the build in interactive mode, export INTERACTIVE=1 before invoking

khimaros / freecad-build-template