FrontCAD
The Free Open Source Front Panel Design Program.
First Posted May 4, 2015
Updated Septermber 20, 2016

Using FrontCad to make a front panel.





New:Front Cad Tutorial
Beta Version of FrontCad.   New as of September 17, 2016 Version 1.0.30.1
This new version requires Windows 7 or newer. :(  Really sorry about that.  Still trying to figure out how to build legacy versions so that this will work on older Win32 systems.
Source code for FrontCad.  This was built with Visual Studio 2015

September 20, 2016
Version 1.0.30.1
More bug fixes.  There was a problem with how I was doing the snap grid.  For example, if you had the snap grid set to 0.125 inches, and the default zoom level was being used, if you tried to place something at 2.125 inches, it would end up at 2.130 inches.  I am not sure what I was thinking when I wrote the snap grid code.  But, I seem to have that fixed now.  And the code is cleaner for it.

Also, I have embarked on a new project which is based on FrontCad called JamCad.  It will be an EDA package that will include a schematic editor and PCB editor.  It will also incorporate FrontCad as well.

August 23, 2016
Version 1.0.12.1
Bug fixes and now if the document has been changed, FrontCad will ask you if you want to save the document or not.

August 15, 2016
Version 1.0.11.1
Fixed some bugs, I hope, Cleaned up some of the code (without adding new problems hopefully), and added a new feature.  Now, when you right click, you can choose if you want to de-select all objects, or de-select a specific object.  I added this because it is tedious enough to have to select a bunch of objects, but when you are done, you don't want to have to deselect them individually.

August 10, 2016
Version 1.0.10.4
Not sure if I fixed a problem I found or not.  For some odd reason, the Origin does not end up on grid sometimes.  But I have not been able to recreate this problem.

August 6, 2016
Version 1.0.10.3
Fixed some of the problems with printing.  Hopefully, it will no longer crash no matter what you are trying to print.

July 28, 2016
Version 1.0.10.2

This version has changed a bit.  I have changed how the mouse interacts with objects on the screen.  I feel it is a little cleaner now.  I certainly hope that is the case.  I have added some more objects.  There are now:
Arrow Heads
Dimensions
Origin Marker
Print Rectangle (to mark the area you want to print to the printer).

There are also some new tools.  There is a menu called ALIGN which contains the following functions:
Align Centers X
Align Centers Y
Aling Centers Both
Align Tops
Align Bottoms
Align Left
Align Right
Make Same Size X
Make Same Size Y
Make Same Size Both

These new added function help make it a lot easier to make things look symetrical.  Some of thse do not work on certain objects.  For example, the Make Same Size cannot be applied to a Polygon, but the size of a polygon can be applied to other objects.

April 25, 2016
Version 1.0.9.1

Well, it has been almost a year now since I first created this project.  And I have made a new addition to the project.  I have added arrows to the reprotuar.  Also, the project has been converted over to Visual Studio 2015.  Now, while there are things about visual studio that I do not like, overall, it is one of the better versions of visual studio since Version 6.0.  Plus, now it is free.  That makes it even better.  Also, I fixed a few coding problems.  It seems I left some break statements out ofsome switch code.  Not sure what bugs that may have caused.  But I am sure it was not a good thing.

June 2, 2015
Version 1.0.6

I think I may have fixed the problem with selecting Arcs.  At the very least, I have improved it greatly.
The only other news, source code is now up.

June 1, 2015
Version 1.0.5

OK...so many changes I have lost track of them all.
New Features:
    1. Copy
    2. Paste
    3. Cut
    4. Bit map object.  If you want to distort the image, select the object, and drag on of the corner boxes while holding down the control key.  If you want the original aspect ratio back, select the object, right click, and the select restore aspect ratio.

Bug Fixes:
    Probably, but with all the new features, I am sure plenty of new ones have crept  in.  One bug that I still have tot found a solution for is selecting arcs.  That is just not an easy thing to do, evidently.

May 28, 2015  just a bit later after the last update.
Version 1.0,4

Fixed a problem with selecting parts in a region select.

May 28.2015
Version 1.0.3

New Features:
    1.  Can select objects in a region.
    2. Added arrow hot keys to move cursor by one snap unit.
    3.  Added hotkeys for drawing objects.
        a.  A -> Arc
        b.  E -> Ellipse
        c.   L -> Line
        d.   P -> Polygon
        e.   R -> Rectangle
   
Bug Fixes
    In the pot scale wizard, if you tried to save a new pot scale and you did not  have any libraries open, the program would crash.  The program now asks you to create a new library.  I will change this later so it gives you the option of doing this, or opening an already existing library.

May 27, 2015 , 7::11PM
Version 1.02
Another Ooppsie.
 
Bug Fixes:
    1.  Fixed the problem with not having a library loaded and hitting the place library part control.  You now get an alert box.
    2.  If you moved a polygon, you could not select it again.  This has been fixed.

New Features:
    1. You can use the delete key to remove selected objects.
    2. Not new, but holding down the shift key turns off the snap grid.

Let me know if there are any other keyboard functions that should be added.

May 27, 2015

So embarrassing.  But the May 26 release had one really big bug in it.  Pretty much, anthing having to do with operating the library did not work correctly.  And all that trouble was caused by one simple little line of code.

    if(m_Poly == NULL) )


    Should have really been:

    if((m_Poly == NULL) && (v.m_Poly != NULL))

    Just goes to show you just how much trouble the simplest mistake can make.

May 26, 2015
 
I have hopefully fixed the bugs with copy and paste concerning Library Parts.  No new features.

May 25, 2015

Well, here we go with another release.  I have got copy, paste, cut and move working.  Now when you do any of these, the program will expect you to click on a reference point.  And when you do a paste, if you hold the button down, you can move the selection around until you get it where you want.

New Features:
    1. Copy
    2. Cut
    3 Paste
    4. Move (selected block of objects)

Hopefully, I did not break anything.

I am also almost ready to release the source code for this.

May 23, 2015 - 5:19PM

Hey, two updates in one day.  Such a deal.
New Feature:
    1.  Made it a bit easier to change the pot scale labels.  If, after changing the edit box, you hit the return key, it will change the label, advance to the next label, and select the text in the text box.

Bug Fixes:
    1.  When you selected a TEXT object after scrolling the pane, the select box would end up someplace else.

Still to be fixed:
    1.  You can change the background color, but when you print, the background doesn't.

May 23, 2015

Made some really good progress since the last release.  
New Features:
    1. It Prints.
    2. Made it so you can specify if you want the Text Background to be Transparent.  This change has made the previous file formats incompatable and will make the program lock up.
    3. You can set the snap grid.
    4. You can display a grid.

Some of these new features have probably introduced bugs.  I hope not.

May 19, 2015

New Features:
    Text around pot scale can now be set to rotate with the angle.

Fixed:
    Cleaned up Scale Wizard Dialogs to make them a little clearer.

May 18, 2015

New Features:
    Can set the background color of the drawing.
    Added Context menu with the following functions:
        1. Move Object Back
        2. Move Object Forward
        3. Delete Object
   
Bug Fixes
    Rulers did not zoom correctly.
    Text did not zoom correctly
    Arcs did not zoom correctly


May 16, 22015

I have made a lot of progress since my last post.    I have finally got the program to print.  And I think it is time to let some of you try the program.  Please keep in mind, the thing is not done.  There are still several missing features.  More than likely, the progream will crash.  But it should work well enough for you to get an idea of what it will do.  Do not count on being able to load saved files with a future version.  In fact, I am working on a change right now that will cause what you save with this version not to load.  So just play.  See how it prints on your printer.  I am interested to know how well it scales.


Installation is easy.  Unzip FrontCad.zip to obtain FronCad.exe, and just copy it someplace.  Double click and there you go.
May 4, 2015
FrontCad was born out of the frustration I felt trying to design the graphics for the front panels of my various synthesizer projects.  There are other programs out there.  Inkscaope is a very capable program, but it has a rather steep learning curve.  The is also Front Designer, which I had high hopes for, but it has some limitations that I could not figure a way around.  So, I started to write my own program.  As of today, which is the forth of May, I still do not have a working program, but it is getting close.  I have only been working on it for a month now.  For those of you who follow me on face book have seen, it is going to be a rather spartan program.  For those who are interested, you can download the current executable, soon, but for now, just look at the pretty pictures.