"Curves" add on for X3 problem

[David Brasfield]

Hi, folks.

I installed the CurvesWorks add on for X3, and it shows the tool bar, and whenever I make a selection it pops up a "nag" screen telling me I have 14 days to try it out or register. I click okay, the screen goes away and it does absolutely nothing.

I would love the have the functions and I am more than willing to pay for it, but if it doesn't work....

Anyone else had similar problems, fixes?

Thanks,
David

[Frank Corker]

David it looks like you have a shareware version of it. Most are extremely limited as to what they can do. With some you just get to see what it looks like, with others you can use it but can't save and others where it puts spoilers on so you can't save it. Your only option would be to buy it and then if it doesn't work, claim your money back.

[David Brasfield]

Thanks for the reply, Frank.

I reset my user workspace and reinstalled it, and it seems to work better, although one of the functions didn't work as advertised. The only limit I am aware of is the 14 day free trial, and the "nag" screen.

It does have one very useful function, "explode curves", which is completely missing in X3 as is the ability to easily create new intersections without having to create a subpath.

I have learned a number of X3's more advanced "CAD like" functions, and many of them have obvious math errors as X3 simply closes without warning when dealing with circles/ellipses, seemingly anything to do with a circle that involves a bit of math from the programming side of things.

I am getting over the curve, but I am interested in any add-on that I can find that adds additional CAD like capacity to the program.

I wasted three hours last night on the trace bitmap function that insisted on stacking nodes and lines (the part that curves claims to remove and doesn't) on a *very* simple bitmap. I finally figured out a way to present the image to the trace bitmap function in a way it could understand and finished the job in 15 minutes.

I actually learned how to use X3's version (kinda) of trim, and it repeatedly terminated the program after a few uses..



Money well spent. NOT.

I am supposed to teach my wife how to do the basics on X3. She reached over my shoulder for the mouse a few days ago, and I very bluntly told her, "you don't want to try that yet"

Too bad that these machines won't handle at least a subset of standard G-code.

David