Add the ability to export STEP files for bodies
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This is a feature request.
I use Fusion 360 for 3D printing part of the time. When the slicer is given a STEP file it can produce better G code for the printer. For example, a round hole can be created with arc moves of the proper geometry (diameter) instead of starting with a mesh which is tiny line segments and will either be many tiny straight moves or an interpolated arc based on inferring a curved surface from the mesh.
Before submitting this I decided to check, and it turns out that export appears to use visibility to determine what to export, unlike 3D print which requires that a body be selected and exports that body only. This means that export command only exports bodies because they are what is visible. I can show some or all of the bodies in a component and it will export the bodies, but that is not the same as specifying the component.
So my export request should be modified to
1. Use a selection dialog like 3D print in order to make it explicit what is to be exported. In addition to eliminating confusion it will be obvious to new users and consistent with 3D print which is really just another name for export that has an option on the dialog to send to an app in addition to saving as a file.
2. When exporting a body, default to a body default to the body name
3. I think it would make more sense to merge 3D print into the export command and just use the same dialog for selection. (In the API they are the same anyway.) Put the export type in the command dialog and show the "send to app" option if the type is one that can be read by some app.
The other part of my request is to extend the API to allow export as STEP to include the option to export a body and not just a component. This is an area of inconsistency.
Currently:
- STL export options - The geometry to export. This can be a BRepBody, Occurrence, or Component object.
- OBJ export options - The geometry to export. This can be a BRepBody, Occurrence, or Component object.
- STEP export options - The geometry to export. Valid geometry for this is currently a Component object.
Why is STEP different?
Currently in the UI, I use 3D print instead of export partly because I did not realize that export can export a single body, but mostly because with 3D print it is explicit what is being exported. However, 3D print has a limitation that export does not. It only allows a single body to be selected. Why? There are times when I want to export multiple bodies. Now I know that I can use export to do so, but I had been using 3D print multiple times. The drawback of using export is that I cannot send directly to my slicer app.
That just made me think of another inconsistency between 3D print and export. 3D print is smart enough to realize that I have selected a body and default the filename to the name of the body. Export always uses the design name, which is not what I want when exporting a body, or all bodies in a component.
As a side note, I strongly desire the ability to add shortcut keys to menu options. I export/3D print dozens of times a day when developing a 3D model for printing and going through multiple levels of menus is very annoying.
