Dark Mode

Fig. 1: The MV Palette in Dark Mode.

• To enhance the user experience when working within Microvellum, a new Dark Mode setting has been added to the software. Enabling this will apply a dark theme to most interfaces, allowing for a greater degree of control and customization over one’s software and reducing eye strain when working for extended periods of time. This setting can be enabled within the Microvellum ‘Options’ (Microvellum Settings > Options > General) by checking the “Enable Dark Mode” checkbox, then closing and re-opening the software. Dark mode can be disabled or enabled at any point, but doing so will require one to close and re-open the software each time.

Fig. 2: Enable Dark Mode checkbox.

Face Frame JPG Output

Fig. 3: Create Face Frame JPG Images option.

• When processing face frame cabinets, it was previously the case that the images of the products would be processed and stored within the data as .WMF images exclusively, leading to issues when attempting to pull the images or analyze them using third party software, which sometimes had difficulty utilizing the format. With the release of this build, a new setting has been added to allow for greater flexibility and control over the output of one's face frame cabinet product images: “Create Face Frame JPG Images”. This setting can be found in the Processing tab of the Microvellum Options. When enabled, face frame product images will be generated and stored in a JPEG format. Users can also control the output size (in pixels) of the image using the ‘JPG Output Size’ box, with values ranging from 100-5000 (default 600).

New Prompt Separator Bars 

Fig 4: A control type 11 separator bar in the Product Prompts.

• A new feature has been added to the UIs of the software. When customizing or working with product prompts or the various wizard interfaces, users are now able to add (via the spreadsheet) prompt-dividing lines, allowing for sections of options to be manually broken up and grouped according to one’s preferences.

• To add a new divider to the prompts or a wizard interface, open the spreadsheet of the interface (Edit Design Data > Prompts for product prompts, for instance), navigate to the row containing the prompt you would like to have placed above or below the divider, then right-click and insert a new prompt. Add the prompt’s name in the Defined Name column; Microvellum recommends naming this new prompt something like “Separator” or “Divider”. Then, in the Control Type column, enter a value of 11 or 12, and save & close. Re-open the Product Prompts interface, and you should now see a new divider separating the prompts according to how you placed it within the spreadsheet. Repeat this process as many times as desired to group prompts as you see fit.
  

Fig 5: The separator bar in the Design Data.

• A control type value of 11 adds the separator bar across all columns within the prompts UI, while a control type of 12 only applies the separator bar to the specific column location of the prompts it is separating, rather than setting the bar across the entirety of the interface. 
  

Fig. 6: A control type 12 separator bar in the same location as Fig. 4.

Product Prompts Improvements

Based on user feedback, the Product Prompts interface has had a few overhauls applied to improve usability, clarity, and cohesion with other interfaces within the software. Some of these changes include:

• A new layout for Product Prompt buttons and elements of the UI, to better maintain a sense of cohesiveness with other features of Microvellum. The “Redraw Product” checkbox has been removed, with the UI now only featuring only the 3 button options on how to save, redraw, and close the Prompts interface (Save & Close, Save & Redraw, Save, Close & Redraw).

• It was previously not possible to work with other features of the software while the Product Prompts UI was open. This is no longer the case, and users will be able to interact with and work in other parts of the software while the UI remains active.

• Users expressed that the scaling and positioning of the UI did not adapt to a full-screen configuration, nor would buttons adapt to the space being expanded upon. This is no longer the case- now, when working in a full-screen window or otherwise altering the size of one’s window, the position of the buttons used for saving, redrawing, and closing the UI will move accordingly.

Annotations in Reports

Fig. 7: Annotations in a composite drawing.

• As part of our ongoing commitment to improving the efficiency and ease with which users can manufacture products, a software change has been applied that will allow user-created annotations to appear in reports. Annotations that have been added will appear accurately within the product drawing inside of any reports that are generated on the product, provided those annotations have been created using the new annotation tools that have been added to allow for this function.
  

Fig. 8: Annotation tools.

• Within the Nesting Tools interface, a new set of annotation tools based on frequently used drawing commands within CAD software have been added. These tools contain popular commands used in the 2D drawing process, such as drawing lines, arcs, polylines, modifying rotation, measuring the length of shapes, adding text, Mtext, and more. Annotations created using these tools can be appended to the product image by clicking the 'Update Annotations' button, which will apply any new annotations to the generated WMF image.
  

It is recommended to only add annotations using the annotation tools present in the nesting tools, as annotations added using different methods may not print or appear within reports.

AI Formula Editing

Fig. 9: The new AI formula assistant section of the Formula Editor.

• A new feature has been added to the Formula Editor: users can now open an AI-assisted chat feature to analyze their formulas for the purposes of explanation, formula creation, formula evaluation, or request recitation of existing formulas. The AI requires user confirmation before any instance of editing can be applied (it will never make any changes automatically, making its use entirely optional) and is fully integrated into the editor without issue. With the AI being integrated into the data of the software, this feature will assist users in streamlining and speeding up any formula related work in the manufacturing process.

• Users can access this feature by opening the Formula Editor in Edit Design Data (double-click on a formula value) and clicking the “AI” button. Read and agree to the Terms of Use and the AI chat window will open. Some example prompts are available, but users can enter their own prompts in the window at the bottom of the UI.

INNERGY Panel

Fig. 10: The INNERGY panel in the MV Palette.

• To enhance the interoperability between Microvellum software and INNERGY software, a new live panel has been added to the Microvellum palette displaying information relevant to one’s manufacturing workflow, such as whether one is signed in, time tracking, tasks, recent notifications, search for products or work orders, and what job is currently active, etc. Clicking on any of the options within the panel will open the corresponding INNERGY page, such as the current project. This panel will always be visible on the palette, regardless of the current tab open. 

APPLOAD Fix

• There was an issue reported with the exit timing of Microvellum BSB, wherein the APPLOAD feature of the software would not load correctly after closing the software. This would sometimes lead to any modifications made to the software’s startup via that feature being lost upon closing and re-opening. This issue has been resolved, and should no longer occur.

DPI Scaling Fix

Fig. 11: The issue of DPI scaling affecting the Config Manager (left) and fixed with the update (right).

• A long-term issue with DPI scaling has been addressed. There has been a recurring issue for users on some display devices, wherein the software window or several interfaces specifically do not scale correctly unless manually adjusted via the shortcut menu (the process for which is documented in the following article). This would lead to issues like specific buttons (such as 'Close', 'OK', etc.) being cut off, and certain interfaces (such as the Configuration Manager) to not have all of their various options appear correctly.  This issue has been resolved;  multiple interfaces should now scale correctly consistently following adjustment via the steps outlined in the article mentioned previously.  

Edit Design Data Fix

Fig. 12: 'WorkbookView has been disposed' error.

• After exiting the Edit Design Data UI, some users experienced an error claiming that the WorkbookView had been disposed, preventing them from properly closing and applying changes made in the spreadsheet. The cause of this issue was determined to be related to the Name Manager feature not closing properly, causing the software to erroneously register issues with the spreadsheet. This issue has been resolved, and the error should no longer appear.

Toolfile Tab Fix

Fig. 13: The IPP settings appearing in the sample spreadsheet tool file.

• Some users reported an issue that would appear within SS toolfiles, wherein the settings tab for IPP toolfiles would be visible and interactable. This issue has been resolved- IPP options should no longer appear in the SS toolfile interface.

Subassembly Validation Fix

• When experiencing an error related to a subassembly failing to validate properly in one’s design data, it is expected that the error message will specifically cite the row on the subassembly sheet of the product that the problem is occurring, to allow a user to easily move to it to review the issue. This was found to not be the case, however, as some users reported that the warning error would instead only state the total number of rows on the sheet, requiring one to manually search the spreadsheet to find the issue. This issue has been resolved, and error messages should now pinpoint exact locations they occurred.

BSB Closure Fix

• Some users reported an issue with Microvellum BSB wherein, even after closing the application, it would continue to run in the background, consuming memory and power to remain running despite not being in use. This issue has been resolved- closing the software should now close it completely.

No Output Fix

• There was a reported issue occurring in certain iterations of Microvellum AC, wherein label images would not appear or would appear in an incorrect quantity in output locations during processing. This issue has been resolved- label images should appear exactly as anticipated in the correct location.