MatterControl Codebase Documentation

This directory contains comprehensive documentation of the MatterControl 3D printing software codebase.

Overview

MatterControl is a comprehensive 3D printing workflow application built by MatterHackers. It provides:

3D model viewing and manipulation
Parametric design tools
Integrated slicing (MatterSlice)
Printer communication and control
Library management
Print history and recovery

Technology Stack:

.NET 6.0 (C#)
Custom UI framework (agg-sharp)
OpenGL rendering
SQLite database
MatterSlice slicer engine

Documentation Index

#	Document	Description
1	Core Architecture	Application entry point, initialization, module organization
2	Application Controller	Central singleton, workspaces, events, plugin registration
3	UI & Rendering	Widget system, theming, tabs, popovers
4	3D View & Part Preview	3D viewport, scene context, camera, selection
5	Printer Communication	Serial communication, G-code streams, state machine
6	Slicing System	MatterSlice integration, settings mapping
7	Library System	Content management, containers, providers
8	Data Storage	SQLite database, entities, application data
9	Settings Management	Profiles, layers, presets, validation
10	Design Tools	Primitives, operations, boolean, transforms
11	Print Queue & History	Queue, history, recovery, tracking
12	Plugin System	Extension points, OEM customization
13	Mesh Operations	Import/export, processing, CSG
14	Utilities & Helpers	Caching, localization, threading, math

Key Entry Points

File	Purpose
Program.cs	Application entry point
MatterControlApplication.cs	Static configuration
RootSystemWindow.cs	Main window
ApplicationController.cs	Central controller

Project Structure

MatterControl/
├── MatterControl/           # Main executable
├── MatterControlLib/        # Core library
│   ├── ApplicationView/     # Application state, workspaces
│   ├── CustomWidgets/       # UI components
│   ├── DataStorage/         # Persistence layer
│   ├── DesignTools/         # Parametric design
│   ├── Library/             # Content management
│   ├── PartPreviewWindow/   # 3D view, tabs
│   ├── PrinterCommunication/# Printer connectivity
│   ├── PrintQueue/          # Queue management
│   ├── SettingsManagement/  # Application settings
│   └── SlicerConfiguration/ # Slicer settings
├── MatterControl.Printing/  # G-code, serial
├── MatterControl.OpenGL/    # OpenGL utilities
├── MatterControl.MeshOperations/ # Mesh editing
├── Plugins/                 # Optional features
├── StaticData/              # Resources
└── Submodules/
    ├── agg-sharp/           # Rendering, UI, math
    └── MatterSlice/         # Slicer engine

Key Namespaces

Namespace	Purpose
`MatterHackers.MatterControl`	Main application
`MatterHackers.MatterControl.ApplicationView`	App controller, workspaces
`MatterHackers.MatterControl.PrinterCommunication`	Printer drivers
`MatterHackers.MatterControl.SlicerConfiguration`	Slicing settings
`MatterHackers.MatterControl.PartPreviewWindow`	3D visualization
`MatterHackers.MatterControl.Library`	Content management
`MatterHackers.MatterControl.DataStorage`	Database layer
`MatterHackers.MatterControl.DesignTools`	3D editing tools

Key Patterns

Singleton Pattern:

ApplicationController.Instance - Central controller
Datastore.Instance - Database access
ProfileManager.Instance - Profile management

Observer Pattern:

Events throughout for loose coupling
*Changed events for state notifications

Stream Pipeline:

G-code processing via chained streams
Each stream transforms/filters commands

Container Pattern:

Library uses hierarchical containers
Uniform navigation across storage backends

Dependencies

Internal (Submodules):

agg-sharp - Graphics, UI, math
MatterSlice - Slicing engine
clipper_library - Polygon operations
geometry3Sharp - Geometry algorithms

External (NuGet):

Newtonsoft.Json - JSON serialization
Markdig - Markdown parsing
Lucene.Net - Full-text search
AngleSharp - HTML parsing
PDFsharp - PDF generation
Zeroconf - Network discovery

5 KiB Raw Blame History