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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

Submodule Documentation

Submodule Document Description
agg-sharp agg-sharp.md Graphics library: 2D rendering, GUI widgets, 3D mesh, VectorMath, OpenGL, Typography

Planning

Document Description
Design-Only Fork Plan to strip MatterControl down to a pure 3D design/modeling application, removing all printing, slicing, and cloud features.
Web Port Feasibility Analysis of porting design features to a web app (JavaScript, WASM, WebGL). Includes technology mapping and timeline estimates.
Linux Migration Feasibility of migrating the project from its many Windows-only dependencies to cross platform alternatives to fully support Linux.

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