Displaying Layer # on LCD screen with S3D

#1
Did you ever want to know what the current layer being printed is and wish it was displayed on the LCD screen?

I know I have.

I was surprised to find out there wasn't a layer variable in S3D and if you search the S3D forums they flat out tell you, you can't print the layer number to the LCD screen.

Well that was then and this is now........... :)

I was really intrigued by the capabilities of the terminal post processing window and after a little digging, I found I could do a whole bunch of string manipulation with it. In short, two simple lines of code will get the layer and z height displayed on the LCD screen You do not have to edit the gcode file externally, and you do NOT need to modify firmware. This is done entirely within Simplify3D and it works for both the standard controller as well as the full graphic controller. It was tested on both. (see pix);.

Just place the following code in the post processing window at the bottom of the scripts tab and you will get the layer number displayed on the screen along with the z height. The replace command simply removes the comment and replaces it with the M117 command. The second line is for formatting only it is not needed but tightens things up. M117 is the gcode to display a message.

{REPLACE "; layer" "M117 Layer"}
{REPLACE " Z = " " Z="}

Amazingly simple but very powerful. I just posted this on the S3D site too.

Enjoy!

ShaqFoo