I have a feeling somebody way smarter than I will release an open source application for using a Glowforge. Even if solely for using the machine 100% offline. I don’t even think it’ll take that long before that happens. And that person may be open to put “features” in place that don’t, and may never, exist in the official Glowforge software.
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I’m pretty sure Dan said that g-code is not applicable to the glowforge. An awesome thing to learn though, just won’t be any help in this case.
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Yeah, it sends its own proprietary motion from the internet, if I recall correctly.
That said, as you say, it’s nice to understand how it works on a basic level since you can make your designs more efficient (removing unnecessary motion, etc).
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Didn’t @dan say at one point that the machine itself doesn’t use gcode, that instead the cloud sends down the actual (no doubt compressed) motor and laser commands? So that would move at least some things to where they’re harder to get at. Although I do love the idea of a greasemonkey script.
(And for a setup like this that’s already cloud-based there’s good reason to not use gcode in the machine itself. If you read up at all on motion planning you find that speed and power now depends on what your last dozen moves were and what the next dozen moves will be. The g-code just says “go from here to there at roughly this speed”, and something else has to figure out how to do that without breaking any laws of physics.)
Yup, GF speaks a different language but knowing any language, G-code in this case, helps understand the universal grammar of motion control.
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I don’t know that using g-code would preclude them from doing that, since it’s “just” a matter of optimizing before implementing. But it’s moot, either way.
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Well poop! We’re screwed then! 
Just kidding - they might not use gcode, but whatever they use will be similar in function.
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I recall @dan saying that the info they send is to the glowforge is essentially a waveform.
So it’s singing your design across the interwebs.
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How poetic! 
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Asking @dan a specific question, because I think it may help illuminate a possible solution.
If I make an SVG file that has a 12" x 20" (or whatever the absolute max dimensions are) rectangle and then position my parts within that rectangle, can I depend on the parts being in the same “default” position each time I go to run that file?
Obviously I don’t intend to cut the rectangle, just to use it as a virtual jig.
If this is the case, then I can make and store a physical jig that references some immovable element of the machine, and then reuse it at any point when I want to cut that file.
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I know this was directed at dan, but that was in line with what I was thinking…we create a boundary box in the software with the relative positions laid out, and if worst comes to worst, we can visually align the corner of the box with the physical origin and drag everything into place that way.
More on that later when we’ve seen it. (Josh do you still have your machine?)
when you opened a file in glowforge software interface, how/where does it position itself on the screen. i.e. does it float around with your cursor until you click somewhere. Does it snap to the centroid of the cut area, does it snap to a “virtual” lower left corner?
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Ummm…can’t you just go out to the shop and try that? Or is JoshForge back at the mother ship?
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I did not think this would have been be such a difficult question to answer. The repeatability of CNC machines is a big part of the allure and for our use case it would be critical.
This is probably the most succinct answer the original question - thank you! We will prop material at 0,0 and laser cut jigs for different repeating jobs.
And this gives me some comfort as to accuracy.
(Phew…)
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Having me answer it would simply mean that on my beta machine at this moment it does X.
Having @dan answer it makes it a feature. 
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Ah. Good call. Especially since all the Betas probably behave just a tiny bit differently based on when they were built and which firmware is loaded.
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Oops! That’s right…not allowed! Sorry 'bout that.
so what im thinking will most likely happen is that someone will first adapt the firmware to accept commands/waveforms from a local host. Then there will be a plugin to allow something like LaserWeb to convert commands to waveforms to send.
The problem with sending such raw commands to this machine is that there might not be any local safeguards built into the firmware to prevent it from physically crashing. So hopefully whoever is developing this takes those things into account should someoen accidentally enter a bedsize that is incorrect, or accidentally use inches instead of mms
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The average user wouldn’t need to learn gcode to be able to use gcode-driven machines. There are a bunch of CNC machines that target “beginners” by offering easy to use software, that still use gcode. These machines can be used by people who don’t know the first thing about gcode.
I get the impression that 3D printers use gcode as well, yet most people using them probably aren’t even aware of it, much less have they been forced to learn it.
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They do, you can watch the console output as each operation is performed, and type in commands while its running to alter temperatures, speeds etc. Ultimately the gcode is translated into waveforms by the control board and the same thing that is running the glowforge is running those machines. They just opted to centralize the expensive control boards. They could be using gcode on their side and we’d never know the difference.
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