The suggestion you make is good, however, it has one problem.
OpenSCAD doesn’t have that capability.
The customisation panel exposed in the MW interface is built using the way OpenSCAD provides the same UI.
OpenSCAD is very good, but its underlying programming model is limited.
Whilst it provides variables, they are immutable. You cannot change its value after it has been declared. Yes, a non-variable variable - nuts!
Even if you could provide some form of adaptable UI, it would require some form of mutable variable (ones that can change).
The existing UI in OpenSCAD, MW and thingiverse are post-process reading of the source code comments looking for defined syntax to display the choices and then render an appropriate control.
I would love to be able to have a user choose from a drop down a main choice which then changes one or more sub-choices. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible.
The only way around it would be for MW to invent a solution and decouple the UI from the code. This would make the barrier to entry harder for new and old users alike.
As with all things, given a bit of time, developer-designers will figure out new ways to change the UX of their questions to improve the user experience.
All that said, the ability to for users to access choices to make their own version of something an amazing leap beyond predetermined models. (Obviously, for those that are appropriate.)
I have two up at the moment, I have several more in the works and dozens of old scripts I can convert to be user friendly.
Just one of my OpenSCAD offerings currently has more than 30 distinctly different parameters to make very different outcomes.
Another one automatically generates a stand for the original item in one of several styles the user can pick, no need to set any of its values as it has more than enough from the main model. This is one way improvements can come. Understanding the goal of the script from the users perspective.
I would dearly love these features added to close the gap on what OpenSCAD can do and what the MW implementation provides.
- Custom fonts I provide
- Access to supporting files I upload to the project
- Private source code option
- Ability for the user to save their settings for use later
I have some projects that I am uncomfortable giving away the code, but, happy to let people have the results.
This is equivalent to people only sharing the STL rather than the STEP or fusion 360 files.
As it stands, MW require us to give away the cow rather than the milk.