The sphinx documentation generator is a an excellent tool. It was written to generate documentation for Python, but is used by many other projects as well. Its source format is ReStructuredText.
These webpages are written in ReStructuredText as well, and I also use this format for other bits and pieces. On occasion, I want to convert a single ReStructuredText file to an epub. This article documents how to do that.
When you are exploring a problem, in general first write a command-line program whenever possible.
It will take less effort to write then a full-blown GUI.
Recently I wrote a program to remove the protection from ms-excel files.
The original version was written as a command-line program. Later I re-used the relevant code for a GUI program for use on ms-windows. This was mainly for the benefit of some colleagues who are not comfortable with using the command-line.
In this article I want to contrast the two programs.
At work I needed a suitable way to check the calibration of gelcoat spray equipment. Gelcoat requires an initiator (often called “catalyst”) in the form of a peroxide to cure. The peroxide/gelcoat ratio is important, so it is checked regularly by spraying the separate components into suitable containers and weighing them.
For those familiar with gelcoat spraying, this is not a system with coupled gelcoat and peroxide pumps. But rather an external mixing spray gun where the peroxide is simply fed from a pressurized container to the spray gun.
Since we’re handling resins, solvents and peroxide, protective equipment including gloves is a must. That makes it cumbersome to whip out a smartphone to use it as a calculator to check the ratio. Since you don’t want to get gelcoat or peroxide on your expensive phone, you have to take off your gloves to handle it. This would have to be repeated several times.
So I decided to make a diagram where one could relatively easy read off the peroxide percentage given the quantities of both components. This can be printed and laminated between plastic to make it resistant against stains.
The whole thing can be found in a github repo.