Messages

2591

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: loop in macro till register changes

« on: April 18, 2019, 07:20:47 PM »

Hi,
if I understand correctly you want the macro to proceed to a certain point and then pause until a register changes?

Can you clarify a number of points.
1) This is a macro, ie an m*********() called from a Gcode job?
2) What happens if the register does not change value as expected? Is the macro supposed to wait forever?
3) What does the register change from and what does it change to?
4) How long is the pause expected to be? Would it be adequate for instance to wait 1 second , test the register, if
negative wait for another second? That would mean that if the register changed state it could be up to a 1 second delay
before it was tested and the remainder of the macro run. It that acceptable?

Craig

2592

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: edit Cyclestop in screen

« on: April 18, 2019, 07:05:22 PM »

Hi,
logic is overrated.....my motto is go mad now and beat the rush.

Craig

2593

FAQs / Re: Mach4 to C/C++ transport

« on: April 18, 2019, 04:51:22 PM »

Hi,
most of the example code fragments in the API.chm are all C/C++ syntax.

There are no examples of C/C++ code in Mach4. All C/C++ code has been compiled already and most of it
is proprietary and you would not be permitted to view it anyway.

Mach4Hobby/LuaExamples is full of Lua examples.

Craig

2594

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: edit Cyclestop in screen

« on: April 18, 2019, 08:12:09 AM »

Hi,
CycleStop() is defined in the screen load script around line 183.

There are a few occasions where you will see a function called but be followed by what looks to be compliant
Gcode but all commented out. It is done simply to give you a glance at what you might  expect to find if you were to
dig through the screen load script for the real function definition. If you wish to change the behavior of the machine
you must dig up the one and only real function definition in the screen load script and edit it there to enact the behavior
that you want.

Craig

2595

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: edit Cyclestop in screen

« on: April 18, 2019, 08:03:59 AM »

Hi,
well you need to edit the CycleStop() function. As I explained you cannot edit this script, it is screenscript.lua
and is read only.

You need to find CycleStop() in the screen load script and edit there to do as you require.

CycleStop is not a macro. You can write and save code there and is useful in that you can single step through the code
in debug mode to debug prior to installation in its final location....the screen load script.

Craig

2596

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Missing Documentation of mcCntlGetPoundVar magic numbers...

« on: April 18, 2019, 06:15:53 AM »

Hi,
have we not outlined a solution?

Craig

2597

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: edit Cyclestop in screen

« on: April 18, 2019, 06:13:57 AM »

Hi,
I think you may be mistaking the screen script with the .lua extension as opposed to the screen load script which
can be edited.

The screen script (with the .lua extension) is read only. All the Lua code of the GUI gets rolled into one large chunk
and it has the .lua extension. You can't edit it, you must edit those individual bits that make it up.

Open the screen editor, open the screen load script and find the cyclestop() function. That's what you need to edit.

Craig

2598

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Can't load any files into Mach 3 from Q-cam.

« on: April 17, 2019, 06:42:32 PM »

Hi,
I'm not familiar with the CAD/CAM package you are using.

I will relate what I have seen with Mastercam with which I am more familiar.

When you first generate a toolpath in Mastercam it saves it in a special file format, from memory, ***.mcam.
Even if you could open and read this file it would not mean much. It contains codes that are native to Mastercam.
This file needs to be processed by a post processor file. When that happens the ***.mcam code gets converted
into Gcode for your machine, ***.nc. Note that if you had two machines, one a Mach machine and the other a
Marzac say. You would use exactly the same ***mcam file to generate the Gcode for each machine, but you would
use a Mach3 post to get Mach3 compatible code or use a Marzac post to get Marzac compatible Gcode but both
rely on the same toolpath described by ***.mcam

The problem you are describing could be three different things.

It may be that the CAD/CAM package is producing its own native toolpath code, similar to ***.mcam described
above. It is not Gcode, and will not load into any Gcode machine. It will have to be post processed before it becomes
Gcode.

Can you be 100% sure that the raw output of Q-cad/cam is being post processed?

Another possibility it that the Gcode that is being generated by the post processor is being stored as a ***.nc file, or
a ***.gcd file or some other file extension that Machs Gcode interpreter does not understand despite the file containing
normal Gcode.

May I suggest using Notepad++ or a similar text editor to open the file and see if it has ordinary Gcode ASCII text within
it? It might be as simple as renaming the file to something that Mach recognizes or you can alter Mach to accept a file
with an unusual extension.

The last possibility is that the post processor is producing bad code. For instance in Mach compliant code a line number
starts with an 'N' followed by the line number, N155, for example. If the post processor omits the leading 'N' then
Mach will baulk.

It is for this reason that I asked you to post a sample of the code.

You are going to have to try 'Open With:' until you find a means of reading/editing or copying the Gcode within the file.

Craig

2599

G-Code, CAD, and CAM discussions / Re: Can't load any files into Mach 3 from Q-cam.

« on: April 17, 2019, 05:50:54 PM »

Hi,
please post the first 50 or so lines of the code that you are trying to load.

It sounds like the post processor is inserting statements that Machs Gcode interpreter does not recognize.

Craig

2600

Mach4 Toolbox / Re: Enums,Pound Variables,Return Codes,Machine States

« on: April 17, 2019, 05:42:58 PM »

Hi,
and the remaining attachments.

Craig