Messages

1

VB and the development of wizards / Re: g-code save

« on: June 29, 2010, 03:48:16 PM »

I had missed the edit button, in looking for a save facility, and missed that the manual bit was doable. So a useful comment even if it wasn't the solution

2

VB and the development of wizards / Re: g-code save

« on: June 29, 2010, 12:35:47 PM »

Very close, but I can't see how a wizard can get to the data in the editor. Granted, it could be used as a manual workaround (by saving to a file, then giving that to the wizard) but it's a non-obvious step and I'm trying to automate as much as possible.

3

VB and the development of wizards / Re: g-code save

« on: June 29, 2010, 11:27:11 AM »

I'm not editing g-code

The situation is that I'm making PCBs (but could be engraving - similar requirements). The width of the cut is critical and, since a v-cutter is used, the depth is also critical. We are talking 1 or 2 mil here. So, what my code (actually a wizard) will do is to firstly probe the surface of the copper to build up a 3D map. It will then load in some g-code, generated by a PCB CAD utility, and run through this fixing up the z-offsets to be relative to the 3D map it has of the PCB surface (thus negating any warping which would make the tracks be too thick/thin). The result is written to the teaching file, and then loaded and run. No manual intervention anywhere, except to specifiy the PCB file.

But... since the cutting depth is so critical the tool profile can affect things too. V-cutters don't have an infinite point, so working out the depth from the cutter angle is usually wrong. The cutters I currently use have a tip width specified at 0.2mm but the one I'm using right now is 0.17mm. Doesn't sound a lot of difference, but when the cutting depth is 0.15mm...

So, to resolve that issue I wrote a wizard that basically performs the kind of bracketing you might use for photo exposures: decide the value you want, then do some tests either side of that. My wizard takes the cutter details (angle, tip, etc) and target width, then works out the depth and generates code to cut a series of test tracks around that. For instance, if it figures the depth should be 0.15mm it might cut 5 short tracks of 0.11, 0.13, 0.15, 0.17 and 0.19. The actual cut width can then be checked and the correct depth chosen for that tool.

Trouble is that the results of the bracket test may not be correct because any warpage of the board hasn't been allowed for. So what I need is to take the code for the bracket test and feed that through the mapping wizard. I could do that by just writing to a known file, but it strikes me that sometimes the first wizard won't be one I wrote, hence I would need to be able to get to the code that's already loaded into Mach3 waiting to be run.

Hope that explains it better

4

VB and the development of wizards / g-code save

« on: June 29, 2010, 10:31:38 AM »

Is there some way to save the g-code that Mach3 has loaded? The situation is that I'm writing a macro that will take some g-code file and adjust certain parameters in it, then feed that to Mach3 (using open/load teachfile). However, sometimes the g-code will originate from another wizard, which would use open/load teachfile itself, so I would need to be able to get to the generated g-code.

5

Machscreen Screen Designer / Re: MachScreen releases

« on: June 14, 2010, 11:47:51 AM »

Thanks for the info. I installed into W2K-SP4 and got the message there, but also Mach Screen popped up some other message implying the OS wasn't up to date. I then copied everything to Windows 7 and got the same original message.

I just checked the W2K install and the dll is in system32 as you suggest. I copied that to the W7 setup and it works fine there, though still gives an error on W2K.

Thanks very much. Great program

6

Machscreen Screen Designer / Re: MachScreen releases

« on: June 14, 2010, 07:55:28 AM »

I just grabbed 1.43 and whenever it starts up there's a messahe: "MachScreenReadOnly.dll not found"

After acknowledging the error, MachScreen seems to run OK. Should I revert to an earlier version or is this OK?

7

Machscreen Screen Designer / Re: Tickers

« on: November 30, 2009, 05:10:16 PM »

Thank you very much

8

Machscreen Screen Designer / Tickers

« on: November 29, 2009, 07:34:54 AM »

Not sure if this is a machscreen problem or something else...

If I copy the standard 1024.set and then save it as something else, the tickers no longer work. For instance, on the main screen there is ticker0 next to the reset button which, on startup, displays "Press Reset .... Emergency Mode..." etc. In the saved screenset it just shows 'ticker0' all the time.

However, the 'Error', 'profile' and 'File' labels correctly show messages.

9

Finished Screens / Re: Mach3 Aqua

« on: November 28, 2009, 07:08:38 AM »

OK, I gotta admit that in actually doing this there are no obvious jaggies, but the Artsoft circle is elliptical.

Which, when you think about it, is pretty good if that's the only thing to whine about

Thanks for you help.

10

Finished Screens / Re: Mach3 Aqua

« on: November 27, 2009, 07:35:46 PM »

Oh! I completely missed that, thanks

But.. that stretches (or squashes) the display window, albeit by a small amount if the menu bar is hidden. That kind of defeats the point of designing at 1024x768 since you end up with jaggies. If the design took account of the usable window size instead, like the original 1024 set, then there would be no stretch artifacts.

It's a blinding screen set and an amazing amount of work put into it. It just bugs me that it can't completely fill the screen properly.