Messages

5761

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: mx.wxMessageBox question

« on: December 02, 2017, 10:01:19 PM »

Hi,
I think DBK is on to the right thing.

The way I read the code is that without the intervening wx.wxMessageBox statement there is no time delay between

pos = mc.mcAxisGetPos(inst,  AxisNumber)   and

until pos == tonumber(AxisEnteredDistance)code]

Try removing the wx.wxMessageBox and substituting some sort of delay.

Craig

5762

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Reference all home help.

« on: December 02, 2017, 09:51:34 PM »

Hi Nick,
have tried Daz's suggestion and seems to work a treat.

I see I made a typo in an earlier post, the two API calls are:

rc = mc.mcCntlGcodeExecute(
      number mInst,
      string commands)

and:

rc = mc.mcCntlGcodeExecuteWait(
      number mInst,
      string commands)

I copied and pasted from the API.chm without noticing the typo in it, namely the missing 'Wait'...

So the code is:

Code: [Select]

--Go To Center of table script Nick Mach4 Gen Discussion 1/12/2017
function GoCenter();
local inst=mc.mcGetInstance();
local Xhand=mc.mcRegGetHandle(inst,'iRegs0/Xcenter');
local Xcenter=mc.mcRegGetValue(Xhand);
local Yhand=mc.mcRegGetHandle(inst,'iRegs0/Ycenter');
local Ycenter=mc.mcRegGetValue(Yhand);
local Zhand=mc.mcRegGetHandle(inst,'iRegs0/Zcenter');
local Zcenter=mc.mcRegGetValue(Zhand);
local homed=0;
local enabled=0;
if (mc.mcAxisIsEnabled(inst,mc.X_AXIS)==1) then enabled=enabled+1 end;
if (mc.mcAxisIsEnabled(inst,mc.Y_AXIS)==1) then enabled=enabled+1 end;
if (mc.mcAxisIsEnabled(inst,mc.Z_AXIS)==1) then enabled=enabled+1 end;
local Xhomed,rc=mc.mcAxisIsHomed(inst,mc.X_AXIS);
local Yhomed,rc=mc.mcAxisIsHomed(inst,mc.Y_AXIS);
local Zhomed,rc=mc.mcAxisIsHomed(inst,mc.Z_AXIS);
if Xhomed==1 then homed=homed+1 end;
if Yhomed==1 then homed=homed+1 end;
if Zhomed==1 then homed=homed+1 end;
if (homed+enabled)==6 then;
    mc.mcCntlGcodeExecute(inst,"g53 g0 z"..Zcenter.."\n g53 g0 x"..Xcenter.."y"..Ycenter);
else
    wx.wxMessageBox('Axes not enabled/homed');
end
end

--
Craig

5763

General Mach Discussion / Re: Soft warning on z max

« on: December 02, 2017, 09:35:50 PM »

Hi,
what is the Z setting in the G55 work offset?. Remember that the numbers in G55 will be in machine co-ords and your soft limits in machine
co-ords also. Does your Z axis Soft Limits min-max 'window' accommodate the G55 Z value without error?

Craig

5764

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Calculating Counts per Unit for Mach 4 in metric

« on: December 02, 2017, 08:57:46 PM »

Hi,
I personally find metric units to be less confusing especially when doing calculations. If, as yours are, your ballscrews are metric why would you bother converting
to inches, just one more potential numerical inaccuracy.

The only absolute recommendation is that once you have decided on the native units for your machine then leave them alone. I've seen newbies (and done it myself
when I was the newest newbie) attempt to change native units because they have a Gcode file in inches when they're accustomed to mm or vice versa.

Craig

5765

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: How to make Lua wait for signal state to change

« on: December 02, 2017, 08:45:29 PM »

Hi,
rather longwinded post, its starts to make progress about page 3:
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,35694.0.html

Craig

5766

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Reference all home help.

« on: December 02, 2017, 08:36:12 PM »

Hi Nick,

Mach4 could actually be something if it only came with standard machine functions built in, no coding.

NFS has crafted Mach4 with a view to sales to OEM customers. If they were relying on hobbyists sales they might as well sack their employees and call
in the bankruptcy lawyers now as save the rush later.

The consequence  is that there is no such thing as  'standard machine functions', every machine and machine builder will have to determine the required
behavior and code it appropriately. You have, whether you intended it or not, elevated yourself into the category of machine builder/machine integrator,
get used to it.

In years to come there may well be enough code snippets that a newbie can select from a menu of a few hundred or thousands of items to make his installation
fit his machine. Code, such as the substance of this thread, may be reused many times for instance.

You could take the attitude that you shouldn't have to or don't want to do this, or look back a little to the outstanding contributions made by people like Hood, Rich,
BR49 (aka Terry), Tweakie, Gerry and the list goes on...and realize that you have the opportunity to be part of the groundswell of Mach4. I've already made my
decision.

Craig

5767

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: How to make Lua wait for signal state to change

« on: December 02, 2017, 08:02:25 PM »

Hi,
I'm not sure that this will prove directly useful but I helped another bloke with a similar sort of situation with it:

Code: [Select]

LUA Syntax:
rc = mc.mcSignalWait(
number mInst,
number sigId,
number waitMode,
number timeoutSecs);


I'll try to find the original post but there is a couple of things that are worth highlighting:
1) You don't need the signal HANDLE, just its ID, in your case mc.ISIG_INPUT18
2) While there are nearly two hundred input signals defined in Mach4 only the first 64 signals work with this API...mc.ISIG_INPUT0 thru mc.ISIG_INPUT63
3) There are a number of return codes, it is very easy to miss the fact that under a particular circumstance an unexpected return code can be generated
and your code seems to fail for no reason. I suffered quite a few failures of this type while developing code which worked correctly. It is worthwhile
to code a 'trap and message' for those codes that while you don't expect them may well show up from time to time. It may well be that your completed code
is robust without such a precaution, but including such traps during development can save some hair pulling!

Craig

5768

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Reference all home help.

« on: December 02, 2017, 07:42:03 PM »

Hi Nick,
been away for a day or two. What it means is while the move is happening the GUI is stopped, that is to say the DROs don't keep up. When the move finishes
and the Gcode interpreter returns to the GUI then the DROs catch up.

Daz has pointed out (PM) that there is two choices for an API call to execute Gcode. The one I chose is:

Code: [Select]

rc = mc.mcCntlGcodeExecute(
number mInst,
string commands)
which passes control to the interpreter and waits until the interpreter is finished. The other alternative is:

Code: [Select]

rc = mc.mcCntlGcodeExecute(
number mInst,
string commands)
where the commands are passed to the interpreter as before but then returns to the GUI immediately. Its not a huge deal either way, the function will work
its just nice to see the DROs responding. We need to do a little bit of experimenting to determine 1) whether my understanding is correct and 2) if returning before
the function completes introduces unwanted side effects.

This is the joy and at the same time the frustration of Lua/Mach...its so very flexible and capable (good) but can easily lead to unintended consequences (bad).
We are extremely fortunate that people like Daz and Smurph have blazed a trail.

Craig

5769

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Acceleration Settings

« on: December 01, 2017, 12:51:06 PM »

Hi David,
yes drillmans prices are good. The last time I got some he had an over supply of 0.5mm tools and was selling them cheap for $2.60 USD each.
I got 30, wish I'd bought more now. I am getting good life out of tools now, a far cry from what it was like when I started.

Craig

5770

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: Reference all home help.

« on: December 01, 2017, 01:59:59 AM »

Hi Nick,
have added the code to the screen load script and put GoCenter() as left-up script in our Go Center button. It works but there is an issue. When I was debugging
I could watch the DROs change as the mc.CntlGcodeExecuteWait() statement did its thing.

As a Gcode function it is rightly executed by the Gcode Interpreter but while it does so the GUI doesn't see any service and it appears to block. It does
block for the length of time that the Gcode takes to run and while that is the case you can't see the DROs move.

Smurph has made some highly informative posts about this over the last week or ten days. I may go back and re-read to see if any simple solution exists.
I suspect that it will require a co-routine which is beyond my skill at present. Besides, 'making something simple complex' and therefore  losing any interest by you and
any others who may be following rather defeats the purpose of helping others.