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Author Topic: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....  (Read 16081 times)

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Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #10 on: August 13, 2011, 09:58:37 AM »
Ray, Which V are you using? I've never had any of these issues - I've stuck with R3.042.020 as I've found this to be darn near completely stable and I've used plenty of complex macros. A few issues with the Brain editor but that's about it.

as hitting ESC (which kills all active VB processes)...

Personally I believe it SHOULD, but it doesn't - neither does hitting RESET - well not in the above V anyway.

Ian


Ian,

Version doesn't matter - these bugs have been in there for many, many years.  I first found them in 3.042.020.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.

Offline BR549

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Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #11 on: August 13, 2011, 02:46:30 PM »
I am holding at V.020 BUT there is an earlier verion that is almost rock solid BUT the later versions Changed the way Modio works SO there is not an easy way to go that far back. It was the version before Art changed the Modbus and I had to reflash the modio to make it work with the newer version.

I also REboot IF I have to crash out of a macro for the same reasons listed.

Ray you are not alone(;-)

(;-) TP
Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #12 on: August 15, 2011, 11:19:59 PM »
Major progress today!  Brian has finally reproduced, on his system, the odd behavior I have of the A axis moving when it shouldn't, like when I do a probe in Z.  This currently causes my Z axis to move on the order of 0.005" every time I set my tool length.  There is definitely a bug in there, in the math related to applying fixture offsets, which causes Mach3 to think the machine is in a position other than the position its actually in.  He's working feverishly on understanding the root cause right now, so he can fix it.

He's also ordered a pendant similar to mine, so he can run my macropump "driver", to understand the jogging issues I have.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.
Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2011, 11:37:21 AM »
Good news!  Brian has fixed the problem that was causing erroneous moves on my A axis, so we're down to just a single problem now - macros sometimes going rogue, and causing jerky jogs, ignored jogs, ignored MDI commands, and a host of other anomolies.  Brian is still working on these issues, and I have no doubt he'll have a fix shortly.

We're close!  And I think these issues will help explain a whole host of irreproducible problems I, and others, have experienced over the years, and should especially go a long ways toward making extensive use of macros, as some of us do, much more robust .

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.

Offline BR549

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Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2011, 11:42:32 AM »
Sorry Comment deleted by me.

(;-) TP
« Last Edit: August 16, 2011, 11:45:21 AM by BR549 »
Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #15 on: August 23, 2011, 12:24:21 PM »
Brian and I are continuing to beat on this, and finding increasingly smaller, and more obtuse,but nonetheless significant, issues.  There is still an apparent problem with VB scripts hanging around, and causing problems.  Brian is working on "instrumenting" this, to track down the root cause.  We've tracked down some unexpected side-effects of some functions (like the fact that sending Mach3 a Continuous Jog Stop (OEM buttons 334-339) will cause G0, G1, G2, G3, G31 to misbehave.  If you have a VB button, it is quite easy to get two instances of the script to run simultaneously (not good...), with often odd, and unpredictable, results.  I believe these things, in aggregate, go a long way towards explaining the capricious and unpredictable nature of screenset and VB programming in Mach3, so I think we'll all be much better off once they're cleaned up.

My machine did something truly bizarre a few days ago - It got itself into a mode where, when doing a probe in Z, instead of doing the correct sequence (fast probe down, retract, slow probe down, retract) it would do a fast probe UP a short distance, then RAPID UP into the limits!  Even a re-start did not fix it!  A few hours later, it started working right, all by itself.

Regards,
Ray L.
Regards,
Ray L.

Offline BR549

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Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #16 on: August 23, 2011, 01:24:05 PM »
HIYA RAY one thing to please remember to fix. In a Mcode that contains CB and code"Gcode motion code" MIX  It is imperative that the macro stays in SIMPLE order of execution WITHOUT having to resort to extra wait states,symaphores and such. That means FIXING While Ismoving(), Isloading, etc so they WORK 100% without fail. I suggested a new function a while back.
SusWhileDo() that could be a big help.

Multithreading is Great but NOT if you cannot control it. With motion codes it MUST behave as it is a huge SAFTEY concern.

Good Luck, (;-)TP

Offline stirling

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Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #17 on: August 23, 2011, 01:56:31 PM »
Ray - I have a feeling I'm going to be howling at the moon - but can I please urge some caution.

Sending continous jog stops: If you want to change Mach to prevent the results of this then "maybe" that's fair enough. But to be honest if you send continuous jog stops then that IMHO is just crap programming. FWIW I know how this has come about because I've written pendant code. Proper programming prevents this. Anyway - like I said "probably" not a big deal to change this.

Now the one that really worries me.

Getting two instances of code running if you hit a button twice is not the least bit surprising nor if you understand that is it unpredictable. In fact it's perfectly normal in any threaded windowing environment. Moreover it can be useful - IF you know what you're doing.

You've stated earlier that Brian is good at responding to user requests and I would agree. However, I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that sometimes IMHO he's TOO good. When a user brings up what he considers to be "an issue" - I find myself wondering if enough time and thought is given before a "fix" is implemented. I get a nasty feeling here that a little too much "shooting from the hip" is going on.

Ian

Offline BR549

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Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #18 on: August 23, 2011, 03:13:16 PM »
HIYA IAN, Are you picking on me again?  (;-) LOLOLOL

OK I am taking the stand for the CNC MACHINIST and no one else that uses MACh3 for whatever motion control. This is not for CB applications not pertaining to actual CNC machine use.  I have very little problem using the CB for creating OTHER stuff it works very well

I need a Macro system for Mcodes that BEHAVES exactly like Gcode does.  Run it live , run it from a buffer, run it from down the street, I don't care. BUT MAKE it behave as Gcode does. Simple and 1 line at a time execution if required. IF it takes adding in a header to identify it as a Mcode that is ok too. Use # parms or named Parms I don't care. Just provide a LIST of the params. Think MacroB here, it is not always pretty but darn it it works 99.99999% of the time.

 I  AM a cnc machinist NOT an ADVANCED system programmer. I should NOT have to learn a new Advanced programming language just to be able to create and use a Mcode to do my work.  The basic conditionals + params + math will work just fine.

Thank You, End of rant (;-) TP

Offline stirling

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Re: Macros And Buttons - Strangeness Abounds....
« Reply #19 on: August 23, 2011, 04:39:18 PM »
Hi Terry - picking on you? - absolutely not. FWIW I know you're a machinist with more experience than I can dream of.

Group hug over, you raise an interesting point about macro programming in Mach. Maybe if I understand you correctly, then it SHOULD be much simpler and more proscriptive.

I remember many years ago having a discussion with a fellow programmer who didn't like C. He argued that it was just too easy to screw a machine up and that C++ and Ada and their ilk helped prevent that. I argued that C allowed you to get into the very guts of a system but with freedom came responsibility. We never did agree.

So you know what? maybe you're right. Mach is not a programming environment - it's a machine controler and maybe macro capability and flexilbility should reflect that.

Ray - Please ignore my previous post.

Ian
« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 05:06:08 PM by stirling »