Jump to content

Welcome to eMastercam

Register now to participate in the forums, access the download area, buy Mastercam training materials, post processors and more. This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Use your display name or email address to sign in:

little annoyance with plane manager


jlw™
 Share

Recommended Posts

You can't. Several of us have been complaining about that one for some time. I hope they implement some of the suggestions they have been given but I'm not holding my breath. They don't seem to think this one is important. I'm working on a project that probably has 200+ planes in it. It's a nightmare to manage to say the least. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use the mess out of levels. I'd like to be able to sort them the way I want. You either get alpha/numeric or order created and neither give what I want :(

 

You need to learn about the "Level Set" function. It allows you to "group" levels together, and turn them on/off as a "set". Very handy, and has eliminated 95% of my issues with organizing geometric data in a Mastercam File. This, and "View Sheets" are game changers for anyone that is a "Power User" of the software...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is my solution:

 

I save my active file using "Save As", and save it to the same folder, naming it "my_file_name"_FIX-PLANES.MCX-9.

 

In my new "FIX-PLANES" file, I press the "Delete all Operation, Groups, and Tools" button. Appropriately, this button looks like a Stick of Dynamite! It deletes all the Toolpaths, and data from the Ops Manager. (make sure this is on your "extra file", and not the good one!!!)

 

OK, in this new file, the Planes are no longer associated to the operations, so we can easily change them without the Ops manager warning us. I open the Planes Manager, and "rename" the Planes, adding a "group" number, or some other identifier in front of the planes I want to group together. Maybe it is "OP40", because I'm changing what I'm using the planes for. So I add "OP40" or "000", or whatever, in front of the named planes. I also take the time to set Work Offset number for each plane, so that when I associate them to an operation, the correct Work Offset is generated.

 

Now, I save the file, and then run Ram-Saver to completely clean it out.

 

Ok, now I open my original file, and go to the Planes Manager. I go to the bottom of the Planes Manager, and do an "Import". Then I pick the file I just worked on.

 

The Planes Manager from the "FIX-PLANES" will now pop-up as a dialog box. The key here is this: the "import planes" function will import the planes as an ordered list, from top-to-bottom.

 

That means on the first pass through, you have to select the "top plane" in your import group, and might skip quite a few in the list, to import them in the correct order.

 

In my test file, I had the following list of planes:

 

  • OP40_G54.1 P1
  • OP40_G54.1 P2
  • OP40_G54.1 P10
  • OP40_G54.1 P4
  • OP40_G54.1 P5
  • OP40_G54.1 P3
  • OP40_G54.1 P6
  • OP40_G54.1 P7
  • OP40_G54.1 P8
  • OP40_G54.1 P9

 

So on the first "import", I held down the CTRL key, and picked "P1", "P2", and "P3".

 

Then, I did "Import" again, and got "P4 through P9".

 

On the final "import planes" function, I got "P10".

 

This gave me a properly ordered list. Now I've got the pain to go through of using "Edit common parameters" to select the new planes for the operations.

 

That's about the best method I've found for "re-ordering" the Planes in the Planes Manager. It's a ton of work, but on files that have grown out of control, it is the best way to make them manageable. At least that way you aren't scrolling up and down constantly, because the planes you are using at this point have been grouped together...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Colin! I'll dig into the Level Set function. I do use viewsheets... Without that I'd be lost and spend more time clicking levels than anything else. I generally try to name them so that they are easy to follow no matter the order. As of last night and this post I'm considering a new naming convention wherein I can click the bar at the top to get the order I want. It's another one of those things that mean "a little more work up front." My "a little more work up front" things are starting to pile up. If one could weigh kilobytes I'd have a ton of template files.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Join us!

eMastercam - your online source for all things Mastercam.

Together, we are the strongest Mastercam community on the web with over 56,000 members, and our online store offers a wide selection of training materials for all applications and skill levels.

Follow us

×
×
  • Create New...