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Please do not replace radio buttons with a combobox (another bad UI design decision)


SlaveCam
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On 5/24/2023 at 11:08 AM, Chally72 said:

There were a few areas we specifically targeted to improve the linking page for. The biggest was- how do we get Tip Comp and Breakthrough onto the same page with the rest of the linking parameters? It was a huge impediment to learning the toolpath and also to understanding what a path was doing when you had to visit not only the linking page, but also a subpage (that depending on the toolpath was either under Linking parameters or Cut parameters) to get a complete picture of what depth the hole would actually be drilled to, for example. Adding options to a page that was already full always comes with a compromise, and in this case the radiobuttons took up too much room and had to be changed to a dropdown, but we feel the visibility of the tip comp settings is the more important choice here, given how many problems it causes when you copy an op or leave it on and then drill to a wrong depth or don't understand why the path isn't giving you what you want.

 

When we talk about clicks, first we have to look at how often we're changing from incremental to absolute and back- almost never. It's a setting that's changed once when the path is initially made, and usually not touched after that. Tip comp, or depths, however, are things that require constant tweaking as you dial in a process, and making a user take two extra clicks and jump to a different page to even view these settings is mouse miles, too! Also, as mentioned, there is the ability to simply hover over the dropdown and scroll the mousewheel- so we went from one click to "zero" clicks from that perspective. In terms of visually digesting what a toolpath is set at, as well, I'd have to mentally spend some energy to scan through the column of radiobuttons to, say, make sure that all my settings are indeed incremental, or associative, etc, whereas it's a lot easier to "tin soldier inspect" the dropdowns and spot the one that might be set wrong or out of place.

UI changes or tweaks always come with compromises when an existing interface has been around for so long and isn't in a state where it can be easily expanded. In this case we felt that these changes offered much more value than what retaining the radiobuttons offered.

I hate change as much as the next person lol, but adding the tip comp to the drilling parameters was a good idea.

Always forgetting to turn it off when going to a tap or spot, now it will be right under my nose when I'm setting the depth.

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4 hours ago, Compaq007 said:

I just hope that tabbing thru the settings works orderly.  

 It does, I just tried it.

It skips over "Tip Comp" though, so if you're a tabber who likes to check buttons with your spacebar you'll have to grab the mouse for that one.

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It skips over the activation box, but if you have tip comp activated the tab order goes through the tip comp fields correctly. There's a limitation there I believe because that control changes to Break Through depending on the holemaking toolpath, which messed with our ability to add it to the tab order.

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On 5/25/2023 at 5:33 AM, Thad said:

In over 20 years of using MC, I've never used tip comp and breakthrough. I couldn't care less what page that setting is on, or if it even exists at all.

Doing die work, we do a lot of holes that start and end at different Z depths (inside pockets, keys, break into pockets/steps on the other side, etc) so I change back and forth from absolute to incremental multiple times per day. I also copy and reuse toolpaths all day long. So if you think Abs/Inc is changed "almost never," you're wrong.

I'm with you, I've been using MC the last 15yrs dead ahead every day, before that I bounced in and out of programming to be close to 20yrs of using MC and I don't even remember when tip comp was introduced.

Besides why have a complete page dedicated to doing the exact same thing as the little calculator that has been under the depth field in a drill cycle? Only difference is that the user has to add/subtract the amount they want to break thru manually instead of entering it in a field.. And it's not like you can leave the tip comp enabled so it's active for every drill toolpath cause sometimes you just can't drill deeper and MC can't tell the difference between selecting the back edge of a hole or the full dia. depth of a hole. All MC see's is a point to use as a depth.

I never understood the intent of Tip Comp page anyways. Maybe just to old school and stuck in my ways seeing as I started on ver. 5.5. 🤷‍♂️

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22 minutes ago, MWearne said:

I was indifferent to this change initially but the more I use it, the more I prefer the old way.

If lack of room is the issue, maybe tightening up the TIp Comp section provides enough room...

image.png.fed24e8ac44ed9658d7d32c41cd277c9.png

I'm opposite, less pages always better for me.

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13 hours ago, OVodov said:

I'm opposite, less pages always better for me.

I like tip comp move, I'm not liking the radio button switch. My post was meant to point our if the radio buttons were removed due to space limitations, tightening up the tip comp as shown would provide extra space.

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12 hours ago, MWearne said:

I like tip comp move, I'm not liking the radio button switch. My post was meant to point our if the radio buttons were removed due to space limitations, tightening up the tip comp as shown would provide extra space.

Nobody likes that switch. Dropdown menu is an evil that seized the CNC Software. 

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On 5/25/2023 at 4:57 PM, Jobnt said:

Imma call BS on this. If it "won't" happen it's because they don't "want" it to happen. 

It's called a GUI for a reason... Make it GUI. Give the CUSTOMERS what they want. Move on to the next big thing. 

It's simple. Really. Simple.

or make every page customizable with radio buttons checkbox etc.

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1 hour ago, ManMadeDesaster said:

or make every page customizable with radio buttons checkbox etc.

Bad idea.

So if you change the workplace you will need to learn the same software all over again and cannot use your muscle memory.

The reason why people like SolidWorks or Fusion360, this two software are primitively user friendly with exact rules in any feature within. I's not like in Mastercam where you need to hit Esc in scenario and Enter in another, or have order of icons - Flat endmill, Ball endmill, Bull endmill on one window and Flat endmill, Bull endmill Ball endmill in another.

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2 hours ago, OVodov said:

Bad idea.

So if you change the workplace you will need to learn the same software all over again and cannot use your muscle memory.

I've got to agree with this

I have my personal seat of Mastercam customized the way I like it and it's been this way for 20 years.

If I sit down in front of a default install with no 3D mouse I cannot use it.

You'd think I'd never seen or used Mastercam before

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3 hours ago, Simon Kausch said:

You can backup your configs as far as i know. Then you could import all your settings at the new place.

Yes you can.

Have you ever shared computer with Mastercam with another person from second shift?

Maybe this person doesn't like your settings. Common settings must be the same, fine tuning yes, it's different story.

 

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20 hours ago, OVodov said:

Mastercam where you need to hit Esc in scenario and Enter in another

^^^ This. ^^^ #@$%ing this!! ^^^

MC lost their workflow when they moved to the X GUI. Real shame too because it used to flow well. Now GibbScam has better flow than Mastercam. 

I'd be joining in on the community LOLs but since I know both software's so well I have to deal with it every day. 

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