opening MC7 Files

[Roger Peterson]

Anyone remember when version 8 came out? 1999? 2000? I'm can't remember. The fact that we can still open 7 year old files is pretty amazing these days. That being said, I had to update 8 or 9 gigs of mc7 files to Xmr2. It's not hard but it's not quite as painless as it sounds when you have a lot of files, storage space for one thing, migrating all of the "external" files like setup sheets, nc files, job notes, etc... One of things I dislike is that there is not bitmap associated with the files after being mass updated. I'm sure there are people with hundreds of gigs of files to convert, that is not a small task. I empathise, but it could be (and is) much worse. Many will say I did a poor job of managing files, I'd have to agree. Still doesn't make it any easier/more enjoyable.

 

JM2C

[Storkman]

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Crappy AutoCad can open a six year old file Terry

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How many toolpaths have you written with Autocad?

Even peabrains like John and myself know the difference between CAD software and CAM software. Version 7 had no geometry associations with toolpaths. I suppose we should be able to open .geo and .ge3 files as well, for the people stuck in the last decade. If you read the documentation before installing, you would know what is accessable and what is not. Then you could convert before uninstalling the older versions. Nuff said... I'm heading to John's hideout for a beer. Peabrain or not.

[Yogesh K. Raman]

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I’m going to have to reinstall V9, use it (which by the way freaks out the net hasp on our server and must be manually reset after using V9). I’m saving time and making money now!

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I covertly reinstalled V9 from a disc the I.T. guys don’t know about and I know how to reset the hasp server

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Paul B.,

 

Could you explain why you need to "reset the HASP server"? How do you that anyway?

 

We use the netHASP here and most of the staff here run V9, X, X2 side by side without doing anything to the server

[Thee Dragracer1951]

Terry...V7 most certainly DID have toolpath to geo associativity

V6 did not however.

I for one was REALLY happy when V7 came along

 

(Not to be puttin out fires with gasoline or anything...)

[Storkman]

I believe you are incorrect Jim . But I may be wrong(that has happened before). You could not regen files in 7, we did not have v8 so I don't know about that. We jumped right to v9. When you bring a 7 file into a newer version there is no geometry associated with the toolpath, it needs to be reselected.

[Thad]

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Version 7 had no geometry associations with toolpaths.

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Actually, Terry, I think you're wrong on that. Wasn't that V6?

 

Anyway, I don't think that being able to open V7 files should be out of the realm of possiblity. If CNC Software doesn't want to offer support for V7 (based on the Sunset program), that's fine. I also understand that they have to draw the line somewhere on what file types to support. Maybe the Sunset program was the deciding factor. Or maybe it has to do with the old DOS based versions of MC and now we're using a Windows version. Who knows? Any way you look at it, the documentation specified that V7 files couldn't be opened and offered a method of importing the files.

 

On a (somewhat) similar note, I'm falling into the same situation with my tax returns. I use Turbo Tax and I've always saved my files on a floppy as I did my taxes. Now, I need a new computer. Should I pay extra for a non standard floppy drive so I can read my old files should I get audited in the next 5-7 years? Obviously, you're task of converting V7 files is a bigger issue than my tax returns. I'm just making a point.

 

Things change...

 

EDIT: I guess it took me a while to type that. It appears that Jim and I were referring to the other type of toolpath/geometry association.

 

Thad

[Storkman]

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Now, I need a new computer. Should I pay extra for a non standard floppy drive so I can read my old files should I get audited in the next 5-7 years?

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Pay for the floppy drive Thad, for cryin out loud. It's a $9 option on Dell's website.

[Thad]

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It's a $9 option on Dell's website.

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Option being the key word. It's no longer standard.

 

Cost isn't the issue. I $hi+ $9. I was just lamenting how things change. What used to be...isn't necessarily what it is anymore.

 

You didn't really go to Dell's website just to check, did you?

 

Thad

[Storkman]

No I order them all the time. Everybody freaks if they don't get a floppy drive. But none of them have used one in 7 years or better.

[35K chipper]

Paul

I complaned about this in an other thread about 2 weeks ago. today i had a very complex part i pgm in MC7 in 1999. i read it into XMR2 saved and read it into X2. added 5 new features regen post. it will run all week end. customer is really happy and has more parts for us to up rev that were all written in MC7. these files are about 17 meg. nc files. i'm glad i did'nt have to reprogram them. and yes file read into XMR2 perfect with all geo and tool paths intact.

 

hope this helps.

35k chipper

[Mick]

I work on the basis of keeping at least one version back from the current release.

 

In a worse case scenario, you would need to install the version (or versions) necessary to bring your file up to the current version. Its just a fact of life.

 

Having said that, currently, I have V6, V7, V8, V9, X, X2 installed. Using V6 now is a kind of culture shock...LOL

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

I only have the last V9, the last X, and the last X2. I sooooooo want to axe V9 but I have a customer that requires it, and they are a good customer so..... I suffer through their parts.

[Thee Dragracer1951]

This is interesting. I remember going from V6 to V7. We were SOOOO happy. That software was the best thing we'd ever seen. Now we have to "suffer" with V9 every now and then. Think about THAT next time someone bitched about X2 doing something a little silly.....

I may not know where all the buttons are in X2 but I'm damn sure not going back.....and I seem to get the machine to take material off the right places!!

And I just got an email saying that MR1 ought to be along the middle of the month