V8 issues

[steelhead77]

Greetings,

This is something I just forwarded to my local Mcam dealer. I thought it would be relevent to post it here also so others can add to it or make other suggestions.

Thanks,

Scott

P.S. Does anybody else get script errors on this forum page?

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V8 is a big improvement over V7, however, there are several issues that need to be dealt with. I'm sure I'm not the only one to bring these up.

1. File handling. What keeps happening to my files? I save a file, then a little while later I go to save it again and it's not there. Sometimes it dumps me to root D with no way to get back to the working directory without first going to the desktop then back up. I can live with this hassle for the time being but we have 20 guys who are experiencing the same problem. Is there a fix available?

2. Solids. The solid module is great, however, this morning I come in and loaded the file I had been working on yesterday and all of the changes that had been made to the solid body were gone. I opened up the solid manager and saw a whole bunch of red X's. I tried to regen but it wouldn't let me. I kept getting a parasolid kernel error. So I had to delete the history and start over; aarrgghh!!! I couldn't regen cutter paths either, as it said there was no geometry associated with the toolpath.

3.It keeps changing directories on me. NCI files, nc code files, MC8 files all seem to change places without any reason. At least I haven't been able to see any pattern for it, they just seem to go into folders where they don't belong.

4. Right clicking in the operation manager to copy or move ops only works sometimes. Sometimes I have to try it three or four times before it will move or copy.

5. General instability. We are getting alot of application errors. Sometimes when translating SAT files, sometimes after regening a toolpath, sometimes when translating geometry, sometimes when doing a verify. This is exteremly frustrating. Using autosave is not an option with V8, it's a necessity.

Some enhancements I would like to see are:

1. On the change levels dialog box, have a button to make the inputted level visible or invisible. Keep last layer entered in level number box. Add layer name to dialog box.

2. On all menus (left side) make window selection modal. After window selection it always goes back to single entity selection.

3. Make trim modal, if two entities don't intersect it dumps out of trim mode. This has been a pet peeve for several versions now.

4. When using mask to select entities, put "colors" somewhere more accessable. It currently takes about 12 mouse clicks to mask by color.

[Bob K]

I've also experienced the same problem as stated in #1 above. Sometimes when I do a file save it dumps me out to the root directory. Not a problem if you catch it before hitting save, but it is a major annoyance if you don't catch it.

[Toby]

I have not made the jump to VS8 yet with all these issues hanging in the ballance should I stay at vs7.2c until it smooths out a bit?

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[Toby]

I have not made the jump to VS8 yet. With all these issues hanging in the ballance should I stay at vs7.2c until it smooths out a bit?

TB

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[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Mastercam Version 8 is the most stable initial release of CAD/CAM Software.

With regard to files going where they do not belong, is it al all possible you are hitting "Tab" or another key that will take you somewhere else. I notice when I'm rushing unexpected things happen.

With regard to SAT's, what Version of ACIS Kernel are you trying to read in? They are up to 6.2 now if memory serves me correctly. I've had kernel errrors - GPF's etc in the past when I've tried to bring in files that had newer kernels than my software would handle.

James Meyette

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Toby,

If you do ANY 3D work, ANY Solid work, I would have to ask why have you not made the change. You are wasting valuable time and money by having to reselect surfaces, not being able to pick a pocket floor, having to generate wireframe to generate toolpath. Make the jump. It's very stable.

James Meyette

[cadcam]

toby follow james on this he is correct take it from the rest of us users (not losers he he).

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jay/ aka cadcam

Precision Programming

cnc programming &

Predator reseller

email: [email protected]

web: www.ppcad.net

[Thad]

We have v8.1, but I'm also using v7.2c. The main reason is because the guy who trained me preferred it over v8.1 because of a few items. Right now, I'm in the process of learning the software AND keeping enough work on the floor for 2 shifts, so I think I'll stay with v7.2c for the immediate future. Perhaps I could get these issues addressed and start using v8.1. These issues may seem minor, but they are definate inconveniences. I've only been doing this for just over 2 weeks now, so my lingo may be a little off. I've run manual and CNC machines for 13 years.

 

1) When I save a file, v7.2c remembers where I saved it last and defaults to that directory. With v8.1, I have to lead it back to that directory EVERY time I want to save. Because of our file structure, it's a real pain. Is there any way to hard code it in to remember the last saved directory? BTW, saving to the default directory and then moving files later is equally a pain.

 

2) When using the operations library with v7.2c, it automatically keeps the assigned tool numbers to those operations. I understand that with v8.1, there is a setting to be checked to do this. This setting does not stay checked and it has to be done with each and every job. I don't mind checking it if I only have to check it once, but not for every job! How can I keep all assigned tool numbers without checking it every time?

 

3) This may just sound like bitching, but I like the way v7.2c is set up for the tasks that I perform. 95% of the time, when I hit Xform, I want to hit translate next. It's the same with toolpath, then operations. I like the way those commands are on top of each other, which amounts to a double click. With V8.1, these commands are staggered. It's something that I could probably get used to, but is changing the order of the commands something that I can customize on my PC?

 

4) I only have a 17" monitor and zooming in and out on a die shoe or big adatpor plate is cumbersome. I'm sure in time, I'll get quicker and more precise with it, but I was toying with the idea of getting a spaceball. I know they are expensive, but I thought maybe an online auction or something since the company won't buy one. As mentioned, I'm using v7.2c and running WinNT (4.0 I think). Will a spaceball be compatible with this setup? Or even with v8.1 if I can work out some of the kinks?

 

5) We've just done some tweaking to our posts that we use with v7.2c. Can these same posts be used with v8.1?

 

Just for your info, I only do 2D programming. Someone else does the 3D programming on another system.

 

Thad

[JAMMAN]

Uhhh.Ok. Welcome to the forum first of all, I'm not used to seeing posts from a year and a half ago brought back to life- but here goes.

 

Answer#1-Screen/configure/ Files tab on this page.Select Mastercam (MC8) and in the "selected items data path" you can point it anywhere you like. When it asks you to save settings say yes.

 

Answer#2-NCutils/define ops/defaults. a window will appear with your default op file. Click on "save". Another window will magically appear. Right click anywhere in that window and ANOTHER MENU will appear. Click on job setup and uncheck "assign tool numbers sequentially" IF THAT ISN'T WHAT YOU MEANT- I have had some flaky things happen to saved operations, but only right after saving them. Go in to your saved ops and re arrange them AFTER you save them and the changes should stick.

 

Answer#3-Yes you can but you will find it much easier to assign icons for shortcuts to where you want to be. It took me a while to get used to this being from the MC3.2 days.

 

Answer#4- No idea about the space ball, but I use "page up" and "page down" to zoom, and the arrow keys to pan. I think it's faster than "arial view" in acad.

 

Answer#5-I used my 7.x post with V8 flawlessly, but it would depend on the post. For 2d I would look at some code then run the damn thing!

 

Question#1- Do you work at NMC?

[Thad]

Thanks for the welcome and the reply, Jamman.

 

I thought it would be a good idea to search for and answer first before asking a question that may have been just asked last week.

 

Answer #2 - The path that you described doesn't sound familiar, but I may be wrong. Assign tool numbers sequentially *does* sound familiar. Does that have to be checked off each time you start a new file? If so, then that *was* what I was talking about. We do similar operations to every detail, so keeping the originally assigned tool numbers is essential to efficient programming. V7.2 keeps assigned tool numbers regardless and I don't know why they would have changed it in v8.

 

Answer #3 - I don't necessarily need a shortcut to get to where I want to go, I just thought it was very convenient that toolpath is on top of operations, and Xform is on top of translate. If there is a simple fix to modify it, I'm all ears.

 

No, I don't work at NMC...never heard of them.

 

Thad

[JAMMAN]

answer to answer2- They didn't change it, they simply made sequential tool numbering a default. It's easy to change!

 

Answer to answer#3- Well, just a discussion. It drove me crazy for a while- job setup being under toolpaths, but trust me and assign an icon. You will be one click closer than before.

 

I liked 7.0 better than 7.2 because it brought the tool library up numerically instead of alphabetically. For all the 2D I did, 7.0 was as useful as 8.x, but the drawing enhancements were soooo sweet I couldn't go back and draw in 7.X.

[Matthew]

One thing I use that I find saves a lot of time, is each menu option has a letter underlined. You can use this letter instead of clicking. For example:

 

X form

T ranslate

A ll

E ntities

D one

B etween Points

 

click base position

 

O rigin

 

X, T, A, E, D, B, one click, O (If origin is where you want it to go).