Large files

[k_barry]

I am new to Mastercam having just purchased V9 Mill and lathe.

I am having trouble with file size. I drew a rectangle using standard default settings and the file size was 140K long.

I could not believe it! 4 lines with no toolpath information and it is 140K.

I was hoping to save files onto a floppy, but with this file size I wont be able to save many. When I put tool information on it it will only get bigger.

Have I done something wrong?

My Mastercam dealer couldn't give me an answer.

 

I am an old user of Smartcam and this would have only been 5K or 10K even with a tool.

 

Has anyone struck this problem, or is it something I have to live with.

 

Thanks

Kevin Barry

Australia

[Charles Davis]

I don't think you have much to worry about. There is a lot of "overhead" associated with even a simple file since Mastercam keeps track of the default settings for the file (system configuration, views, etc).

 

File size will not grow linearly as you create the file. If you look in the samples directory, you'll see most of these files are well under 1MB.

 

In any case, I'd avoid saving anything on a floppy, since they are so unreliable. email the file to yourself if you want to work from home, and backup to a CD for permanent backup.

 

Also, buy a registered copy of pkzip. It is very, very simple to use and really an indespensible tool.

[Glenn Bouman]

You can also turn off "Save thumbnail image with geometry". That thumbnail is used with the file preview and takes just over 100k in size.

 

[ 07-06-2002, 02:53 PM: Message edited by: Glenn Bouman, In-House ]

[Rick Damiani]

quote:

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I was hoping to save files onto a floppy, but with this file size I wont be able to save many. When I put tool information on it it will only get bigger.

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When you save the file, be sure to remove the checkmark from the 'Save thumbnail image with geometry' option at the bottom of the file save dialog box. Those bitmapped preview images are useful, but they add between 100K and 200K to the file size. A file with a single rectangle in it and no toolpaths is 140KB with the 'thumbnail' option on, and only 12KB with that option off.

 

What I reccomend to my students is that they turn that option off if they are going to save to a floppy disk and/or for e-mailing, and turn that option on when they save to anything else.

[Scott Bond]

Hi

quote:

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I was hoping to save files onto a floppy

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Try to avoid this policy as soon as possible. Maybe get a simple Zip drive.

 

quote:

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I am an old user of Smartcam and this would have only been 5K or 10K even with a tool.

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I am an old user of Mastercam and this would be a much smaller file in the GEO formate in 1983,

but only because Mastercam had fewer features like "Thumbnail" that where being saved.

[k_barry]

Thanks for the replies. With the bitmap off it is a good file size as you say.

Much better!!!

This is a very good forum.