MACHINE GROUPS

[pma]

what function is used to create machine groups?

of course, this is from a chook and i don't want any dialog boxes to show up.

[bryan314]

Groups_CH.H lists several different group functions list_grp_add_empty being one. Creating regular groups with these fucntions are quite simple. But creating a machine group this way will probably be a pain in the a**.

 

There's probably a hidden "create group" function that you just feed a machine/control name into and it does all the correct initializations. One of the Mastercam guys can probably help with this.

 

Or a way to set the default machine name and call post_FT_command with the function called by menu [mahchine type -> mill -> default]

 

Bryan

[pma]

what is the function [mahchine type -> mill -> default] ??

[bryan314]

menu bar across the top of Mastercam.

 

file

edit

view

.

.

.

Machine Type

-> submenu --> Mill

->-> sub-sub menu --> default

 

sorry for the confusion

 

 

Bryan

[pma]

sorry, i guess i confused you ... i knew what you meant but do you know the name of the function to call in post_FT_command ( ???, ??? )

[bryan314]

Sorry, I don't. I tried looking at the Mastercam.ft file but didn't see anything promising.

 

Bryan

[pma]

i tried but didnt see anything there too ...

oh well ...

[markov]

So, any solutions yet on how to programatically create a machine group? I can not add tools and operations without one, and I do not want to ask from my C-Hook users to manually create it if it is going to the same one every time, and I already know which one.

[Roger Martin from CNC Software]

markov,

 

I don't know if this is the preferred method, but it seems to work!

 

Of course all "Group Names" must be unique!

 

code:

---

#include "DbVars_CH.h"

/*

// 'product' defines from "DbVars_CH.h" ->

#define PRODUCT_MILL (MC_BYTE) 0

#define PRODUCT_LATHE (MC_BYTE) 1

#define PRODUCT_WIRE (MC_BYTE) 2

#define PRODUCT_DESIGN (MC_BYTE) 3

#define PRODUCT_DRAFT (MC_BYTE) 4

#define PRODUCT_ROUTER (MC_BYTE) 5

*/

 

#include "MachineDefFnc_CH.h"

// REQUIRES adding "MCMachineDef.lib" to Linker 'AdditionalDepenencies'

// Import the functions

extern DllImpExp group_list* OMcreateGroup(

char *gname,

MC_BYTE product,

long parent_grp_idn,

MC_BOOL edit_properties,

MC_BOOL use_insert_arrow);

extern DllExport MC_BOOL SetActiveMachine (LPCTSTR name);

 

 

 

// Creates a Machine Group - using the 'default machine' for the specified product.

// Returns: TRUE/FALSE = success/failure

BOOL CreateMachineGroup(MC_BYTE product, char* grpName, LPCTSTR machName)

{

group_list *gpl;

//char *gname = _T("My Machine Group");

//MC_BYTE product = PRODUCT_MILL;

//long parent_grp_idn = NULL;

//MC_BOOL edit_properties = FALSE;

//MC_BOOL use_insert_arrow = FALSE;

 

gpl = OMcreateGroup (grpName, product, NULL, FALSE, FALSE);

if (gpl == NULL) { return FALSE; } // error

 

BOOL bOK = TRUE;

if (machName != "")

{

bOK = SetActiveMachine (machName);

}

return bOK;

 

}

 

// Sample m_main function that calls our ‘create’ function

 

extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) int m_main (int not_used)

{

AFX_MANAGE_STATE(AfxGetStaticModuleState());

 

BOOL bOK = FALSE;

char* grpName = _T("My Machine Group");

LPCTSTR machName = _T("C:McamX-MR2cnc_machinesGENERIC FADAL FORMAT_2 4X MILL.MMD");

bOK = CreateMachineGroup(PRODUCT_MILL, grpName, machName);

return MC_NOERROR;

}

---

[markov]

Nice, more undocumented functions!

 

Fortunately, it is working except that "SetActiveMachine" does not exist in the "MCMachineDef.lib" library. I suppose it is a new function in MR2 SDK that I have not installed yet.

 

Thanks,

Marko

[markov]

OK, I have installed MR2 SDK, and the sample program is working. Now, how can I gen directory name with machine definitions? I can not hardcode the path name, it may differ from one installation to another.

 

Marko

[markov]

Roger,

 

There is a problem with your code. If you add a "dbinit" call to the beining of the C-hook, you can not run it twice (there is an error message poping up). It seems that either "dbinit" does not know how to clean the groups properly, or we need a modification to the code.

 

Marko

[markov]

I forgot to mention in the above post that you need to create an operation after the first run in order to reproduce the problem.

 

There is no problem if you do "File->New" before the second run, which means it is not equivalent to calling "dbinit" from a C-hook. So what other functions can we use to start fresh?

 

Marko