Linking Mastercam to a Database

[timbale]

Does anyone have any experience linking mastercam to a database? I've recently been tasked with cleaning up our tool lists. I'm trying to make a standard tool list to speed up setup times. What I would like to do is export tool list data into a database? Then with part demand info and tool data, I can get a reasonable idea of what tools I really need to have in my standard tool list based on part demand and frequency. Currently our database is syspro but we may be changing in the future. So first I need to be able to export the data and then get syspro to accept and crunch the numbers. Ideally I would like to export a batch of programs.

[Ron Branch @ 5th Axis]

Email Robert aka Zoober he is really good at this.

 

HTH

[Zoober]

Have you tried just opening the *.tooldb files directly in your database?

They are just SQL files (SQLite to be specific).

SQLiteExpert is what I use.

[timbale]

I haven't tried just opening the database file. I actually had not thought about it till you mentioned it. I know enough about databases to be dangerous, but not much more than that. I'll try it.

Thanks

[timbale]

I'm not really sure the best way to handle all the different *tool.db file. I'm starting to think there is no easy way of doing it except importing one *.tooldb file at a time.

[Zoober]

You might want to set up crystal reports to link to multiple data sources.... Then you can create scheduled reports to batch export. Once set up, it ran on its own creating live tool libraries. I haven't gone the other way (MCX->SQL)

Just a thought. That's what I did to being in all my cribmaster cribs into mastercam. It was SQL based also.

[timbale]

That's the way I want it work. In my company we have several depts that need similar data for different reasons. I need it to reduce setup cost by standardizing tooling. Accounting needs it so they can charge the tools to the right job. The Inventory guy needs it so he knows how much to stock of each tool.

[Zoober]

Sounds like a job for cribmaster. Best tool inventory software out there IMO

[tsaladyga]

Robert,

We use cribmaster. How do I set up CrystalReports? Would Microsoft Access work also?

Todd

[Zoober]

Todd, how well do you know Crystal report and Cribmaster?

You will need to create and populate a number of custom fields in Cribmaster to include every field in the various tool defs you use, based on if you get your info from material library or not. You then select the cribmaster data sets in CR to create the export file for MCX. setup scheduled exports to update the tool libraries. I updated libraries once an hour. This was for the pre *.tooldb libraries.

But if you use good material libraries, set your tools up right in cribmaster, you can literally have live libraries with very close initial speeds and feeds settings, including stepovers and DOC settings.

Expect it to take six months if you do it right....

[Zoober]

Double post