I miss you Mick, where are you?

I didn't want my post to fall off the first page. Sorry if I made you look.

I am trying to use MakeContourWithKnownTool and the second part of the code list is an integer for Tool ID. What is expected here for the tool ID ? Any help is appreciated. Thanks

Thanks Bullines. I've been teaching myself VB as I go trying new things each time and using examples for refrence. I am making a script to layout geometry on a flat piece of steel for the manual mill guys to follow when roughing. I have a spring loaded pointer in a mill and I need to scribe the shape on several pieces per job. I use color and level to determine which piece gets which geometry. I have my script made to : ask for file/ change levels by entity color/ (I need mirror here for two levels only)/ toolpath one op per level with group name/ post each op to a seperate program with it's own nci destination(still working on nci)/ save file when done. I have been writing subs and then adding to the program as I go. Mick's examples in the VB folder of V9 have been a big help.

I am making a VB script for version 9.1 and I need to mirror in the script without hard-coding "xfmmir" and asking the user for entities. Is their a code in the script that I can use to mirror without any user input. I need to mirror two levels with different colors on each level. I think I can get the selection code to work if I could get a function to mirror. If I could override the user prompt for entitiy selection I could still use the hard code and select what I need in the script in a sub. I also would like to have a "full" list of functions to use in Mastercam script. The html that comes with the software is lacking functions that I have seen in some of the sample programs. If anyone has this PLEASE post it on the FTP. Thanks for any help.

We have three Bridgeport VMC's. Machines are OK but service SUCKS. We just had to wait 3 weeks for an encoder. We are phasing out Bports and replacing them with Mazak Nexus machines (under 100K). They cost a little more up front but when you lose a spindle and they have you one in the shop the next day the machine time you don't lose will pay the difference in the payment.

The sequence numbers are turned on in the post processor. I am not sure where in the post it is but somewhere there is a question that asks "output sequence numbers". Hope this helps.

Any help will be appreciated. I you know where I can find or buy it please let me know. Thanks

I had a software crash on our ez-path 2 lathe and I cannot find the machine software disk for it. It is EZ-Path II hybrid cnc manual turret. If you can help me out e-mail me the software as an attachment to [email protected]. Thanks

I just remapped my screen fit to f2 using key mapping. I agree it is not the same but is closer than unzoom .8.

Mick, any luck with the ASKFORENTITY yet? Also could you point me to a list of the new VB mastercam commands for X? I am still teaching myself VB and a good list of commands is a big help. Thanks

Update: I used the multipost example VB Script from V9 in X and it worked. It posted the operations to all my machines. I haven't verified it by checking the g code yet but it seems to work. You just need to change the directories to match your system.

Sorry for the delayed response, but I've been busy at work. I sat here for a couple of hours reading posts looking for a possible solution to a posting problem with X. As I read the many topics and responses I saw many posts in which the questions are answered in the transition guide or in the reference guide, but apparently some of us never took time to open them. I have a few problems with X that I have directed to my reseller via e-mail that I hope will be addressed in the first update. I value the forum for it's ease of use and many knowledgable members input. But you have to realize that X is not your kids new bike and you cant just trash the instructions and go at it with you channel locks and screwdriver.

Nuff said.

Thanks Greg. I did not know you could have more than one control def in a .control file. This makes more sense.

Greg, I understand how do do what you are explaining. The problem is in the op manager, not the control definition. I have my generic machine set up with 6 posts. The problem is I can't select one when I click post in the op manager. And even if I could I don't think it would work properly. The Control definition now controls what would be the main differences in my posts anyway (NC destination, coolant ops, file extention,...). I have been posting all ops to one machine, changing machines, and then posting all ops to the new machine. It is more time consuming than in V9 but It will get the job done.

Mark when you pick post from the operations manager can you selest a post there or is it greyed out?

I have eliminated all my loops in even the most complex of programs by changing the minimum arc tolerances to numbers that the DX32 can handle. Minimum length to .0020 minimum radius to .0050. In X you need to edit the control definition (see manual or help) to set the tolerances. In V9 you edit the post.

I crashed hard today. I was going to town on a part using multiple surfaces and trying to fillet some and X crashed to the desktop. I had simillar crashes in V8 when I was using a slower computer. I have a Dell Workstation with dual 2.2 xeons(?) and a ATI Fire GL2 64 meg video card. I am also having problems with backplot working properly so I may need to upgrade the graphics card. MC says 64meg is minimum but 128 is recommended. Any thoughts guys?

You can have many posts associated ( I tried it already) but the post option is still greyed out. Good try though. I could use Jimmy's idea and then try it in a generic control. I'll try it tomorrow.

I'm not sure if the post will output correctly if the control def is not active with its corresponding post. We need script that will call up the control def as well as the post to get the correct output. A generic control def using several posts might work but I don't know how to script it.

Dave, I read your response to the earlier post. You are correct in that it is very useful to have a machine def for each machine. I am not posting different groups to different machines, I am posting the same ops to all machines. Now I lose about 5 min posting one program to 3 different machines because I have to change machine in the files page and then go back and post the ops again. It was much faster in V9 to post the same ops multiple times with different posts.

I would like to set up one Machine definition for several different posts to several VMC's. The new X post setup is slowing me down. Is there a way to make the post option not greyed out? I program about 20 parts a day and run them on several machines, so I post them to all machines and my operators just setup the first one that finishes with the next part in line. I was thinking of making a VB script in V9 but I decided to wait for X. The new X post setup requires the NC destination to be set in the Machine parameters and the numbered questions in the post are ignored. A VB script in X will be an interesting animal.

I got burned on my first couple of posts to my DX32 controls. I had "loops" in the program that my operator didn't catch until it was too late. The tolerances are set in the control definitions and were way too tight for the DX32 to read. I fixed the control definition relativley easily but I expected the Update post to do all this for me. They were not updated when I used the Update post C-hook to create the control definitions. Programmers not familiar with post settings may want to have their reseller send someone out to build control definitions for them before fully implementing X.

I had trouble with Break/at Length. You have to enter a negative value in the trim/break ribbon bar and set to trim to point and break. I HATE the new F2 unzoom. I prefered the F2 zoom-previous in V9. Now if you zoom in from a screen fit and then hit F2 you get about a 50% unzoom. I remapped the F2 key to screen fit which is not what I want but it is better.