Chip-pan, You may have uncovered a bug. Can you send me ([email protected]) the STEP file? And the original MC9 file if possible? Thanks.

Open a DOS prompt and type 'regedit'. Or better yet, find someone else who's more comfortable looking into it - if something inadvertantly gets changed you could really mess yourself up (and I don't want to be known as the guy who helped cause it!) The basic point of my post yesterday was that if you've moved your Mastercam programs from one directory to another, we won't be able to load that product into the SolidWorks dropdown menu.

No, in V9 you need to go to File/Convert/Parasolid/Read and then select .SLDPRT from the 'Files of type" dropdown.

That MastercamDirect menu inside SolidWorks will load up with the Mastercam products that you've installed, but it does this by looking in the Registry to see where you've installed the Mastercam product(s). For instance, it will look in "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareCNC Software, Inc.V9 Mill" and if the "DIRECTORY" key there points to a directory that actually has MILL9.EXE inside of it, it'll add "Mastercam Mill" to the dropdown. Ditto for the other products.

Carl, Yes, that checkbox is the same as doing Create/Curve/AllEdges. Can you send the Inventor file in to us ([email protected])? Don't understand why that checkbox would bring everything crashing down, but I have heard of it once or twice.

Lou, All we're doing is looking in the Registry for the various products. If the "DIRECTORY" string is there, we're good to go. One more guess related to that. We actually look in "HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareCNC Software, Inc.V9 Mill" first, and then "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE...". Maybe the Directory string in there is incorrect. And you say that the Save File menu choice does appear. At least that means that the add-in got installed and registered like it should have. If it's still not working by mid-week, I'l find some time to send you a pseudo-debug version that might shed some light on it. In the meanwhile, have a peaceful Memorial Day weekend.

Louie, Thanks for the SLDPRT. I think I found a remedy for some of the problems you're having. Nothing to distribute yet, though. Regarding the case where the menu doesn't show "Mastercam Mill", etc, what we do is look in the Registry to see where Mastercam was installed. If you've moved all the files to a different directory (instead of re-installing to a new directory) it'll be messed up. If you look in "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareCNC Software, Inc.V9 Mill" you should see a string value named DIRECTORY which points to where Mastercam Mill V9 was installed. Does this match where you're running V9 Mill from? All - I'll look at the co-ordinate system issue. Why can't someone just tell SolidWorks that Z = UP!!!!

I'd be happy to look at SLDPRTs that don't come across well using MCDirect. You can send them to me at [email protected]. I know that there are some features we have trouble with (some mirrored features, extrusions "up to next", etc) but I'd like to know what else you're seeing.

Mike, A couple weeks ago I pointed your buddy Greg toward the Inventor R10 files which you can get via the Extranet downloads page (https://www.mastercamextranet.com/CNCExtranet/Technical/qc/Downloads/default.aspx). Look under “Current Updates” for “DesignTracker10.zip”. He told me that it worked fine. Note that Catia V5 R14 support is up there too I'm still pestering QC to put them up on the website for everyone (and to notify people about them)

Jody, If you send me ([email protected]) the Parasolid .X_T file(s) I'll take a look at it. I don't know quite what you mean by "both files were parasolids". Did you open one .X_T file and then open a second?

Rick sent me the IGES file from Cadkey and it looks the same in Mastercam, SolidWorks, Rhino, and the SpinFire viewer. (methinks the problem doth lie in the file and not in Mastercam)

You can put the Script name in the shortcut and follow it with /exit c:mcam9mill9.exe mcam9vbmyVB.vbs /exit and it will close Mastercam after executing the script

Rick, Could you possibly send me ([email protected]) one of the IGES files from CadKey that doesn't look right in Mastercam? Could be we're doing something wrong.

If DXF or DWG files cause you to see the "Enter Access Code" prompt, you're not running Version 9

One problem we have importing this file is our inability to properly import Solids which are defined as part of a Block Reference. If you open the part in AutoCAD, select the Solid, and right-click for Properties, it tells you it's a Block Reference with a translation vector. We currently can't handle this case - we lose the translation vector on import - therefore the Solid and the dimensions are nowhere near each other. But... If you use AutoCAD's Modify/Explode function, it'll remove the BR and you'll be left with a solid in that location. If you save the DWG file now, the dimensions and the solid will show up properly placed in Mastercam. And the paper space border comes in, but it's blanked (at least by default). We'll take a look at handling the Solids that are part of a Block Reference with a translation vector.

Use Create/Curve/Project and, in the Options dialog, ask that it create Surface Curves instead of splines

Create/Spline/Curves and then Create/Points/AlongEntity ???

"No Pete though, word has it they got him chained to his desk" Hardmill - you got that right!

Yes - this is a known bug. It can crash if you read more than one DWG/DXF file which contains solids within the same Mastercam session. Unfortunately, it requires, release of a new V9 .EXE to fix it, and there are currently no plans to do that in the near future. It had been corrected for X. Sorry if this has been a problem for any of you.

One possibility is that you have 'draw highlight on back of surfaces' turned on (Screen/Config/CADSettings) and your 'surface background color' might be set to be the same as your graphics background color.

Nickelback., Mastercam Direct for SolidWorks is a way to pass your SolidWorks part directly to Mastercam. It's possible to use it even if you do not have a 'Solids' license - you'll end up in Mastercam with the part as a surface model. It's essentially the same as impotring the saved SolidWorks part into Mastercam via File/Convert. If you have a 'Solids' license, however, you can actually get a result that is a solid model with the history tree of how it was created. This will enable you to potentially modify and/or supress solid features once you're in Mastercam. This comes in handy if you got a SolidWorks design with all the rads included. You can pass the model to Mastercam, supress or modify the fillets, and then cut the part the way you really want to.

We've been reading SE files all along. There is also an update available to support V16. Check the website or contact your dealer.

Machining surfaces which have internal sharp corners can cause gouging. If you know each surface in your part is smooth, you can turn it off, but it's a nice safety net.

Unfortunately, you cannot select entities for a function (for instance Xform) unless they're visible. This means that the only way to XForm those Level 10 entities is to make it visible. Of course, you can still blank, hide, etc to control even further which level 10 entities you see...

Simple question - did it work before? And if so, what has changed since the last time you ran?