+1 Could you possibly post the code examples here or maybe on the FTP site. This would be useful info to have. Thanks,

John, I'm in total agreement. It should be fixed. The reason I recommend RAM saver in instances where the Ops manager is acting up is that it is usually faster than re-starting Mastercam and re-opening the same file. The reason I keep repeating it is that most people don't know about it or fail to use it. Why do I keep recommending it? Because it works for a lot of things. Not everything, but its a nice shortcut to get Mastercam out of a funk sometimes without requiring a restart. I want these issues addressed just as bad as you do. Part of what I'm trying to show people is that there are ways to maximize your use of Mastercam and make your use of it more efficent. I've had to use work arounds in Mastercam since I started using it almost 10 years ago. I'm sure you do as well. Mastercam is great software, but I have yet to see any software that is bug free. Thanks,

Ususally running RAM saver will clear this up without forcing you to re-start Mastercam.

I've had it happen to my vector lines on a 5 axis toolpath that was created in X2. When I opened it up, some of the vector lines endpoints had moved to the system origin. It was very strange looking. I'll see if I can find the file and send it in. Thanks,

Jbert, You can however use Mastercam's Power Keys which will let you search for individual autocursor shortcuts like V9. So if you press "E" on the keyboard for Endpoint, Mastercam will set a mask on the autocursor and only search for endpoints. Now you can go to your geometry and the only thing that will auto-highlight are lines, arcs, and splines (the only entities that have actual endpoints). You just need to get close to the end of the entitiy you would like to select and click on it. It doesn't really solve the problem of the icon size for autocursor, that still needs to be addressed, but it will help somewhat. HTH,

Tonny, The V9 Post Reference Guide and the X Post Parameter Update are meant to be used together. Its kind of a pain because you have to figure out how it worked in V9, then figure out if they have changed anything for version X(2). HTH,

Rick, The xxxxor is essentially a Fanuc based control. The code looks almost identical. Your operators shouldn't have too much trouble adjusting. It is not like an Okuma thank goodness.

Perfect. That is exactly what I was looking for Roger. The contact point for when Chris has sensitive questions. Otherwise we'll be happy to post away. Thanks,

Hey Chris, It's Colin. Good to see you found the Developers section. Roger/Ken/Pete/Mick, Chris works here at Boeing and is working on integerating Mastercam into one of our automated processes down in Renton. He is new to Mastercam having migrated from Esprit. I'll be working with Chris on helping him learn Mastercam and develop the forms and code to integrate Mastercam into the project Chris is working on. As this project continues would it be ok if Chris contacts you directly for help with his code? Thanks,

Nothing like seeing 3-4 Mb per second

What error report are you getting Rick? If you are referring to the dialog box that pops up when you boot Mastercam, it is toolbars you had installed and the programs you had aren't installed under X2-MR1 now. You will have to re-install the Catia Translator toolbar and Moldplus if you use it. HTH,

I guess I shouldn't complain about the 4 minutes and 12 seconds I had to twiddle my thumbs.

turn off "create arcs" and use a cut and filter tolerance of .0001 or smaller.

Flipper, Thats exactly what you want.

No worries man, those were my thoughts exactly. Why pay $100 (or whatever they cost) to get a book that you are way beyond. The Volume 2 should get you what you need. You might also want to get an X2 demo disk that you can take home and play with. Its a great way to learn Mastercam and surface machining. Thanks,

CNC, Could you update the V9 to X function guide to include some of the right click shortcut options for new folks? Specificially I'd like you to add the information about Right-Clicking for "Change colors" and "Change Levels". Right now the PDF tells you to use "Analyze entity properties". Very cumbersome for anyone who needs to change the color or level of 100's of entities. Something else that might aid the new folks would be a recommendation to turn off "Pre-selection". My thinking on this would be that Mastercam would open up the Screen Prompt as you use a new function. This would help people in making the transition. Don't get me wrong, I LOOOVE pre-selection. Its just a little confusing for anyone who is making the transition. Thanks,

That would seem like a good bet for where you are at. Level 3 is really the way to go if you are planning on doing any surface machining. It is just too easy to rough and finish your part with only a couple of toolpaths, where it would take you much longer with mill level 2. For copying geometry to a new level, Select the geo and Right-Click on the word "level" in the status bar at the bottom of your screen. You can also add the "Change Levels" and "Change Colors" buttons to a toolbar or your right-click menu. Look in the Mastercam Reference Guide PDF file for more info on how to customize Mastercam. HTH,

But that forces a tool change Ocean. The Manual entry works great once you tweak your post.

Contact In-House solutions and they can supply you with a post that is ready to go. Otherwise you should take the MPOkuma post and modify it to your tastes. The members of the forum here will be glad to help you tweak your post. You should be able to get the Generic Mastercam Okuma post directly from your reseller. If you are not getting anything from them you can also Email: [email protected] Provide them with your Name, Company, Hasp # and ask them really really nicely and they might give you the generic Mastercam Okuma post. The posts are really not hard to modify. If you get a generic Okuma post, just let us know and we will help you with the mods. The generic Okuma post comes pretty ready out of the box. It uses the G56 Hxx for the height offset and H1, H2 (or E1, E2, its been a while!) for the fixture offsets I'm not sure what the capabilities of the Super Nurbs functionality is... Hardmill, you around? Hardmill is somewhat of a resident Okuma guy. Thanks,

elraiis, I've used the Mastercam Handbook volume 2 to teach classes for X and X MR1. They should be the same for X2. How good are you with 2D toolpaths (contour, drill, pocket)? If you know them pretty well you can probably skip Handbook volume 1 and go straight to volume #2. How are they? They are pretty good at teaching you how and why you are doing something. Lots of good background info. I found that they lacked enough actual tutorials for doing training, so I created some of my own projects and applied the lessons in the book to those models. It worked pretty good. Now what I'd really like to see is an update on the book by Jonathan Lin. That book kicked butt for V9 training. For Charles, I'd like to see him come up with some suplemental tutorial exercises for his handbooks. Maybe some training videos to go with the books too. The other thing that would be really nice would be a complete tutorial that would take you through machining a complete part with multiple setups that requires some basic surface roughing and finishing. I have yet to see a tutorial that takes someone through the entire programming process including posting G-code. Of course a tutorial like that would need to come with a Machine Def, Control Def, and Post so that anyone could run it and get the same result. Thanks,

Be very careful Larry. If you change it so anything besides 1007 (which is what you have done) gets output as code, then your tool comments will not come out with the paraenthesis around them. Do what Spade said, Change the 1007 to 1006, and leave the rest of the comments with the paraenthesis. When you write a Manual Entry toolpath, be sure to enable the "As Code" option (this changes the NCI output from 1005 to 1006). Good luck,

Aww come on Pete. Where is your sense of adventure?

Monty, The last version of the guide you are referring to was released for Version 9.1. It is the Mastercam Post Reference Guide volumes 1, 2, and 3. I do agree with you in a sense Monty. I think it is time for CNC Software to re-write the Post Reference Guide from the ground up. Right now you have to have the V9 Post Reference Guide and the X Post Parameter Reference Guide and bounce back and forth between the two. I think its time for a new complete Post Reference Guide for X2. Monty, The V9 Post Reference Guide should be available from your Mastercam reseller. That in combination with the X Post Parameter reference guide with get you what you want... HTH,

My guess is, Yes, MR1 will be a stand alone install that will include the update and Service Pack one modifications. That is the way that CNC has done it in the past. The maintenance releases have been complete installation packages. HTH,