As a second thought, Does anyone have some sample code that would allow me to write the spline from my VB-6 program into the ".DXF" file? This might be the easiest way. I have noticed that later versions of ".DXF" now support splines. The problem would seem to be in getting all the correct information into the ".DXF" file. Any Ideas? Regards, Steven

Hello all, I have what might be a unique challenge. I have written a program in VB-6 that calculates a series of data points. VB-6 then creates a ".DXF" file containing point data. I then import all the points into MASTERCAM. Now the challenge: I wish to write a script that calls MASTERCAM to create an automatic spline through a series of points. These points have shown to be sequentially numbered in the MASTERCAM data base. For example, I wish to make a spline using points 1 to 400, then another spline using 401 to 800. I might have as many as 50 splines. Is there a way to use script to call "RUNMASTERCAMCOMMAND" and then allow script to pass point data ( either database number, or position data) to the spline creation? Any advice is most appreciated. Please feel free to email with comments, questions, or suggestions. Regards, Steven

Takashi, I have tried many times to get the project to run. I have not been successful. I read through the files, trying to determine what the project does. It seems to me that the project creates a note at three different locations. Is this correct? My original goal was to select a note that had been previously created and to return the contents of that note as a string variable. Is there any more information you can share? best regards, Steven

My last qestion on the Topic: While I am waiting for tech support to return solutions to my X4 issues, I am attempting to implement muli-posting on the version 9.1 that we are currently using. I find that only one toolpath segment seems to be posted when called from VB. Can someone tell me if this is correct, and how to post all toolpaths if it is correct? I know 9.1 is not the current version of choice, but until I can get X4 fully configured and tested, I will not be able to release it to all the programmers. Any and all help is MOST APPRECIATED. regards, Steven

Me again, I can now post for several machines and generate my setup sheet through VB. I have created my setup sheet as a text file. I can open my setup sheet file and read all the lines in the file. Using Script, how do I send each line to the printer after it is read? all help is VERY much appreciated. Regards, Steven

Roger, I will package this up when I get to work in the morning. I will include .MMD, CONTROL, PST, TXT, and VBS files. I still wish to get a processor guide so that I might explore the full potential of the post processors. Regards, Steven

Roger, That is one of the first things I checked. I checked again just now, and found that the pst file had "0" spaces, and also the NC OUTPUT setting was set to "0" spaces. On the machine group properties tab, I select the post to run, and then post manually. The resulting file is 46k long. I execute the SAME post from VB, and the file is 101k long. The VB executed file contains spaces although the pst and the NC OUTPUT settings are "0". I have asked my tech support group for a post processor guide similar to those in version 8 and 9. Do such guides exist for X4? best regards, Steven

Anyone? I regard this as a VB question primarily, but it is also a post processor question. I updated some version 9 post processors into X4 and worked the bugs out. The results are what I expect. Now the VB part.... When I use a VB script to call the posts, the results all end up with spaces between the coordinates. I removed them from the .PST file and do not want them in the code. Why would calling the post from VB cause diffferent results? Regards, Steven

Mick, I did as you suggested and gained some ground. The editors no longer start up after posting. I did have some other "challenges" that were quite interesting. For example, the nc file type ( ie.. ".eia" or ".ncf") seems to be ignored when the posts are run from script. The posts always seem to default to ".nc". We differ from PEON in that we keep all nc files in the same folder. The names or extensions differ to identify the machine they are posted for. I have found that a post will work fine if I post manually, but fails if I post using script. Also, a post may work fine with script but will fail if posted manually. This has driven me to create two "SETS" of posts. One set to post each manually, and the other to be posted by VB. Thank you for your assistance, Steven

Hello all, Another of the "issues" I have experienced is that the "nc" file comes up in the editor even though I do not wish it to. I have set the post dialogs NOT to edit the file,and also set the RUNPOST parameter to FALSE as in the above code. Is there anything else that I can do? regards, Steven

I coppied the above code, modified the folder structure to match my needs and ran the script. The posts executed but had some issues. I get an error if I re-post the same file. I get a "file exists" error. Is this expected? Regards, Steven

Takashi, I will try again at work tomorrow. Perhaps I needed to power down and reboot for everything to register properly. I have used VB for several years with another machining package. It required an ".ocx" file to interface. Do you have any recommendations for documentation for using VB with mastercam? I am quite sure that once I get started, I should progress pretty quickly. Thank you again for your time and your efforts. regards, Steven

Takashi, I did as you suggested and the file did not execute. I received an error: "Microsoft VBScript runtime error ActiveX component can't create object: 'VBObject' IActiveScriptSite::OnSctiptError() Line:" Do I need to install and register some ".ocx" file or something like that? Best regards, Steven

Takashi, I wish to thank you very much for responding to my request. I have been waiting for over a month for my tech support group. I have been looking through some of the files, and I see some things that are a bit unclear. For example, I see in your "CHOOKS X4 BETA" file, you have created some file tables. Where do you get the values for the tables, and what do the values represent? Also, how do you recommend that I place your "vbo.zip" files so that I can see them work? I am still a bit unfamiliar with VB with Mastercam. Best regards, Steven

Hello all, I have recently downloaded and installed "X4". I have read thruough the VB documentation I found in help files. How can I create a class that will display the attributes of DRAFTING NOTES? For example, If I were to select a note, how could I pass the text of the note into a VB variable? Am I wishing for something that is impossible? I have asked my tech support group for help, but have not yet received much help. ANY information on passing parameters to mastercam calls would be VERY much appreciated. Regards, Steven

Hello again, I would like to ask a more direct question. I use the "bret = RunMastercamCommand ("create_letters")" in my VBScript and it works properly. I wish to pass the string of letters, and the letter size to the function. How can I do this? Can I set some sort of system value? do I pass parameters in some way? All help is VERY much appreciated. Regards, Steven

Hello again, Is there any way to get, or set values or parameters on forms using script? For example, If I wanted to create LETTERS using VBScript, could I select a font, or alignment with script? Could I set or read other parameters such as radius value, top or bottom? Another example would be the text string of a note or lable. All responses are most welcome. Regards, Steven

Hello all, I have experience with VBScript, and Visual Basic 6.0 I have decided that it is beneficial to bite the bullet and move to a ".net" language. Can I use the Visual Basic version, or must I move to "C"? Will I be missing out on something if I use Visual Basic? Eagerly awaiting responses, Steven

Hello all, I have recently started using VBSCRIPT with Mastercam X3. I would be interested to know if any of you might have seen some of the unexpected and unexplainable results that I have seen. Very simply: (pseudo code) unselect all repaint 'mark window() select all mirror repaint RunMastercamCommand("QuickMaskResult") This code works fine as long as the "Mark Window()" line is not allow to execute. All entities are mirrored and then the result is selected. If the "MarkWindow()" command is also executed, then the windowed entities are selected first, and then the remaining entities. All entities are again mirrored, but NO resuts are selected. It seems that the "maskwindow()" is some how stopping the quick mask routine from working properly. I can click on the icon after running the script and it works fine. Any suggestions from you power users? Best regards to all, Steven p.s. sending code to my tech support group.

To all, Thanks for all your inputs. My first "work" (cam) computer had dual 8" floppies and a whopping 640K of ram. I still dream of the "good old days" of DOS. My first work computer (desk) had CPM operating system. best wishes to all, Steven

iowajim62, I started WAAAAAY back and still remember version 3.21 I did try posting and got a prompt about multiple tools with same number and asked if a tool change was desired. I checked the code and found it acceptable. I would like to know if others have had any problems. Regards, Steven

Iowajim62, So far, I have created a large tool library with multiple physically identical tools. I have the parameters set for the operation the tool is used for. I would guess that the only question is that if I have several tools with the same tool number in my operations window, will that cause any problems? I did not mention that we are using both versions 8.11 and 9.1 in our plant. Again, thanks for the response. Steven

IOWAJIM62, Thank for the quick reply. I was still digging into the archives and found a post from http://www.emastercam.com/ubb/ultimatebb.p...2540;p=1#000002 It outlines the challenge I am faced with, only with a lathe instead of a mill. I was hoping that there would be some way to simply click the tool with the set of parameters required and just keep going. After all, I want to change the parameters and not the tool. I have been experimenting, but I would really like to call upon the wisdom of all you guru's out there. Steven

Hello all, I have a question that I cannot seem to find discussed before. If I am in error, please let me know. I have identified several combinations of feeds, speeds, step overs, and depths of cut for the same cutter. Each set of machining parameters is used with different types of machining strategies such as slot cutting, pocketing, or copy milling. Since the same physical tool is used, how can I best store / load tool parameters from the library? Is it best to simply load several tools ( all phyically identical) with different parameters and give them the same number? Each tool could be referenced by each toolpath that uses that particular set of parameters. Would doing it this way cause any internal errors? Any other ideas? Best regards to all, Steven