I am trying to write a move to a file using these functions, but nothing is being output. Any ideas why? or what other steps i need to perform before using these functions? and what does the position argument reporesent in wr_nci_3d_pt? thanks

is there a way to use one chook to call another chook? ie. i need to pass the text output of the first chook as input for the second chook thx!

awesome, this was exactly the function i was looking for

Thanks James. I am actually a student trying to learn this...for this proejct actually, all operations must be transparent to the user. My chook needs to load an mc8 file and create a pocket contour(with various input parameters), and then output a pmc file describing this toolpath. the menu will have an "open file" command, and after the user selects the file, he should take no further action and a pmc file must be generated. any help with the general algorithm would be greatly appreciated thanks a lot!

is there a way to make a toolpath with a chook, and then pass this toolpath to a post and have the post output a CNC file?

when I use the chains_to_pock_bounds function, i get a pock_bound that doesn't have it's parent pointer nor any of the other variables inintialized Am I doing something wrong? How can i get this information? Thanks! [ 06-21-2002, 12:12 PM: Message edited by: Duckman ]

no, this is all within a CHOOK program...right now I have a linked list of chains, and I need to know which of these chains are completely contained in another chain

I have a linked list of chains got from chain_from_mc8(). Is there a way to test if one chain is completely enclosed by another? IE, how to distinguish islands and outer boundaries? thx

i guess what i'm really wondering is if, given a p_2d, is there a way i can determine if that point is enclosed by a specific pocket bound? thx!

I mean, aside from like draw_pocket_bounds...?

just wondering if there are any functions that operate on pock_bounds? it seems like i can convert chains to pocket bounds, but then that doesn't help me ? thx!

How do i load a mc9 file from a chook and have the entities on from that file be drawn on the screen?

Suppose that I am only considering lines and arcs. Is it possible to cycle through all the entities and determine which entities have a common endpoint, and then create a chain from that? Thx again!

O, because in addition to the parameters that can be set within mastercam, i also need set additional parameters of the toolpath, such as the angle of the pocket cuts relative to the x axis, overlap between successive cuts... also, this step is necessary for extension into 3D applications..

Hi everyone, have a nice little question to ask... I quite a newbie, but am (and must) create a chook that will create a pocket toolpath, given a certain set of closed chains in MasterCAM. What needs to happen is that the user will load a MC* file, and when he runs the chook, the chook will create a horizontally running toolpath. I really have no idea how to start, so I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas, or if anyone knows how the toolpath->pocket operations works (after user has selected chain(s)... I've looked into the API, and have found the pock_chn struct and the chains_to_pock_bounds methods will prob be useful...and I know that things are stored as entities...but assuming that none of these entities are connected via chains, how would i proceed? perhaps a little long winded, but thanks for any help!!

i certainly hope so! oh, just another minor question... in VB, when i create a group box, and i drop items into it, if i move the group box, the items also move with the box...this doesn't seem to be happening in vc++...is it supposed to? or am i doing something wrong?

lol, i m used to VB, where it does this kind of stuff automatically...hehhe

ahhh...i see where my problem is...i had to resize the combo box so that it's big enough to hold contents! thx!

hmm, i just did as you suggested, and even in the EXE, nothing appears

Hihi, I've posted this before, but it really never got resolved, and I had hoped that i wouldn't have to use the combo boxes, but now I'm finding that I do... I've created a dialog box in VC++, and in it i have a combobox control with associated variable c_inDim in the OnInitDialog() method of the dialog box, I have c_inDim.AddString("mm"); c_inDim.AddString("inch"); ... but when I execute the dll from mastercam, nothing appears in the comboboxes any idea why? thx!

please please please pleae pretty please can i have source code!!!!???? to anything!!!! i need to LEARN!!! thx! : )

is there any way to get the source code for the chooks included with mastercam? i'm trying to learn the api, but there's so much it's overwhelming... thx

Under Mainmenu->toolpaths->Pocket will allow you to create a pocket tool path... what I need to be able to do is write a chook that will mimic this function and ouput the appropriate NC file lets start with, given a certain closed shape, how do i read in the dimensions/shape into my chook? thx!@

Hi, I'm currently beginning a project to write a chook that will basically need to create a pocket contour, but with additional parameters such as diameter of drill, distance between consecutive cuts, and angle of cut. just wondering if anyone can suggest any fuctions that could potentially be helpful, or how to get started thanks

can anybody suggest any simple algorithms to convert an NC line for an arc in the format GgXxYyIiJj to an a_2d struct(chook) defined by start and end angle of the arc? Thanks!