I may not understand the problem correctly so please don't laugh at me. When I import a solid (like a sat file) or open up a Solidworks file. In system configuration / converters / solid import section, there is a box labeled edge curves, when this is checked the solid comes in with the wire frame. also if you want surfaces on your solid check the trimmed surface box. If I am getting a file from a customer I ask for a Sat(ACIS kernel),or x_t(parasolids kernel) file. However MCX will, open an assortment of files in their native form.

It's not my clients that I speak of most of them are highly gifted intellectually. It is the employee pool I am talking about. Wow Ive never heard that Dorothy joke before very clever.

Do you guys remember when software developers tried to perfect their software instead of shoving the next gadget into it. I have several clients with current maint. agreements and a shelf full of MCX products collecting dust while they use MC8 or MC9, because things that worked well for years no longer work in MCX. If its not faster to use, easier to teach, or more reliable, whats the point. Dynamic plane, dynamic tool path and FBM I consider to be must have features. Especially dynamic plane, it is the feature I have been looking for to persuade my clients it is worth the effort and cost to upgrade. It solves the biggest and most time consuming part of programing for a novice programmer. But when I show them how powerful these features are, they dwell on the bugs in things they have been using for years. Things that make them profitable. In CNC software defense I admit these are small job or tooling shops with level 1 or 2. Not really their customers. All they want is to be able to open their Solidworks file or SAT file, import operation, plug in the geometry and post. Kinda what Ray Kroc did with McDonald's. With 230 machine shops in a 30 mile radius (not counting 4 major aircraft company's), we seldom get an employee with more than a 85 I.Q. It virtually has to be moron proof. I have made a good living in the past 5 years automating and streamline mastercam and their machines for these company's. I have one shop where every body in the shop can program a routine part with little or no machining background. I test everything I do multiple time before I let a client touch it. The few times a bug has been caught by my client, I was truly embarrassed. It is this lack of humility that bothers me the most.

Thankyou for your prompt response. I will follow your instruction and get back to you. My primary client does factory automation and robotics. I do all the tooling for them also. Parts are rectangular, squared on all 6 side, with,tapped holes, dowel pin hole, clearance holes. a complex hydralic welding fixture for CNH may have 200 parts: singles,pairs,mirrors. The machine always knows where vise is. Macro in machine to locate part with mounted dowel pin. Modified post to use machine macro. For one man to keep spindle going. Must be able to program one part while running another. Must be walk away reliable. [ 10-25-2009, 04:37 AM: Message edited by: LEONARDDL ]

I have used opperation librarys sine MC V8.1. to customize MC for clients who need 1000s of one off parts that have similar details. In system configuration / toolpath manager : nc filename is set to "toolpath groop name". this has always worked well. In X4 mu1 the 1st Opperation imported always has wrong nc filename, subsequent opperation are good. This cuases it to post as 2 programs. The obvious work around is to rename offending opperations nc. filename. Use of library operations was intended to simplify programing and increase reliability. we can train an average employee with no machining experiance to program most of our part in only 4 days. Sooner or later some one is going to forget to rename the first opp nc file name (ten years of habbit is hard to break). and a crash will occur. This is considered a dealbreaker to most of my clients for upgrading to X4. Wich is a shame because dynamic planes is the answer to part manipulation we have been looking for. X4 is the poop! Best MC version since 9.1sp2 .Can we say McDonalds land programming. P.S. tried every variation of setting in toolpath manager. Thank you for your time.