You need to find out what it is in the G43 line that outputs the next tool. It might not be the next_tool$ variable itself, if might be a call to another postblock. You then need to move that to the M06 line. You should also keep in mind that you might need to make the change in two places, you probably have to make the change in both the psof$ and ptlchg$ postblocks.

Hi Darian, As far as I remember Mpmaster has that optoin built into it already, so you need to set it in the control definition. Go to "Settings" -> "Machine definition manager", click the "Edit the control defintion" icon, select the "Tool" page and check the "Enable staged tool routines" checkbox. If that doesn't do it, then the variable you need to output is next_tool$. That is also the variable you have to move if the next tool is coming out in the wrong location. I hope that helps.

Glad I could help, but... Using refht_a will work, too, and might be more correct, if it is the reference height from the drilling dialogue you want, and w$ is the initial height value. However, if it reads fmt W0 2 refht_a then you migth not get the correct output, as that means that the value of refht_a is prefixed with "W0". That probably doesn't matter if the value is between 0 and 1, but if that hole is at the bottom of a 1 inch deep pocket, then you would get output of W0-.9 for a retract 0.1 inch above the bottom of that pocket, and I don't think your control will accept that. I think you will need to depete that 0 in the fmt line so it reads fmt W 2 refht_a instead. A piece of general advice when editing drilling cycles in the post processor which many people forget is to also test it for holes where the top of the hole isn't at Z0. Most holes might be at Z0, but not all holes are at Z0, and you don't want to have incorrect output when you think the post processor is working OK.

You need to format the w$ variable, preferably up in the formatting for the other variables used for drilling. The line you need to insert is something like this: fmt "W" 1 w$ The 1 may need to be something other than 1, though. My best guess is that you need the same format as the zabs variable, so you might look for the fmt line that formats zabs, which will look something like this: fmt "Z" 1 zabs Where the 1 might be a different number.

Uncle_dolan: I don't think this problem can get the finshing operations to overwrite the roughing operations, as the operations would get written to different files, but yes, you should always check your code. If you expect both the roughing and fihishing operations to be written to the same file, then you might end up only sending the finishing opertaions to the machine if you aren't careful. It won't get two programs which both contain all operations, though, each of the posted programs will contain different operations, as each of the operations will onlt be posted to one of the files. Bruce Kanzelmeyer: That depends on your Mastercam configuration. If you go to the "Toolpath manager" page and look under "NC file", then you can select "Prompt", "1st operation only" and "Last operation's NC file". That will go a long way towards ensuring that all operations have the same file name and path, so all operations get post processed to the same file. As far as I remember the only way to get operations post processed to different files with that setting (other than intentionally setting different files) is if you continue work on a MCX file where the original NC file path doesn't exist on the PC you are continuing work on.

Hi, The control definiton changes are done in Mastercam. You select "Setting" -> "Machine definition manager" and then click the "Edit the control defintion" icon, then you add the relevant texts on the "Texts" -> "Mill drill cycles" and/or "Mill custom drill parameters" page. Those changes can also be done directly in the PST file, but then you have to know what you are doing to get it right. Obviously you then also needs to know which field corresponds to which variable, the texts in the "Descrition" columns should give a good hint about that.

You seem to have solved the problem, but I can explain what happened, as I have seen it a number of times at customers too. What happens is that some of your operations are getting different NC names and/or paths, so they are not post processed together. It usually happens when adding operations to a file that has been edited on another PC or if the NC file path has been edited in the configuration, so the new operation(s) get the NC file path of the new PC or new configuration. It might also happen if Mastercam's configuration is set to give the NC file the same name as the MCX file, if you have saved the MCX file with a new name, perhaps to save the old version while trying to improve on the toolpaths. The solution is as has been pointed out to select all operations and then right click and choose "Edit selected operations" and the "Change NC file name", and then click OK (you don't have to actually change the NC file name that is listed). I just thought you might like to know why that problem happens.

.ocx files are ActiveX files, which usually reside in the Windows folder. If he loaded Mastercam from a network drive then he probably does not have the necessary Windows components installed on his PC, he should install all updates from Microsoft that are listed as critical, and the newest .NET Framework version.

The Gforce cards are designed for gaming, but for Mastercam v9 and earlier (and possibly also for version X), high end Geforce cards were a more economic choice for Mastercam than Quadro cards if the user wanted a cheap card. Past that time, Quadro cards are a better choice, and generally cheaper for equivalent power for CAD/CAM. The current Quadro FX570 is a cheaper card than the GeForce 6200 you mention, but is a more powerful card.

Since you have a seat of Inventor, try saving the file in Inventor 2008 format and see if Mastercam will open it then. Alternately, you might try saving it as an ACIS .sat file (make certain it is ACIS R19 format or earlier). While that adds a step to the conversion process, it might get the file imported.

If you have maintenance for a newer version than the one you are running, then you should update to the newest version you have maintenance to run. If you do not have current maintenance, then you should get maintenance. It is cheaper in the long term, and every update gives improvements.

You cannot open Solidworks 2008 files in Mastercam X MR1, you need at least Mastercam X2 MR2 patch001 to open that format. You can solve the problem by saving your Solidworks files in Solidworks in Solidworks 2006 or Parasolid 17 format, both of which you can open with Mastercam X MR1. There should be a listing of the file formats you can read in the documentation installed with Mastercam, or you could contact your reseller who should be able to tell you more about which file formats can be opened in which versions of Mastercam. If you have been able to open Solidworks 2008 files in Mastercam before the reinstall, then you were using a newer version of Mastercam before the reinstall, and then you will also be unable to open Mastercam files made in that newer version of Mastercam.

A parallel HASP works fine, even in X3, as long as it is a HASP 4 (or a NetHASP).

Basically, dynamic comp. means the control takes the tool length and the part position relative to the rotary axes into account when moving the rotary axes, and so does the tilted plane function. The end result is that you do not need to know that information when posting, and the post processed program can be reused even if the tool lengths and the part position relative to the rotary axes changes. Hermles often have Heidenhain TNC controls, and they support dynamic compensation. On the Heidenhain TNC control (using Heidenhain conversational format) the dynamic comp. is activated with M128 and deactivated by M129, and for tilted plane machining (3+2 axis) you would use either Cycle 19 or (on iTNC 530 controls) PLANE SPATIAL. Of course, your post processor would have to support those functions, too Millplus and Siemens 840D controls have similar functions, unless they are rather old controls.

You will probably need to edit the pwrtt$ postblock, adding *ss$ (or something like that) to the line that outputs the other data. However, depending on the post processor you are using, it is also possible that the output line is in another postblock, called from pwrtt$.