The C-Hook Development Kit on the 8.1 CD contains the following: - C/C++ header (.H) and object (.OBJ) files - documentation that briefly describes the functions, structures and variables contained in those header files The SDK allows you to develop third-party add-in software for Mastercam, providing you are capable of programming in C or C++.

James is right. "Dummies" books are typically terrible as far as learning programming languages go. If you're looking for a second C++ reference book, I suggest "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup. He created the language so you know the info is accurate. Also, the MSDN website (http://msdn.microsoft.com) is also good for Microsoft Visual C++ related info. You can search the language refrences without being a member of MSDN. Finally, Microsoft has a lot of newsgroups (news://msnews.microsoft.com) and a good number devoted to its Visual C++ product. The most recent version of Microsoft Visual C++ is 6.0 SP5 and it comes in three flavors (Standard, Professional and Enterprise). If you're dveloping C-Hooks, you don't need the Enterprise version. The Professional version is probably the best choice for C-Hooks due to its compiler tweaks, but the Standard version should also be fine. For a place to start, you could try Central Direct (http://www.cendirect.com). They're based out of LaSalle, Quebec and usually ship the next business day after receiving your order. Hope this helps. Note: You can use other C++ development enviroments such as the ones from Borland but keep this in mind. CNC uses Microsoft Visual C++ to develop Mastercam and the C-Hook Developers Guide that's included on the Mastercam CD has a Visual C++ slant to it. So even though comparable Borland products are less expensive than Microsoft's, it's worth spending the extra money on Microsoft Visual C++. Especially if you're a new developer. [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 05-07-2001).]

C-Hook development basically comes down to C or C++ programming using the Mastercam API. If you're comfortable with C, you can develop C-Hooks that typically don't require any type of UI. On the other hand, if you'd like a UI that looks similar to Windows-based apps, C++ is the tool of choice. You can get started playing around with C-Hook development, courtesy of the Mastercam CD. The C-Hook development kit is an install option. It consists of all the C/C++ header files required to develop C-Hooks as well as the associated documentation. C and C++ are currently the only languages you can use to develop C-Hooks. If COM or COM+ is considered during the development of future versions of Mastercam, then it may be possible to use COM-friendly languages such as Visual Basic or Borland Delphi to develop third-party Mastercam apps. [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 05-07-2001).]

I found this info on ZDNet this morning that affects those running WinNT with Viper II Z200 cards: "With S3's Diamond Viper II Z200, there is no OpenGL hardware acceleration support under WindowsNT. S3 does not explain why they chose not to support OpenGL hardware acceleration with the original NT driver release, but report that a future driver release will have this support implemented."

Personally, I'm an nVidia fan. On my personal system, I have a 32MB nVidia GeForce and I've never had a problem. At all. Not even with with OpenGL. On the less expensive side the GeForce line (1 and 2) seem to work well. Hopefully the GeForce 3 does as well. Check out the Geforce 3's technology demo running some of the upcoming Doom 3 game (http://www.fileplanet.com/index.asp?file=56348)! I'm not sure how their higher-priced Quadro cards run Mastercam. I would assume rock solid as well. IMHO, nVidia chipsets are a safe bet.

How about "make_tool_shape" to create a tool and manipulate the neccessary variables accordingly: init_feedrate, plunge_rate, spindle_speed, etc... [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 02-27-2001).]

If it's an extra $110 for the CD-RW drive, then I'd go for it. James, do you mean DirectX 8 instead of ActiveX?

Visual C++ is Microsoft's C/C++ development environment. You can use C and C++ syntax. Visual Basic is a RAD (Rapid Application Development) tool. It's native language is a modified version of Basic. All of the header files that come with the Mastercam SDK are C header files. That means that they can be included in a C project or C++ project (using "extern"). Including these headers in a Visual Basic project is not an option. In theory, if the header files were built as DLLs, then you may be able to use VB for C-Hooks...in theory. It would probably be a HUGE pain to this, however.

How about saving the toolpath as geometry? (NC Utils | Backplot | Display | Save As Geometry) Then print that like you normally would.

Have you looked at the operation_manager() function in M_ASSOC.H yet?

Remove a "w" http://www.wrox.com [Corrected in original message - Webmaster] [This message has been edited by Webmaster (edited 02-13-2001).]

If you want to learn Visual C++ syntax only, I recommend "Practical Visual C++ 6". You'll learn a little bit of C++ but it'll focus primarily on building Windows apps using MFC. If you prefer to learn ANSI compliant C++ itself, go to the Bjarne Stroustrup's website (http://www.research.att.com/~bs/homepage.html); he lists his books. As far as programming goes, "The Art of Computer Programming" is the computer science bible. Good luck!

If you're trying to use the DOS driver, then check the C-Hook SDK. If you find nothing, then it probably can't be done through a C-Hook. If you're using a Windows driver, use WIN32 API functions (that I can't exactly remember off the top of my head right now) to change the default Windows printer. I think it can be found if you search MSDN's Win API section for functions like "EnumPrinter", "GetPrinter" and "PrintDlgEx". Hope this helps. [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 02-09-2001).]

It is a little tricky using Borland tools to develop C-Hooks. This is mostly because of different naming conventions for project options and settings between Microsoft and Borland environments. I have managed to get something work with Borland C++ 5.02. In my spare time, I'm working on getting a Borland C++ Builder 3 test project (with UI) working, but to no avail yet. Syntax is not really an issue since Borland's implementation of C/C++ is slightly more ANSI complient. Either way, it's probably safer to stick with MS Visual C++ since that's what Mastercam is developped with. Anybody play with the Visual Studio.NET beta yet? [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 02-09-2001).]

That'll get rid of a compiler error quickly

MSVC's C2039 error means that you called a member of a structure that doesn't exist. For example: struct DigitalTime { int nHour; int nMinute; int nSeconds; }*pDigitalTime; void main() { pDigitalTime->nHour = 11; // ok pDigitalTime->nMinute = 30; // ok pDigitalTime->nSecs = 45; // this causes C2039 } If the structure doesn't contain a member called "type", then there's your problem. Maybe the "type" variable was omitted by accident. I've never used that structure yet, so I can't share any experience with it. Hope this helps. [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 01-25-2001).] [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 01-25-2001).] [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 01-25-2001).]

Did you just copy 'n' paste it into a new MSVC project? Don't forget that all C-Hook projects need the "M_INIT.OBJ" and "M_PTRS.OBJ" files from the SDK added to them. Also, don't forget to add the "MSWINDOWS" and "_MSVC_" preprocessor definitions and delete the "_DEBUG" definition. Finally, C-Hooks are "Multithreaded DLLs" and use a 1-byte struct member alignment. [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 01-25-2001).]

James, With Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft is heavily pushing its new C# (pronounced C-sharp) language. C#, IMO, is a retaliation against Sun and Java. C# aims to be a Java-killer and I think it's a step backwards; we already have Java, we don't need another one. Hopefully, the new incarnations of Visual C++ .NET and Visual Basic .NET won't be too web-oriented (but it's shaping up that way). If my MSDN subscription was more prompt, I'd have a beta to play with by now . If the next version of Visual Studio leaves C-Hook and application developers in the cold, I'd be more than happy to fall back onto Borland's products; they're what I used the most in university .

butch_shaw, The C-Hook Developer's Guide that is included with the SDK in DOC format is what got me started. The "shapes" sample is good example to get a basic understanding of how C-Hooks are launched, input/output data and a little MFC GUI developement is thrown in for good measure C-Hooks will keep MFC alive since Microsoft is trying killing it off with C# and Visual Studio .Net

You mean this one? http://www.emastercam.com/resources/millbook7.html

One more thing to add about GLSetup: GLSetup is only compatible with Windows 9x at the moment. Windows NT and 2000 are not supported by GLSetup at this time.

I too have run into this problem and have found a temporary fix. I developed a C-Hook for Mastercam 7.2c using MS Visual C++ 5.0 SP2 running on Windows NT 4 SP6a. On some machines it would run fine. On other machines, icons and other graphics in the C-Hook would not display. Also, when I brought the C-Hook home to my personal system with Mastercam 7.2c using MS Visual C++ 6.0 SP4 running on Windows 98 SE, I received the same "C-Hook cannot be found" error that you are receiving. This was also the case with the 'shapes' C-Hook you're using as a template. I discovered that it had to do with the version of the mfc42.dll I was using. The fix was to keep the most current version of the mfc42.dll, which is 6.00.8447.0, in the system directory (eg. C:WindowsSystem OR C:WinntSystem32) but use an older version in the Mastercam root directory (eg. C:Mill72). The version of the mfc42.dll in my Mastercam directory is 4.21.7022, and that one seems to work fine. However, be carefull because other C-Hooks may not run properly or at all with this 'older' version of mfc42.dll. I'm researching this as to why it happens and how to make it work with newer versions of the mfc42.dll. If you need an 'older' version of the mfc42.dll, let me know and I can send it to you. Hope this helps. [This message has been edited by Bullines (edited 07-11-2000).]