Please recommend settings for "Allocations" in MasterCAM. My system is PIII; 900Mhz; 256K RAM; Windows 98; MasterCAM v8.1 I use MasterCAM primarily for creating 3D milling toolpaths from solids and surfaces generated elsewhere.

Charles Davis, Thank you! I was starting feel like "one against the world"! Although the sample I provided was contrived, to be sure, it was based on a customer's model. The "error" occurred twice in this one part. Once as a boss (like my example), and once as a hole. I am not looking to find a "work-around". The program in question was already modified (by using 5 decimals of precision) and the parts were shipped. I simply wanted to make public what I perceive as a flaw in this $**,*** program that I paid for. Thanks again, Dan

Millturn, Sorry, I did not mean to imply that the circles are "perfect", only "perfectly acceptable". i.e. within +/- .0005 on diameter in this instance. The actual error from my example produced an error approaching .005 dimensionally on my VMC. Charles Davis, A "rounding error" does not suggest an algorithmic error, but rather an error in fact! The "rounded" portion of a number may have a deviation from the original number. This does produce a mathematical error. This error is evident in the sample code I provided.

LutherHeggs, Please clarify: Which item in screen config? Which option in Secret-command?

mlindsey, You're correct. The sample MC8 file was contrived like this intentionally to reflect a real-world condition that recently occurred. My customers send solid models to me and I have to use them to create my tool paths. It is not practical (nor should it be necessary) to amend their geometry to accomodate mastercam.

Thanks to all responents. However, this is not a machine problem! My machine makes perfectly acceptable circles when properly programmed to do so. i.e. either 360 degree arcs or 2 - 180 degree arcs properly coded. Please do not dismiss the .0001 error as insignificant until you have posted this to your machine. Will any of you please send the faulty code I have described to your machine and describe the measured results. I know you, like me , are too busy to tie-up a valuable machine tool and spend the time necessary to test this on a whim, but I am convinced (from actual practice) that the resultant part will be found unacceptable. Thanks again.

A recent post (http://www.emastercam.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=000457) complained of egg-shaped holes. The general response suggested machine deficiencies as the most probable cause. Please review the following code that mastercam puked out for me: N10 O0000 (MC811-TEST ) N20 G0 G90 G80 G70 G40 G17 N30 T1 M6 ( 1/4 FLAT ENDMILL ) N40 G0 G90 S6000 M3 E1 X.215 Y0. N50 G43 H1 D1 Z.25 M8 N60 Z.1 N70 G1 Z-.1 F6. N80 G2 X-.2149 I-.215 N90 X.215 I.215 N100 G0 Z.25 N110 M5 M9 N120 T1 M6 N130 M30 Please note line #N80: This is junk code on any machine! I will try to ftp these files for further review. MC811-TEST.MC8 MC811-TEST.NC

Thanks. That's the one I was looking for. Is it possible to send command line arguments to a c-hook? example : int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { ... } If so, can they also be used with an m_enter( ) function? If you define your main entry point as m_open( ) instead of m_main( ) in order to keep a c-hook running, do you still access the hook with Alt-C? ------------------ camklutz

Thanks for the feedback. The history is such a crucial part of a solids developement that I'm just amazed format bothers to include it. ------------------ camklutz

Are there any solids file x-fer/conversion formats that carry the original solids history with them? I have customers that send me solids in ParaSolid and IGES formats, and they are always dumb solids! Can I suggest to them anything different? ------------------ camklutz

How complicated would it be to create a c-hook that will send a message to MasterCAM in the following format: "Execute" (or "exefunc") [CA3PTCIR] (or some other arbitrary MasterCAM function call). What I'm thinking is a c-hook that will send an "Execute" message along with a command-line sourced function call. The short-cut key to "Execute" only provides a drop-down list.