When we post a program in MCX the TXT file name defaults to Machine Group .TXT. You have to manually enter the file name and path every time you save a new file. MAjor pain in you know what!!! Is there a switch to activate in the config file to default the file name to the MCX file it was saved as? I have looked thru the config file many times and can't find it. When is the Chook Setdirect.DLL coming back?

I can't window thw text in the GUI setup sheet. It is not selectable and as soon as I click on the Analyze button the text disappears.

Thanks, I will give it a try. I let you know if it works.

We use the GUI setup sheet and move text on screen to different location in version 9. In version X the move text button gives error message "Not available at this time". No.1 this function worked in version 7, 8 & 9. If it isn't available in X why is the button there?!? We used this feature extensively to create cover pages for routing forms and setup sheets. We have people who progam for machine operators on multiple shifts. This feature was a great why to pass information. Bracken

I guess as an IT person I look at it a different way. #1 I don't want software in two formats running around my shop. If I do I'll have people who still use 9 complaining about not being able to open 10 files. #2 Why pay MasterCAM to beta test their software? As a new piece of software it is guaranteed to have bugs, so why should I pay them to work those bugs out? #3 If there are bugs that cause scrap it could cost my company a lot money, will MasterCAM cover these losses? -Craig

I know most system Admins out there will never install a piece of software (especially OS software) into live production until after the first service release. We have some people here at my company who are wanting to install MasterCAM 10 as soon as it's released. I was just wondering what your thoughts are on that? Does anyone else out there wait until at least after the first service release? -Craig

I would rather get the opinion of people that use the software who have nothing to do with making money from the sale of the software. -Craig

In a different thread I had started a conversation about why we use WorkNC over MasterCAM and I had gotten some input about MasterCAM being just as good if not better then WorkNC. I just found out that we are spending over $8k a year on Maintenance for WorkNC and would be delighted if that could go away. So let me ask. My WorkNC programmer sat me down and showed me something that he said would have to be a necessity if we were to make the switch. He brought up the part in 3D and ran the tool path on it. The screen showed the 3D part and yellow lines over the 3D part which represented the center of the cutters path. He then, in the 3D view drew a box over the yellow tool path and it automatically remove those paths within the box and recalculated. He was also able to select a single path by clicking on it and select a generic shape. All of these automatically removed the tool paths in that area and recalculated. Can masterCAM do this or anything close to this? I know this is an ease of use issue, but if it saves them 30 minutes a day of clicking around the screen, that saves the company money. Although I am not sure if that is close to the $8k we are spending a year on maint. But if it means the difference between getting a job out on time or not it just will not do. Secondly, what level of MasterCAM do we need to do 3D tool paths/cutter paths? Thirdly are there any good "non-technical" books which will teach 3D tool pathing in MasterCAM? Thanks guys. -Craig

quote: How familiar with Mcam are your guys? If they are as familiar with it as they claim to be, then the answer would be just as Iskander suggested. He could simply limit the toolpath to a particular depth by using the Depth Limits button within the operation parameters. You're aboxxxxly correct in that respect. My guess is that my guys know WorkNC much better then MasterCAM, at least on the Mold side of our shop. But, if you've had any experience working in a shop, you'll know that switching software, no matter how much better it is, can cost a company more money then they're sometimes willing to pay. When you have a guy billing out $56/hour and he has to be unproductive for 3 days to weeks because he has to learn new software, that can cost a ton of cash in lost productivity. Antomatic updates are not necessary. We would appreciate it if you'd wrap your software and updats into an MSI package, that right there would save us a lot of time. The software that MasterCAM uses (Wise Package Studio) has a tool (Wise for Windows Installer) that allows a Wise install to be packaged in an a Microsoft Installer format. With Active Directory in 2k and 2k3 server we could install the software and/or updates once administrativly on the server and have it push them down to the workstations silently. But it's not keeping track of the updates that's the problem. Imagine this, a company has 20 seats of MasterCAM. You push out an update and we have to make sure that update goes to all twenty machines. That can take 15+ minutes per machine. That's a lot of time running around to all the computers just for one little patch. How often do MasterCAM patches come out? quote: [Head Scatch] ...and you can't keep up w/updates? Sounds like out IT guy [bang Head] Trust me, it's not the software. Now imagine if we had to do all that I mentioned above for; OS, virus, local firewall, other CAD software, office software, spyware, e-mail, hardware drivers, firmware, all the software that runs that the user doesn't see like Backup, enterprise security, e-mail (Notes or Exchange), Database servers, Web Pages, Programming, etc.... That starts to take a lot of time. And we have to accomplish all this while we're attempting to keep the servers and network hardware running smoothly (this is no simple task mind you), putting up with complaining users because their printer doesn't work the way they want it to work or they've installed some stock ticker program that now crashes their computer, keeping ourselves up to date in the ever changing technology race (otherwise how could we keep you in hardware that allows you to run your software), programming little applets and macros for users because they're to lazy to click 4 times, explaining to users what "Returned Mail: mailbox limit reached" means every 5 minutes cause they have no short term memory, etc... It's not an easy job. Show some appreciation to your IT guy, 90% of the hard work he does you will never see. -Craig

We're doing Z-Level Finishing and we set it to cut two inches down. We decide we only need 3/4 inch down. In WorkNC we can Draw a window with the mouse from 3/4 inch down on the side view of the object and "boom" everything from 3/4 down is gone. Can we do that in masterCAM without having to go through any menus or dialog boxes? MY guys say that is just one of the reasons, they gave that example because it was easy for me to understand. I am IT, not programming or design. -Craig

quote: Why on Earth would you want to convert from Mcam into Work NC when you have the best CAM system in front of you already? As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure. But I really don't want to get into a debate. MasterCAM just isn't robust enough to make the kind of cutter paths we make with WorkNC. quote: Do you have the latest converter updates? We have the latest updates from our MasterCAM rep. as of a month or two ago (9.1 MR0304 with a couple of patches). I will check and see if there is something newer out there. quote: That converter update is for anyone using V9.1 SP2 and any of the Maintenance releases. Secondly, talk to your reseller and find out from them what your options are. You've already made an investment in the software, now make that investment work for you I know it's easy as a rep for one piece of software to say, "Make sure you software is up to date" but it can be rather time consuming when you have 15 billion other software products to keep updated as well. Three suggestions. 1) Group ALL of your updates into one package. Make the package determine what software is installed and then install the appropriate updates. That way I don't have to waste an hour on your web page asking myself, "Hmmm, do I need that update? Can that update install without installing this update? Do I really need this update?" 2) Give us an MSI wrapper for your software and software updates (Both Wise and Install Shield offer options to do this). That way we can add it to automatically install and update in active directory, saving all of us a lot of time running to each station that has the software to update. 3) Give us an automatic update option in MasterCAM itself. That way MasterCAM can keep itself updated for those of us who don't have a no Internet policy on our shop floor. I am sorry to sound a bit off but I get this same schpiel from every software manufacturer. They seem to think that their software is the ONLY software being run on a companies computers, so they think the entire IT staff can dedicate 100% of it's time making sure their software is up to date. Well we can't, and the easier you make it for us to make sure the software is updated the more up-to-date your software will be on our systems. BTW, thanks Thad for the suggestions, I will try them out. -Craig

At this point in time IGES is the only format that we can translate to from MasterCAM. This is not a good thing and could make the determination between sticking with 9.1 and going back to 8.1.1. Maybe I will contact MasterCAM on this one. -Craig

My guys are having some problems with MasterCAM losing surfaces when translating to IGES then opening the IGES up in WorkNC. We tried the same file in MasterCAM 8.1.1 and have no problems. Has anyone else had this problem or seen anything similar? Thanks -Craig

I seem to remember somewhere that MasterCAM 9.1 would allow for Roaming user configuration file. Can anyone tell me how to enable this, and how it works? Thanks -Craig

I am using MasterCAM 8.1.1 I am trying to Create->Letter->Box to create text for engraving. Is there a way without having to create two seperate entities to put a CR/LF, Enter, or Wordwrap into the text? I've tried Enter, Shift-Enter, Alt-Enter, and Ctrl-Enter and none of them seem to work. Thanks for your help. -Craig