Thanks again for your help. I will work on this. LIke you, I will not have access to a computer (vacation) for a couple weeks after today. I hope vacation is the reason for you too, and if so, REALLY appreciate you taking the time. John

Thanks Zaffin_D, you have me on the right track, I think. It's a little out of my wheelhouse but this is what I have so far. strquot : "" #returns the character ( " ) snxt_tl_nam : "" #returns next tool's name Param 10094 strquot = no2asc(34) snxt_tl_nam = opinfo(10094,?,????) pbld, pn, "TOOL DEF ", *strquot, no_spc$, *snxt_tl_nam, no_spc$, *strquot, pe My problem on the opinfo query is this: ?: The source' value. The # of next ops with null toolchanges varies so how do I determine the desired source (next tool) by offset of current tool? ????: Is there a "license plate" mode that will parse just the ops with actual toolchanges?

True, but ptoolcomment only returns the current tool, not the next tool. Correct?

Sure do, Searched it thoroughly and couldn't find anything related. I'm modifying a purchased post for another machine with similar control. I successfully modified for another machine and just beginning to work on the Mikron, but immediately ran into this snag. John

Up until now our Mikron C400U (Heidenhain iTNC-530) has been programmed with another programming system (Featurecam). I am transitioning to Mastercam, which is what I am proficient in. The previous programs have been set up to use TOOL CALL and to pre-tool with TOOL DEF using descriptions rather than Tool number. i.e.: "EM-.375X1.020_3FL-AL_#2054". I don't want to change that. My problem is that - although I can use strtool$ for the TOOL CALL- I haven't been able to figure out how to return the next tool's description to pre-tool in TOOL DEF. Is there a way to tell strtool$ to find the next tool? Or some other way to accomplish this? Featurecam's post has a pre-defined variable called <NEXT-TL-NAME>. I can find no similar pre-defined string in MP. Any help would be greatly appreciated. John