I would like to find a simple program to transfer programs from my computer to my Mill.
The software package I use can transfer the data, however I would like a stand alone program so that I can upload the data from another Editor.
The simpler the better, I really don't need any fancy features, just some program that I can pass a file to and have it uploaded.

Hopefully someone can suggest some software to accomplish this.
Thanks
-JamesBond

What about this one-
http://excaliburcnc.com/DncFrameSet.html

That looks like it might work, however a bit too fancy and expensive for what I need.
Ideally I would like to pass the program a file name and have it transfer the program with out pressing a send button. That way I could easily transfer the file from within my editor.
Thanks
-JamesBond

I made a small program that does just that... nothing more. (Meaning it doesn't receive... yet. Some day I'll finish that part if I get time :D )

Let me know if interested. I've been thinking about releasing this as freeware.

'Rekd teh nothing witty to say here..

Originally posted by JamesBond
That looks like it might work, however a bit too fancy and expensive for what I need.
Ideally I would like to pass the program a file name and have it transfer the program with out pressing a send button. That way I could easily transfer the file from within my editor.
Thanks
-JamesBond

This will work nicely... it accepts command line parameters for file names, then automatically sends it. You have the option of hiding it during send, and also exiting afterwards.

'Rekd teh w00t! 69 posts!!

Thats exactly what I'm looking for.
-JamesBond

See dreams do come true. :wee: Now does rekd know PHP, that's the question I have?:chinese:

James, we fix you. No problem. :D

Paul, I'm not a wizzard with php, but lemme know what you need I'll see if I can help.

:cheers:

'Rekd

James, I added the 115.2k baud. I will have to wait 'til I get home before I can upload it to my web site. (damn firewalls)

I'll let you know here when it's ready.

'Rekd

Scott,

I haven't had a chance to test the install program. Some of the files may be out of date on newer systems. The file transfer app works great on 98, ME, XP and NT. (I've tested it on these systems)

If you have a problem with the install there is a simple work around; there is a .cab file inside the .zip file that you can open with WinZip. Extract all the files to the folder of your choice and run SComm.exe. It will read everything it needs from the local folder instead of the system. (Not to worry about conflicts due to running these files locally; these controls will not interfere with anything else that may be running, except if you try to send data thru the same comm port from 2 different sources at the same time, i.e. SComm and Cimco or something.)

If you have ?'s or !'s let me know.

'Rekd teh If VB wasn't so damn easy, I'd have tossed it out long ago..

I do have a question...
Who is Scott?

I guess that is your super secret code name for JamesBond,
I installed it and tried to run it, however it does not transfer the file. It seems like it is trying to transfer the data ssssllllllooooowwwwllllyyy, as I see the byte count slowly increasing. I have tried other baud rates with the same result.
I have a oscilloscope that I will probe the data and control lines in a little while to see if anything on the port wiggles.

Another question I have..... is there an option to add a "%" at the beginning and end of the file?
I'll guess these are the begin and end transmission characters, I could add them to each of my files.
Thanks,
-JamesBond

Isn't Scott spelled backwards James? :eek:

You will need to set the correct comm port for the computer, and set the data and stop bits, error control and baud to match the controller. Make sure you have properly wired plugs, etc.

Also, the file will need to be ready to send, as there is no editor associated with the transfer program. If you use an editer that allows you to run external programs, you can send the file name to scomm and it will send it to the controller.

'Rekd

I use an editor program called EditCNC. It has a built-in DNC link option. You just edit your code and the push the transfer button. It has many useful tools for editing your code too. I'm do not work for the company of the software nor am I trying to plug it. Just trying to help. I think the software is around 100.00 US dollars. Here is the link. www.editcnc.com I use it all the time.

James, Scott is your twin brother separated at birth. Rekd and I know him. Obviously you havent met him yet. :D

I have been using NCLink frm OneCNC.com. It is flexible, easy to use, and best of all.....free. It has an editor, DNC and simple transfer. The company will also give you support (in the hopes that you will buy their CAM package). It is easy to set up, as long as your machine is relatively normal, ie: fanuc with standard wiring etc.

Adam

James,

I've made a few updates...

Recieve module
Progress bar
DNC capabilities
Test for previously running instance
This ghey slider to "fade" the app so you can see thru it. (dunno why..)
Some more error checking
Only have to click Tx 1 time if no file selected. (The app will click it for you after you select the file.)

There's a RECIEVE module now. (Completely different looking interface than the main module. Looks like a text editor almost) (Yes, I'll be adding an option to test for "%" before you send. :D )

When it opens, you'll be sternly warned that there is a seperate set of parameters to configure for the Recieve module.

Once they're set, you click on either the yellow icon on the left, or File/Open File, to select or create a file to save to. Then click the red light on the right to start recieving. The port will stay open indefinately, so you won't need to RUN to the machine to send it. After it's recieved, close the port, close the file and you're done.

'Rekd

This ghey slider to "fade" the app so you can see thru it. (dunno why..)

Just tested this on a non-XP/2K machine and the slider doesn't work. Doesn't crash (On Error GoTo Hell), just slides, (very smoothly, I might add), across and does nothing.. :shrug:

'Rekd

I just tried out the fader function on an XP machine and it is really cool.
I'll test out the other features later tonight.
Good Job.
-JB

Another question I have..... is there an option to add a "%" at the beginning and end of the file?
I'll guess these are the begin and end transmission characters, I could add them to each of my files.


What do you think would be better, to have the file modified with the "%" at top and bottom, or to just send the character before sending any data without modifying the file, then send it again when the file's done??

Are you using the command line from your editor to launch it?


SComm.exe E:\Your Path Name\Your File Name.ext


'Rekd teh http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/spezial/Fool/lam.gif

I think if you had a check box that if checked, it would look for a % and if necessary, insert it into the stream at the beginning and end.
It would not be necessary to change the orginal file.

I have not yet used it from within my editor.

After installing the program update to my other machine, I now get an error:

Runtime error '340'
Control Array element '12' doesn't exist.


Maybe I didn't load the new update correctly. what should I do?
-JB

Should be able to copy the executable over. Worked on my other machine. What are you running?

Either way, I'll re-compile the setup tomorrow, and get you updated. May be something to do with the progress bar, although that control was already loaded, just not being used. Besides, the progress bar isn't an array, which now makes me wonder.. the only array with 12 items is the com ports.. hrm. This could get interesting. Please lemme know what OS you've got on the errored machine. Thanks.

'Rekd

Reked,
I removed all scomm entries in the registry, deleted the installed directory, reinstalled the program and copied the latest version, and all is working.

I am using scomm only with windows XP machines.
Thanks, -JB

Reked this James Bond is not my brother inlaw from the other board..
Is that waht you were thinking was Scott Bond from emastercam?

James. Glad to hear it. Please lemme know if you find anything wierd. I'm really liking the recieve module and the progress bar. And yes, the fader only works in XP and (presumably) W2k. :D

Jay, I had confused them, saw the bond and spliced the two together in my mind. Kind of like I almost did with you and cadman at first. Almost replied to something he wrote as if I knew him for years. :eek:

'Rekd

More updates..

It's compact

The echo window displays 1 line at a time.

Controls were moved around a bit to make it more compact. (Yay! I can justify the fader now!! :D )

Keep a copy of the .exe you're using now until you've proofed it out.

I've tested it all day and it seems good.


Here's the executable.. Screenies on next 2 posts.

'Rekd

screenie

..shown

It will test for the " % " now, and add it to beginning and end if it's not in the file. There is no switch for it now, it just does it automatically. That may come later, but I'm not aware of any machines that don't require that.

If anyone reading this has seen a machine that doesn't require the " % " at the beginning and end of an RS232 or floppy transfer, please lemme know. :cheers:

'Rekd

Take a look at http://www.softsqad.com/CS-Lite.htm
Its free and I like it.

Hey Everyone,
Anyone looking for a simple, but highly effective way of getting your NC data organized and transfered to / from the machine.

Take a look @ "CAMback easy" on http://www.evo-solutions.com

* It's a universal transfer tool supporting all possible controls!

* It helps you organize your data in tree views according to criteria like machine type / type of file / .....

* It runs on all current Windows systems: Win95 / Win98 / WinME / Win2000 / WinXP

* It's the easiest NC transfer tool I've ever seen!!! :)

Take a look @ it on: http://www.evo-solutions.com
This is software developed according to highest German quality standards - please drop us a note if you're interested in an international version!

CAMback

Originally posted by Rekd

If anyone reading this has seen a machine that doesn't require the " % " at the beginning and end of an RS232 or floppy transfer, please lemme know. :cheers:

'Rekd

It seems to me that there were quite a few machines over the years that don't require the %. BostoMatics with SPC-II controls (80's vintage) and EMCO controls didn't need them. I'm sure there are others.

You're probably right though, that most machines today use a %.

Originally posted by coldplugs
It seems to me that there were quite a few machines over the years that don't require the %. BostoMatics with SPC-II controls (80's vintage) and EMCO controls didn't need them. I'm sure there are others.

You're probably right though, that most machines today use a %.

Do you know how these machines would react if the recieved the %?

'Rekd

Originally posted by Rekd
Do you know how these machines would react if the recieved the %?

'Rekd

Sorry - no, I don't. I suspect they'd ignore them on the download but might choke when the program is run if the character got transferred to memory.

I've written an "in-house" DNC system and 2 simple commercial systems and made start and end characters an option without really thinking about it. My experience is that, if you don't do things like this, your first user will need it. If you do it, your "support line" will be that much quieter.

I've made a simple comm program as well, and recently added support to add the % if needed.

Question; how much different is a DNC program than a typical comm program? (I'm using VB6)

I've DNC'd with my comm program, but I don't think it has all the error checking and RTS CTS and all that. I've been considering a full fledged DNC but am not sure how to go about it. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

'Rekd

Originally posted by Rekd
...
Question; how much different is a DNC program than a typical comm program? (I'm using VB6)

I've DNC'd with my comm program, but I don't think it has all the error checking and RTS CTS and all that. I've been considering a full fledged DNC but am not sure how to go about it. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

'Rekd

For simply transferring a program to a controller, there's not much different from a typical comm program. But for drip feeding (usually with X-on/X-off), I've found that things seem to work well only if you send a single (CNC) block at a time, or at least make sure that your Windows buffer ends with a complete, and not a partial, CNC block.

Performance is also important for drip-feeding - the DNC program needs to react quickly when the CNC requests data. I try to do any file formatting (e.g. remove sequence numbers) ahead of time so that no string manipulation is needed during the transfer iteslf.

Whether drip-feeding or not, you'll probably hit CNC issues relating to end-of-lines characters. Some want CR/LF, some want other combinations. I handle this reformatting ahead of time as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

One other thing comes to mind - some CNC controls are a little slow to react when you send them data and they fill their buffer. One way to handle this is to allow a short delay between blocks.

I did one system with VB5 that worked pretty well although performance was never great.

For file transfers, though, VB should work fine. You can improve things by getting one of the add-on comm controls. Their manuals relating to comm issues are usually worth the price of the control.

This stuff's fun to write, isn't it. It can be frustrating but you get a sense of accomplishment when you get 2 machines talking.

Originally posted by coldplugs
For simply transferring a program to a controller, there's not much different from a typical comm program. But for drip feeding (usually with X-on/X-off), I've found that things seem to work well only if you send a single (CNC) block at a time, or at least make sure that your Windows buffer ends with a complete, and not a partial, CNC block.

Performance is also important for drip-feeding - the DNC program needs to react quickly when the CNC requests data. I try to do any file formatting (e.g. remove sequence numbers) ahead of time so that no string manipulation is needed during the transfer iteslf.

Whether drip-feeding or not, you'll probably hit CNC issues relating to end-of-lines characters. Some want CR/LF, some want other combinations. I handle this reformatting ahead of time as mentioned in the previous paragraph.

One other thing comes to mind - some CNC controls are a little slow to react when you send them data and they fill their buffer. One way to handle this is to allow a short delay between blocks.

I did one system with VB5 that worked pretty well although performance was never great.

For file transfers, though, VB should work fine. You can improve things by getting one of the add-on comm controls. Their manuals relating to comm issues are usually worth the price of the control.

This stuff's fun to write, isn't it. It can be frustrating but you get a sense of accomplishment when you get 2 machines talking.

Thanks for your reply.

Setting the buffer size to the block size seems a bit tricky. Considering the blocks will be different size, the buffer size will have to be dynamic. I can see that this could pose potential problems because you'd have to set the buffer size each time you hit a CR/LF. Or am I out in left field again?

My app uses the standard MSComm control. I've recently considered winsock or a third party control for flexibility/reliability, but being a novice am a bit shy.

Thanks again.

'Rekd

Originally posted by Rekd
Thanks for your reply.

Setting the buffer size to the block size seems a bit tricky.
<...snipped...>

My app uses the standard MSComm control. I've recently considered winsock or a third party control for flexibility/reliability, but being a novice am a bit shy.

Thanks again.

'Rekd

I wasn't suggesting that you change the buffer size. What I actually do is load the buffer with a single block, or some number of blocks, send it, and wait for the count of characters waiting to be sent to hit zero. The important thing is to make sure that the last block in the buffer is complete, and not a partial block.

Re third party controls, I once used "PDQCOMM" by Crescent Software, which was very compatible with the MS control. I don't think it's available these days but something like it must be.

Anyway, if your code's working I wouldn't worry about it...

James,

Still using SComm? How's it working? I've made lots of upgrades. I'll post some screenies.

'Rekd

It has been working great!
I use it daily and have had no problems.
It is one utility that makes my downloading so easy I don't think about it anymore, it just works.

What improvements have you made lately?
Thanks, James

Glad it's working out for you.

I've added more error checking for the code as well as the actual transfers.

I've added some options for the way the polling works. (You may not use this, but I have 5 different comm ports on my computer, and can select which port to send to when sending the file name to SComm)

It will check for the % at the beginning/end of the file and send it if it's not there. (I think you may already have this option, not sure cuz I don't remember what version you're using.)

I fixed some problems with the Reset button being pressed manually, as well as when it's set in the options to automatically reset after the transfer.

I made a little cheesy text based help file to explain what the options do.

I've added a logging feature, and am working on allowing user to limit the log's file size.

I added Explorer Shell Menu capabilities, so you can right click on a file in Explorer, and select SComm from the menu. This is not set up by SComm at this time, as there are too many different ways for people to set up their file extensions. But I can walk you thru setting it up yourself. It's really easy. This will (hopefully) be an automatic process in the near future.

The interface hasn't changed much, but I did add tabs to the options, as it was getting rather crowded having everything on one page.

Have a look at the screenies.

'Rekd

Screenie..

Screenie

One more..

Rekd any chance to get hold of your last version of this program?

Yeah, PM me monday and I'll get it.

Will do, thanks!

moved to new thread

...(B) If I go with the computer beside the machine route: positive: better control of machine???, real time graphic display of tool path. negative: expensive computer sitting in a dusty environment.
What's your thoughts everyone?
Phil...!

Have a look at this. (http://dirtbag.biz/)

moved to new thread

moved to new thread

Yeah, PM me monday and I'll get it.

Your PM folder is full, cant send to you.

Updated version of SComm.

After you install, copy the SComm.EXE file to the install directory and over-write the existing one.

If you have ?'s or !'s lemme know.

http://members.cox.net/fuknrekd/Scomm Setup.zip

I was going to try your program but the last scomm setup.zip seems to be empty.?

I was going to try your program but the last scomm setup.zip seems to be empty.?

Oops. Will upload a new one. That's weird. :confused:

Ok. All better.

I tried to download it again from the link above and it seemed to be empty again. But then I right clicked it and chose to "Save link as" instead and this time it worked. Probably would have yesterday to. My bad. Sorry to have caused you extra work. I will try your software next week. We usually use cimco edit (mastercam version) to send/receive programs to one of our mills. But sometimes I need the hardware lock elsewere and then it's good to have an alternative.

I used to use an editor I programmed myself in delphi years ago but after we got a new computer with xp the communication no longer works. I had big plans for this editor but the time to develop it never seems to come along. And now of course I have the cimco editor.

Hi again
I tried your prog at work today. I had problems with the recieve module. When I sent from our Chiron mill with Fanuc 21-m I got everything on one long line. I didn't see any settings regarding this in your program. Are you aware of anything I can do to get around it? And by the way, thanks for your good work and for letting other people benefit from it.

regards Mats

The recieve portion has it's own settings, but does not include the option to add CR/LFs. There should be a setting on your machine's controller to send them, and SComm will pick them up.

Rekd, How do you use polling with another program. Can you send a file using arguments ? Ex. scomm.exe,test.nc

Could you explain a little of how polling is used?

Thanks

Rekd, How do you use polling with another program. Can you send a file using arguments ? Ex. scomm.exe,test.nc

Could you explain a little of how polling is used?

Thanks

Polling and arguments go hand in hand. Yes, you can send a file name to SComm and have that file loaded for the send operation. (I haven't set it up to change any settings yet, except to optionally bring up a port select window)


SComm.exe c:\pathname\filename.ext


With polling, if SComm is already running, the 'new' instance will send the file name to the registry, then exit.

The 'original' instance will read the registry every 5 seconds to see if that 'key' has been modified. The value for the key is the file name. If there is a value detected, it sends that to the console and loads the port select option, if enabled. If port select is not enabled, it will just start sending.

Matt,
Thanks for the information. Your program is really sweet! Nice work!

Could you give me an example of the syntax to send an argument to scomm. Also, how can i tell if the port select is enable or not. I would like for scomm to just send whatever i send it and not prompt to select a port.

What lang are you programming in? VB6 or VBnet would be my guess.

Thanks again,
Brian

Matt,
Thanks for the information. Your program is really sweet! Nice work!

Could you give me an example of the syntax to send an argument to scomm. Also, how can i tell if the port select is enable or not. I would like for scomm to just send whatever i send it and not prompt to select a port.

What lang are you programming in? VB6 or VBnet would be my guess.

Thanks again,
Brian

Brian, thanks. :cheers:

The syntax is very simple, just the program's path/name, a space, then the file to send's path/name.



c:\program files\scomm\scomm.exe c:\ncfiles\customer\file.ncf



If you're always going to send from the same port, then disable "Prompt with Polling" under Options\System Settings. Doing this will launch SComm and send the file.

I programmed it in VB6, but am considering a migration to VB.net. (So far my experience with .net has resulted in much longer load times for apps that should load very quickly.)

If you're comfortable with computers, you can add SComm to the right mouse menu for explorer, so you can just select a file from there, right click and send it that way.

program called ATD EDIT
http://www.atdedit.com/
i use it for my turrent press
i use predator DNC for my mills and lathes

I've changed ISPs, here is a current link for SComm setup files. (http://rekd.frihost.net/SComm/SComm Setup.zip)

Current version: 3.2

Matt you rock! Thanks!

Matt you rock! Thanks!

You're welcome.

Let me know how it works for you. I'm always intersted in feedback, good or bad. ;)

Hi all, I would like to use scomm together with my NC program library. Could you let me know where I can download scomm now? I tried links in this thread but nothing works...
Thanks
Tony

Here's a copy of SComm

http://tinyurl.com/SCOMM

Thanks, I have download it and try to install on Win2k, but inatalator always stop on MSVBVM60.dll (7 of 7) and try to install new libraries. Then restart and after starting the instalation again, I recieve the same window and again instalation of new libs and again and again...
I tried to take files from cab and put them into separate directory and start it but I recieved some errors and program doens't start.
Any suggestions how to make this to run?
Thanks
Tony

Hi,
I just installed Scomm on XP and had no incidents. The program is nicely laid out. I am interested in incorporating comm into my Autocad abased cam program at the source code level.

If that may be possible please sen me a private message.

Thanks,
Jim