NCPlot v2 Beta 9

[MetLHead]

NCPlot v2.0 beta 9 is now available for download:

www.ncplot.com


New for Beta 9

Machine Configuration Settings:

This is a new dialog that will be used to configure NCPlot for different machines. This is still being worked on, but currently functional is the Machine Type tab. You can save and load configuration files.

Added support for lathe backplotting:

On the Machine Type tab of the Machine Configuration dialog you can set the machine type to Lathe and select whether your program uses radius or diameter values for the X axis. I don't currently have any canned cycles for a lathe, I'm still working on this.

There are two new plot controls on the Draw menu:

Start at cursor - Sets the start point for program stepping at the current cursor location.
Plot Selected - Draws just the part of the program that is selected in the edit window.

Added color options to the preferences dialog for viewport selection color and editor background color.

Drawing routines have been changed:

Eliminated the problem of arc endpoints not matching up to their correct locations.
Added support for G18(XZ) and G19(YZ) arcs.

New behavior for the highlight tool:

The highlight tool now works in all view modes.
Left-clicking the viewport selects the object the cursor is on. If nothing is near the cursor, everything is un-selected.
Shift-clicking an object will add it to the current selection.
Ctrl-clicking an object will un-select it.

New Edit tool:

The Highlight Selected tool will highlight objects in the viewport that correspond to the part of the program that is selected in the edit window. If nothing is selected, the program line that the cursor is on will be highlighted.

New Calc tools:

To use these tools, click the viewport to select the object or objects you want to use as inputs for the calculation. These tools will create temporary objects that will persist on the viewport until it is refreshed. These objects can be selected and used in further calculations.
Offset - This tool offsets the selected objects by the given offset amount. A positive value offsets to the left, negative to the right.
Intersect - Calculates the intersection point or points of the two selected objects. Also Indicates when the two objects are tangent.
Blend Radius - Creates an arc of the given radius, tangent to the two selected lines.

NCPlot is now a single instance only application. However, it does support passing a file to it through the command line. This means you can open a file by dragging and dropping it onto the NCPlot icon or adding a shortcut to NCPlot to the Windows Send To folder. If NCPlot is running the new file will opened in the same instance rather than opening a new one.

Enjoy,
Scott