NCPlot v2 beta 18 now available for download

[MetLHead]

You can download it at www.ncplot.com

New for beta 18:

NCPlot now supports the Machinist ToolBox ActiveX plug-in from CNC Machinist Software. When the ActiveX is installed, you can access it directly from the NCPlot menu.
www.machinist-toolbox.com

The Quick Start, Macro Reference and Scripting Manuals have all been combined into a single help file. The help menu contains shortcuts to the appropriate help topics.

Some changes have been made to improve performance when handling large files. You should notice faster loading and better response from the viewport.

Added M00 program stop message. When an M00 is encountered in the program, a message box pops up and you can either stop the program or continue.

The GOTO macro statement now supports the use of an expression as the target block number.

Added support for U/W incremental axis designations when Lathe machine type is selected. Address "U" indicates an incremental move in the X axis and "W" indicates an incremental move in the Z axis. These addresses always indicate an incremental move regardless of the G90/G91 state.

Fixed a bug that was causing NCPlot to crash on exit on some computers. This was being caused by a missing DLL file MSSTDFMT.DLL. I've now removed any dependency on this file.

Fixed a bug in the sub repeat L address. This was only working for the first occurrence of the L address.

Fixed a bug in the G52 local shift command. This offset was being cleared whenever a G54-G59 command was issued.

Fixed a bug that was causing NCPlot to crash when attempting to save a file that is marked as read only.

The DXF to G-Code dialog has been reworked. The dialog is smaller, but includes a few more features. There are now additional layer settings for layer header and layer footer. These can be any text that you want. The header text will be added to the beginning of G-Code created for the selected layer, and the footer text will be added after. You will see some other new settings, but these do not work yet. The new settings are for allowing you to create multiple Z depth passes. The settings can be modified and saved, but have not been implemented yet.

Renumbering can now process files that contain multiple programs. The numbering sequence restarts at the beginning of each new program indicated by a line beginning with letter "O" or ":". This tool will also update M99 Pxx line numbers, M98 Hxx line numbers (if the target program is in the current file) as well as GOTO line numbers. Note that the M99 Pxx values are treated as jump commands within the same program and not as return block numbers.

Added two new buttons to the plot toolbar. These are for Start at Cursor and Plot Selected. The start at cursor button clears the viewport and sets the start point for drawing at the current cursor line. The plot selected tool draws the portion of the program that is selected in the edit window.

Added ability to load multiple programs into the edit window at the same time. This works similar to the insert file option. When browsing for a file to open, multiple files may be selected. All selected files are then added into a new untitled file. This is handy for opening a file that uses multiple subs. This feature works for file open and file insert.

Feel free to post questions or comments.

Thanks,
Scott

[rippersoft]

WOW! That will be cool when it can do multiple Z depth passes like ACE.

Thanks for the hard work.

[jonbanquer]

Scott,

Besides canned cycle support the two things that would really help me are being able make use of a tabbed interface and have multiple files open at once and being able to make a change in the G code and have the plot instantly update... right now I have to reload the file.

jon

"I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them." ... Jimmy Hoffa

[TURNER]

Hi Scott, Do i have to remove beta 17 before running beta 18?. If so will i need to make a backup of the machine config files first?
Cheers,
Turner.

[MetLHead]

Turner,

You don't need to uninstall beta 17 first, but you should backup any config files you've added or modified.

Regards,
Scott

[TURNER]

Hi Scott,
Thanks, got your Beta 18, but remember last week when i mentioned about rads looking a bit quirky?. This version seems to be worse, take a look at code below for turning config as before, this seemed ok on beta 17??

N20( SET TOOL TO TIP CENTRE 0.80 RAD )
N30T0818
N40G50S400
N50G96S110M03F0.25
N60G00G40G99
N70G0Z2.8
N80G0X270.0

N0090G00Z119.995
N0100X135.55
N0110X133.55Z116.468
N0120G01X131.55Z116.098
N0130X125.562Z110.625
N0140Z90.441
N0150X131.55Z89.639
N0160G00X127.562Z110.995
N0170G01X125.562Z110.625
N0180X119.574Z105.152
N0190Z91.243
N0200X125.562Z90.441
N0210G00X121.576Z105.521
N0220G01X119.574Z105.152
N0230X113.588Z99.679
N0240Z92.046
N0250X119.574Z91.243
N0260G00X135.55
N0270Z119.995
N0280G01X131.55
N0290G03X121.97Z110.011R12.8
N0300G02X107.6Z95.035R19.2
N0310X113.826Z90.978R4.2
N0320G01X125.918Z89.359
N0330G03X131.55Z85.688R3.8
N0340G00X133.55Z86.688M05
N500G0X270.0
N510G00Z50.0
N520G0X500.0T0
N530M01
N540M99


Like the plot from curser and selected addition,+ did you manage to look at being able to do a measure from axis lines?
Keep it up,
Turner

[MetLHead]

Turner,

I was looking at your machine config you sent and noticed that you have a G17 in the initial settings. Go to Setup | Machine Configuration and on the control options tab take a look at the Initial State setting. Your config has a G17 in it which is overriding the default lathe state of G18. I think this is what is causing the weird graphics.

Regards,
Scott

[MetLHead]

Turner,

This is what I've got now.

Scott

[TURNER]

Turner,

I was looking at your machine config you sent and noticed that you have a G17 in the initial settings.

Scott,
Your not wrong, All better now.
Thanking You,
Turner.

[wjbzone]

Scott,
I have a lathe program that uses G92 (another cycle) to cut a spiral. G92 drives the tool in a box pattern to cut a single pass on a thread.

It looks like NCplot interprets the G92 to set absolute zero. It makes my lathe program look odd. All the Z values are shifted to positive side of zero.

Is there anything I can do to make this work better?


Example:
G0X2.1Z0.2
G92X1.976Z-4.2F1.0
X1.96
X1.95
X1.94
X1.93
X1.92
X1.91
X1.90
G0X2.1Z0.15
G92X1.976Z-4.2F1.0
X1.96
X1.95
X1.94
X1.93
X1.92
X1.91
X1.90

Thanks,
Bill

[Armageddon]

I have the problem if i write this simple programm

G65 P8000 X-2.0 F0.08

O8000
G1 X#24 F#9
IF[#9LE0]THEN#3000=0(TEST)

and i show the variables in step by step mode then #1 is -1 and #9 is 0,08
#1=-1 ? ist that a bug or something? I am confused about the alarm. #9 isnt zero, i mean the real zero not the null-state. #9 is 0,08 but the alarm raise. aaargghhh :-(

[MetLHead]

Scott,
I have a lathe program that uses G92 (another cycle) to cut a spiral. G92 drives the tool in a box pattern to cut a single pass on a thread.

It looks like NCplot interprets the G92 to set absolute zero. It makes my lathe program look odd. All the Z values are shifted to positive side of zero.

Is there anything I can do to make this work better?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill,

There are a few G-Codes that differ between a mill and a lathe, G92 being one of these. I don't yet have a way to re-assign G-Codes for different machine configurations, but this is one the list.

Thanks,
Scott