NCPlot v2 beta 20 now available for download

[MetLHead]

You can download it at:

www.ncplot.com

New for beta 20:

Added support for G68 coordinate system rotation. Rotation is supported in G17, G18 & G19 modes.

Added support for helical arc interpolation. Helical arcs are supported in G17, G18 & G19 modes.

Improved the Show Programs in File tool. This tool now shows the program numbers along with the estimated program size and the program comment.

The Convert to all Caps tool will now include program comments.

Added system variables for current positions. These variables are:
#5001 - #5004 Previous block endpoint
#5021 - #5022 Current position in machine coordinates
#5042 - #5044 Current position in work coordinates

Added new option to the Color by Tool setup. You can now select the code that causes a viewport color change. The options are change on M06 or change on T code.

Fixed a bug in the object picker. The first created entity was being reported incorrectly when picked on the viewport.

Made a change to the window selection tool. When only 1 entity is selected by the window, the entity info window will open just like if you simply clicked it.

Improvements to the RS232 functionality:

Save/Load COM config now functional

Drip feeding on transmit works (DNC). This currently only supports software (XON/XOFF) handshaking. I've also reworked the send functions to allow for the transmission to run in the background. This allows you to continue working in NCPlot while a file is being sent to the machine.

Fixed garbage characters on receive. On slower computers, I noticed some garbage being received at higher baud rates (9600 and above). This is fixed.

Fixed bug in macro stepping. Incremental endpoint values were being doubled when stepping the program from the variable display window.

Added a breakpoint expression to the variable display window. This can be any valid macro expression, but is really intended for comparisons. This expression is evaluated after every block and causes the program to stop when it evaluates to any non-zero value.

There is also a new toolbar button on the variable display window that will step the program until the break expression becomes True.

Thanks,
Scott

[single phase]

I have been looking for a lathe g-code editor for a few months now. There are so many of them out there that I did not see yours until just yesterday.

My new lathe (an old Mori Seiki) has a Fanuc 16 series A control with no graphics option. So an editor with a great back plotter is what I need.

I got trial copy's of CIMCO Edit and Predator Editor. Both have their strong and week points. Neither were quite as good as I wanted them to be. Keep in mind I only evaluated them for lathe use. I do not care about mill stuff, I already have great CAM software for my VMC.

Your NCPlot looked nice so I downloaded it and am trying it out. My first impression is, it has a nice UI. I do have a question, how do you set the machine zero point (or tool offsets) so that the G28U0W0 shows the right movement in the graphics window?


Cheers
Dave

[MetLHead]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the comments, the feedback is appreciated. I don't have support yet for the G28/G30 commands, though. I'll add this to the list though, it shouldn't be difficult. There is support for work offsets G54 to G59, so you could set these to match the machine and get an accurate plot of where the part is relative to the machine zero. You just won't see the tool motion of the G28 back to machine zero until I add the support for it. The work offset can be set on the menu Setup | Machine configuration under the Work Offset tab.

Let me know if there's anything else, especially if you have problems. I'm shooting for a July/August release and now is the time to report problems.

Thanks,
Scott

[single phase]

Scott

Thanks for getting back to me so quick. I will look at your program in more depth this weekend. I am excited to have found it.

The G28 is an easy way to crash a machine. The most important function a back plotter can have for me, is to keep me from crashing my machine. If I screw up everything possible in my program and it does not crash or break a tool, then I can just fix the program and cut another part!


Dave