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Including manual entry operations in ActiveReports RPX templates for manual entry operations have been included with

Mastercam since X6. Before X6, manual entry operations could not be

included in an ActiveReports setup sheet.

To display manual entry operations in a setup sheet, add –Setup Sheet

(MAN-ENT-LIST).rpx to –Setup Sheet (MILL-FILE).rpx as a sub-report.

This will generate a Manual Entry List:

Contents 1 Tech Tips

Including manual entry operations in ActiveReports Changing the default NC file path in the control definition Transforming operations that use axis substitution

12 Help Desk

Customizing ActiveReports General Information Labels Set control definition default values before moving to new location Mastercam X6 MU3 Update Remember to enable subprograms for Lathe canned cycle output

18 Hot Topics

No 32-bit support for Windows 8 Reminder: Demo/HLE for X6 Expires in October Operating Systems for X7

First Quarter 2013

SHOP TALK

To display the manual entry text within an operation (which is created with the

Chain Manager > Change at point command), add –Setup Sheet (MAN-ENT-INFO).rpx

to

–Setup Sheet (MILL-OPERATION).rpx as a sub-report.

SHOP TALK

Changing the default NC file path in the control definition To get both X6 and older part files to have the same default folder for NC files, the

master copies of the machine and control definitions on your hard drive need to be

updated. Then existing part files need to be updated by replacing the old machine

definition with the newer one. In this example, the control definition file is

ABC.CONTROL-6, the machine definition file is ABC.MMD-6, and the desired NC folder

is U:\NC-files\.

Did You Know?

Mastercam

released

Mastercam Swiss

Expert 2012 on

12/12/12.

SHOP TALK

Updating the control definition file

Follow these steps to update the control definition with the desired NC path:

1. Select Machine Type > Design from the menu.

2. Select File > New.

3. Select Settings > Control Definition Manager.

4. Open the control definition file, ABC.CONTROL-6.

5. Select the proper post.

6. Select the Files page.

7. Enter the desired NC path.

8. Save the control definition.

Next, follow these steps to update the control definition’s default settings with the

same NC path:

1. In the Post Processors list, select Default setting for control type.

2. Save your work as prompted.

3. Open the Files page (or any page).

4. Right-click anywhere on the page and choose Import > All pages.

SHOP TALK

5. Select the same control definition file (ABC.CONTROL-6), and choose the post

(ABC.PST).

6. The control definition settings—including the new NC path—will be

imported to the default settings.

7. Save the control definition file and close the Control Definition Manager.

Updating the machine definition file

Follow these steps to update the machine definition with the updated control

definition:

1. Select Machine Type > Design from the menu.

2. Select File > New.

3. Select Settings > Machine Definition Manager.

4. Open the machine definition file, ABC.MMD-6.

5. Click the Browse button for the control file and select the control definition

file that was just changed (ABC.CONTROL-6).

Did You Know?

Mastercam

attended the

Indian Metal-

cutting Machine

Tool Exhibition in

Bangalore, India.

SHOP TALK

6. Make sure the proper post is selected.

7. Save the machine definition file and close the Machine Definition Manager.

8. Select File > New again to clear the machine definition from memory.

Any new parts that you create with this machine definition will use the new NC path.

Updating part files

Follow these steps to update existing part files with the new NC path:

1. Open a part.

2. Click the Files tab in the Machine Group Properties.

3. Click Replace.

4. Select the updated machine definition (ABC.MMD-6).

SHOP TALK

Mastercam updates the part file with the new settings. You can see the new NC path

as soon as it reads the updated machine definition. TT1012

Transforming operations that use axis substitution You would think that you would use the Rotate method when transforming an

operation that uses axis substitution; however, to properly transform axis

substitution operations, you actually need to use the Translate method. The

translation distance is based on calculating the distance around the circumference of

the cylinder for each instance of the operation.

To successfully transform the operation, the original toolpath must be created

correctly:

Did You Know?

Mastercam attended

SolidWorks World 2013

in Orlando, FL which

had 4,500 attendees.

SHOP TALK

Create flat geometry at Z0 in the Top view.

Create a toolpath on the geometry with all planes set to TOP.

Set the axis substitution options as desired.

SHOP TALK

To transform the toolpath, set the transformation Type to Translate and the Method to

Coordinate:

On the Translate tab, select Between points and set the desired number of toolpath

Instances:

The trick to making this work is to calculate the correct linear distance that will result

in the desired angular spacing around the cylinder. This means that you need to

calculate the “linear” distance around the circumference of the cylinder.

Did You Know?

Mastercam will be

holding a Post Training

class at their

corporate office in

Tolland, CT March 12-

14? For more

information click here:

http://www.mastercam.co

m/Support/Training/Default

.aspx

SHOP TALK

The formula is:

Translation distance = Cylinder circumference / Number of toolpath instances

where Cylinder circumference = Pi × Diameter.

Pi = 3.141593

Diameter is the Rotary diameter that is entered in the Axis substitution

settings.

For a cylinder axis along X, this produces the Y translation distance:

For example, consider a Rotary diameter of 19 and 6 toolpath instances. The proper

values would be:

Circumference = 3.141593 × 19 = 59.690267

Translation distance = 59. 690267 / 6 = 9.94838

SHOP TALK

You can also type the whole formula directly into the field on the Translate page. To

make it even easier, use #PI instead of typing out the value:

(#PI * 19) / 6

TT1112

SHOP TALK

HHEELLPP DDEESSKK

Customizing ActiveReports General Information Labels Have you wanted to change the labels in the General Information section of an

ActiveReports Setup Sheet? All you need to do is click on the label and type the new

one. For example, click on Project and enter a new label, such as Coordinator:

Once you update the label, the value in the field is also erased. That’s because each

label has its own list of values. The list of values that appears in the dropdown list is

stored in a file called <label-name>.dat. You can find this file in the following folder:

\shared mcamx6\common\reports

Each time you enter a value, it is added to the dropdown list in the .dat file.

SHOP TALK

Click on the next to the field to clear all the values from the dropdown list. This

also clears out the .dat file for that label.

Updates to labels are also recorded in the registry, with their position number (1–8)

and the label file name.

The registry settings are recorded in the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\CNC Software, Inc.\Reports

Only the last-used, non-default file name for the label is written to the registry.

TT0712

Set control definition default values before moving to new location Before moving either your control definition or post out of their default locations in

the \shared mcamx6 tree structure—or updating to a new Mastercam version, using

either Update Folder or Update Post—it is a good idea to update the settings for the

default control definition to match the control definition for your post. This is

considered the best practice. To do this, follow these steps:

It’s a good idea to use “Machine Type > Design” then select “File > New” first so that

no other control definition is in memory.

1. Select Control Definition Manager from the Settings menu.

2. Open the desired .control-6 file.

3. Select the proper Control type.

4. Select Default setting for control type.

5. Right-click in any page and choose Import > All pages.

SHOP TALK

6. Select the same .control-6 file that you are working on.

7. Make sure that the proper Control type is selected, and select the post from

which you want to set the defaults.

SHOP TALK

8. Click OK.

9. Save the .control-6 file.

Now that the default values for new control definitions match the post, if the post is

moved or updated, any new control definitions that point to the moved post will

automatically have the proper values. Also, if Mastercam looks for the post in a non-

standard location, the proper control definition values will be applied. TT0912

Mastercam X6 MU3 Update Mastercam X6 MU3 is an update to certain translator files only. When you install the

update, the Mastercam title bar changes to indicate X6 MU3:

However, the Mastercam version remains the same as Mastercam X6 MU2:

SHOP TALK

To check if a translator file has been updated, select Help > About Mastercam from the

menu and check the individual files. For example:

You can also use Windows Explorer to open the \importexport folder where

Mastercam is installed and check the dates associated with the files:

TT1212

SHOP TALK

Remember to enable subprograms for Lathe canned cycle output We recently encountered a problem where a Lathe user was not getting any canned

cycle output despite having the canned cycle options enabled in the control

definition. The problem is that in order for Lathe canned cycle output to be

generated, subprograms must also be enabled in the control definition:

Go to the Subprograms page and select the Control supports subprograms option.

TT1212

SHOP TALK

Hot Topics

No 32-bit support for Windows 8 (FAQ 318) Users who wish to run Mastercam on a Windows® 8–system must have the 64-bit

version of Windows 8. Mastercam products support the 32-bit version of Windows

7. TT1212

Reminder: Demo/HLE for X6 expires in October Please note that the X6 version of Mastercam Demo/HLE will expire at the end of

October. All users of the X6 version will need to update to the X7 version. TT0912

Operating Systems for X7 With the release of X7, the support for XP and Vista operating systems will be dropped.

With X7, Mastercam will only support Windows® 7 and Windows® 8 (if W8 is released).

Windows 7 support will be for both 32-bit and 64-bit W7. W8 will be 64-bit support only.

Also, beginning with the X6 MU2 release, when you install X6 MU2 onto the XP operating

system will receive a ONE TIME WARNING that states with the release of X7, XP will no

longer be supported.

Mastercam® and Mastercam® University® are registered trademarks of CNC Software, Inc. Windows® is a registered

trademark of Microsoft Corporation. SolidWorks® is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. All

other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.