Copyright (C) 1986-2008 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
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This Web site is dedicated to the thousands of "users" of my programs, those who have helped test my programs over the last 22 or so years, and especially those who shared their experiences with me.
You must read this notice: This is a licensed Web site (HTML document and associated files). You must read and agree to be legally bound in contract by the Terms of Use and conditions given in the End User License Agreement ("EULA"), Legal Notices, Instructions, Warnings, Disclaimers, and all other text in "SECTION: 0" of "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) before reading or using any of the information, software programs, and or files, contained in, linked to, and or associated with, "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files). Any use or "Beta Testing" of "This Web Site" constitutes your acknowledgment of your full agreement with the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") and your decision to have this current license supersede all prior and contemporaneous agreements and understandings. Information and files in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) have been placed here so that long time users of "The Author's" programs DANCAD3D.COM (tm) , DANCAM.EXE (tm) , or DANPLOT.EXE (tm) could help proofread the text of the documentation files or screens displayed, and also help test data files, example files, and or any software programs that might be made available from time to time, to aid "The Author" in finding mistakes, bugs, and other errors, omissions, defects, mistakes, and faults. Everything in "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) is "Beta Test", "Beta Code", Experimental, Preliminary, requires proofreading, or is being evaluated for possible revision, and is NOT warranted to be free of defect. To help "The Author" report any bugs, foul-ups, defects, or mistakes that you find, see "SECTION: 8" for instructions. "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) and all other files and programs by Daniel H. Hudgins are made available "AS IS" without warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. All offers and specifications are subject to change or discontinuation without notice of any kind. Please read "SECTION: 8" of "This Web Site" (HTML document and associated files) before trying to contact "The Author."
This section has text mostly about revisions to the "Beta Test" version v2.7C of my CAD and CAM programs, and might be looked to for updated information relating to changes from v2.7B, and some earlier revisions of v2.7C, regarding some of the revised or added program features. There may be changes made in versions subsequent to the revisions of version of v2.7C or v2.73 that alter what is described in this section as it applies to that subsequent version. See also any other documentation files, and pages in this Web site (HTML document) for additional and or any more recent information.
The HTML documentation in this SECTION: 3.3.7.3 was derived from the text in the file INFOV27C.TXT that is, or was at one time, included in my *.ZIP file archive DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). You may find the current revision of DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) to download by going to SECTION: 9.70.51.0. My file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) may also archive some other types of files like the ones described in this section, so check the current *.ZIP file in its current revision to see what exactly might be in it.
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Use the "Edit, Find in page Ctrl+F" or "Edit, Find (in this page)... Ctrl+F" command in your browser to search for keywords within the documentation text in this HTML page. You will need to search over again in the other pages in this HTML document for the same keyword since your browser may not search for a keyword beyond the current page that is loaded.
My current file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) is a *.ZIP file that holds the current "Beta Test" versions of my programs and associated files for "Beta Testing." This section refers to the preliminary revision of the v2.7C version of the programs, look for other sections or documentation relating to any subsequent revisions.
The use and copying of these programs and files are governed by my current Terms of Use and End User License Agreement ("EULA") which are located in SECTION: 0 of this "Beta Test" Web site. You must read and fully agree to be legally bound by the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") before you use or "Beta Test" any of the files in my file DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). If you are unable to read and agree to the current End User License Agreement ("EULA") do not use or "Beta Test" any of the files in my program distribution, the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) archive file.
Be sure that you scan the programs and files in my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) for virus or other contamination since you are responsible for checking them before you use them. These programs and this information are made available "AS-IS" and are without warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. Since these programs are "Beta Test" you must agree to become a "Beta Tester" before you make any use of them, see the End User License Agreement ("EULA") in this "Beta Test" Web site for more information. Be sure to read the current instructions in this "Beta Test" Web site regarding procedures for reporting program bugs and other such problems.
On some systems the *.ASC data files, or *.MAC macro files, may be able to be renamed *.TXT to avoid certain kinds of file type misinterpretation by text editor type programs and such. Thank you for helping test these "Beta Test" CAD and CAM programs.
A *.TXT file version, similar to some of the text in this S0303073.HTM Section, may be included in the v2.7C revision of my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file (see the "downloads" SECTION: 9 of this "Beta Test" Web site). See the text in any files like README.*, FILES.TXT, and INFOV27C.TXT stored in my current DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm). You should check for the current types of document files because they may be more up-to-date than this *.HTM file, or it is possible that this HTML file could be more up to date, depending on which one got worked on last.
Below is text from file INFOV27C.TXT that was written to be included in a preliminary revision of version of v2.7C of my DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) distribution for preliminary information about changes in version v2.7C of the CAD and CAM programs. You should read this information before you try to use or "Beta Test" the revised programs. This information is in addition to the previous documentation, i.e. a supplement to, and does not go into detail about many of the previously documented features, so you should therefore review the other sections and documentation as well.
The text of INFOV27C.TXT was derived from some notes I made to myself as I worked on the code for v2.7C, so you should check this document, and the other documentation, against the programs before you do any "serious" testing of the programs since there may be some differences between the descriptions here and the current state of development of commands and features in the programs. Please report any discrepancies between the documentation and the programs or files that you find. Some of the text from this section may have been incorporated into the other sections of this Web site, in doing that some of the text may have been further revised, and so may contain additional information, therefore after reading through all of this section you should also read through all of the other portions of this Web site, even those portions that might seem to be duplicates.
I have kept this preliminary information in one long file so that you can use the "find in page" feature of your HTML browser to search for a keyword relating to some new command or feature you are looking for more information about, otherwise you might have to search through more files.
See also the This Section and About DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) sub-sections above, as well as SECTION: 9.70.0.0 and SECTION: 9.70.51.0 for more information about v2.7.
DOCUMENT: INFOV27C.TXT
Copyright (C) 2002 by Daniel H. Hudgins, All Rights Reserved.
Terms of use: This "Beta Test" document may only be used in accord and within
the limitations imposed by the current End User License Agreement "EULA" posted
at the author's Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm) in file S0000000.HTM, any other
use or copying is prohibited. This document is provided "AS IS" without
warranty of any kind express, expressed, or implied. Mistakes, errors, and
omissions should be reported according to the instructions in SECTION: 8 of the
current "On-Line" version of my Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm).
This preliminary document has some brief descriptions of changes made to my CAD
and CAM programs DANCAD3D.COM (tm), DANCAD87.COM (tm), DANCAM.EXE (tm), and
DANPLOT.EXE (tm) between the release of v2.7B and the "Beta Test" release of
v2.7C. This file is meant to be included in the initial "Beta Test" v2.7C
distribution to help long time users acquaint themselves with some of the many
changes that have been made to the programs. If you are not a long time user
you will most probably need to read all of the text located at my "Beta Test"
Web site www.DANCAD3D.com (sm) before you read this document in order to make
practical use of it. This document is not a complete list of changes made to
the programs, and may not reflect the operation of the version of the program
accompanying it in all respects. The programs may be still undergoing change,
so the results obtained from any of the commands may be different than
expected, and the operation of older commands may have changed as well. Since
so many changes have been made to the programs you should not expect any of the
commands to operate as you have used them in the past, and you should
frequently back-up and save what you are working on so that you do not lose
everything when the program crashes. All specifications, descriptions, and
instructions are subject to change without notice.
I would like to thank the thousands of users of my programs who have helped
"Beta Test" the many revisions of my programs since about 1986, I hope you will
enjoy checking out some of the newer program features that I have spent so many
years working on. Best wishes for success in your projects.
---
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ABOUT CHANGES IN V2.7C AND V2.73
Several changes were made to existing commands, and some new commands were
added. Beta testing the most recent updates should provide more useful bug
reports.
PARTIAL LIST OF CHANGES TO CAD PROGRAMS IN v2.7C
* Save G code command configuration file now named DRIVERS\GSAV????.CFG
* Save G code command can now save G00, G01, G02, and G03.
* Save G code automatically selects the plane command G17, G18, or G19 from the
starting, center, and ending points of the arc.
* Save G code can be configured to output arcs using relative or absolute I, J,
and K values when absolute coordinate mode is selected.
* Save G code can be configured to save absolute or relative incremental
motions using G90 and G91.
* The Save G code command can be instructed to save G02 or G03 by setting
colors in the Save G code Install Table to arc motion type, or by making the
"Stick" arc lines in style attribute dashed for G02 and combo dotted and dashed
for G03. Phantom lines that are ignored by the Save G code command are drawn
so as to use the dotted style attribute. The recommended style attributes are:
81 for phantom lines, 82 for saving G02, and 83 for saving G03. When using the
line color to define arcs the recommended colors are 102, 112, and 122 for G02,
and 103, 113, and 123 for G03, but those need to be set in the table in order
to work. The style attributes 82 and 83 override the settings for the colors
in the table.
* A "Stick arc" for the Save G code command is made by drawing a single line
from the arc center to the arc end point. The arc starting point is assumed to
be the last point of the previous line segment, so you cannot start a element
with a stick arc, you must have at least one G00 or G01 line, or dot, drawn
before you draw the stick arc lines. You can select the CW or CCW motion type
by using the drawing command Line style and selecting a dashed line for CW G02
or a combo dashed and dotted line for CCW G03. The dotted line style is
reserved for making phantom lines or arcs that will show up on the display but
will be ignored by the Save G code command, this feature is used by the [N]C
[A]rc command so that a rough dotted arc line can be generated in addition to
the dashed or combo stick arc line so that you can get a better visual idea of
what the final arc will look like, since the stick arc lines may get a little
confusing just by themselves in complex tool paths. The [P]ull-point drawing
editor command might be used to adjust the stick arc lines in order to edit the
arc start, center, or end points. Stick arcs are a "short hand" way of
defining arcs so that the Save G code command can save G02 and G03 arc commands
to a G code file. You can check your stick arc lines by saving a G code file
and then use the Load G code command to load the G02 and G03 command back in as
regular line segment arcs, which you can then view superimposed over the
element you saved to check if the arcs are defined as you think they should be.
The [N]C [A]rc command has an option to automatically generate stick arcs, as
well as Phantom and Stick arcs, and Normal G01 movement line segment arcs.
* There are now three special drivers for the Load G code command that are used
by the program for generating arcs: GCODTEMP.CFG generates normal line segment
arcs, GCODSTIC.CFG generates stick arc lines from G02 and G03 in the file being
loaded, and GCODPHAN.CFG generates a phantom arc for dotted line segments plus
the stick arc of a dotted or combo line. Do not alter these drivers unless you
know what you are doing and you also alter the corresponding GSAVTEMP.CFG
driver because any changes you make may upset the operation of the program when
some commands are used. If you want to make your own drivers for selecting
various options copy the GCODDFLT.CFG and GSAVDFLT.CFG drivers and edit the
copy using the Load G code Install and Save G code Install commands.
* Save G code command has configuration options to adjust how the saved G codes
are formatted.
* The Output G code feature uses the Save G code configuration files to allow
some adjustment of how the Output G code feature formats the G codes when some
of the drawing editor's [N]C sub-menu commands are used.
* The Arc command in the [N]C sub-menu of the drawing editor can now make
Phantom and Stick arc types for use with the save G02 and G03 motion types in
the Save G code command.
* The Arc command can now constrain the drawing cursor to valid positions for
the arc radius when marking the center and or end point.
* The Arc command checks that the three marked points might be valid for making
the arc element.
* The Load G code command can now create Phantom and Stick arcs so that a G
code file with G02 and G03 commands can be loaded into the workspace, edited,
and then saved back out using the Save G code command and still contain G02 and
G03 commands for the arcs rather than having the arcs converted into just G01
movements.
* The Load G code command now supports sub-programs with automatic looping.
The O, :, or %, marks the sub-program label, M98 with P and L call the sub-
program and M99 returns to the calling portion of the program. The P value is
the label number of the sub-program to branch to, and L indicates the number of
times the sub-program is to be repeated, i.e. 1 is once, 2 is twice, and so on.
The use of P and L is non-modal, if L is not stated it is reset to a value of
1. Sub-programs can probably be nested to a depth of 999, but I have not
tested that yet.
Here is some example G code of how to use the sub-programs,
%
O0001
N0001 M98 P0002
N0002 ( other codes would go here )
N0003 M98 P0003 L5
N0004 ( other codes would go here )
N0005 M30
O0002
N0201 ( other codes would go here )
N0202 M98 P0004 L2
N0203 ( other codes would go here )
N0204 M99
O0003
N0301 ( other codes would go here )
N0302 M99
O0004
N0401 ( other codes would go here )
N0402 M99
%
In this example, in line N0001 sub-program O0002 is called once, and in line
N0003 sub-program O0003 is called five times. In line N0202 of sub-program
O0002 sub-program O0004 is called twice. Sub-programs need to be in the same
file as the main program, generally below the ending M02 or M30 in the main
program.
* The Load G code command now supports leading zero, trailing zero, and decimal
notation of numbers in the G code file. You can adjust the location of the
decimal point by making changes in the Load G code configuration file with the
Load G code Install command.
* Some other options where added to the Load G code configuration.
* The Load G code Install and Save G code Install commands where reorganized.
* The Save G code command has an option to save man readable codes so that
punch tapes can be marked on their leader with visible codes made of punch
holes. The *.F08 font files INTRNAT2.F08, GREEK4.F08, and RUSSIAN2.F08 have
been included so that man readable codes can be punched in various languages.
* If you select the check prompt for man readable codes in the Save G code
Install command, when you select the Save G code command you will be prompted
to enter the text for the man readable codes to generate. You can also select
the prompt to read the text for the man readable codes from a file, this read
from a file approach is used when the SAVE GCODE command is used from a macro,
if the check for man readable codes is selected in the GSAV????.CFG driver the
program will look for a string variable named READABLE.VAR. READABLE.VAR is
erased after the SAVE GCODE command uses it so that an error message will be
produced if you forget to create the variable. If you do not want the program
to look for READABLE.VAR de-select that feature in the GSAV????.CFG driver you
are using.
* In a macro file SAVE GCODE now needs to be preceded by the LOAD CONFIG GSAVE
command to load the selected DRIVERS\GSAV????.CFG driver that you have
installed for the options you want to use.
* The Load G code command has an option to skip over the head leader containing
the man readable codes by entering the number of bytes to skip. The starting
index can be found by using the new Binary File Editor in the main menu. If
you want to use the head skip index option you need to select the index prompt
to be active with the Load G code Install command. In a macro the head skip
index should be assigned to a number variable named GCODSKIP.VAR before the
LOAD GCODE command is called. In a macro be sure you also use the LOAD CONFIG
GCODE command to load the proper DRIVERS\GCOD????.CFG driver for the LOAD GCODE
command before you call it.
* There is now a new Binary File Editor in the CAD program main menu. This
Binary File Editor is mostly for editing the man readable codes in G code
files, and has a tape like display that can show you what the man readable
codes will look like when the tape is punched, or what they looked like on a
tape that has been converted into a file. The Binary File Editor auto detects
EIA RS-244-A or RS-244-B type codes as well as ISO RS-358-B type codes and 7
bit ASCII. EBCDIC type codes codes can be selected manually. The editor also
lets you cut and paste, convert sections so that the man readable codes are not
scrambled by converting the whole file, generate man readable codes, alter
single bytes, insert leader bytes, and change text in the file in EIA, ISO,
ASCII, or EBCDIC codes.
* In the Binary File Editor you can move the "tape" display left or right with
the cursor keys or the mouse. Moving the mouse left and right moves the
display one character, i.e. hole, while moving the mouse up and down moves the
display about 40 characters left or right. The [Home] key moves to the head of
the "tape" and the [End] key moves the display to the tail of the "tape," i.e.
the end of the file. There is a [F]ind command to locate a byte or string in
the file, and there is a [G]oto command to move to a point in a long file
without scrolling a long distance.
* Be sure that you make a back-up copy of any file you are going to use the
Binary File Editor to edit, since errors cannot be reversed or undone. The
revised Files Copy command might be used to make a copy of the file.
* The Load G code command can now read G code files in EIA, ISO, ASCII, or
EBCDIC codes. When the AUTO.LCT driver is selected in the GCOD????.CFG file
the program tries to auto detect the if the file is EIA or ISO/ASCII. You can
manually install the driver to read EBCDIC codes.
* For converting EIA or ISO 8 bit files to 7 bit ASCII for editing with the
Write command two new commands have been added, the Files Utilities ASCII To
command and the Files Utilities ASCII From command. If you want to go from EIA
to ISO you should make an intermediate ASCII file. Since EIA files do not use
the CR and LF end of line combination there is an option to add the appropriate
CR codes to the LF code converted from the EIA EOB character. For files that
have been converted from paper tape that might contain Delete punches 127 or
255, there are options to remove the deletes and the deleted characters from
the file. The delete punches would have been made after a mistaken character
was punched in a tape in order to cancel or rub out the preceding character.
If you have any files that contain deletes you should remove the deletes and
deleted characters before you use the Load G code command to load the file.
* The Load G code command normally strips the 8th bit after the conversion of
the G code file's character's through the *.LCT table, this is done to insure
that ISO files will be treated as ASCII files. If you have created ASCII G
code files that use characters that have the 8th bit set, such as international
text characters in comments, you should not use the 8th bit strip, and you
should use the 8BITTEXT.LCT table since stripping the 8th bit off of
international text can generate the characters that signal end of comment
prematurely leaving part of the comments to be interpreted as code! I strongly
recommend that you do not use any of the international characters in your G
code comments, and that you only use the basic 7 bit ASCII characters in your G
code files that you create for use with my programs. If you use the
8BITTEXT.SCT table when saving a G code file with the Save G code command, it
may be possible to include character codes 128 through 255 in the head and tail
strings, e.g. within comments and such, but I do not recommend doing so.
* New drivers *.SCT and *.LCT are used by the Save G code and Load G code
commands to do character conversion. The *.SCT or "Save Character Table" files
are for converting ASCII G code to EIA, ISO, or EBCDIC. The *.LCT or "Load
Character Table" files are for converting EIA, ISO, or EBCDIC to ASCII, which
is required by the internal operation of the Load G code command and the Binary
File Editor. Both files are similar but have different identification strings
so that the program can tell them apart. The second line caries some control
values that have not been fully defined, but the second value controls the
parity check when the table is read, 0 defines no parity check, positive
numbers 1 through 8 define even parity check, and values -1 through -8 define
odd parity check. ISO tables generally have parity check set to 8, and EIA
tables generally have parity check set to -5. Tables for 8 bit text would
generally have the parity check set to 0 for none. The numbers in the left
column 0 to 255 are the character codes of the source, i.e. ASCII in the *.SCT
file, where as the ASCII result would be the right column in the *.LCT tables.
You can edit the character code correspondence in these tables by opening the
file in the Write command. Do not change anything other than the character
code numbers in the right column, i.e. do not change any values in the left
column. Comments are allowed to the right of the right column, but do not add
any new lines or make other changes.
* The NOT.SCT and NOT.LCT drivers are for reversing the "white space" on the
punched paper tape so that the bits that were holes become un-punched and the
un-punched tape becomes holes. You would need to apply the NOT.* drivers by
marking the man readable code portion of the file in the Binary File Editor,
i.e. do not NOT the entire file since the other codes would then be invalid.
* When the Load G code driver has been Installed to use the driver AUTO.LCT the
program will try to auto detect the G code file to see if it is EIA or
ISO/ASCII, the program will then use the EIA.LCT or the ISOASCII.LCT character
conversion table. Because any man readable codes at the start of the file
might cause the auto detection to select the wrong file type, you can have the
program read the G code file backwards from the end to the start. Because man
readable codes may also be at the tail end of the file, when the G code file is
larger than about 640 bytes the program will jump to a point two thirds the way
through the G code file and read backwards towards a point one third into the G
code file, if that does not find the type the program then reads the whole file
looking for ASCII LF 10 or EIA EOB 128 characters. You should not put man
readable codes on the tail of short tapes, so that the read from tail will have
a chance to work properly. You can use the new Binary File Editor in the main
menu of the CAD programs to delete the man readable codes from the G code file
before you try to use the Load G code command to load the file into the drawing
workspace, thereby reducing the problems of the man readable codes being read
by the Load G code command. You can also activate the prompt for the head skip
index in the Load G code configuration file with the Install command, so that
the program will prompt you for the starting byte index, i.e. the head skip
index, when you select the Load G code command. You can find the starting
index for the file with the Binary File Editor. Since the G code file probably
ends with an M02 or M30 command the man readable codes on the tail of longer
files probably will not get read by the Load G code command, however if the M02
or M30 commands are not present the Load G code command will read the file to
its end, and may make error messages if there is any junk, e.g. man readable
codes, at the end of the file.
* In the first revision of v2.7C the program does not do a parity check of each
byte read from the G code file, however characters that are read from the G
code file that are set to the result of -1 in the *.LCT character table may
produce an error message. The ISOASCII.LCT table contains a combination of the
characters from both types, and so will not report as many character errors on
ISO or ASCII files, if you want better "parity" type character checking you
should install the Load G code driver to use the non-automatic driver selection
of the ISO_ONLY.LCT or ASCII.LCT driver. When the *.SCT files are loaded the
values in the right column are parity checked if they are not -1 and the parity
control value (2nd control value) at the top of the file is not zero. When the
*.LCT table is loaded the left column is parity checked when the value in the
right column is not -1 and the parity check control value on the second line in
the file is not zero. Since all of the values to convert can be made to pass a
parity check, then that implies that when characters that are set to -1 in the
table are read, they would be characters that may be corrupted and would
therefore fail a parity check if one had been performed. If some characters
are required in a G code file that would fail the parity check, you can disable
the parity check by changing the second control value on the second line of the
character table file to 0, and enter the proper converted code values into the
right column in the table in place of the -1 or other value present.
* The EIA.LCT table tries to convert variants of EIA codes into ASCII code for
the Load G code command. However if you use the Save G code command you need
to select the right driver for the specific type of file you are trying to
make, so there are two save drivers EIA_A.SCT and EIA_B.SCT, and you may need
to make a copy of one of those drivers and edit the values in the right column
to get the codes converted properly for your application.
* Two new commands where added to the Files Utilities ASCII sub-menu, the
TO_ASCII and FROM_ASCII commands. The TO_ASCII command uses the *.LCT drivers
to convert EIA, ISO, or EBCDIC files into ASCII so they can be edited in the
Write command, and such. The ASCII.LCT driver is for using the character
processing modes in order to "clean up" converted files. The FROM_ASCII is for
converting ASCII files made with the Write command into EIA, ISO, or EBCDIC
type files, mostly for converting G code type files as only a limited character
set is used. The macro FILES CONVERT TO_ASCII and FILES CONVERT FROM_ASCII
commands have been included in the revisions so that the conversions can be
done from a macro file. The character processing modes are to help correct
some differences between the end of block characters used in the different file
types, and to remove the deleted characters from files converted from old punch
tapes before those files are loaded into the workspace with the LOAD GCODE
command.
* Some other minor changes were made here and there.
PARTIAL LIST OF CHANGES TO CAM PROGRAMS v2.73
* The CAM programs now generate log files DANCAM.LOG and DANPLOT.LOG that
record when jobs where started and when the finished, and usually also how long
they took. The log records jobs initiated from the menus, from the command
line, or from batch files. Not all commands are logged, but the commands
listed in the main menu's of the CAM programs should get logged. If you do not
want the log file to be generated make a file named DANCAM.NOL and or
DANPLOT.NOL (NOL stands for NO LOG) in the same directory as the CAM programs.
If you want to start a new log file, erase the log file, or create a file named
DANCAM.NEL and or DANPLOT.NEL (NEL stands for NEW LOG). The log data is
formatted, so you might be able to write a program in BASIC or some other
language to total or otherwise process the data. You can view the *.LOG file
by loading it into the Write command in my CAD programs, or to see the last log
use the DOS command COPY *.LOG CON and such. To print out the log files use
the DOS commands COPY *.LOG PRN and such. The log files may not figure how
long the job took if the job spans the time from the last day of one month to
the next month in the revision you have, but the error will probably be
reported in the log, if I get time someday I may look into this, but fixing it
might require adding compensation for leap year and such and that would add
more code to make the programs bigger.
* The format of the DANCAM.LOG and DANPLOT.LOG files makes it possible to
rename the *.LOG file *.BAT turning the *.LOG file into a DOS batch file, that
might be able to be run to repeat a job, particularly a job that used several
different tool path files. Since not all commands are logged, you should look
at the batch file made in this way with the Write command in the CAD programs
to see if everything is in the file, and if you need to insert any PAUSE
commands here and there.
* Some internal changes were made to have the CAM programs work with v2.7C of
the CAD programs, so you should upgrade to the new versions at the same time.
Some other minor changes were made.
SOME CHANGES TO *.ZIP FILES FOR v2.7C
* The corresponding *.F08 files have been included in the INTRNAT2.ZIP,
GREEK4.ZIP, and RUSSIAN2.ZIP files, since these are needed for generating the
man readable codes on G code punch tape, e.g. paper or Mylar (R) tape.
* The INTRNAT2.F08, GREEK4.F08, and RUSSIAN2.F08 files have also been included
in the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file. Be sure that you run INSTALL.BAT to install
these files into the FONTS\ sub-directory.
* The *.LCT and *.SCT files have been added to the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file, be
sure that you run INSTALL.BAT to install these files into the DRIVERS\ sub-
directory. The drivers USER.SCT and USER.LCT can be copied and you can edit
them by using the Write command in the CAD programs to create character
conversion tables for the G code commands.
* The drivers DANCAD3D.GCS and DANCAD87.GCS are no longer used, the Save G code
command now uses drivers in the DRIVERS\ sub-directory named GSAVDFLT.CFG and
GSAVTEMP.CFG. The GSAVTEMP.CFG is used internally by the program for various
commands such as the [A]rc command in the drawing editor's [N]C sub-menu, so do
not alter the GSAVTEMP.CFG driver with the Save G code Install command unless
you are sure you know what you are doing, and you also adjust the corresponding
GCODTEMP.CFG, GCODSTIC.CFG, and GCODPHAN.CFG drivers that mate with it and may
be used by the Load G code command to load files saved using the GSAVTEMP.CFG
driver and the Save G code command. If you want to make customized drivers for
use with the Load G code and Save G code commands copy the GCODDFLT.CFG or the
GSAVDFLT.CFG drivers. Only change the last four letters in the driver's
filename so that the drivers names will come up in the file directory when the
program uses the file masks DRIVERS\GCOD????.CFG and DRIVERS\GSAV????.CFG to
search for the available drivers when you use the Load and Save G code commands
from the menus.
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CHANGES MADE TO CAD v2.7C IN November 14, 2002 1:25A/1:26A COMPILES
Some changes and improvements were made to the preliminary revision(s) of
v2.7C of the CAD programs. DANCAD87.COM (tm) was altered to improve stability,
but in order for the changes to be effective you will need to delete all of the
files extracted from previous DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) revisions, and also delete the
workspace files and any copies of the DRIVERS\GSAV????.CFG files that you have
made or installed. After saving any elements in the workspaces of the CAD
programs as a set of elements or individual ASCII files, abandon the workspace
when you quit the programs and delete the files named DANCAD??.WKP,
DANCAD??.MVR, DANCAD??.MEM, and DANCADXX.RUN, GSAV????.CFG these files may be
in another sub-directory, the root directory, or on another disk depending on
how you configured the path to the workspace files. If you are using Windows
95 (tm) you might use its Find command to search all of your drives for the
names of DAN*.* files that you need to delete.
It is best to install the revised files into a new sub-directory and locate the
workspace files in a different sub-directory from any previous version you may
have downloaded in order to avoid problems caused by mixing files from
different revisions of versions. Do not copy any of the DRIVERS\GSAV????.CFG
files, i.e. the configuration files for the SAVE GCODE command, from previous
versions for use with this updated revision or future revisions.
Some other changes were made in the Binary File Editor in both CAD programs.
---
Changes made to the November 16, 2002 DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file.
The documentation in the UPDATE27.TXT file was moved to sections of the Web
site, and a shorter INFOV27C.TXT file was added replace the UPDATE27.TXT file
to cover recent changes to the program distribution.
---
Changes made to the November 18, 2002 DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file.
The Files Save Industry G code Install Leaders command now has an option to
have the program automatically filter the EOB (End Of Block) character out of
the man readable codes, so that systems that seek past the man readable codes
looking for the first EOB character will hopefully not stop prematurely
somewhere in the man readable codes. The options are: 0=no i.e. do not filter
the man readable codes, 1=same i.e. just filter the EOB character that matches
the file type, the file type is determined by the conversion of the #10
character, if #10 translates through the *.SCT table to #10 then ISO/ASCII is
assumed, if #10 translates to #37 then EBCDIC is assumed, and if #10 translates
to #128 then EIA is assumed, and 2=both i.e. filter both #10 and #128 so that
if the G code portion is converted from EIA to ISO/ASCII or from ISO/ASCII to
EIA the EOB character for both types will be absent from the man readable
codes. The filtration is done by adding an extra "hole" so that the offending
code is not punched. You could edit the *.F08 character tables manually to
remove offending codes, but since the program can flip the bits around to
reorient the man readable codes on the tape, and different codes need to be
altered for different code types many different *.F08 files would need to be
made, so having the program automatically filter the *.F08 font while making
the man readable codes is more convenient.
The Files Load Industry G code Install Kind command now has an option for the
program to automatically skip over the head leader, including the man readable
codes, if the head leader does not contain any EOB characters. The EOB
character is normally #10 for ISO/ASCII, #37 for EBCDIC, and #128 for EIA,
although the *.LCT tables should translate those into #10 for the program,
therefore only one character value in the *.LCT table should translate into
#10. In the file itself the code for its kind of EOB should be absent from the
leader. You can use the Find command in the Binary File Editor to check your G
code file to see if there are any EOB characters in the leader before the start
of the G code portion of the file, and if there are any Alter them, or Delete
them. The EOB character used for the Load G code command can be changed from
#10 with the G code Install command, but that would alter all of the required
conversions established in the *.LCT tables, so it is best to leave the EOB
character used for loading G code files at #10.
When the Auto man readable skip is used the file MUST contain an EOB or LF
character after the man readable codes and before the first G code block that
contains required codes, or the program will not read the first block. You
should make sure that all of your files have an EOB or LF character before the
first important block, i.e. a #10 for ISO/ASCII files, a #37 for EBCDIC files,
and a #128 for EIA files.
If your old tapes have already been prepared so that their leaders do not have
any EOB or LF characters in them, and the G code portion is preceded by a EOB
or LF, then the new Auto (matic) man readable skip index option will probably
be a convenience. If you are uncertain about the presence of EOB or LF
characters in the head leader codes, you can use the manual prompt for the head
skip index. In a macro when the Auto man readable skip index mode has been
configured in the DRIVERS\GCOD????.CFG driver being used, you do not need to
state the value for GCODSKIP.VAR.
The RPM test in the CAM programs has been changed. In previous versions when
the rate multiplier was used the indicated RPM would decrease unless you
reduced the number of steps per revolution, which may have been confusing some
users. That situation occurs because using the pulse rate multiplier built
into the program increases the total number of step pulses sent out of the
parallel port, but decreases the number of step pulse clusters per second.
When the pulse rate multiplier is used you normally divide the servo or micro
stepper number of step pulses per revolution by the pulse rate multiplier value
and use that with the lead screw pitch to find the "steps" (i.e. pulse
clusters) per inch or mm (unit). For instance if your motor requires 2000
pulses per revolution, and you have the pulse rate multiplier set to 4 you
should use 500 as the number of steps per revolution at most of the prompts
that ask you about steps per so and so, that is because the program sends the
four pulses as a cluster and counts that as one step, even though the motor
moved the amount governed by 4 pulses.
Now the CAM programs will accept the number of pulses required to rotate the
motor one turn in the RPM test, and when the pulse rate multiplier value is
greater than one, multiply the RPM measurement in such a way as to show the
higher RPM speed even though the number of step pulse clusters has decreased.
This seems better since you are measuring the motor RPM with this test, and not
the feed rates per step cluster frequency.
Do not confuse the step pulses with the number of step pulse clusters. When
the pulse rate multiplier is set to one the step pulses value and the "steps
per revolution" are the same, but when the pulse rate multiplier is greater
than one each step the program makes sends out more than one pulse to the
motor, so the motor turns faster and farther. The increase in the motor speed
is not entirely proportional to the pulse rate multiplier but will be somewhat
greater than when the pulse rate multiplier is not used, just how much faster
the motor will turn may depend on the p.w.f. setting, the p.w.f. increaser
setting, the speed of your computer, type of parallel port card, and other
factors on your computer's mother board and bus arrangements.
The highest "step" (cluster) rate will generally be when the pulse rate
multiplier is set to one (just one pulse per cluster), the highest step pulse
rate seen by the motors controller will come when the pulse rate multiplier is
used, but the motor will move in larger step motions of several step pulses at
a time.
If you are trying to achieve the highest speeds possible on servo motors you
should set the pulse rate multiplier to 1, the p.w.f. increaser to 1, and the
p.w.f. to 0, then decrease the number of lines on the servo motor encoder to
give a pulse per revolution that is as large as possible, or rather required.
If your servo controller as settings for the encoder line multiplier i.e. 1x,
2x, and, 4x, setting the encoder to 1x will give a higher RPM than 2x, and 2x
will give a higher RPM than 4x for a given pulse rate from the computer, this
is because the higher the encoder resolution the faster the computer must send
pulses to get the same RPM at the motor shaft.
If you cannot decrease the lines in your servo motor encoder you may be able to
use an external hardware pulse rate multiplier. The use of a hardware rate
multiplier might allow you to leave the pulse rate multiplier in the CAM
programs at one.
You can use the RPM test with the servo motor turned off to test what speed the
motor should be turning at. If the motor does not turn at the speed that the
RPM test displays you may not be supplying the motor with enough power, or you
may be setting the CAM programs to run faster than the motor can keep up with
without burning itself out or burning out its controller.
When using the RPM test with regular full or half step stepper motors the pulse
rate multiplier would normally be set to one, and the step pulses per
revolution would be the same as the steps per revolution.
Some other minor changes were made in the programs.
---
Changes made to the November 19, 2002 DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file.
Some internal changes were made to the CAD and CAM programs, these updates
replace previous revisions.
---
Changes made to the November 24, 2002 DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file.
Some internal changes were made to the CAD programs, these updates replace
previous revisions. The commands that process triangles for the hidden line
display modes were revised. If you run DEMO1.MAC using its display option 10
you should see a difference in the time to completion over previous revisions.
In order to process elements with many triangles the triangle sorting command
now splits the temporary files between four possible disks or directories. To
select the disk drive or directory path for the triangle sorting go into the
CAD program drawing editor and select the new [H]idden line [U]pdate mode
[C]onfigure command. The first prompt is for the "source" file, this is a
temporary file that is used by the triangle sorting command twice and might be
as large as more than 1GB. You can partition two harddisks of 8.4GB each to
give eight drive letters C:\ through J:\. One of the drive letters can be
assigned to the source file. The result file, i.e. in the second prompt, is
like the source file, and can be assigned to another of the drive letters,
perhaps on the other physical drive. The index file is smaller than the source
and result files, but should go into another drive letter if you need the
maximum space free on the source and result drives. The fourth prompt is for
the many temporary files to be written while sorting, these should have their
own drive letter, and be on a different physical drive from the CAD programs if
your computer is set up to allow that. The workspace file should also be in
another drive letter from the CAD program sub-directory and the sort file
directories. The workspace file is changed in the small menu that comes up
over the CAD program opening screen.
The sort file fourth prompt drive path might also be located in a RAM disk if
you have 256MB of RAM on your computer. Some arrangements of the drive paths
might be:
For two hard disks:
Physical Drive 0
C:\ = OS
E:\ = DANCAD3D (tm) programs
F:\ = Sort Source file
G:\ = Sort Result file
Physical Drive 1
D:\ = Workspace files
H:\ = Sort Index
I:\ = Sort Temporary files
J:\ = Drawing files, Animation frames, and Macros
For two harddisks and a large RAM disk:
Physical Drive 0
C:\ = OS
E:\ = DANCAD3D (tm) programs
F:\ = Sort Source file
G:\ = Sort Result file
Physical Drive 1
D:\ = Workspace files
H:\ = Sort Index
I:\ = Animation frames
J:\ = Drawing files and Macros
Large RAM disk
K:\ = Sort Temporary files
If you do not need the maximum capacity of the programs, all of the temporary
files, the Workspace files, and the sort files can just be in the same
directory as the CAD programs.
Since the CAD programs use the harddisks more for sorting the triangles a
7200RPM harddisk with an internal 2MB RAM buffer may be better than some of the
older slower harddisks. Some sort of harddisk cache buffer, such as SMARTDRV
(tm) should probably be used, although a RAM disk might be faster without the
cache active.
Running the CAD programs under Windows 95 (tm) may result in better sorting
times that using DOS 6.22, but performance will vary depending on how your
computer is configured and what hardware you are using.
You should set your CONFIG.SYS file to FILES=20 so that the program can have
enough file handles available to open several files at the same time. If the
program reports run time error "$F0" Overlay not found it usually means that
you did not install the programs properly, or that you did not use the DOS CD
command to change to the program directory. Error "$F0" also seems to occur
sometimes if the programs cannot open a file because all of the file handles
are in use. If you get run time error $F0 while a nested macro is operating it
may be because you do not have enough free file handles, so try increasing the
FILES=20 value in your CONFIG.SYS or PIF file.
If you encounter persistent problems running the new programs, try installing
them in a new directory, change to different directories for the workspace and
sort files, and delete all of the old files from previous versions. In order
to avoid overwriting drivers or fonts that you have edited you should install
revised versions in a new sub-directory anyway.
The INSTALL.BAT file has been changed to work with the CAD programs so that
they can check to see if the revised files have been installed, so be sure that
you extract all of the new files in the DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) distribution.
Some other minor changes were made here and there. You should probably change
over to using this update from whatever version you are now testing, especially
if you are using the hidden line display modes, or surfaces made of triangles.
---
Changes made to the November 30, 2002 DANCAD3D.ZIP (tm) file.
See file INFOV27D.TXT for information relating to v2.7D which replaced the
INFOV27C.TXT file of v2.7C.
---
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please visit my Web site On-Line at: http://www.DANCAD3D.com/ for additional
information. Please report bugs, mistakes, or other problems with this
document or the programs, see SECTION: 8 at the current On-Line version of my
Web site for current instructions.