----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2000 2:11 PM
Subject: Re: [mfg-smartcam] Macro
wannabee
I would suggest printing out the Customization Guide so that you can have
a hard reference to most of the macro commands right in front of you.
Also, it gives you a little kick start tutorial in there. But in the
end, what I think you'll need to do is pick out something that you do in
SmartCAM that you do all of the time that you can automate. Make it
a very modest need. For instance, I use Pturn and usually the first
thing I do with the finish turn tool is to face the part. After I faced
the part I would do a lead-in of .05" and a lead-out of .02". Well the
first macro I wrote was to automate this task. Now, after I define the line
element I execute macro lio.mcl (lead in, out) and it's taken care
of.
If you keep at it, you'll be dressing up your macro's to make them more
and more useful until one day you'll be working on one that's turned into a
monster. The more you work on it to make it "better" the more fangs it
grows until it is something completely out of your control. It will want
to crash for some reason that you won't be able to figure out until you set
multiple error traps and then with a big sigh of relief you will have
(finally) found the offending code and with bloodshot eyes you'll finally fix
the last of the errors (or you'll work around the undocumented
"features".) Then, when the macro runs all the way through and performs
it's task you'll truly understand where the power of SmartCAM is.
At least, that's what I've heard.
Daryl
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2000 12:40
PM
Subject: [mfg-smartcam] Macro
wannabee
One of the great things about SmartCam is
the macro feature. All the training that I have had has never even touched
on macro programming. I would like to learn how to use this aspect of
SmartCam. Where can I start on some sort of self tutorial? The texts that I
have do not scratch the surface on this subject.
Douglass Boyd
CNC Programmer
Cascade Microtech
Beaverton, OR
