Bug and Requests

[David_Lelen01]

Hey Les!!!! I'm back!!!!!

We've been crazy busy over here and I haven't really had time to bother you... oh, I mean attempt to improve my workflow efficiency lol.

So the issue of the profiles not opening correctly is still going on over here. It happens with any profile and any job file, so whatever support info you need, let me know and I'll send it to you. I'm not sure what would be helpful.

I brought up in another post a while ago about copying an operation(s) to all parts. viewtopic.php?t=8959 I think this would be very useful as I usually load multiple (10+) parts in a given job and have to create the same operation for all parts. We have the option to copy an operation(s) and paste to another part. I'm sure you have a reason, but I do not see why this could not be done to paste to all parts or paste to selected parts. Sure would be a timesaver. It sounded like in the other post there may be some people who might agree.

Finally, I am at the point of begging you to consider seeing if there is some way to allow a different specification for leadin, leadout, and overcut on inside contours vs outside contours. At least on jet operations. Perpendicular with an overcut works best for us on inside contours and tangent with no overcut usually is best on outside contours. I have tried several times putting things on different layers and assigning a different operation, but this tends to take longer than just manually changing the start point properties. If it is just not reasonably doable, I do understand, but gosh it sure would be a time saver!

[Les Newell]

Sorry for the delay in replying. I'll have to take another look at profiles.

I brought up in another post a while ago about copying an operation(s) to all parts. viewtopic.php?t=8959

Simple copy/paste should be possible. I'll have to have a think about it. Have you tried the quick load plugin? That can be configured to automatically copy operations from the first part when you load your drawing.

Finally, I am at the point of begging you to consider seeing if there is some way to allow a different specification for leadin, leadout, and overcut on inside contours vs outside contours.

That's a biggie. I just had a quick browse though the code and it would involve a lot of changes.

[David_Lelen01]

Have you tried the quick load plugin?

Yeah, that's how I load all of those parts into sheetcam. In the past though it has always erased any parts already in the job unless I check the keep existing parts. I never noticed it to copy operations though, until this morning actually I did not have the keep existing parts checked and I imported more parts through the quick load and it did keep the original part and copy the operations. I thought it was just a glitch since I have never noticed it before. I will have to play with that some, but I do still feel that it would be very useful to have a paste to all function.

That's a biggie. I just had a quick browse though the code and it would involve a lot of changes.

Well dang. That's a bummer... okay, I guess I will let it go then. I'll just have to keep putting everything on different layers. It's probably not that huge of an inconvenience, its just one more step I have to do. I'm all about trying to be as efficient as possible over here.

While I'm griping, I have one more thing I'd like to ask about. Well.... I actually think I just answered my own question. Nevermind. I was going to ask if there was a way to have all of the save as dialogs default to the drawing folder instead of the last folder for each file type but I just remembered the default directories in the application options. I'll give that a try. Just continued typing this in case anyone else runs across this with the same question. Unlikely, but still possible.

[David_Lelen01]

Hey Les, hope all has been well! We've been crazy busy over here and I haven't had time to bother you with requests and bug fixes. I'm sure you have enjoyed my silence lol.

Sorry for the delay in replying. I'll have to take another look at profiles.

Did you ever get a chance to look into this? It looks like the profiles still aren't loading correctly. Any job file I just double click on to open from windows explorer just opens in the default profile and not whichever profile it was saved by.

Also, when printing a job report, if I click another button or click the print icon too quickly before the "Printing..." dialog closes for a second, an internal error message pops up and closes the program and loses any unsaved data. See attached error logs.

Would it be possible to adjust the nest view to show the blue lines of tabs. This would help ensure abs do not overlap and there is enough room between parts and stuff. Right now, the tabs display in all modes except for nesting when the operation with the tabs is selected. It would be extremely useful to see all tabs in the nesting mode.

Also, when importing a drawing, particularly DXFs, could the option be added to select which layers to import? We often have drawings with several layers, but the cut geometry is only on a couple layers at most. It would just make things a lot neater from the start instead of having to delete contours or hide layers one by one.

And finally and most importantly, I know we have talked about this before but I cannot remember the last thing said. I do remember you saying it wouldn't be an easy fix but I still consider it a major bug in the software that should be on the critical list to fix. The start points are auto-placed on the closest side of the contour in the direction of rapid travel. This makes the programs extremely crash prone, particularly on laser cutting but also on plasma too. The machine head cuts the contour and then has to travel across the cut to the next contour. Often times this contour, if it is small, will get stuck instead of falling out or partially fall out and get stuck or stand up, causing a strike with the cutting head. Often time scrapping an entire sheet of metal. The work around we have been using is to place a tab (negative overcut) on the end of every contour to hold the shape in place. This has resulted in a ton of wasted man-hours punching out all of these tabbed contours. The other work around is to manually edit EVERY SINGLE START POINT to move it to the other side of the contour, which works fine for a part with a few dozen contours but is completely ridiculous for a part with hundreds and sometimes even a few thousand cutouts. We frequently fabricate laser cut guard frames for machines. I am at the point now of begging you to fix this. Fixing this would save us tens of thousands of dollars per year in man hours, material, and machine maintenance.

SheetCAM Rapid Direction.PNG (94.74 KiB) Viewed 6101 times

Thanks.

[Les Newell]

Hey Les, hope all has been well! We've been crazy busy over here and I haven't had time to bother you with requests and bug fixes. I'm sure you have enjoyed my silence lol.

I was beginning to think it was something I said

Did you ever get a chance to look into this? It looks like the profiles still aren't loading correctly. Any job file I just double click on to open from windows explorer just opens in the default profile and not whichever profile it was saved by.

I can't see anything obviously wrong. Go to Options->application options->annoying dialogs. Do you have an entry 'Change profile'? Of so, make sure it is not checked.

Also, when printing a job report, if I click another button or click the print icon too quickly before the "Printing..." dialog closes for a second, an internal error message pops up and closes the program and loses any unsaved data. See attached error logs.

I'm having trouble replicating this one. Unfortunately the debug report just tells me it crashed. Sometimes the debug dumps show me exactly where the fault happened but in this case it didn't.

Would it be possible to adjust the nest view to show the blue lines of tabs. This would help ensure abs do not overlap and there is enough room between parts and stuff. Right now, the tabs display in all modes except for nesting when the operation with the tabs is selected. It would be extremely useful to see all tabs in the nesting mode.

Why do you never ask for easy fixes? I need to think on this one because the nesting display works a bit differently than the others.
For jet cutting tabs should already show as a gap in the tool path or a rapid move.

Also, when importing a drawing, particularly DXFs, could the option be added to select which layers to import? We often have drawings with several layers, but the cut geometry is only on a couple layers at most. It would just make things a lot neater from the start instead of having to delete contours or hide layers one by one.

That's tricky. The options dialog appears before the file is loaded so at that point it does not know what layers are used in the drawing. Maybe right-click->disable all in the layers window then enable the ones you want.

The start points are auto-placed on the closest side of the contour in the direction of rapid travel. This makes the programs extremely crash prone

Proper tipup avoidance is difficult to implement but I have changed the way start points are placed on the outline. Instead of being placed nearest the previous start point they are now nearest the next start point. For your application it will probably work well. As this changes the cut paths quite a bit I have uploaded a test version for you to try before putting it in a release. You can get it from here www.sheetcam.com/Download/SheetCamtest.exe. Note it will install as V7.1.35.

[David_Lelen01]

I was beginning to think it was something I said

Nope, not you lol. Just something my boss said. He said less time on development and more time on cutting parts for a while lol

I can't see anything obviously wrong. Go to Options->application options->annoying dialogs. Do you have an entry 'Change profile'? Of so, make sure it is not checked.

Nope, no option there for "Change Profile". I think I see what is happening though. It does appear to be loading the correct profile, but it is not loading the correct tool set. It is loading the default toolset of sheetcam instead of the default toolset in that profile's AppData folder. I just saw the wrong toolset pop up and assumed it still wasnt working. I just deleted the default.tools file in the AppData Folder but left the default.tools for each profile in the respective folder. It opens fine with no errors now, but it is not loading the correct post processor now. Just the default Allen Bradley post processor. So it works... partially.

I'm having trouble replicating this one. Unfortunately the debug report just tells me it crashed. Sometimes the debug dumps show me exactly where the fault happened but in this case it didn't.

Okay, next time it happens i'll grab another log file. I tried to purposely replicate it when i uploaded that log file because i havent saved one yet. Id didnt act quite the same as it does when it just happens. So i'll wait for it to happen on its own again and send another log file.

Why do you never ask for easy fixes? I need to think on this one because the nesting display works a bit differently than the others.
For jet cutting tabs should already show as a gap in the tool path or a rapid move.

Because you have already fixed all the easy and intermediate stuff! Now we're onto the advanced level! lol.
Yeah, the jet cutting is fine the way it is, it was specifically the rotary for a router table that i had in mind. I should have been more specific.

That's tricky. The options dialog appears before the file is loaded so at that point it does not know what layers are used in the drawing. Maybe right-click->disable all in the layers window then enable the ones you want.

Okay, no big deal. I can manage with it how it is. It was just a thought

Proper tipup avoidance is difficult to implement but I have changed the way start points are placed on the outline. Instead of being placed nearest the previous start point they are now nearest the next start point. For your application it will probably work well. As this changes the cut paths quite a bit I have uploaded a test version for you to try before putting it in a release. You can get it from here www.sheetcam.com/Download/SheetCamtest.exe. Note it will install as V7.1.35.

Link says file not found....

[Les Newell]

Link says file not found....

I tried it just now and it worked. Could you try again.

[David_Lelen01]

My bad, I have been making a lot of boneheaded mistakes lately. I just blindly clicked the hyperlink and for some reason it was trying to go to "https://forum.sheetcam.com/www.sheetcam.com/Download/SheetCamtest.exe" instead of "https://www.sheetcam.com/Download/SheetCamtest.exe"

[David_Lelen01]

Les, YOU ARE THE MAN!! That is exactly what I was talking about!!! You mean to tell me I have been begging for this for years and it was that easy for you to fix? lol. For real though, that seems to work perfectly right now. I'll try it out for a week or so and see if I find any issues with it, but right now it looks perfect!

So now that just leaves the opening the different profiles and not loading the correct toolset and post issue and the and the nesting mode not displaying the blue lines for tabs in the rotary configuration for now. I have more on my sticky note, but they're not a big deal if no one else is complaining.

Thanks again for all the hard work and an awesome program and super amazing customer service!!!!

[Les Newell]

The reason why I have been holding off is that proper tip-up avoidance is hard. What I did is a hack that only works in some situations. It just happens to work well for your specific application.

I don't know what is going on with the profiles. I'll continue testing and see what I can find.