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VUTRAX SOFTWARE ADVICE NOTICE 204 - 12 Sep
1999
VUTRAX 12.0 & 12.1 - Help with CNC
Output Compatibility Problems
There are many styles of CNC (Computer Numerical
Control) outputs available from Vutrax selectable as
control files.
They can be recognised by the file extension .NXY .
Most of these styles start & end with a series of
zero bytes that provide notional (and even today
sometimes real) blank
paper tape.
Most customers just provide the files unchanged to the
CNC machine and experience no problems. However, some
customers need to remove these blanks for particular
machines. Here are some schemes for doing this:-
- Use Open CNC Data from (Text > Open > NC Outputs) to
start the SEE text editor on the output file. The
blanks appear as
Red character cells containing a '?' at
the start and end of the file. Use the Del key to
remove them. Do not remove the
whole of the first line which includes the first tool
selection at the end, or the first set of drill
operations may use the
wrong drill. (No new line appears here because some
machines interpret any new line as 'drill' - equally
bad.)
- If you want to automate the process you can use
utility VTXPATCH to update the file. To use this
scheme
prepare a file NOBLANKS.ASC that contains
0 ;
(Yes just Zero, space, Semicolon and an implied new
line)
To perform the change use a Option x
from (Specify)
item to enter the command.
VTXPATCH
NOBLANKS.ASC <CNC output file>
-L0 -H999 -C
That's a Zero after the -L.
Accidentally applying the change a second time simply
does nothing
- You can use the SEE text editor to alter the Plot
Control File itself so that no blanks are produced.
Use Open All Files from (Text > Open)
and then Browse to select the
appropriate *.NXY in the Vutrax
installation directory. Locate the two lines near the end
of the file which mention Leading Tape and Trailing
Tape, and delete one or both whole lines as required.
Distribution:
- Internet Site.
- For Customers reporting problems with CNC output.
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