Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: hpgl code and plotters was What does open mean?

ballendo wrote:

> In many ways, the commands of IX seem to "derive" from hpgl...
>
> Well..... I'm not seeing that exactly... Indexer just fires off the
> "position" information one after the next yet *must include extra
> statements* to indicate feed or move and also *which* axis to do it with.
> Hpgl just fires off 2 sets of commands, one for each axis divided by a
> simple semicolon in a 2d enviroment.

> "this" -"off-list"...........

Agreed. My late night brain is not always operational. However, I am *not*
the first public statement about it, and If it happened to me by "accident",
I would sure have a public statement on the site to this day.. I'm suprised
you never saw it.

(reminds me.... Did you ever go to the Antares tooling site and type that in
wrong ?? Oh Boy, welcome to the internet ! -The correct link is
http://www.antaresinc.net/)

> Look to the tools (like corelDRAW!) used to create the code to drive
> the machines.

Well, no doubt Corel can be a pretty cheap option and as you know has always
been Ability's biggest push, thus the long time hpgl window. But, there are
plenty of limitations.

I'm a longtime Corel user. It does what it does excellently. But, for
machining anything past diamond drag engraving or vinyl cutting... It leaves
much to be desired.

What confuses me most, is those companies direction. Just like you can not
seem to be able to get the "Controller developers" to make a control the way
you'd like, Chances are even more slim that one would ever get Corel to use
real Cad tools like trim, extend, and offset commands. So, first drawing a
technical part is the first challenge and then toolpath "order" is the next.

So, why is it that companies seem to not "see" what the products capabilities
are or where a market is that could use enhancements ? Why couldn't a company
like Corel include a G-Code Filter ? If hpgl can be exported, surely "G"
could as well. You know the Sign Software companies accomplish it, why not
Corel ? Same goes for AutoCad or AutoSketch. if they both can plot hpgl, why
not G ?

Sure, I know all about the sequencing and what not. That would be the second
question... Why not add that ? Welcome to basic CAM. "Basic", is all it needs
be on that level.

For some reason, either companies have incredible financial ties to Cam
options, or they are just so "tunnel visioned" in their own little world,
they fail to see the market options. For SignCutters, Corel corp would have
no problem raising their prices IF they incorporated the things the add-on or
Sign software market has. What really stops them ??

> AND, my personal rant here, hpgl is MUCH MORE
> STANDARDISED than Gcode; making it NOT such a "better" language for
> this tight market, who won't put up with this silly gcode "flavor"
> stuff, IMO.

I don't see that at all. I would much rather dive into 20 or 30 thousand
lines of G-Code than Hpgl to "see" where I am and what is going on. At least
you have XYZ+ locations listed.
I spent 5 years behind commercial engraving. 99% via hpgl. Constantly
optimizing hpgl paths to make those routine jobs run as efficient as possible
? I'm not looking back just yet.

Chris L