G-code---for the new millenium

I am thinking (dreaming) out loud here but here goes anyway.

Like most people learning Gcode for the first time, I have some problems
remembering the code number for each action.
As there was recently a thread on "variations" of Gcode (I saw that in the
archives) I was wondering if it would be feasible to give to our
interpreting software, the ability to read text commands and/or Gcode.

My main area of work is in electronics (not computers) and many systems are
now controlled by microcontrollers. Their language is usually very intuitive
with commands like
LSL for Logical Shift Left
CPI for Compare with Immediate
SER for Set bits in Register
CLR for Clear Register
etc... you get the idea.

I was thinking about implementing alternative text commands to Gcode that
would be equally well interpreted by the software receiving it (machine
controller). The commands would be 3 or 4 letter words with an intuitive
meaning to them. It would not take longer to write the code manually, but
would allow a listing that is much more "readable" by humans. It would also
allow someone not quite familiar with code to quickly see the tool path in
the file.

For example, let's imagine...
RAP for G00 Rapid positioning
LIN for G01 Linear interpolation
ACW for G02 Circular interpolation Clockwise (arcs)
ACCW for G03 circular interpolation counter-clockwise
CCCW for G13 Circle counter-clockwise
XYP for G17 X-Y plane designation
RADL for G41 cutter radius compensation to the left
DRL for G83 hole drilling
ABS for absolute programming mode
FEED feed rate
LOOP for loop the program
DWL for dwell
RPM for (what else) RPM
END for end program
etc...

Shouldn't involve big software changes in the machine controller programs
IMHO. If the line doesn't begin with a G## , then check the comparison table
to find a matching command and process it as Gcode for the rest of the
processing.

Same for the Gcode generators, where there could be an option in the menu to
select G-code output or T-code (for Text code) or whatever.

The end result of this could be to render CNC code more attractive to
everybody without any drawbacks (that I can see now). The important thing is
to make the code intuitive. I do not mean this to be a replacement to Gcode,
it is merely an alternative syntax.

Once it has become a feature of the most popular programs we use, and people
use it, it can only become more popular with time and, maybe, be part of the
new "standard" for modern CNC code.

When Gcode was invented during the fifties, the "computers" probably
couldn't deal with text commands, so maybe that's the reason we are "stuck"
with the numbers.


Oh ! Time to wake-up.
Was this a bad dream or not ?


Guy Sirois