RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] CNC scripting stuff....

Hi Dave,

Good to meet you!

I'll have to check it out! I can see that Delphi (I think you said after I
wrote my last email) is a ways from Pascal. I prefer to stay with my
current language as well. ;>)

"SMOP"?

Do we need a full language implementation? I really don't want to have to
write a full interpreter (or compiler, for that matter!), but a "tiny" or a
subset of a language has some appeal. And if I can get a good start on it
(say from Cterp), I may be inclined to do so. I have the "CNC controller
core" from my own efforts (STEP4, and now STEP6).

"That will generate Gcode that contains loops and variables ", that sounds
like a code generator. I think it would be QUITE useful!

"Face off a block" (or pocketing, drilling bolt circles) is an operation
that can be an "interactive screen" item. Fill in the blanks, press go, and
the controller drills or mills it. I have one for pockets, also does
facings. Jon has a program that generates Gcode for this on his web site!

Good ideas!

Alan KM6VV

> Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] CNC scripting stuff....
>
> Alan Marconett wrote:
>
> >Have you considered an interpreter for executing your Pascal?
> >
> >
> It's in there :) Fully interpreted, type the code into the main window,
> press F9, and it runs.
> It even has some GUI features. As a demonstration one of the example
> scripts included
> with the tool pops up an input window into which the user may enter the
> feedrate.
>
> >And with TurboCNC in Pascal, you've got a "natural" controller core
> >available to you. Strip out the Gcode parser, substitute a Pascal
> >interpreter with your "additions", and you've got it.
> >
> I'd love to do something like this with TurboCNC, but alas, its in such
> an old version of the language that I'd have to spend quite a
> significant amount of time porting code. Truely, a SMOP, but I'm not
> convinced that the elegance of having native script support in TurboCNC
> is justified by the amount of effort required. Instead I plan to
> streamline my workflow from the script tool to the controller.
>
> One possibility is to do some clever programming in my script utility
> that will generate gcode that contains loops and variables that can run
> with TurboCNC as it is now. In this way I can generate gcode programs
> that can be adapted to the work within TurboCNC without going back to
> the script processor. A simple example would be a gcode script to face
> off a block. Again though, this is probably more work than its worth.
> Easy stuff like facing off material can just be written directly in
> gcode, and hard stuff probably wouldn't be adapted frequently enough to
> make it worth the trouble to write the tools to make it work.
>
> >P.S. First Name?
> >
> >
> I'm another Dave. Windows application developer by trade, tinkerer by
> nature. My interests lie in places where the domain knowledge is deep
> and the experts are amiable and passionate about their field.
>
> cs
>