Questions and answers - Technical Topics

• Why do you keep moving the buttons around on the backplotter? “Play”, “Pause”, etc seem to change with every update.
   We’re always looking to improve the user interface, and sometimes we blow it. We moved the buttons in R12 and people complained. So - they’re back where they were in R12.1. It seemed a good idea at the time
• We have a Swiss style machine with a multi-path controller and can’t figure out what to put in the editor’s “Multi-Channel” configuration screen. Suggestions?
   Send us the details. If we can make it work with the existing capability, we’ll let you know how we did it. If not, we’ll try to improve the capability so that it works.
•  I have a new hi-res "4K" monitor and the editor text and icons are too small to see clearly. Several of my applications have this problem. Now what?
   For Windows 10 and 11 - First, be sure the Windows option for the display is set for 125% or larger text scaling. Then, right click on the editor's exe file or icon, select Properties->Compatibility and check Override High DPI Scaling Behavior. Change the drop down to determined by SYSTEM.
•  Some of the characters in the editor are gibberish. For example, tabs should be shown by an arrow but some strange boxes appear instead. Some characters are only partially shown
  Some fonts are just not suitable for use with this application. Also, some very large fonts exhibit this behavior. Try other fonts until you find one that works well
•  What conversions are supported by Action-Convert?
  Conversions between the following formats are provided. 
  • G-code - IJK arcs with relative centers
  • G-code - IJK arcs with absolute centers
  • G-code - Arcs with radius words
  • Heidenhain conversational
  • APT CL
  
  • Any of the above formats can be used to create a DXF file
  
• What support for DXF files does editNC offer?
  The Conversion function will create DXF output and the backplotter will display DXF as an overlay of a tool path.
  Support is included as follows:
  • G0 will not appear in the DXF file
  • G1 will appear as lines in DXF
  • G2/G3 will appears as arcs in DXF
  • G17-19 will be handled
  • G73-76 will create points at Z depth
  • G81-89 will create points at Z depth
  • G90/G91 will be handled
  • No other commands are currently supported.
• I want to know what CNC program block caused a particular move in the backplot display. How can I find it?
  Right-click on the move in the backplot.
•  A file is shown as "Read-only" but it isn't read only on disk. What happened?
  The editor views files as read-only in three cases
  1. The file (Windows) attributes show it as read-only
  2. Multiple copies of the same file are open at once in the same editor
  3. “Prohibit multiple user write access” is checked and some other user has the file open in read-write mode
• Q: What is the maximum file size that can be edited?
  This depends on the amount of memory available. The editor is designed to handle large files while providing good performance. Release 12 was tested with a max of 90 megabytes (~ 5,500,000 blocks)
• What is a null character and why do I care?
  A character with all bits off. They are sometimes used for punched tape leaders and a few other functions. There is no graphical representation for a null character in Windows so the editor lets the user specify one (Options-Editor-Characters). A seldom used special character such as ~, ^, ` or something over decimal 127 should be used.
•  I'm calling the editor from another program and passing a filename in the command line. Sometimes, the editor produces an error message saying it can't find the file. I can read this file with no problems using File-Open in the editor. What's going on?
  If a command line includes a file name with spaces, it must be "quoted" per Windows conventions. For example, a command line of editNC.exe cncprog 1.nc will fail but editNC.exe "cncprog 1.nc" will work. Calling programs should simply quote all filenames.