Help with postprocessors

Discussions around the CAM Add-On of QCAD.

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wdfortee
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Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2018 3:18 pm

Re: Help with postprocessors

Post by wdfortee » Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:06 pm

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm currently using 3.19.2.0 Windows 32bit Trial edition until I can figure out how to solve this one problem without having to manually edit the gcode file every time. For the past few years, I had been using QCAD CE to make dxf files and then opening them in a program called dxf2gcode to get the working file for my GRBL CNC Engraver, but I'd like to reduce the tool chain.

I've attached the files. I tried to set my JS file with a custom header setting zHomePosition to -100 without any effect. Please let me know if any further information is needed.
Attachments
LinuxCNCMM.js
(640 Bytes) Downloaded 617 times
test.nc
(782 Bytes) Downloaded 631 times
TEST.dxf
(128.87 KiB) Downloaded 592 times

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andrew
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Re: Help with postprocessors

Post by andrew » Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:09 am

You can set the initial Z position per file under:
CAM > CAM Configuration > Z Levels > Safety Level
Screen Shot 2018-03-26 at 09.56.58.png
Screen Shot 2018-03-26 at 09.56.58.png (109.56 KiB) Viewed 8152 times
You might want to remove the [N] G0 [ZH!] from your header as this happens as part of the (first) tool change.

BTW: You should always create a new configuration file (postprocessor) with a unique name instead of editing an existing one. This way, you can avoid that your postprocessor would be overwritten when doing an update.

wdfortee
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Posts: 10
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2018 3:18 pm

Re: Help with postprocessors

Post by wdfortee » Tue Mar 27, 2018 12:32 am

Great, thanks for the information. It was definitely my mistake for not quite understanding the meaning of that safety level and seeing that there was a previous issue and assuming the worst.

Also, I tried to make a new file, but was having a problem with the function naming scheme, I guess, which was resulting in no dialog box popping up for adding a new tool or toolpath. I played around with naming and added "MM" to the end and magically got the dialog boxes showing up. Not sure if this is intended.

Quick follow up, is there reference information on creating the JS file besides just looking at the GCodeBase.js file and other pre-existing template JS files?

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andrew
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Re: Help with postprocessors

Post by andrew » Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:13 am

wdfortee wrote:Also, I tried to make a new file, but was having a problem with the function naming scheme, I guess, which was resulting in no dialog box popping up for adding a new tool or toolpath. I played around with naming and added "MM" to the end and magically got the dialog boxes showing up. Not sure if this is intended.
File name and class name need to match (e.g. "GCodeMM.js" contains class "GCodeMM".
wdfortee wrote:Quick follow up, is there reference information on creating the JS file besides just looking at the GCodeBase.js file and other pre-existing template JS files?
The basics of naming and getting started are explained at:
http://qcad.org/en/qcad-cam-configuration

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