Variable Value Display

[cherokee140d]

Dave

I am begining to use more user variables to create code snippets which are similar to Wizards in that they are parameter driven.
These snippets can be copied into any program and their use modified by simply changing the variables.

e.g Peck drill routine for the lathe which allows variable driven X, Z start, peck depth, chip break retract, full retract every n depth, feed, speed etc.

Also find them benificial to set G52 offsets by program and allow for additional offsets at run time (e.g. air cut).

As the use of variables incease, it becomes more difficult to track them. Would be real handy if the value of these variables were displayed. Perhaps on the "User Exts" screen.
The variables required would be 1-33 (Program), 100-149 (Run Time) & 500-531 (Global).

Might you consider this as a future enhancement. One more advantage of MSM vs. Mach3 screens!

Thanks, John

[DaveCVI]

Hi John,
I have no plans at the moment to add Gcode variable value info to MSM.

From my perspective, this would have several issues:
1) Attempting to display all the available gcode variables would take a lot of screen real estate to display. If not all of them, how to pick which ones...

2) Congratulations! I think you are an anomaly ;D (as am I).... most folks don't write gcode of any complexity, in general the industry let's CAM programs generate the gcode.

3) For those that do write gcode, there are other tools available to help write, trace and debug gcode programs. Some examples are:
NCPlot www.ncplot.com/
(which I've personally used for a long time)

a new one that you may want to check out is
www.cnccookbook.com/CCGWizardE.html

There are also free Gcode editors that turn up from google searching.
I tried several of those before settling on NCPLot some years back.

4) Adding gocde variable displays to MSM feels to me (since I'm programmer type) like it's most useful when debugging a gcode program; and maybe not as useful when running a proven program.

Thus it feels like this would take the control part of the system away from being a control and more toward a gcode program development tool... that feels a bit uncomfortable to me at first glance - but then I don't use gcode variables so my current intuition may well be flawed.
I just edit the Gcode source in NCPLot and reload mach with the new file.
I tend to hate gcode variables because they tend to make gcode virtually unreadable to a human.

5) if these were added to MSM, it would not be on the user exts page - as then the user exts page would not longer be available for user extensions.
Thus it would require one or more new pages - and that's a big MSM impact. I'm not seeing the ROI come out well for that trade off.

6) have you found the mach gcode variable monitor that mach already has?
mach menu bar; Operator; GCode Var Monitor

Dave

[cherokee140d]

Dave

Will investigate NCPlot & the Mach variable code monitor

Thanks, John