Click on any icon under Properties for any machine group in the Toolpath Manager:
Machine Group Properties dialog box
Use this dialog box to manage an individual machine group. Machine group properties include selecting the machine tool that will perform the operations in the group; post and NC settings; tool offsets, default settings and data paths; and setting up stock models that will be used by all operations in the machine group. The functions in this dialog box are divided into three tabs:
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Files tab
How do I get here?
Click on the Files icon for any machine group in the Toolpath Manager:
Files tab (Machine Group Properties dialog box)
Use this tab to specify the names and data paths of files needed by the operations in this machine group, and other important machine group properties. Click on a topic to read more about the individual sections of the tab:
Enter the path for the NC file to be created when you post the operations from this machine group, or choose the following button to select a directory: When you post the files, you can create and name a separate NCI file, if desired. If you select operations from several machine groups, Mastercam creates a separate NC file for each group, according to each group’s settings.
Separate sections of this tab let you choose the files for the machine definition; default tool and operations libraries; and toolpath defaults. For each type of file, you can do the following:
Default paths and file names are read from the Files section of the control definition. If you select a different machine for this machine group, these files and paths will be replaced with the values from the control definition for the new machine.
By default, this tab displays the name of the machine definition that was active when the machine group was created. You can choose a different machine in the same way as choosing other types of files. When you select a new machine, Mastercam loads a copy of the machine definition in your part file. When you click the Edit button to view or make changes to the machine definition, you are only changing the local copy stored in your part file, not the machine definition stored on your hard drive. Selecting a new machine definition will update the other paths and file names with the defaults in the new control definition. Notes:
If you wish, use the Group comment box to record comments that apply to all the operations in this group. Mastercam also lets you record operation-specific comments in the Toolpath parameters tab, or machine-specific comments in the machine definition.
Note: If you get to the Files tab from the Edit Operation Defaults dialog box, all fields except Group comment will be disabled. |