CIMCO Software Version 8 Released

Version 8 is a major update that delivers powerful new features, faster performance and a streamlined user experience across the entire line of CIMCO Software products.

Read on to get an overview of the most significant new features in Version 8.

CIMCO Edit 8

CIMCO Edit 8 comes with a redesigned user-interface that enables advanced workflow optimization by allowing users to fully customize the ribbon.

A new FTP client has been developed and integrated with the Editor transmission utility enabling easy FTP transfers to and from an FTP server.

A new advanced Open File dialog has been developed that makes it much easier to locate files by specifying search criteria on file name, file content, and created/modified dates.

Document editing features and backplotting have been improved and more converters have been added.

CIMCO CNC-Calc 8

CIMCO CNC-Calc features three new advanced toolpath strategies: Constant Cut Inside Out, Constant Cut Inside In and Constant Cut Turning.

Constant Cut Inside Out

Constant Cut Inside Out works in the same way as the Pocket milling operation, but the strategy used to mill this internal pocket is the highly flexible Constant Cut strategy. The Constant Cut strategy is a very efficient and fast strategy because it allows the operator to use very high feedrates and to take very deep cuts.

Constant Cut Inside In

This operation is used to mill the part from the outside in. That means that it can mill an open pocket or the top of a part where some islands protrude. The operation is generated using the very effective Constant Cut Strategy. All Constant Cut Milling strategies can be generated as Climb, Conventional, or both way milling.

Constant Cut Turning

This new operation uses the Constant Cut Strategy to generate a very efficient roughing operation. This operation can be generated as a one way or both ways operation to improve the performance.

Further, an improved help system with illustrations has been added.

CIMCO DNC-Max 8

In CIMCO Software 8 both DNC-Max Server and DNC-Max Client have received a completely new user-interface that follows the new design language of CIMCO Edit 8. The update of the DNC-Max Client not only concerns the stand-alone application, but also when running as a plugin in CIMCO Edit 8.

Further, Brother MDC signal transmission via HTTP is now supported. The Brother control C00 natively supports Ethernet and HTTP interface. This can be used to get signals such as CYCLE START/STOP, running program number, alarms, and part count.

CIMCO NC-Base 8

CIMCO NC-Base 8 now uses Marie DB as primary database. The new database is faster and supports all the features of MySQL V5 including encryption.

CIMCO MDC-Max 8

CIMCO MDC-Max has received a completely new user-interface that follows the new design language of CIMCO Edit 8.

CIMCO MDC-Max 8 has been rewritten with a new multi-threaded engine which greatly improves performance. During Rebuild operations users can now see the current status of the machines on both the live screen and on the operator screen.

CIMCO MDC-Max 8 also features a new archiving system, where processed cache data is stored in the database for quick access by clients.

New features in MDC-Max:

  • Multi-threaded engine on the server side
  • Central cache + archiving process
  • New user permission system
  • Conditionally disabled buttons or input fields
  • Combo box on operator screen can show CSV values
  • Automatic software update of MDC Client
  • New database tables – tables are filled in real-time
  • Export of Event log and Order view to Excel
  • Operator notifications
  • Multiple schedule with arbitrary start of work week
  • Extended report selection window
  • CPU affinity for multi-threaded engine
  • Sending reports in emails from command-line
  • HTML reports in PDF
  • Support for XLSX and XLSM formats
  • New MSSQL database connector
  • Operator screen can show users loaded from database
  • Support for Brother HTTP protocol – C00

CIMCO Software Manager

CIMCO Software Manager is a new product which will centralize control, log viewing and configuration of the various service programs found in the CIMCO Software package.  Currently, it controls the License Server, but in the future, it will include DNC-Max Server Enterprise, NC-Base Server and NFS Server.

CIMCO License Server

CIMCO License Server and the license system in general have been completely rewritten for improved security, flexibility and ease of use. The improvements most prominently reflect in:

License Keys:

– New option to activate license keys directly from the software
– Improved encryption of keys and security of activations

The license keys use a new encryption method and format, and therefore have to be acquired again from CIMCO. This can be done directly from the Version 8 software, provided that the license is capable of running Version 8.

CIMCO License Server:

– Rewritten from the ground.
– Clients can now get an overview of who is using which licenses from the License Server in real-time
– Licenses can be reserved on the License Server so they can only be used by specific computers, based on IP Addresses, MAC Addresses, and/or Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN)
– License Servers using different license keys can now run on the same network
– License Servers will be able to run in a two-server system which will allow a setup to have a redundant backup server running live (still in development).

Bug fixes and improvements

Version 8 features more than 200 bug fixes across all CIMCO products.