Tool Scanning

This section describes the Advanced Tool scan feature in CIMCO Edit V8. All commands are case insensitive, but the values are kept in all caps for compatibility reasons.

The Advanced Tool scanning feature allows you to automatically scan tool dimensions from the NC program file. With this function, the tool number, type, and dimensions will be automatically read from the NC program.

Only milling tools are supported.

When using Automatic Tool scanning, the tool scanner searches for lines in the NC file that contain the tool line trigger. The default trigger keyword is TOOL, and if necessary the user can change the tool line trigger.

The tool line is expected to be inside comments, and it uses the Comment end character from the machine settings if available.

When the tool is scanned, the order of the dimension keywords is irrelevant. The user is able to change the keywords.

Some words can significantly slow down the performance if they occur often in the NC file.

When selecting Load tool list from file, the tool scan will look in an external file for the tool definitions.

When Disabled. Use default tools only is selected, the tool scanner will select a default tool from the tool library and place it in the NC file.

The Tool Scanning configuration dialog is shown below:

Tool scanning setup window.

Automatic tool scan

param

Automatic tool scanning

Check this field to automatically scan tool dimensions from the NC program.

param

Tool line trigger

Enter in this field the word used as tool scanning trigger. Only normal characters A-Z and a-z are accepted. The default word is TOOL.

param

Tool type

Use this field to select the type of tool used for the operation. In the field below, you can edit the name of the tool, and the changes will automatically appear in the Example field. All characters are supported.

param

Tool dimension keyword

Use this field to select the keyword that should correlate to a tool dimension value. In the field below, you can edit the keyword of the selected tool dimension, and the changes will automatically appear in the Example field. Only normal characters A-Z and a-z are supported.

param

Example

This field shows an example of the selected tool with all its parameters.

The fields "Tool Trigger", "Tool Type" and "Tool dimension Keyword" are only used to insert synonyms for standard keywords in the configuration. It is recommended to use the default keywords, as a change may cause problems.

Insert tool definition

param

Insert tool definitions into NC file, using tool format defined above

Check this option to enable to insertion of tool definitions into NC file, using the tool format defined above. The insertion is done after Tool Setup.

param

Placement of tool definitions

Use this field to select where the tool definitions should be placed in the file. You can select Top of file, At tool change or Custom from the drop-down list. If the selected placement fails, the tool definition is placed at line 1.

param

Custom tool placement

Use this field to specify a keyword or regular expression (Perl) to search for the line, the tool definition should be placed after. If the search fails, the tool definition is placed at line 1.

The custom tool placement can be specified in two ways:

Simple: In the simple mode you use a keyword such as M6, G2 to specify the tool placement. Then all the tools are placed after the first occurrence of M6 or G2.

Advanced: The advanced mode lets you use a regular expression (Perl) to specify the tool placement.

Examples:
M0?6 which matches M6 or M06
M0+6 which matches M06 or M006, but not M6.

You can use the following wildcards and repetition characters to specify the advanced custom tool placement.

Wildcards and repetition of string occurrences

Please refer to Perl regular expression documentation for more information.

This field is only activated if Custom is selected in the Placement of tool definitions field.

Defining tools in NC-programs

All tool lines can be grouped at the start of the program. In ISO codes, the tool lines are expected to be inside comments i.e. between parentheses. For Heidenhain programs, tool lines start with a semicolon.

Tool lines start with the trigger word TOOL followed by the tool number, and the tool type in inverted commas.

The default tool types are named as follows:

If a tool line contains an unknown tool type, End mill flat is used.

The tool type is then followed by dimension keywords and values. The default keywords are:

You can define tools in the NC programs with and without '=' between the dimension keyword and value.

You can change between metric and imperial tools by adding UM for Metric (mm) and UI for Imperial (inch).

Examples of tool lines (with and without '='):