Basic Operation
Once you have an option file loaded (either a new one or an existing one), the following is what you will see:
An option file is basically a large series of numbers, each representing some aspect of the machine control. Within the Option File Generator, these numbers are grouped together and arranged into Panels. Each panel presents a logical grouping of data and the graphical controls which allow you to change that data. You access the various panels via the Main Menu, which is itself organized into logical groups. Some of the groups within the main menu have several subgroups, and some panels themselves have subgroups, which are accessed via tabs along the top of the panel set.
You may have more than one option file open at a time and, if so, you switch between them via the Current Files combo box. The Option File Generator also has a Toolbar along the top which has shortcuts to various menubar items:
How do you go about starting to create an option file? Below is outlined a basic procedure that ought to help:
Initialize your new option file from an option file that is as close to what you want as possible. At the very least, if you are creating an option file for a milling machine, then create a new mill option file from the system default. However, the Option File Generator comes with ten (in each category) default option files which you may use to initialize your new option file. One of these is likely to come closer to what you want than just creating a generic default option file. Also, you may have option files of your own laying around, and if one of these is fairly close to what you want then initialize your new option from it. See Creating a new option file for details on how to initialize a new option fileSpecify the machine type. The first thing to do is to decide what type of machine this option file is for. Go to the first group .
(Machine Tool Type) of the Main Menu and specify the basic type of machine you are dealing with:
The next thing you might want to do is fill out the data on the tabs referring to the Rotary Head and the Rotary Table (or similar tabs depending upon the machine type). These tabs specify the basic behavior of your machine and ought to be filled out (or at least checked) at this early stage in the game. An example is shown below:
Fill out the data on the Specs panel. This panel defines the machine's home position, as well as the minimum and maximum travel limits. These are basic parameters and again ought to be filled out (or checked) at this point.
The next thing to do (or actually perhaps the first) is to jump over to File Formats / List File in the Main Menu and specify a title for this option file:
The final basic thing to do is to go to the File Formats / MCD File panel. This panel is where you specify the output order, letter address, and format of the machine's registers:
If you haven't already done so, save this option file to disk by selecting File / Save from the menu.
You should then go into an iterative procedure where you process this option file through the postprocessor, look at the output files (the .lst file and the punch files .pu1) and make any changes to this option file that will fix problems you spot in the output. See postprocessor for a description of this process.
If you run across a problem that cannot seem to be solved by setting any of the parameters on any of the panels of the Option File Generator, then you may have to create a companion FIL file. To do so, select Advanced / FIL Editor from the Main Menu. This takes you to the built-in FIL Editor, a syntax-aware editor that has color coding and automatic indentation. Please see the FIL language document for a complete description of the FIL language.
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Option File Generator Help
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