General Topics

Printing:
The Print File button below the file list will print the highlighted file in the list. The Print Window button below the DNC window just prints what's in the DNC-edit window.

DNC Window:
The DNC window is an editor so you can make changes in the program if needed. It can save you some time when you can download from the machine, make edits in the window and send it right back.
 

Setup Sheet:
This calls the optional InList program to print a tool list from the selected file. The InList program is available from i-Logic Software.

Select Start:
Normally, when you press the SEND button it starts sending from the begining of the program. When this menu item is checked it will start sending from the line in the editor which the cursor is on. This is useful when using drip feed to the control and you want to start the program at a certain spot. 

Utilities on Main Menu:

 

There are three built in utilities:

• Renumber the program in the DNC window. The default start number and increment is 10. This can be changed in the DNC.INI file by adding the entries under the [DNCServer] heading with the start and increment numbers you want.:
  RenumberStart=10
  RenumberIncrement= 10
• Load Inplot Editor - Opens the Inplot program and loads the text into the editor.
• Direct File - Since how much text the editor window in DNC Server can hold is limited by how much memory you have and which version of Windows you have, real big files might not load in. Instead, you can Send and Recieve files without having to load them into the edit window. A file open dialog box asks for the file name to send or save.

Other executable programs can be added to the utilities menu by adding them to the included DNCUtilities.ini file.

The file is in the format of :
Utility[number] =menu caption,exe filename,[1=needs DNC edit window NC filename as parameter;2=needs selected filename in file list window]

Example file:

[Utilities]
Utility1=Setup Sheet,inlist.exe,1
Utility2=Notepad,notepad.exe,1

Drip Feed:

DNC Server supports drip feeding the program to the machine control in the same way as normal sending, if the control supports it and you have the proper handshaking. On Most controls this is an optional feature, so yours may not support it. On Fanuc, set the mode switch to "Tape" and input parameters to "RS-232".

Loop Feature - When sending a program from the edit window its possible to put a Loop Comment code in the program so a section of the program will be repeatedly sent out to the control. With this you could set DNC Server to drip feed a long program continuously repeating itself so you don't have to go to the computer to send the program each time.

The Loop Comment Code is "(LOOP " and the block number to jump to.

Example:

G90G00X-4.1312Y.6502
N45G00Z.1
G01Z-.3F20.
G41D0G01X-4.3312F2.0
X-4.3914
G03X-4.7657Y.2987I0.J-.375
Y-.2987I4.7657J-.2987
X-4.3914Y-.6502I.3743J.0235
G01X-4.3312
(LOOP 45)
G40X-4.1312
G00Z3.0

In this example, when DNC Server reads the line "(LOOP 45)" it finds block number N45 and jumps to that line and continues sending. This will loop forever between the two lines continuously sending out the lines to the control. If you want to loop only for a certain number of times, use a comma and the number of loops to execute. (LOOP 45,4) will repeat 4 times and then continue with the next line after the loop.

You could use this feature when drip feeding to the machine: the program after finishing could start again at the beginning, and you never have to go to the computer to start it again. Stop to change the part by placing M00 in program. 

Nested loops won't work.

Starting Multiple instances of DNC Server at Start-Up

Command Line - Normally, DNC Server up starts with the first machine configuration listed in the DNC.INI file. It can be started with a parameter on the command line that will start with a particular machine configuration.  Make a shortcut and put the machine name on the end of the command line. (put quotes around it if there are spaces in the name). Put the shortcut in the Windows startup folder. DNC Server will start with that machine configuration loaded.

Example:

You can have multiple shortcuts in the startup folder and start mutiple copies of DNC Server with different machine configurations. Each one needs to be set to a different comm port or they will interfere with each other.
They can be set to start Minimized if you want.

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