Tool Scanning

Automatic tool scanning

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

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.

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.

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.

Example

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

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.

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.

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

ˆ	Beginning of line or string
$	End of line or string
.	Any character except newline
*	Match previous character 0 or more times
+	Match previous character 1 or more times
?	Match previous character 0 or 1 time
|	Alternative, either....or
( )	Grouping
[ ]	Set of characters
{ }	Repetition modifier
\	Quote or special
{n}	Match previous character exactly n times
{n,}	Match previous character at least n times
{n,m}	Match previous character at least n but not more than m times

Please refer to Perl regular expression documentation for more information.