G-Wizard G-Code Editor (GWE) Change Log and Release Notes (Continued)

Last modified: May 23, 2024

More recent changes are available on the GWE Change Log home page.

Change Log

12/26/13: Release 1.37

Release 1.37 is a minor release:

12/16/13: Release 1.34

Release 1.34 is a minor feature release:

12/11/13: Release 1.33

Release 1.31 is a minor feature and bug fix release:

12/5/13: Release 1.31

Release 1.31 is a UI release:

10/17/13: Release 1.27

Release 1.27 is a minor feature release:

9/25/13: Release 1.263

Release 1.263 is a minor release that adds:

9/24/13: Release 1.262

Release 1.262 is a minor release that adds:

9/9/13: Release 1.261

Release 1.26 is a minor release that adds:

8/13/13: Release 1.25

Release 1.25 is a minor release that adds:

8/5/13: Release 1.20 (Mandatory)

Release 1.20 is a minor release that adds improved support for Heidenhain modal and one-shot canned cycles on the mill.

7/18/13: Release 1.15

Release 1.15 is a minor release:

7/10/13: Release 1.11

Release 1.11 is a minor release:

6/26/13: Release 1.1

Release 1.1 is a feature release focused on a major overhaul of backplot navigation. It introduces the backplot navigation toolbar:

Three icons: magnifying glass with arrow, magnifying glass with gear, and magnifying glass with ruler.

The screen shot shows the backplot nav bar shortly after clicking the leftmost icon to perform a rotation. Clicking the icon displays the message telling you to click and drag the mouse to rotate the view. Release the mouse button and the message goes away. The icons also have tooltips if you hover the mouse cursor over them that describe their function. From left to right:

6/20/13: Release 1.047

Release 1.047 is a minor feature release that includes:

6/18/13: Release 1.046

Release 1.046 is a performance and minor bug fix release. Memory consumption was reduced for large g-code programs and a bug was corrected for G02/G03. GWE wasn't plotting full circles for G02/03 that had IJK values but no XYZ.

6/12/13: Release 1.045

Release 1.045 is a fairly significant rewrite and streamlining of the coordinate transformation pipeline. It's largely focused on fixing some edge cases for G52 and similar commands.

5/23/13: Release 1.042

Release 1.042 is a minor release focused macro bugs. Certain combinations would give false errors or sometimes hang the simulator.

5/13/13: Release 1.040

Release 1.040 is a minor release focused on the Conversational CNC Wizards:

5/7/13: Release 1.036

Release 1.036 is a minor release with the following:

5/2/13: Release 1.035

Release 1.035 is a bug fix release focused on g-code macros and posts:

4/25/13: Release 1.033

Release 1.033 is a bug fix release:

4/22/13: Release 1.032

Release 1.032 is a bug fix release:

4/17/13: Release 1.031

Release 1.031 is a bug fix release that fixes a memory leak that could crash the simulator under certain conditions, especially when running slowly.

4/16/13: Release 1.029 and 1.030

Release 1.029 is a bug fix release that fixes some bugs when inserting text in the g-code editing pane.

Release 1.030 dramatically increases the performance of the Renumber Revision and adds a button to the Revision to delete the Block Numbers.

4/11/13: Release 1.028

Release 1.028 introduces the Heidenhain milling post and as well as the new Post variable "Cycles.HeidenhainPL". This variable enables processing the Heidenhain-style "P01" through "P05" parameters on the canned cycles.

4/9/13: Release 1.025

Release 1.025 is a usability and bug fix release. I rewrote the code that decides how to scale the cones that mark the start and end of program as well as the current g-code line. I also fixed a bug to do with delete and backspace of marked blocks on large files.

4/1/13: Release 1.024

Release 1.024 is our first release with a LinuxCNC post available. The post is not complete, but includes quite a lot including LinuxCNC-style "#" named parameters. It also fixes some bugs in the File Compare utility.

3/29/13: Release 1.023

Release 1.023 adds a new macro variables tab where you can see which variables are accessed in your g-code program, their current value, and any symbolic name for the variables.

3/27/13: Release 1.022

Release 1.022 fixes a startup hang bug for Macintosh users.

3/25/13: Release 1.021

Release 1.021 is a minor feature release focused on the new graphical interface for the Conversational CNC Wizards:

Machining tools and techniques: drilling, milling, tapping, threadmilling and engraving.

3/21/13: Release 1.020

Release 1.020 is a minor feature release:

3/19/13: Release 1.018

Release 1.018 is a minor feature release:

"#" is used to identify subprogram numbers. So "#32" is like "O32" on Fanucs.

"=#" calls the subprogram. "#=32" is the same as "M98 P32" on Fanucs.

"$" signifies return from the subprogram just as "M99" does on Fanucs.

3/12/13: Release 1.017

Release 1.017 is a minor release:

3/8/13: Release 1.016

Release 1.016 is a minor bug fix release that fixes an incorrect error message about tools already being loaded and also fixes a bug in M98 Pxxxyyyyy style calls were xxx is the repeat and yyyy is the target O#.

3/6/13: Release 1.015

Release 1.015 is a minor bug fix release that deals with some bugs having to do with saving GWE options and with erroneous reporting that M98 or G65 was too many levels deep.

3/5/13: Release 1.013

Release 1.013 is a minor release that includes the following:

2/24/13: Release 1.012

Release 1.012 is a minor release that includes the following:

2/21/13: Release 1.010

Release 1.010 is a minor release that includes the following:

#4001: G00 G01 G02 G03

#4002: G17 G18 G19

#4006: G20 G21

#4007: G40 G41 G42

#4109: F

#4119: S

#4120: T"

2/20/13: Release 1.009

Release 1.009 is a minor release focused on fixing customer reported issues with canned cycles.

2/19/13: Release 1.008

Release 1.008 is a minor release focused on macros and subprograms:

2/17/13: Release 1.007

Release 1.007 is a minor bug fix release focused on macros and subprograms:

2/14/13: Release 1.006

Release 1.006 is a minor release focused on improving GWE usability on lower resolution screens:

2/12/13: Release 1.005

Release 1.005 is a minor release:

1/30/13: Release 1.002

Release 1.002 is a release candidate. It contains minor bug fixes including an update to fix a problem with the GW Calculator integration.

1/25/13: Release 0.742

Release 0.742 is a minor bug fix release focused on the Edit Find and Edit Jump commands.

1/24/13: Release 0.741

Release 0.741 is a minor release:

1/17/13: Release 0.740 (Mandatory Upgrade)

Release 0.740 is a minor stability release:

1/15/13: Release 0.731

Release 0.731 is a minor feature and usabilityrelease:

1/8/13: Release 0.730

Release 0.730 is a minor feature and usabilityrelease:

12/26/12: Release 0.729

Release 0.729 is a bug fix and usability release:

12/20/12: Release 0.727

Release 0.727 is a bug fix and usability release:

12/13/12: Release 0.726

Release 0.726 is a bug fix and usability release:

12/10/12: Release 0.725

Release 0.725 is a bug fix release:

12/7/12: Release 0.723

Release 0.723 is a bug fix release that fixes a problem with the GW Calculator and GW Editor integration that was incorrectly locking some folks out of access.

12/6/12: Release 0.722

Release 0.722 is a bug fix release focused on the Tools Revisions commands such as Renumber and Comments. A number of customer-reported problems were fixed and the overall performance of the Revisions should be quite a lot better.

12/5/12: Release 0.721

Release 0.721 is a minor usability and bug fix release:

12/2/12: Release 0.720

Release 0.720 is a minor usability and bug fix release:

11/18/12: Release 0.717

Release 0.717 is a minor bug fix release:

11/14/12: Release 0.716

Release 0.716 is a minor bug fix and usability release that addresses:

11/13/12: Release 0.715

Release 0.715 is a bug fix release that is focused on fixing some backplot manipulation problems for lathe users.

11/12/12: Release 0.714

Release 0.713 is a bug fix release that includes:

Note: Things a still pretty funky for lathe views. More work coming for that. If you primarily use GWE for lathes, you may want to skip this upgrade.

11/11/12: Release 0.713

Release 0.713 is a bug fix release that includes:

A couple of minor g-code features were also added:

11/3/12: Release 0.710

Release 0.710 is a minor feature release that adds:

10/20/12: Release 0.700

Release 0.700 is a minor feature release that adds:

10/20/12: Release 0.690

Release 0.690 is a minor release:

I'm starting to do more frequent releases as the prioritization is driven increasingly by users who are trying to do things. This allows me to clear away their problems and keep things moving. It's a logical sign that we're starting to get close to having GWE ready to leave Beta test. I suspect about 4-6 weeks or so.

10/18/12: Release 0.689

Release 0.689 is a minor feature release:

10/16/12: Release 0.687

Release 0.686 is a minor bug fix release focused on some customer reported issues with canned drilling cycles and G12/13 circular pocketing cycles.

10/12/12: Release 0.686

Release 0.686 is a minor bug fix release:

10/11/12: Release 0.682

Release 0.681 is a minor release focused on bug fixes and improvements to the "Insert" buttons on the toolbar. Most important bug fixed was that there were no g-codes showing when you clicked the G-Code or M-Code buttons.

10/9/12: Release 0.681 (Signalled for Feathered Upgrade)

Release 0.681 is a minor feature release prompted by a need to fix an urgent bug for a customer:

10/6/12: Release 0.680 (Signalled for Feathered Upgrade)

Release 0.680 is a major feature release:

%
( SETVN Test )
( *GWE* SETVN 500 [PROBEDIA, HOLEDIA, XPOS, YPOS] )
#500 = 0.010
#501 = 3.000
#502 = 0.0
#503 = 1.0
#600 = #500
#601 = #501
#602 = #502
#603 = #503
M30
%

It's legal for most controls that support #variables at all, because the SETVN is in a comment. Now go to the Tools Revise menu and choose the "GWE Directives" choice. Make sure the "SETVN Do" radio button is selected and press "Apply". The program is now transformed as though your controller supports SETVN:

%
( SETVN Test )
( *GWE* SETVN 500 [PROBEDIA, HOLEDIA, XPOS, YPOS] )
#PROBEDIA = 0.010
#HOLEDIA = 3.000
#XPOS = 0.0
#YPOS = 1.0
#600 = #PROBEDIA
#601 = #HOLEDIA
#602 = #XPOS
#603 = #YPOS
M30
%

You can work on it and debug the macros with variable names that are actually understandable. When you get ready to save, just run the "Undo" form of the same revision and it strips all the SETVN names back out and restores the correct numbers as defined in your *WE* comments.

We'll use this choice to provide a way to store more information in *GWE* comments in the future, but for now, it just has SETVN.

I've marked this feature "Experimental", as it is pretty radical. I'll be looking forward to hearing your feedback on it, but for me, it makes macro programming a lot easier.

* Getting Started: This button takes you to our Getting Started page on the web site (/g-wizard-editor-getting-started/). This page has a list of resources available to help, a video tour of the product, and a written tour as well.

* Support: This button takes you to our Customer Portal where you can search our Knowledge Base, file support tickets to get help, make suggestions for new features, and vote on all the open suggestions so the ones you like move closer to the top of the priorities.

As we go forward, I'll be making more videos and revising the online documentation to be more complete and up to date. GW Editor is finally reaching a point where the UI is stable enough to be worth documenting better as we get closer to shipment.

9/29/12: Release 0.656 (Signalled for Feathered Upgrade)

Release 0.656 is a quick bug fix release with a minor feature:

9/28/12: Release 0.655

Release 0.655 is a minor feature release.  Lots of neat stuff in this release, but my favorite is “instant registration”.  It’s not quite instant, but it beats the heck out of the hours long delays our current registration system has.  I was able to get registered as fast as I could type and confirm the email link.  We need to thoroughly test it, so we started it out on GW Editor.  Assuming all goes well, we’ll add it for GW Calculator when we do our next release there.

Last release we switched on the new 3D graphics library, which made the backplot dramatically faster.  This release includes a number of fixes and tweaks to that new code as well as other areas:

It’s a nice collection of goodies.  More to come, but I wanted to get the faster registration out in people’s hands so we can shake it out and deploy for GW Calc too.

9/21/12: Release 0.650

Release 0.650 is a major release, so I really cranked up the version number from the last release (0.570).

The biggest highlight is the release is now taking advantage of your graphics card, whereas before it was doing all the heavy lifting for the backplotter with the cpu. That means this release is dramatically faster, especially on larger 3D files. You must be runnin g Flash Player 11 or later, and the newer the Flash Player you have, the more graphics cards are supported. Some very old cards may not be supported.

This is a major change to the code base, so be on the look out for new bugs and irregularities. Please let me know if you find anything via email. Just in case, I have moved the last release over to the Prior Release Install Page. If things get too crazy, just fall back to the prior release, but make sure to send me an email so I know what to fix.

There are a number of other useful changes as well:

9/13/12: Release 0.570

Release 0.570 is a feature release:

CNC G-Code mapping tool interface with search bar.

Fixed a number of bugs including:

9/9/12: Release 0.560

Release 0.560 is a feature release:

9/2/12: Release 0.550

Release 0.550 is a feature release:

8/23/12: Release 0.515

Release 0.515 is largely a bug fix release.

There is one minor feature enhancement in that the "Monitor" Revision can now add code both before and after the words you specify. The Monitor Revision searches through code for particular word/address combinations and then adds the string you specify either before or after the word/address pair.

We also mocked up the GWCC (GW Conversational CNC) Turning Wizard for lathes, although it is not yet capable of generating any code.

Bug fixes were in the following areas:

8/19/12: Release 0.511

Release 0.511 is a minor feature release. It consists of finishing up the automatic corner chamfer and corner rounding for lathes. Here is a typical example with both a chamfer and a corner round:

GWizard G-Code Editor software on computer screen with tabs and menus, two programming windows, and toolbar.

There are two new Post variables that can be used to enable or disable chamfer and corner round: Lathe.AllowLatheChamfer and Lathe.AllowLatheCornerRounding.

8/13/12: Release 0.505

Release 0.505 is largely about updating the GW Conversational CNC add-in module. GWCC gets interpolated holes and a new option to do arcs of holes.

8/1/12: Release 0.500

Release 0.500 is a major update. It involves a complete rewrite of the Post functionality that's used to configure the Editor/Simulator to the particular g-code dialect each control uses. There is overall documentation for it on the GWE Setup page, but most of it should be self-documenting due to the way the new UI works. You can find it under Setup on the Posts tab. There are sub-tabs there and the biggest change is for the "Settings" tab. It provides a scrolling list of all the options needed to customize the behavior. For each entry you get the ability to see the current value, edit the value, as well as a brief description of what it does.

In addition to the new UI, we've changed how you go about downloading pre-defined posts. They're accessed from the Machine Profile page:

Screenshot of CNCCookbook.com Imperial/Metric Units page featuring machine settings.

Start by clicking "Download Latest Controllers". This causes GWE to bring down all the latest controllers from your Internet connection to our "Cloud". Once that's done, you can click "Browse" to select the particular controller you'd like to use. We now have a number of new profiles that cover Fanuc and Mach3, Mill and Lathe, for both Inch and Metric. More control profiles will follow.

Lastly, the syntax of these files has been changed to make them simpler to edit and understand. Look for ".pst" files in your Preferences directory. You can find that directory under the Files tab. Just edit the ".pst" file with any text editor. They're much simpler to understand than the old xml file format.

These changes should make it easier for users to customize their post as well as for CNCCookbook to produce canned profiles and keep them up to date.

Given how much of a rewrite has gone on with this release, I'm going to wait a week for it to shake out any new problems before I turn on the update signal.

7/11/12: Release 0.441

Release 0.441 is a minor feature release. It adds:

#3011 & 3012 are current date and current time

Timer vars #3001, #3002

Current position vars (#5041-5044)

5/5/12: Release 0.440

Release 0.440 is a minor feature release. It adds:

4/30/12: Release 0.437

Release 0.437 is a bug fix release. It fixes a crash bug that could very commonly cause GWE to freeze up if you were editing code. There is also code in this really for chamfering on G01 lathe commands, but it is untested and incomplete. Play with it at your own risk!

4/19/12: Release 0.436

Release 0.436 is a minor feature release. It adds the Fanuc lathe style T#'s that combine the tool and offset numbers as described in our G-Code Course chapter on Tool Changes and Tool Offsets.

4/16/12: Release 0.435

Release 0.435 is a performance and bug fix update.

4/13/12: Release 0.431

Release 0.431 is a bug fix and mandatory upgrade release to get everyone up to the same version level.

4/8/12: Release 0.430

Release 0.430 is a bug fix and preparatory release.

Most of the work on 0.430 is not visible and involves preparation to take advantage of native GPU support starting with Flash Player 11. There has also been some minor bug fix work done such as fixing some problems reported with saving some of the Post options.

Given how extensive the behind the scenes restructuring has been, be on the look out for any graphics problems and please report them if you see any.

2/5/12: Release 0.426

Release 0.426 is a minor feature release:

1/30/12: Release 0.425

Release 0.425 is a bug fix release. It fixes bugs in these areas:

1/8/12: Release 0.422

Release 0.422 is a bug fix release:

12/31/11: Release 0.420

Release 0.420 is a minor feature release:

11/20/11: Release 0.412

Release 0.411 is a bug fix release to get G65 working again.

11/19/11: Release 0.411

Release 0.411 is a bug fix release:

11/13/11: Release 0.410

Release 0.410 is a feature release:

Note: This release requires Flash Player 11, which is the latest player. While we don't really use its features yet, we're trying to get everyone on the same page with us before we introduce features that will only work on FP 11.

10/15/11: Release 0.400

Release 0.400 is a major feature release:

Geometric shape with measurement markers in a 3D CAD design.

Machining metrics table screenshot.

Machining settings for work offsets.

9/2/11: Release 0.330

Release 0.330 is a fit and finish release:

8/17/11: Release 0.320

Release 0.320 is all about getting G71 working at long last. It's still only Type 1, but we have both the 1 line and 2 line formats available. Setup is via Post.

Other changes include:

8/11/11: Release 0.310

Release 0.310 is all about getting a customer's program to backplot. I wanted him to be able to try it so he could give me further feedback, otherwise I would probably have added more before releasing it. With that said, 0.310 has some useful things:

Screenshot of CNCCookbook website error message.

8/9/11: Release 0.300

Release 0.300 is another performance enhancement release, and pretty big progress at that. 0.300 is capable of loading and backplotting a large file up to 7x faster than 0.260, hence we've bumped up to the next 0.100. It's the biggest performance increment we've had yet and several breakthroughs are responsible. All told the software is probably 10x faster than it was 2 weeks ago about backplotting and processing the Hints and Error Messages. There's still a lot more performance enhancements to come since we haven't gotten the new Flash Player 11 with hardware graphics card acceleration yet, but even without we're finally getting into the performance neighborhood we should be in, though we're still far from finished with performance.

In addition to the big performance boost, there are a couple of other goodies:

8/6/11: Release 0.260

Release 0.260 is focused on editing commands:

8/3/11: Release 0.251 & 0.252

When lots changes (0.250), we get Bug Fix Releases:

8/2/11: Release 0.250

Release 0.250 is primarily focused on performance and usability. Quite a lot of tuning was done to speed up basic editing (making typing feel less "slushy") as well as to speed up the parsing and backplotting. Some new things you'll notice:

Lots more performance updates yet to come, but this release should help.

7/25/11: Release 0.200

This has been a massive release nearly a month in the making, so I'm going to bump up a full 0.1 number to 0.200.

Here's what we did in 0.200:

6/30/11: Release 0.138

The big news for 0.139 are some macro debugging capabilities partially inspired by the need to help a GWE user. For full details, read the article about debugging infinite loops which details the various new features.

Still a lot of work going on under the covers with G71 and the other lathe cycles. I decided to rewrite them from scratch given what I had learned the first go-round. They'll be a lot more robust and it'll be easier for me to cover all the different crazy options different controls bring.

6/9/11: Release 0.138

0.138 continues the work on the G71 rough turning cycle, which now handles arcs. It's still not finished, but is considerably more useful.

In addition, we've improved the Revisions user interface quite a bit:

5/31/11: Release 0.137

Some good stuff in 0.137:

o You can set it to almost any number of blocks to be executed instead of just 5.

o You can set it to run to the next tool change (M06).

o You can set it to run to the next rapids (G00).

o You can set it to run to the next dwell (G04). Since G04 doesn't affect the behavior most times, use it as a convenient marker you can drop into your code to make it easier to run to that point.

5/24/11: Release 0.135

The big news for 0.135 is keyboard shortcuts plus a new "Simulator" pull down menu. The shortcuts are documented on the menus and on the Keyboard page.

Zoom In/Zoom Out shortcuts (Ctrl++ and Ctrl+-) are not yet working but the rest should be good to go.

I also made a run at fixing a bug where GWE would come up as just a black window and hang. Those of you that encountered that problem, let me know if you are continuing to see it.

5/20/11: Release 0.134

0.134 is a medium duty release-more than minor and less than major. The bulk of the work continues behind the scenes on Lathe Canned Cycles. While I have not disabled the G71 work in progress, it is buggy enough that it isn't useful at the moment so no need to report G71 problems.

Here's what's in the release:

4/5/11: Release 0.133

0.133 has some good usability upgrades:

3/28/11: Release 0.132

0.132 is another substantial release:

o Show or Hide Grid and Simulated Toolholder.

o Show or Hide Trident. Place Trident in lower left corner or at Work Coordinate 0, 0, 0

o Show Endpoints: This option places a marker on the backplot at the beginning and end of each g-code move. Makes it easier to see how the moves are stacked up in various places.

o Show or Hide Rapids and Feedrate Moves

o Set Feedrate line thickness. This can be useful for making things more legible or even to create a thickness equal to your cutter diameter so you can see better what is happening. Warning: The scaling is not quite right yet if you want a precise dimension on the line thickness!

o G-Code file extensions for File Open

o Default File Save extension when no extension is given.

3/21/11: Release 0.131

0.131 is a big release:

Lots more to fill in there.

Phew! Lots going on in this release. Check it out carefully as I'm sure there are some new bugs.

3/15/11: Release 0.130

0.130 focuses on usability:

3/10/11: Release 0.129

Minor release. A couple of bug fixes plus the ability to manage your CNC Controller Profiles (aka "Posts") better. The Controller Browse button not only allows you to download profiles, but also to pick from profiles you have on your local hard disk.

3/7/11: Release 0.128

This is a very big release:

3/3/11: Release 0.127

2/28/11: Release 0.126

2/27/11: Release 0.125

2/24/11: Release 0.124

0.124 has the first installment of #parameters and [expressions]. Consider it to be alpha quality in those areas. We don't yet have all of the expression functions, for example non of the logicals are there (AND, OR, etc.). There are no control structures like IF. What is working is assignment to variables and the ability to use variables and expressions to derive a value for words. Not all words covered yet, but the biggies from the sample code I had on hand.

The simulator state information (below the backplot when the simulator is running) now displays the values of the last 10 or so #variables that were touched. In addition, the hint as to what the variable is will be displayed in parenthesis. These hints may be found on Setup Post Variables in the "Description" column.

I'm looking for folks to try it on their sample code and forward problems to me via email. Please attach your sample code.

Let me know how this release is doing for you if you practice parameterized programming in g-code.

2/21/11: Release 0.123

This is mostly a bug fix and "keeping current with G-Wizard Calculator" release:

2/10/11: Release 0.122

Big news is the ability to download predefined CNC Controller (e.g. "Post" parameters) from the CNCCookbook servers. Hopefully this will simplify startup for new users.

o Immediate: Notify immediately of any new release availability.

o Feathered: You will be notified from 1 to 7 days after a new release is available. This has been the default. It gives time for any obvious bugs to be discovered before everyone upgrades. Disabled for now in GWE because it is changing so rapidly. Therefore Immediate and Feathered both inform as soon as a release is available. When GWE is further along, I will enable the Feathered option to slow down the pace of updating.

o Severe: Only mandatory upgrades are flagged. You'll miss a lot of upgrades this way as I don't mark very many as mandatory.

1/28/11: Release 0.121

0.121 was focused on usability problems and bugs:

1/17/11: Release 0.120

0.120 is a bug fix release for the most part with no new features. It does, however, clean up a lot of problems with the debugger and scrolling behavior.

1/2/11: Release 0.119

1/2/11: Release 0.118

This release has quite a bit of new functionality:

G17/G18/G19 are now implemented for arcs and canned cycles.

There is now a startup g-code line under Setup Post. You can give it a line of g-code to set the initial state of your controller. For example, most lathes default to "G18", so you could put a G18 into that line. See the Setup page to see what the initial state looks like before executing the startup g-code.

A number of bug fixes and small usability tweaks. Probably the biggest one is you can change the playback speed when simulating again-it had been stuck at 100%.

12/23/10: Release 0.117

First version with some lathe views. The view types are automatically switched when you change machine profiles under "Setup". They're very likely pretty buggy, but at least we now have Z on the horizontal axis so they look right.

12/2/10: Release 0.116

Fun addition: 3D rendering of toolholder and tool. A customer complained it was hard to tell what was going on in the simulation because they couldn't see where the tool was. So, I got to thinking and added a 3D rendering of the toolholder and tool. What a difference-so much nicer to work with! The holder is only shown during simulation (debugger mode). It is not shown in the Top View, because it hides the action directly underneath.

Because its so much nicer, I made the Perspective View the default leftmost view.

Fixed a lot of funny business that happens if you switch Views (Perspective, Top, etc.) in the middle of the simulation. It's still not right, but it's better.

GWE now scales itself for lower resolution screens. I tried it and found it usable (though not pretty) down to 800×600.

Added support for 4th axis in 1 position. LOL, you can set A0, but that's about it so far. Still, I had to put a bunch of framework in place that will eventually lead to full 4th axis support.

Fixed a bug that was hanging the parser on some files.

Fixed a whole raft of bugs in how canned cycles were being simulated. Thanks to Mike for working through this one with me!

11/28/10: Release 0.115

Added machine label to Setup Variables and Setup G/M-Codes tabs.

Fixed a bug that caused machine profile to be uninitialized when it first comes up on the Setup tab.

G09 Fanuc one shot exact stop

G64 P tolerance parameter

G04 w/ no args is an exact stop for Fanuc

G10 for fixture (work) offsets

G-Code Support: Check Tool Loaded

G-Code Support: Check Feed Defined

G-Code Support: Check Spindle Off

Dwell Address setting options on post.

Post options on arcs: I, j, k relative to current position or absolute for circle center.

Parse and process extended work offsets: G54.1 + P, G54 + P

Modal IJK option for absolute IJK posts.

Fixed a number of errors in how canned cycles were being processed.

Made the hint area under the backplot format exactly the same as Hints View. You now can see errors there, for example.

There's quite a lot more behind the scenes in prep for future releases, but I wanted to get those fixes out as they help several customer's g-code files.

11/20/10: Release 0.114

11/13/10: Release 0.113

11/6/10: Release 0.112

11/2/10: Release 0.110

- Serial #: Provides a spot to enter an arbitrary serial # associated with the tool. This is useful if your tool management system or process uses serial numbers.

- X Comp: Compensation measurement for cutter comp on CNC machines.

- Z Comp: Compensation measurement for tool length on CNC machines.

These three fields are all part of some upcoming Tool Data Management features. Basically, they contain the info you'd track if you're using a Tool Presetter. Stay tuned for more on this area as it develops!

10/31/10: Release 0.109

10/23/10: Release 0.108

10/19/10: Release 0.107

Some of the NumPost settings were a little too restrictive, especially for Mach3 programs. I tweaked them so fewer errors show. You may want to reset to defaults from that page to pick up these tweaks as otherwise you won't see them.

Overall, this version feels a lot smoother to me when I run the simulator. I still have a fair number of tester-reported bugs I'm working on. Next release, hopefully!

10/18/10: Release 0.106

Tools Tab:

Bug Fixes and Other Changes:

Been getting a lot of feedback as we have now tripled the number of testers. I'll be doing pretty frequent releases, so I have disabled the release feathering. What that means is everyone sees the "New Version" notice at once so you know when one is available.

10/15/10: Release 0.105

10/13/10: Release 0.104

10/11/10: Release 0.103

10/10/10: Release 0.102

10/9/10: Release 0.101

Be the first to know about updates at CNC Cookbook

Join our newsletter to get updates on what's next at CNC Cookbook.