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GTWorks™ Enhancements in year 2000

  1. The string function (menu 12.4) will now redisplay the elements defined so far when a repaint is selected during the string construction (release 14.1.0 324) - January 24, 2000
  2. A new line function, Break Line (menu 10.16), has been added.  This function allows the user to define a geometry break line by specifying the number of equal segments in the break line or by specifying the break positions using the crosshairs (release 14.1.0 324) - January 24, 2000
  3. A new line function, Delta (menu 10.17), has been added.  The user starts off this function by defining the starting location by crosshair position, entering coordinates, or choosing a point.  Next the user is prompted to enter the delta coordinates for the next line segment.  All segments become separate lines.  The benefit of this function is to combine several functions into one sequence for the user to step around a part, in 2-D or 3-D, defining the geometry (release 14.1.0 324) - January 24, 2000
  4. When editing the buttons.ib file (typically in the c:\gtworks\data directory), you can use ?X to represent the ESC character in field 7.  This enables you to code the chosen button to implement the ESC W sequence before and after the series of specified keystrokes (release 14.1.0 329) - February 16, 2000
  5. A correction has been implemented for infrequent fatal errors when rotating 3D models obtained from IGES files (release 14.1.0 329) - February 16, 2000
  6. A new system modal (item 78 in file c:\gtworks\data\system.mf) has been added to control the GTWorks software's decision on a line type table to use for older GTWorks parts and drawings (before May 15th, 1999) and Series 7000 drawings.   By default, GTWorks sets a default line type table for older parts that matches the default ltypes.mf file that ships with GTWorks.  As an option, the user may change the default values in the ltypes.mf file, set the new modal item number 78 to 1 in the system.mf file, and then GTWorks will use the ltypes.mf file to define the internal table for older files (release 14.1.0 329) - February 16, 2000
  7. A correction has been added for a fatal error that occurs when the user outputs an N/C CL file that contains very, very large toolpaths (thousands of coordinates) (release 14.1.0 329) - January 24, 2000
  8. A correction has been added for creating DXF files.  Circles which have starting and ending angles other than 0 to 360 degrees (e.g. 90 to 450) will be output as circles and not arcs.  DXF arcs with included angles of 360 degrees do not display in AutoCAD (release 14.1.0 330) - February 18, 2000
  9. Another option has been to the PDF output format choice, "Size Of Your Selection".  When you choose this new option, the Plot Position Prompt and Scale Prompt are skipped.  GTWorks creates a page size to match your Model Boundary Selection and sets the scale automatically to one (release 14.1.0 332) - February 20, 2000
  10. A new AI function (aiarbsc_tp) has been added to define a NURBS curve that passes through a given set of coordinates (release 14.1.0 334) - February 28, 2000
  11. An infrequent problem with retrieving parts (drawings) which contain zero angle arcs has been corrected (release 14.1.0 335) - February 29, 2000
  12. The GTWorks viewer (file GTWviewer.exe) now includes a swfile entry for the quick_plot.mf modal file for pre-defining pen widths for output.  Label Modals is now the first choice under the new Viewer Modals menu.  Change Work System (also CNTL W) is the second choice under Viewer Modals - February 29, 2000
  13. AI routines AIASP and AIASP2 for creating splines can now handle up to 2000 points for either 2-D or 3-D data (release 14.1.0 337) - March 1, 2000
  14. An infrequent problem with inserting more than one pattern in a single GTWorks session has been corrected.  The problem occurred with line types that forced a second pattern file to be read but displayed with an undefined line font (release 14.1.0 337) - March 1, 2000
  15. The plotting function will now properly handle the four different combinations of a drawing being in English or Metric units and the modals in file quick_plot.mf being in English or Metric units (release 14.1.0 340) - March 6, 2000
  16. The calculation for the default unit normals for Curve Driven surfaces has been improved to minimize user manipulation of the normals before using the OpenGL viewer (release 14.1.0 340) - March 6, 2000
  17. The maximum number of points for 2D splines (menu 12.1) and 3D splines (menu 15.1.1) has been increased to 2000 (release 14.1.0 340) - March 6, 2000
  18. The GTWorks viewer (file GTWviewer.exe) has two new modals, Work System Vector Display and Change Work View.  These modals make the data verify function work more conveniently with various user defined work coordinate systems - March 7, 2000
  19. A problem with trimming two intersecting circles using the ESC T trim command has been corrected.  This error was introduced on December 3, 1999 with version 14.1.0 304 that corrected a different trimming error with arcs (release 14.1.0 341) - March 13, 2000
  20. Dynamic display of 5-axis toolpaths when using the NC Display and Edit menu (17.3) is now supported (release 14.1.0 341) - March 13, 2000
  21. Multi-view dynamic display of toolpaths when using the NC Display and Edit menu (17.3) is now supported (release 14.1.0 341) - March 13, 2000
  22. Dynamic display of toolpaths is now close to the actual real time required to machine the part.  If you set the dynamic display multiplier to 1 (defaults to 5), the tool motions approach the actual machine time required to make each cut.  Rapid motions are still accelerated and not controlled by the user (release 14.1.0 341) - March 13, 2000
  23. The Display Toolpath sub-menu under the NC Display and Edit menu (17.3) now includes two additional choices, Display Speed Multiplier and Motion Delay.  These new options allow changing the delay at the end of each motion and the rate of toolpath motion so that the user does not need to leave the Toolpath Editor and enter the NC Modals menu (17.1.12.4) to make these adjustments (release 14.1.0 341) - March 13, 2000
  24. When the user leaves the NC Toolpath Editor, the temporary toolpath is now erased before the old or newly modified toolpath is displayed.  Before this change the temporary and final toolpaths were displayed together and a repaint was necessary to remove the temporary toolpath display (release 14.1.0 341) - March 13, 2000
  25. A printing/plotting problem with the most recent viewer update has been corrected (file GTWviewer.exe) - March 16, 2000
  26. Batch IGES processing for GTWorks-Professional has been added as menus 7.4.3 and 7.4.4.  All .gx or .igs files in the selected target directory will be processed depending on whether the user elects to input or output IGES formatted files.  In addition, the primary and secondary messages displayed at the top of the display during the conversion process have been improved (release 14.1.0 343) - March 17, 2000
  27. Batch DXF processing for GTWorks-Professional has been added as menus 7.5.3 and 7.5.4.  All .gx or .dxf files in the selected target directory will be processed depending on whether the user elects to input or output DXF formatted files.  In addition, the primary and secondary messages displayed at the top of the display during the conversion process have been improved (release 14.1.0 343) - March 17, 2000
  28. Saving NC modals when running GTWorks with the "-w" option (Windows style of open and saving files) when an NC toolpath macro has been specified now works correctly (release 14.1.0 344) - March 22, 2000
  29. When the NC function inserts a toolpath macro, the first line with an error is now displayed correctly to assist the user in determining the error in the macro file instead of GTWorks aborting (release 14.1.0 344) - March 22, 2000
  30. A fatal error in NC milling (profiling a contour with curves) when both the INTOL and OUTOL tolerances are set to zero has been corrected.  No toolpath is generated but GTWorks no longer aborts (release 14.1.0 344) - March 22, 2000
  31. The user is no longer able to set the finish or rough INTOL and OUTOL tolerance pairs to zero in the NC modals (menu 17.1.1) (release 14.1.0 344) - March 22, 2000
  32. A fatal error that occurs when attempting to create DXF files of GTWorks part or drawing files that contain general notes consisting of all blanks has been corrected (release 14.1.0 345) - April 5, 2000
  33. Dynamic display of NC toolpaths in multiple views will now approximate the actual real time required to machine the part.  Also, dynamic display of lathe toolpaths works at the correct speed (previously the display was approximately 1000 times too slow) (release 14.1.0 345) - April 5, 2000
  34. When selecting NC toolpaths for the Display and Edit function (17.3) or output (menu 17.4), the user is now prompted to confirm whether the selected toolpath is the correct one.  If not, the user can answer "N" and proceed to select another toolpath.  The previously selected toolpath remains highlighted so the system will not select it again.  This improvement assists the user in selecting the toolpaths in the correct order for output and selecting the desired toolpath for editing when the NC toolpaths are close together (release 14.1.0 345) - April 5, 2000
  35. The process of generating rough profile toolpaths under NC milling when multiple side and depth passes are required has been changed.  The new procedure is to generate all the side cuts at the first depth cut before proceeding to the next depth cut.   Previously all depth cuts were generated before proceeding to the next side cut (release 14.1.0 345) - April 5, 2000
  36. The GTWorks viewer (file GTWviewer.exe) has been updated to again properly read the viewer.mf modals file which sets the defaults for viewer redlining - April 7, 2000
  37. Compaq (DEC) Visual Fortran is now supported for the third party AI programming interface.  The default project files are located in directory tpftn2 - April 7, 2000
  38. The GTWorks viewer (file GTWviewer.exe) has been updated to assign the correct values for viewer redlining when the viewer is started by double clicking on a GTWorks part or drawing file - April 12, 2000
  39. The rough cut profile sequence under NC milling has been refined from the changes described above under item 35.  For depth, depth/clear and ramp entry modes, the machining tool will reenter the part at each depth cut in the same manner as when the tool first entered the part (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  40. Five menus where the prompt was OFF/ON have been changed to ON/OFF for consistency throughout the program.  The menu numbers are 1.10.1, 1.10.3, 1.13, 8.1.10 and 8.7.1.1.5 (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  41. The entity name limit has been increased from 16 to 32 characters (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  42. When the program prompts to confirm whether a single entity selection is the desired one, the selected entity's name (if defined) is now displayed in the upper right of the GTWorks window (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  43. Data verification of surfaces is now supported (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  44. The processing of the REJECT function key ([ or middle mouse button) and the OPERATION COMPLETE function key (] or right mouse button) is now more consistent with the rest of the program for menus 15.1.1 through 15.1.6 (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  45. Rubberbanding is now supported when defining a vector (menu 15.1.6), similar to the line menu (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  46. An infrequent crash when trimming a line to 2 arcs (ESC T trimming method) where one arc intersected the line in two places and the other arc did not intersect the line at all has been corrected (release 14.1.0 356) - April 28, 2000
  47. An error inserting patterns with named entities (now that the entity name length has been increased to 32 characters) has been corrected (release 14.1.0 361) - May 18, 2000
  48. A new modal has been added, Region Select Boundary (menu 1.10.8), for use when selecting entities by rectangular region.  The default for the new modal is ON and the behavior is that all entities either inside or outside the region as indicated are selected (including entities that cross the region selection box lines).  This is the behavior of GTWorks from before this enhancement.  If the user turns this modal OFF, then entities which cross the region selection boundaries will not be selected (release 14.1.0 361) - May 18, 2000
  49. A new Point menu option, Text Origin, has been added (menu 9.16).  Any text based entity may be selected and a point will be defined at its origin (release 14.1.0 361) - May 18, 2000
  50. A new Point menu option, Between Two Points, has been added (menu 9.17) (release 14.1.0 361) - May 18, 2000
  51. A new modal, Coordinate Entry Mode, has been added (menu 1.1, replacing the menu on/off option) that allows the user to switch between Cartesian coordinates and polar coordinates for entering point locations.  This support has been added to the Point menu (9.0) and the N/C menu (17.0).  Future releases will include support for the rest of the menus (release 14.1.0 362) - May 19, 2000
  52. An infrequent program abort when trimming a line between a point as the first boundary and a curve as the second boundary, using the ESC T trimming function, has been corrected (release 14.1.0 367) - May 25, 2000
  53. An infrequent program abort when creating a fillet with the manual trim mode selected, the first curve is not trimmed and the second curve is trimmed, has been corrected (release 14.1.0 367) - May 25, 2000
  54. The on-line help has been updated for menus 1.12 and 9.0 and the interface and system modals sections (release 14.1.0 367) - May 25, 2000
  55. The AI programming routine aiclf has been changed.  The temporary binary file containing the Cutter Location data (*.nc extension) is now deleted.  The output files selectable are Auto-trol GPost (*.asc extension), ICAM (*.apt extension) and IntelliPost (*.asc extension).  See the updated on-line help for the change to argument eight to handle this new vendor option (release 14.1.0 368) - May 29, 2000
  56. The frequent error in determining the correct side of offset surfaces when reading IGES files has been corrected (release 14.1.0 368) - May 29, 2000
  57. Two new options are now offered when indicating the Depth entry or retract position for generating NC 3-axis milling toolpaths.  The first new option is delta from the current position.  The second new option is a polar delta from the current position (release 14.1.0 368) - May 29, 2000
  58. The frequent error in determining the correct side of offset surfaces when reading IGES files has been corrected (release 14.1.0 368) - May 31, 2000
  59. The returned data from AI routines aigtp1 and aigtp3 has been changed for circular motions.  After the 10th value in the real array returned, the linear motions necessary to display the circular motion are now returned.  The integer value returned contains the number of coordinate pairs of the linear motions (release 14.1.0 368) - May 31, 2000
  60. A polar delta choice has been added to the insert point option of the N/C Display and Edit (menu 17.3) function (release 14.1.0 370) - June 12, 2000
  61. The prompt that appears for confirming deletion of member entities of groups, composite curves or composite surfaces has been expanded to include the answers YES TO ALL and NO TO ALL.  This will minimize the number of times this message appears when deleting large blocks of data (release 14.1.0 370) - June 12, 2000
  62. A fatal program error when a Windows driver is loaded for the HP DesignJet 430 plotter has been corrected (release 14.1.0 370) - June 12, 2000
  63. A correction has been made to the AI functions aigtp3 and aigtp1.  The starting angle on clockwise arc data is now returned greater than the ending angle, which is the same as displayed under the NC Display and Edit function (release 14.1.0 371) - June 13, 2000
  64. Entity names stored with up to 16 characters in previous releases of GTWorks are now converted to 32 characters names upon drawing retrieval (release 14.1.0 371) - June 13, 2000
  65. An infrequent message when inserting patterns that claimed duplicate entity names has been eliminated.  This problem was caused by orphaned entity names in the database and these are now cleaned up upon drawing retrieval (release 14.1.0 374) - June 26, 2000
  66. The entry and retract motions when generating contour pockets under rough NC milling operations (menu 17.2.1.3.4) with multiple depth cuts have been improved (release 14.1.0 374) - June 26, 2000
  67. Support has been added for inputting solid fill sections from IGES files (IGES entity type 230, form 19) and storing them as closely spaced iron crosshatching patterns (release 14.1.0 374) - June 26, 2000
  68. The number of decimal places used for the coordinate readout that is displayed when tracking the crosshairs is now controlled by the system decimal places (menu 1.4) (release 14.1.0 374) - June 26, 2000
  69. Batch PDF output is now supported for Professional copies of GTWorks (release 14.1.0 377) - July 11, 2000
  70. An error when creating PDF files of drawings and parts with entities assigned a color number above  100 has been corrected (release 14.1.0 377) - July 11, 2000
  71. Naming of entities using the CTRL V function key again works using the older style of menu prompt  (release 14.1.0 379) - July 24, 2000
  72. Entering a Work Coordinate System name again works (release 14.1.0 380) - August 21, 2000
  73. When an N/C toolpath entity has been given a name, using the Display & Edit function will maintain that name assignment (release 14.1.0 380) - August 21, 2000
  74. An error with DXF output where some circles and arcs were not located properly has been corrected (release 14.1.0 385) - October 5, 2000
  75. Centerline entities are now supported under DXF output (release 14.1.0 385) - October 5, 2000
  76. An error with outputting the remaining GOTO points in a toolpath after the last non-motion command (menu 17.4) which was introduced in release 14.1.0 329 has been corrected  (release 14.1.0 386) - October 10, 2000
  77. A new modal has been added, XHair Position Decimal Places (menu 1.16.1.14), for controlling the xyz coordinate display when moving the crosshairs for entity definitions, indicating positions or selecting entities.  Previous the display was controlled by the system decimal places.  The default for the new modal is 4 decimal places.  The range is 0-6.  This modal default is controlled by item number 38 in the interface.mf file (release 14.1.0 388) - October 13, 2000
  78. A new modal has been added, Level And Color Assignment Mode, (menus 13.7 and 13.8) for controlling the "copies menu" that displays after the user selects the entities to be duplicated.  If you press "[" to REJECT from this menu, then the options display.  The default menu displayed is now controlled by item number 39 in the interface.mf file, 0 being the previous default of "base plus increment" and 1 being the option of "delta from parents" (release 14.1.0 388) - October 13, 2000
  79. An infrequent error with lace pockets under the N/C milling menu (17.2.3) has been corrected.  The problem was sometimes the program would "hang" for boundaries whose entities were not chained endpoint to endpoint.  The problem was the first selected entity was not defined in the "direction" of the boundary order of entities, and the first entity was not chained with the second entity (release 14.1.0 388-NC 50) - October 13, 2000
  80. A problem with section analysis (menu 18.3), where the system states that the region is not closed, has been corrected.  This message typically occurred if at least one of the starting and ending entities for the region was not a line or arc/circle (release 14.1.0 389) - October 18, 2000
  81. The delete option, All Of A Level Range, (menu 3.9) will no longer process entities which are not currently displayed on the screen (release 14.1.0 390) - October 21, 2000
  82. The Screen Select Mode menu option for selecting entities, Range Of Displayed Levels, has been renamed Range Of Levels  (release 14.1.0 390) - October 21, 2000
  83. The Screen Select Mode menu options, Range Of Levels, All Of A Color Range and All Of A Curve Font will no longer process entities which are not currently displayed on the screen (e.g. groups)  (release 14.1.0 390) - October 21, 2000
  84. For DXF output (Menu 7.5), horizontal, vertical, parallel, pt-to-pt and angular dimensions are now output as DXF dimensions and not stroked out.  This required the change in DXF format used from Release 9.0 of ACAD to Release 14 (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  85. For DXF output, all standard and user definable line types are now supported (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  86. For DXF output, the English/Metric flag is now set properly in the header (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  87. For DXF output, long splines are now output correctly (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  88. For DXF output, the radius of outputted balloons is now properly adjusted by the drafting scale factor (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  89. For DXF output, arrows for parallel dimensions are now located properly (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  90. For DXF output, the correct font type for dimensions is used (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  91. For DXF output, a percent complete message for the blocks section is displayed at the top left of your screen because the time required to build this section has significantly increased (offset to some degree by less time required to build the entities section) (release 14.1.0 392) - November 11, 2000
  92. For DXF output, radius dimensions are now output as DXF dimensions and not stroked out  (release 14.1.0 394) - November 20, 2000
  93. For DXF output, labels are now output as text and DXF leader entities for better post editing of the labels by ACAD or other CAD applications (release 14.1.0 394) - November 20, 2000
  94. GTWorks again works with dongles (parallel port key - if you have one) on Windows NT using Service Pack 6 (release 14.1.0 394) - November 20, 2000
  95. The AI aimcut routine (Curve Cut) now properly handles two entities, one a line and the other a spline) where the spline is almost parallel to the line and the location of the entities is far from the coordinate system origin (release 14.1.0 397) - December 7, 2000
  96. The Undo/Redo function now supports drafting regeneration of entities (menu 16.17) (release 14.1.0 397) - December 7, 2000
  97. The file dialog box for choosing a file name for NC APT source output now properly defaults to the .sa extension.  Also the final message containing the full pathname of the output file now is correct (release 14.1.0 397) - December 7, 2000
  98. A new AI routine has been released (aishowcursor) that allows the AI program(s) to turn the cursor on/off as needed.  See the updated AI help file included with the latest gtw.exe file update for the proper syntax (release 14.1.0 397) - December 7, 2000
  99. Several improvements have been made to IGES out.  Offset 2nd derivative 2D splines are supported.  Warning messages have been removed for toolpath and tool numbers because IGES does not support these.  Warning messages have been removed for user defined curves and user defines surfaces because the standard GTWorks software cannot process these entities without the user's source code implemented.  Ruled surfaces which depend on user defined curves are now omitted.  Offset surfaces which depend on user defined surfaces are now omitted  (release 14.1.0 401) - December 11, 2000
  100. The up and down arrows may now be used when entering in multiple lines of data (e.g. key-in points, key-in lines, key arcs, etc.) (release 14.1.0 404) - December 13, 2000
  101. The drafting key-in text modal (menu 16.1.3.1) is now restored to its previous setting after reading in an IGES file (release 14.1.0 404) - December 13, 2000
  102. A problem reading in a DXF file immediately after writing the DXF file when not using the Windows file dialogs to indicate the file name (no "-w" option) has been corrected (release 14.1.0 404) - December 13, 2000
  103. All allowable characters in Windows (including ISO characters up through ASCII 255) may now be used for entering file names when using GTWorks without the "-w" file dialog option (release 14.1.0 404) - December 13, 2000
  104. The global rescale modal will now change with calls to the EAGLE macro routine   smodal_rescale (release 14.1.0 406) - December 20, 2000
 
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