Entering values into Panels

SmartCAM provides several ways to enter coordinate, length, angle, and distance values into input fields as you create or edit geometry in a model.

Direct Entry

If you know the exact values for the entries, select the field in the panel and type the entries from the keyboard.

Try It

Create a line that starts at position 1,1,-1 and extends to 2,2,0.

  1. Open Create - Geometry - Line from the main menu.
  2. For the Start Point, type in X: 1, Y: 1, Z: -1.
  3. For the End Point, type in X: 2, Y: 2, Z: 0.

You can press Tab or Enter to move between input fields on a SmartCAM control panel. Keep in mind they are doing different things. Pressing Tab moves to the next field on the control panel. It will not, however, trigger a solution.

Pressing Enter will also move to the next field on the control panel. The difference is that Enter will solve the geometry as soon as it gets enough information to complete solution.

In the "Try-It" example, pressing Enter will solve the line as soon as you enter the End Point Y axis position. It uses the Start Point Z value as the End Point Z value, since this is normally what is wanted. In this case, that is not correct. For this exercise use the Tab button to move between fields until after you have entered the End Point Z axis value. Then press Enter to trigger a solution and create the geometry.

If you use Enter and it solves too soon, simply use Undo, to remove the just created geometry, click in the field you need to change, enter the value, then press Enter.

By Name

You can give elements an eight character name. Once named, you can access the element by its name. When used in an input field, an element name will result in the element number after being evaluated.

Try It

Create an element and name it. Then access the element by its name.

  1. Create a line element with any start and end position.
  2. Use Edit - Name Elmts to open the Name Elements dialog.
    • Element: 1 or click in the list view to pick the line you just created.
    • Name: TESTLINE
  3. Use Edit - Geo Edit - Delete to open the Delete panel.
  4. Element to Delete: TESTLINE, type in the element name and press Enter. The element will be deleted.

Cut, Copy, and Paste

Most SmartCAM input fields accept Windows Cut, Copy, and Paste commands. Using this you can copy the input values from another input field or from another source and paste them into the SmartCAM inputs.

The functionality works the same as other Windows applications:

It is possible to modify your application INI file to override this behavior and replace the normal Windows cut, copy, and paste functionality with other functionality. This can be confusing, so it is not a recommended practice. See the Automation/Customization - Customizing SmartCAM - User Menu, Toolbars, and Hotkeys topics for more information on configuring your hotkeys.

Select from graphics view

You can enter values by selecting in the graphic display, using Free Coordinates mode to select points in the graphics view or Point Snap mode to use the values of points on existing geometry. To learn about Free Coordinates and Point Snap, see About Point Snap and Free Coordinates Modes.

Triggering Results

Entries into some input fields in may provide enough information for SmartCAM to solve for the remaining fields. When an asterisk appears before the field name, enter the values for that field to trigger results in the remaining fields.

You have some control over the hint that SmartCAM provides to show that the current field will trigger a solution. Using Utility - Options - Presentation Options, modify the Solution Trigger Option property. This lets you select between the traditional asterisk or drawing a box around the label and related input fields. Or you can select both. You can modify the color used by the Solution Trigger box from Utility - Options. Under the Color Options section, look at Solution Trigger Color.

To trigger the result and complete the operation or create the geometry, you need to press the Enter key after entering information in the field that is prefaced with the asterisk. Pressing Tab will move to the next field, but will not solve the geometry solution.

See the "Try It" exercise for Direct Entry (above) for an example of this.

Additionally, SmartCAM will use the middle-mouse button as an Enter key. Pressing the middle-mouse button will accept your field input, move to the next field, and trigger a geometry solution.

Expressions

Most input fields will also accept evaluator expressions typed into the field. An evaluator expression is a mathematical formula; for example "1+1". If you entered this expression into an X Coordinate input, the evaluator would solve it and display 2 in the input field.

The evaluator supports a number of built-in mathematical functions. Additionally, you can pull information from your JOS data. For example, to create a step-over of one-half the tool diameter, you would enter: "JOS(tl_dia)/2".

Calculator

SmartCAM includes a built-in calculator, accessible from Utility - Calculator. You can use the calculator to test out your expressions before using them to create geometry. Anything that you can enter in a SmartCAM input field can be entered in the calculator.

When you Accept the results in the Calculator, the formula is passed directly into the active SmartCAM input field.

If you have a SmartCAM input field open, when you start the Calculator, any value or formula in the input field is passed to the Calculator.