Post Processing dialog box
Use the Post processing dialog box to tell Mastercam how to handle the files that result from posting toolpath operations.
You can also access this dialog box from the Files tab of the Control Definition Manager. If you do, Mastercam saves your selections with the control definition. These selections become the defaults for operations posted while that control definition is active.
Parameters
Active post
Displays the name of the post processor. Mastercam reads this information from the machine definition for the active machine group.
Select post
Click to select a post processor. This button will only be active if there is not a valid post specified with the machine definition.
Posts selected from here have not been configured to work with the active control definition, and might not produce the desired output.
Output part file descriptor
Includes the Mastercam file descriptor as a comment in the NC program. Choose Properties to edit or create the file descriptor.
NC file
Select to save the NC file. The file name and extension are stored in the machine group properties for the selected operation. If you are posting operations from different machine groups or Mastercam files, or batch processing, Mastercam will create several files according to the settings for each machine group.
NCI file
Select to save a text version of the NCI file. You can use this file as a reference when debugging your post.
Overwrite
Automatically overwrites a file with the same name without asking permission.
Ask
Asks permission and prompts for a file name before overwriting a file.
Send to machine
Automatically transmits the NC program to your machine tool control through your workstation's serial (RS-232) port.
Edit
When checked, automatically launches the default text editor with the file displayed so that you can review or modify it. If multiple files are created, each will open in a separate window.
NC extension
Enter an extension to be used for the NC files. This can also be set in the Files page of the Control Definition Manager.
Communications
Opens the Communications dialog box so that you can set or edit the serial communication parameters.
Output Tplanes relative to WCS
This option is only available when you access this dialog box from the Files tab of the Control Definition Manager.
When Mastercam creates the NCI code for an operation, it specifies the Tplane in terms of a coordinate matrix. By default this option is enabled to have these coordinates expressed relative to the WCS; deselect the option to have the coordinates output as absolute coordinates, relative to the system origin.
The Tplane and WCS coordinates are the ones that are displayed when you select Planes on the Toolpath Parameters dialog box for the operation being posted. They are not necessarily the planes that are displayed in the graphics window.
For most applications, this option should be selected. The most common exception would be for drilling operations created with the solid drilling function, where the holes lie on different faces of the part and you want to ensure that a rotary motion code is output between the holes on each face. In that case, you should deselect this option.
Use Control definition settings
This option displays when you have selected multiple operations from different machine groups. Select it to disable all the other options on this dialog box and use the default settings stored in the control definition for each machine group. Since the settings in the Post processing dialog box will override the control definition defaults, this option is useful when the default values in the control definition are different for each machine group and you want to preserve those differences.
Post debugger
Starts the MP Post debugger. This button is available only when you have Enable post debugger selected in the System Configuration dialog box on the Post Dialog Defaults page.
