Version 3 Developing, Version 2 Running No Go

[rustnrot]

I am developing my shopbot files on a WinXP machine and using shopbot Ver. 3 to run the simulations. At first, when the programs were short and had very little remarks lines or variables assigned, the shopbot files transferred over the to the computer running the PR shopbot (in DOS) fine and ran well. Now that I have added remarks and assigned variables I get all sorts of errors on the computer that is running version 2.38 in DOS on the PR machine, yet the simulation on the WinXP computer works fine. Is there a "downward compatibility" problem, and if so, is there a fix?

[bill.young]

Hey Thomas,

I don't know of any "downward compatibility" issues between the 2 versions. What sort of errors are you getting?

How about emailing one of the files that's generating errors to me and I'll see if I can figure out what's causing the problem.

Bill

[rustnrot]

Here is the offending line:

VB .1,4,.5,.3,1, 'tabs .1 high, 4" between them, .5' long with .3" ramps

Bill Young looked at the file, ran it on a DOS machine at ShopBot. This is what he said:

"I'll add this to the DOS software bug list but there are 2 easy fixes
for your files. The first is to remove the last comma in that VB
command...it's not needed...and leave the comment where it is. The second
is to move the comment to the line above and below it. Either one seems
to fix the problem."

I simply removed the comma before the remark. It fixed the problem and now runs fine on my PR machine, rev 2.38.

[bill.young]

In general I don't recommend ending a ShopBot command with a comma because the software looks for additional information or instructions that aren't there. It might work just fine, but there's also a chance that it could do something un-expected.

Bill

[paco]

Bill-
Is this true for the Windows version too? Alpha Windows?

[bill.young]

Hey Paco,

It's for part files in general, not specifically for any particular version of the ShopBot software.

Ending a command with a comma can also cause problems with external programs that read part files, or when you are manipulating them in spreadsheets. The comma is generally used as the seperator when reading sbp files and you need to somehow handle the missing info after the last comma...it's an easy thing to miss.

Bill

[paco]

Ok then; I'll avod doing this from now on... maybe that why I got some difficulty with some programming... I thought there were important to included. So if I want to input only a new X & Y move speed, I just input MS,# right? MS,#, , , ...would probably cause error?
Thanks for the tip!

[bill.young]

Hey Paco,

Remember that this is just my opinion and experience. You might never have a problem adding the extra comma...I just see the potential for problems. There may be some commands that actually need a comma at the end of the parameters, though I haven't come across any yet.

Bill

[mikejohn]

Paco
As I understand my version of the operations manual, if a command has a number of parameters, and you dont have to use a particular parameter, you do still have to use the comma seperator.
......Mike

[beacon14]

You need the comma separators if you are inserting a parameter farther down the line, but if you only are specifying the first one or two parameters in a command that has more, you don't need to follow your last specified parameter with anything. The software will use the default value for any parameters not specified, including ones with no comma separators after the last parameter you specify

[bill.young]

Hey Mike,

Sorry..I didn't mean to confuse things. You definitely need to use the commas as a placeholder in the middle of a command if you want to skip a parameter, like this example from the Z-zero routine that sets the move and jog speeds for the Z-axis...

VS, , .25,,,, .65

It tells the software to use the current value for the X/Y move speed...the first 2 commas with no data between them... then sets the Z-axis move speed to .25. It then uses commas to skip the next 3 parameters (the A and B move speeds and the X/Y jog speed) and use their current values, and then sets the Z jog speed to .65

I'm just suggesting that you don't add a comma after you're finished with the parameters that you need to set, like the example above, even though there are actually 2 more parameters for the A and B jog speeds in the VS command.

Hope I'm not just confusing things,
Bill

[mikejohn]

David and Bill
What I like about the forum is the speed that questions are clarified.
I assume if you put in the (un)necessary number of commas after your final parameter, the command would still work OK, but they are, of course, not needed.
.....Mike