RhinoCam with library

John Loftus · Post by **John Loftus** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 12:42 pm

When I export using RhinoCam it opens a version of VM5 that does not have my customised tool library loaded. How do I point RhinoCam in the right direction?

Thanks,
John

dbuffo · Post by **dbuffo** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:04 pm

I have had this problem too. When you export a file from within Rhino to VisualMill, it starts with no tool library and no kbase. I don't know how to fix this and I do not think that Mecsoft knows either. I am pretty sure I asked them a while ago and they didn't know, but I could be wrong. If anyone know how to fix this, I would love to know. It would also be nice if, while using VisualMill, when you clicked on "new file" it would keep the same kbase instead of erasing it.

Thanks.

John Loftus · Post by **John Loftus** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 4:40 pm

Also, The help file with the RhinoCam plugin says,
"The first time this product is run, it checks for valid VisualMill products installed on the users computer. A list of these versions is then created and displayed in a dialog as shown below, allowing the user to select the version to launch from Rhino. Once the user selects a version, this dialog will not be displayed on subsequent runs of the Rhino CAM plugin. This dialog will only be shown again when the user makes any modifications to the list of available VisualMill products on his computer. This can be due to the installation of a newer version of VisualMill or due to un-installation of an existing version."

Yet, each time I export via RhinoCam I need to choose between V4 and V5. BTW, all my VM installs have gone into the default directories.

Regards,
John

Post by **MecSoft Support** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:08 pm

Tool library and knowledge base for rhinocam will be added to the rhinocam 2 feature list. The documentation is right, but for some reason it is behaving strangely on your computer.

Please try this
1. Start->Run
2. Type in regedit and select ok
3. In ther registry editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->Software->Mecsoft Corporation->RhinoCAM.
4. In the right hand window, delete all the paths. (Path0 is the current valid version)
5. Close it and try using the plugin from rhino. It should show the dialog once again and from then on, it should be ok.

Post by **MecSoft Support** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:15 am

You can achieve what you want without the RhinoCAM plug-in, paste the following to a button in Rhino. Make sure all the paths are correct for you, I use a temp folder on my C drive to store the export from Rhino (C:\temp).
!-Export C:\temp\temp.3dm
_Run "C:\Program Files\MecSoft Corporation\VisualMill 5.0\VisualMill5_0.exe -i c:\temp\cavity3dm.ini"

Now use notepad to create a file called cavity.ini and paste the following lines and save to the temp folder. This INI file loads temp.3dm and a knowledge base file (cavity.vkb). You can create several INI files to load different knowledge base files, I have my K-Base file saved under c:\Program Files\MecSoft Corporation\VisualMill 5.0\K-Base\.
[Input]
KnowledgeBaseName := c:\Program Files\MecSoft Corporation\VisualMill 5.0\K-Base\cavity.vkb
PartFileName := C:\temp\temp.3dm
OverwritePart := Yes
OverwriteMops := No

If you want to load a tool library remove the KnowledgeBaseName line and add,
ToolLibraryName := C:\Program Files\MecSoft Corporation\VisualMill 5.0\Data\DefaultMetricTools.csv

Regards Mark.

[Edited by Mark on 09-Mar-04 01:17]

John Loftus · Post by **John Loftus** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 9:55 am

Mecsoft ... thanks, the regedit worked.

Mark ... I tried to use your method but can't get it to work yet. I don't want the knowledge base, just the tool library to load with a "export selected" file. I will keep working at it.

Thanks,
John

John Loftus · Post by **John Loftus** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 10:52 am

o.k. got it to work.

My cavity.ini file in my C:\temp folder has the following info:

[InputFiles]
ToolLibraryName := C:\Program Files\MecSoft Corporation\VisualMill 5.0\Data\LoftusDesignTools.csv
PartFileName := C:\temp\temp.3dm
OverwritePart := Yes
OverwriteMops := No

My Export to VisualMill button in Rhino has this:

!-Export C:\temp\temp.3dm
_Run "C:\Program Files\MecSoft Corporation\VisualMill 5.0\VisualMill5_0.exe -i c:\temp\cavity.ini"

Thanks for the help!
John

John Loftus · Post by **John Loftus** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 11:04 am

Well .. I spoke to soon

RhinoCam allows you to add subsequent geometry and regions from Rhino to the open VisualMill file. The button workaround just opens a new session of VM on each export. Any tweaks to the command that will get to this function?

Thanks,
John