Step 3: Perform an Offline Test

  1. Start PC-DMIS NC.

  2. Create a small measurement routine, and name it "Test".

  3. Select Operation | CNC Programming | Create CNC Measurement Routine to generate the NC measurement routine file. PC-DMIS displays the Select CNC Machine dialog box.

If you can't select the Create CNC Measurement Routine menu option, contact your PC-DMIS NC sales representative to ensure that your LMS license or portlock is properly programmed to support the NC functionality.

  1. Select Test in the Select CNC Machine dialog box.

  2. Ensure that the CNC Measurement Routine box points to the Cnc\Test subdirectory where you installed PC-DMIS NC and that it specifies a .cnc file name (Test.cnc).

  3. Click OK to generate the .cnc measurement routine. PC-DMIS displays a processing message box and shows the path lines drawn in the Graphic Display window for the measurement routine.

  4. Use a text editor to open Test.cnc and verify that it contains commands. Close the CNC file and PC-DMIS NC.

  5. Start the NC Gateway server application. For information on the NC Gateway and if you need further information on the specifics of this procedure, see the NC Gateway documentation.

  6. Inside NC Gateway, locate the Test machine you created earlier.

  7. From the list of machines in NC Gateway, select the Test machine to open it.

  8. Start the machine in the simulator.

  9. Adjust the settings to randomize data to simulate differences from the nominal data.

  10. Adjust the delay to control the rate at which simulated data is sent to the CNC server.

  11. Verify that PC-DMIS NC starts up in the background.

  12. From the NC Gateway server, execute the CNC measurement routine.

  13. Look for a journal subdirectory in the PC-DMIS installation directory to verify that the routine executed.

If the measurement routine name is PART1, the full path is c:\pcdmisw\journal\PART1\Test1<datetimecode>.cnj

  1. Open the journal file in a text editor, such as Notepad. You should see data for the probing points that the Test simulator generated.

The simulator merely returns a point at the end point of the probing move. Since probing moves are usually created to end inside the part surface, the probing points will be inside the surface of the CAD model. To make points on the surface, set the Prehit parameter in PC-DMIS NC to zero.

Only marked features measured in DCC are processed. If the CNC file does not have all the measurements that are expected (and the path lines display is missing features), check that the measurement routine has all of the desired features marked, and the mode is set as DCC.

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