topic Re: Quickly select all tool paths in PowerMill Forum

Quickly select all tool paths

raffnecBNJ8C — Sun, 19 Sep 2021 12:54:20 GMT

Hi!
Tell me how to quickly select all tool paths with a macro?
Thank you in advance.

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

antonio.ali — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 04:23:27 GMT

Hi,
if you tell us what your purpose is, maybe we could give you the right solution?

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

TK.421 — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 13:43:13 GMT

this will select all the toolpaths in a project:

STRING LIST allToolpaths = extract(folder('Toolpath'), 'name')
STRING firstName = $allToolpaths[0]
$allToolpaths = reverse(allToolpaths)
STRING lastName = $allToolpaths[0]
FOREACH tp IN allToolpaths {
EXPLORER SELECT Toolpath $firstName NEW
EXPLORER SELECT Toolpath $lastName SERIES
}

to select all toolpaths in a folder, you'll need to modify that to select from a specified folder. Under help, documents, reference, go to the 'functions' page and you'll see the list creation functions.

hope this helps!

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

raffnecBNJ8C — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 16:35:42 GMT

My goal is to apply the cooling parameter to all trajectories at once, but I don't want to select them manually.
Maybe there is a more correct way, I will be glad for a hint.

Here is a macro that I plan to use to turn on the blowing of the tool, but the tool path must be selected manually, and there can be 10 or 20 of them.

EDIT COOLANT AIR

RESET SELECTED TOOLPATH COOLANT

EDIT NCPROGRAM PREFERENCES COOLANT TOOLPATH

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

raffnecBNJ8C — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 16:47:06 GMT

This works if there are no folders.
But it stops working at all if there is at least one folder.
I only need to select the toolpaths that are in the root, not the folders.
Thanks anyway, it works to some extent.

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

TK.421 — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 17:00:42 GMT

it will not work for folders, as stated above. you cannot select two toolpaths at the same time if they're in different folders. That's why I pointed you to the reference document on list creation. You could make your macro to get all the folders in the toolpath folder, and then loop through each toolpath in each folder. That would require a little bit of work, but it would be time well spent in the long run.

Alternatively, you could shift-select the toolpaths in the tree and put a macro on the RMB of the explorer.ppm file that runs your macro:

FOREACH tp IN explorer_selected_entities() {

EDIT COOLANT AIR

RESET SELECTED TOOLPATH COOLANT

EDIT NCPROGRAM PREFERENCES COOLANT TOOLPATH

}

the menu button code for the explorer.ppm xml file would look like this:

<spacer/>
<button
command='MACRO "C:\your\macro\path\your macro.mac"'
label="Verify Selected Toolpaths"
multiple_selection="allowed"
/>
<spacer/>

this would go in the Toolpath Child Node Menu. the explorer file can be found @ C:\Program Files\Autodesk\PowerMill 2022\sys\hci\popups\explorer.ppm

This is how I would do it because you can run it on anything that's selected, the code is cleaner and it doesnt matter if they're in a folder or not

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

info — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 07:30:12 GMT

I tried to use this macro, but no tooplaths get selected.

Maybe because I pasted the text like it is, and perhaps miss the text that expert people in macro know to be added.

I need anyway to selecto all teh toolpath serie in the folder "Toolpath\RIP_8R4"

can you help me please?

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

TK.421 — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 10:23:07 GMT

Activate your folder then replace explorer_selected_entities() with Folder(active_folder())

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

kevin.hammond3WX4X — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 10:38:58 GMT

Try this in your macro

ENTITY LIST Toolpath = INPUT ENTITY MULTIPLE Toolpath "Select Toolpaths"

FOREACH $tp IN Toolpath {
Activate Toolpath $tp.name
EDIT COOLANT AIR
RESET SELECTED TOOLPATH COOLANT
EDIT NCPROGRAM PREFERENCES COOLANT TOOLPATH
}

Re: Quickly select all tool paths

info — Wed, 05 Oct 2022 13:44:08 GMT

Once I have done the Corner-Finishing patterns, that I put into a folder called "8R4" because it is a ballnose diameter 8, I want to make automatically the Model-Area-Clearance patterns into other folders , called "12R1" folder , and than the "6R1" folder.

My purpose is: I make first the inclined Corner-Finishing patterns, each of them has its workplane and boundary, and Than, with a macro, I want apply to the Model-Area-Clearance patterns the same boundaries and workplanes used into the Corner-Finishing patterns.

example: (the number name of the workplanes and boundaries are only invented to explane the sample)

I already have a folder called "8R4" containing 3 Corner-Finishing patterns (to simplify) made by me handly:

8R4_1 pattern whose workplane name is 11 and whose boundary name is 22

8R4_2 pattern whose workplane name is 12 and whose boundary name is 23

8R4_3 pattern whose workplane name is 145 and whose boundary name is 149

The macro would create automatically 3 Model-Area-Clearance patterns inside the existing folder "12R1", applying each same workplane and boundary used in the handly created 8R4 patterns, like this:

12R1_1 pattern whose workplane name is 11 and whose boundary name is 22

12R1_2 pattern whose workplane name is 12 and whose boundary name is 23

12R1_3 pattern whose workplane name is 145 and whose boundary name is 149

And also the macro would create 3 Model-Area-Clearance patterns inside the existing folder "6R1" like this:

6R1_1 pattern whose workplane name is 11 and whose boundary name is 22

6R1_2 pattern whose workplane name is 12 and whose boundary name is 23

6R1_3 pattern whose workplane name is 145 and whose boundary name is 149

I would like to choose if make the 12R1 patterns only, or 6R1 patterns only, or both.

The inclinated only, because the vertical ones I already have as template.

If someone helps me It will be a professional macro, otherwise it will be a long series of beginner macro maker as I am.

So please let me know any solution is welcome

thank you in advance