Issues with Fusion 360 Cam and Visual Studio Code Fusion 360 Extension

[chris.m.humphrey02]

Hello. My name is Chris and I am working on learning post-processors and developing one for my internship for a CNC machine. The machine is a CNC router from a smaller company and I am trying to set up a post processor in Fusion 360 CAM. I am having issues using the Autodesk Fusion 360 Post Processor Utility extension in Visual Studio Code. I am trying to use the function where you can click on the NC code and it will show you where that is coming from in the Post Processor. The first question is does the NC file need to be in the same folder as the Post Processor for this function to work? The second question relates to what should be in the explorer tab under CNC selector. I've watched several youtube videos and in every video and here on the forums you access your NC code through the CNC selector tab. However, my CNC selector tab is empty and so I am unsure of what is going on. The post processor I am trying to use is the MACH 4 post processor by Artsoft. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[seth.madore]

When using the Extension, you don't actually use existing NC programs to test, but rather, create them from the CNC Selector. I'm not certain why your list is empty...

When you click on your Extensions button, what are you shown?

 

[ltomuta]

I would suggest that VSC's "trusted folders" security scheme may have something to do with you not having the .cnc files. Make sure that the folder from where you open the post-processor file is marked as trusted so that VSC can load extensions for files opened from that folder. 

Try hitting F1 and open the Manage Workspace Trust settings page 

For a trusted window it should show.

Once you have this sorted, export your test CAM setup/operations as a .cnc and once you are able to see it in the extension, double-click it to have it post-processed with the currently edited post. Then you can click on the output to see where it comes from.

[chris.m.humphrey02]

Hi Seth, attached is an image of what pops up when I click on the extension. Another thing to add to this, there is a pdf training guide by Autodesk that I started looking through on post processors and it mentioned that by typing in hsm into settings the settings for the extension would pop up however that did not happen. Does having visual studio code already installed cause problems? Would deleting and reinstalling or installing an older version help? How would I go about that process? Thanks!

[chris.m.humphrey02]

Hello and thank you for your help. So I saved a copy of the mach4mill post processor to a testing folder on my desktop. Attached is an image showing that checking if the folder is trusted it is in fact trusted. The folder in question is the local library inside of the Fusion 360 internal data. I have to admit I am confused by what you mean as a .cnc file. Are you talking about the final file after the post process in your selected format so in my case a .nc or .tap file? Also, do you think this could be caused by my having an education license? However, I don't believe this is the case because this also happened on my work computer which is not an education license.

[chris.m.humphrey02]

Hello Seth, I am also not getting any color changing on the post processor nor any of the commands. Using F1 and choosing a random command from the extension there is then an error that "command 'hsm.postprocess' not found". Do you think something is wrong with my visual studio code or the extension itself? is there a way to download an earlier version?

[ltomuta]

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@chris.m.humphrey02 wrote:

I have to admit I am confused by what you mean as a .cnc file. Are you talking about the final file after the post process in your selected format so in my case a .nc or .tap file? 

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You have a post processor named "export cnc ..." 

Its role is to take a program from Fusion and export it as a .cnc file to a folder where the VSCode extension is waiting for it. This <my_program>.cnc file is then used for testing the post you are working on. It is this file (and others like it) that you expect to see in this list 

You use the "export cnc..." post as any other, you just get the output deployed somewhere else.

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@chris.m.humphrey02 wrote:

Also, do you think this could be caused by my having an education license? However, I don't believe this is the case because this also happened on my work computer which is not an education license.

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Definitely not. The educational license is the best license to have: fully featured and free.

[AchimN]

Yes there is an option to download an earlier version, see below:

Can you please try that and let me know if that solves the problem?
Thanks

[chris.m.humphrey02]

Hello,

I just installed version 3.5.8 and that has allowed it to work as I now see everything in the cnc selector area and it recognizes my post processor! Thank you all so much for the help! I do have one more related question. Do have any tips on how to add where it shows the clearance height before it moves such as moving to G00 Z 0.5 F2 and having the bit stop at a height above the material before it goes to -Z such as G00 Z-0.050 F2. Also are there any resources for understanding the color coded syntax of the HSM Extension? Again thank you all so much @AchimN @ltomuta @seth.madore!

[ltomuta]

Adding stuff is easy*, you insert a writeBlock() function at the right position. To find the right position you click on the relevant bit of an output file that was post processed with your post from a .cnc file. It will show you where in your post is the code that generated the block you clicked onto. 

Note that you may have to click the output word of interest several times to cycle through the function call stack. Where exactly it is being written (the writeBlock implementation) is not as interesting as where that writeBlock function was called from.

[AchimN]

Thank you for testing, seems that with the 4.x.x versions there is a problem with the installation of the addin.
I´ll see if i can get that fixed tomorrow.

[AchimN]

Hi all, I found the reason for the issue and it will be fixed with version 4.1.2.

The updated version will show up on the marketplace soon.

Thanks for all your feedback!

[AchimN]

FYI, the updated version 4.1.2 of the VS Code add-in is now available. Please let us know if you are still having issues with it.