New Post Processor dialogue (March update)

[jz79]

I haven't used Fusion in couple weeks, fired it up today and it updated, then I notice that Post Processor dialogue has switched to the new version that I disabled couple updates ago when it was first introduced and kept happily using the old one, but now it is back...

two questions:

1) is there a way to switch to the old dialogue still? I remember using an option under Preferences, but can't seem to find it any more, I don't want to go into details, but I very much prefer the old one to this new "improved" one

2) since this new post processor dialogue was introduced, I noticed couple extra lines starting to show up in the NC code (I use customized Heidenhain post processor for an older TNC355 control):

4 TOOL DEF 99 L0 R+3

5 TOOL CALL 99 Z S4000

6 L M3

7 CYCL DEF 7.0 DATUM SHIFT

8 CYCL DEF 7.1 #1

9 L X+55.446 Y-3.587 R0 F2000

10 L Z+23 R0 F2000

lines in question are nr. 7 and nr. 8, I can't find any way in the new post processor dialogue to switch these off, this never showed up when I used the old dialogue, so it must be some sort of switch in the new one, but I tried turning on/off anything that might be relevant to no avail

Under Setup the multiple WCS offsets is turned off but the #1 seems to be tied to the WCS offset number used in the Setup dialogue, I tried switching it to "2" and the new posted code had indeed changed to "8 CYCL DEF 7.1 #2"

the odd thing however is that the drilling operations aren't affected, just the contour and chamfer, but it is my understanding that if I don't check the "Multiple WCS offsets" that Datum Shift shouldn't appear in the posted code at all, and it didn't before this update...

[mattdlr89 · Accepted solution]

Click the user icon top right> preferences > preview features and turn this option on

Edit: as for your other queries I can't be of much help for that I'm afraid perhaps someone else can address them?

[jz79 · Accepted solution]

Thanks, old dialogue is back, but the Datum Shift problem is still there, I hoped switching to the old dialogue would cure that, but it didn't 

Ah, found a solution, opened up the post processor and under WCS settings there is an "if" that puts the Datum Shift in if the WCS value in the Fusion Setup dialogue shown above is >0, so I set it to zero in the Setup window and it solved the problem!

I guess the latest update changed the default value in that Setup window from 0 to 1, I honestly had never payed attention to that, never used that option in the past.

[jgaertner]

Thank you for telling us how to go back to the previous Tool Library and Post Processor window!!!!!!!

I am forever grateful. STOP CHANGING THIS STUFF!

[seth.madore]

Just so all are aware; at some point in the future, the old dialogues will be permanently retired. Make peace with the thought of using the new UI on a regular basis.

Out of curiosity, what is it about the new UI's that prompt you to return to the old layout; look or function?

[jgaertner]

Hello Seth,

Yes, they are both WAY to complicated to understand. I don't want to have to learn a new layout every 6 months

cause I do not have the time or energy to do this. I just had to buy an expensive Windows 10 computer just so I could keep running Fusion 360. Only Win 10 does not play nice with my Win 7 network that all my other legacy machines and software run on. No way I can update all these licenses to Win 10 in a one man shop. It would bankrupt me. So I now have to switch back and forth from two computers to use Fusion 360.  MS wants you to use "the cloud One Drive". Well I am on DSL and my connect to the internet is dodgy at best. 

Changing screens layouts is just another aggravation I do not want.  Why are these new screens so much better than the old ones? Why does AutoDesk have to change them?  How many customers asked for the changes?  It does not make sense to me.

John Gaertner

Owner

Blue Swallow Aircraft, LLC 

[jz79 · Accepted solution]

I don't see the point of such a radical change to UI, understand please that this program is a tool for us - users, we learn to use it once and every time you developers make significant changes - that is lost time for us having to look where things are now located, this is a MAJOR issue I have with Fusion in general - much too many updates that often break things, like the simple default 0 to 1 I mentioned earlier, none of the programs containing those 2 Datum Shift lines would upload to the control, it would complain that the code is not compatible without showing where exactly the wrong line is, so I first have to look at the program, see what stands out, then I have to manually edit them, then edit the post processors IF statement from >0 to >1, it wasn't difficult for me, I have experience with few programming languages, but most people do not.

I like the layout of the old dialogue, it is logical to me, new one - not so much, I'll handle the change when it becomes unavoidable - but ask yourself - are your users happy about such significant changes without an obvious benefit to the new UI? I mean for you - you have a sense of accomplishment rolling out such things, sit in a board meeting explaining how this is more modern and all - but the end user only suffers from this having to rediscover where things are, for instance switching between posts seems more work than before, I had the 4 options I use often under the dropdown menu in the old UI, 1 click and select which one I want, I don't even see that in the new UI, dropdown has only 1 option, have to now figure out if I have to use machine config or not, how to set it up and whatnot - this doesn't make my life any easier...

I assume this new dialogue is just a step into other UI changes to come, but every time I see these more modern looking UIs, I only see them becoming more difficult to navigate, have to scroll and switch tabs where I didn't before, that is all time lost for people that use this software to make money.

[seth.madore]

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@jz79 wrote:

I like the layout of the old dialogue, it is logical to me, new one - not so much, I'll handle the change when it becomes unavoidable - but ask yourself - are your users happy about such significant changes without an obvious benefit to the new UI? I mean for you - you have a sense of accomplishment rolling out such things, sit in a board meeting explaining how this is more modern and all - but the end user only suffers from this having to rediscover where things are, for instance switching between posts seems more work than before, I had the 4 options I use often under the dropdown menu in the old UI, 1 click and select which one I want, I don't even see that in the new UI, dropdown has only 1 option, have to now figure out if I have to use machine config or not, how to set it up and whatnot - this doesn't make my life any easier...

I assume this new dialogue is just a step into other UI changes to come, but every time I see these more modern looking UIs, I only see them becoming more difficult to navigate, have to scroll and switch tabs where I didn't before, that is all time lost for people that use this software to make money.

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Just so you're aware, I was a customer of Fusion long before I became a member of the team, and I use this software daily in my machine shop. 😉

[a.laasW8M6T]

The datum shift will appear if you have the WCS set to anything other than 0.

have you tried setting it to 0, that is what the default value is, shouldn't have anything to do with the post process dialog(NC programs)

[jz79]

As I tried to explain earlier, I have never touched the WCS setting in the Setup window, and never before this last update had any issues
Just now I fired Fusion up and created a new part, went to Machining and started a new setup and WCS defaults to "1" in that window now, changing it to "0" every time would solve my problem, but I opted to edit the post processor to change " if (currentSection.workOffset > 0)" to " if (currentSection.workOffset > 1)" so I don't need to remember to change that WCS setting to 0 every time.
I'll say it again - never before have I ever used that setting, and it started doing this right after the latest update

[mattdlr89 · Accepted solution]

Looks like Autodesk changed the default value, I think that was because 0 would normally default to 1 in most post processors so perhaps 1 made more sense for the majority of users, obviously not in your case.

I know you have fixed your problem through a post edit but you can also set defaults in the setup (or any operation) by right clicking and selecting "save as user default".

[jz79]

I wasn't aware that the option to set user default was there, but then again I had selected the legacy post processor option in the preferences, and this recent update just went and undid that by itself, so I don't put much trust in User Default in this software to stay as I set them 😄

I guess I better back up my posts to a safe place out of Fusion update reach also, just in case...

[mattdlr89]

That's true I've had some instances of preview features enabling/disabling between updates. In almost 2 years of using defaults I haven't had any problems. You can export the defaults so that you have a backup which I am going to do now, now that you've made me think of it...

I make a backup of my posts on our work network just in case. Thankfully I haven't needed to use them. 

[GeorgeRoberts]

Good morning,

Sorry for the delayed response. Thank you for sharing your feedback on the post-processor form. Hopefully, I'm able to share some insights into the reasoning for the change, what we have been doing and what we are planning to do. 

As you may be aware, the form we chose to use for post-processing has been in the product for several years as 'NC Programs' alongside the other forms that you were used to (one on Windows and another different one for Mac users). Having this many options made it very difficult for us to make improvements, support users and create learning content.

So, we decided to standardise this into the NC programs form as that was the cleanest, most up-to-date area that we could work from that would allow us to quickly make improvements. 

With this, we have been making several improvements based on user feedback (you can see the initial pinned thread here: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-manufacture/post-processing-within-fusion-360/td-p/1056752...).

Hope this helps clear a few things up! 

[GeorgeRoberts]

Right, pictures are working! 

First, I'm surprised that the switching between posts feels like more work for you now. We specifically added the 'recent' option to the post dropdown to specifically help with quickly switching posts (save you from having to change directories if they are stored in multiple places)

We also recently improved the post properties area to have the properties grouped appropriately, rather than having a long unordered list

You may have seen we added the ability to post to fusion team with the new dialog, this will help you revision control your NC files and ensure you have copies of everything that is run

these are just a few minor changes, but hopefully, highlight the improvements we are making. After this big change, we aren't planning on making any drastic changes to the post form, but we may add a few additional options / tweak things based on user feedback and requests.

If you'd like to chat about your experience using Fusion, please reach out any time