Run external program with post processors

[thePostmaster]

Greetings

Is it possible to write a post processor that will automatically call an external application, other than the chosen g-code editor?  I need it to run a program from command prompt in order to convert from plain text to the CNC's proprietary file format. 

It is for SCM, converting from .xxl to .pgm. 

Thanks 

[boopathi.sivakumar · Accepted solution]

Hi @thePostmaster 

yes it is possible to call an external application in the program.

really a bad example but showcases the ability I have a simple batch file in my desktop which renames the output file extension. so in my post processor I have created the onTerminate function where you have options to call excute function where you can pass the arguments and the application to exectue

function onTerminate() {
  var exePath = "C:\\Users\\usename\\Desktop\\changeExtension.bat";
  if (!FileSystem.isFile(exePath)) {
    error(localize("File path not found."));
    return;
  }
  var outputPath = getOutputPath();
  var args = outputPath + " " + "txt";
  execute(exePath, args, false, "");
}

here is more info 

https://cam.autodesk.com/posts/reference/classPostProcessor.html#a928dbdfdce0b18a30c7cc2e9dcc8e807

[thePostmaster]

Okay, excellent. Thanks so much for this. I will test it out. 

Michael