CabMasterPro User Guide
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    MultiShapeInline
    In This Topic

    Purpose

    Allows spec of the shape of each hole or tab of multiple holes offset from the center along a line between two points i.e. makes a copy of the shape at each “inline” point on its start-to-end line.

    Example

    Counting Shapes

    When you count the notches/tabs, it measures the available space from the (adjusted) startpoint to endpoint. If the new start point and end point result in the line going in the opposite direction, the step is not executed. If they are equal it adds a notch/tab at this point.

    This controlled way of adding notches/tabs, saves you from doing the maths to figure out offsets and numbers of notches/tabs.

    Once you have created the sequence, you can still use RepeatCount and RepeatOffset to repeat the whole sequence.

    Fields

    SecMin The X, Y, Z co-ordinates of the min corner of the section which this machining step is inside.
    SecMax The X, Y, Z co-ordinates of the max corner of the section which this machining step is inside.
    JoinMin The X, Y, Z co-ordinates of the min corner of the section which this machining step is joined to.
    JoinMax The X, Y, Z co-ordinates of the max corner of the section which this machining step is joined to.
    CutSize X, Y, Z contain the values from this component dimcut1, dimcut2, dimcut3 respectively.
    FinishedSize X, Y, Z contain the values from this component dim1, dim2, dim3 respectively.
    PartID A name for this step, init as component name, not sent to DXF usually.
    Layer

    Layer overrides any layer specified in the ShapePoly machinestep, so you can use the same shape both for a tab and a notch, perhaps with slightly different scales to provide a gap. X contains Layername (e.g. -Border)

    The layer name written to the DXF, init as steptype but you should set this to something more meaningful e.g. in EzyNest. In addition, this layer value can be prefixed by + - or ~. The prefix is not sent to the DXF, but is used to indicate notches, where two steps are combined. A + is for combining two steps by adding the paths together. This can extend the outer shape. A - is used for subtracting or creating a notch. And a ~ is for flap donor steps. (See Flaps In Remote Components)

    Group The group name written to the DXF. Default value is ungrouped. Different groups will be nested separately, so for example a DXF with some ungrouped machine steps and some steps in group 10 and others in group 20 will nest as three separate parts.
    ColorIndex The color used in the DXF (usually unused by Machining but very helpful for viewing). Colors are defined by Voloview DXF viewer. (See also DXF Layer Colours):
    • 0 - Black
    • 1 - Red
    • 2 - Yellow
    • 3 - Green
    • 4 - Cyan
    • 5 - Blue
    • 6 - Magenta
    • 7 - Black(Again)
    • 8 - Grey
    • 9 - Brown
    • 10 - Khaki
    • 11 - Dark Green
    • 12 - Steel Blue
    • 13 - Dark Blue
    • 14 - Purple
    • 15 - Dark Grey
    Depth

    Depth overrides any depth specified in the ShapePoly machinestep. This is the depth of the notch or tab. You can also use Refz to offset the shape up and down (not implemented yet). X contains Length (e.g. 16mm). See Specifying the PolyShape MachineSteps.

    Start XYZ: location of start of the machining step.
    End XYZ: location of end of the machining step.
    ShapePoly Defines the poly to be used, either once or repeatedly. X contains Poly/PolyArc array. See Specifying the PolyShape MachineSteps.
    ShapeRef XYZ: Gives (Refx,Refy) in the same coordinate system as the shape poly. See Specifying the PolyShape MachineSteps.
    ShapeScale

    XY: Used to scale with the reference point as the centre of the scaling. Example (Sx,Sy) is (-0.1,0.1) See Specifying the PolyShape MachineSteps.

    The x-values of points in the ShapePoly are stretched by a factor Sx, and the y-values by the factor Sy.

    ShapeAngle

    Applied to rotate the scaled shape around the reference point by the angle provided, where counterclockwise rotations are positive. X contains the Angle.

    See Specifying the PolyShape MachineSteps.

    SideOffset Whether the offset is a positive or a negative is determined by the direction of travel. The positive side offset direction is always to our right hand as we travel in the direction from start to finish. See diagram below.
    LongOffset Shifts the placement points in the start to end direction (ie longitudinally). This applies to both MultiboreInline and MultiShapeInline. Setting LongOffset to zero or empty will leave the points where they were. See Machining Editing > MultiBore Inline explanation.
    StartGap

    See Machining Editing > MultiBore Inline explanation.

    EndGap See Machining Editing > MultiBore Inline explanation.
    NShape

    Used as one of the machinestep entry names, and refers to the intended number of notches/tabs in that specific machinestep.

    The actual number of notches/tabs will depend on the part dimension as some notches/tabs may not fit on the part. Also there could be repeats in this one machinestep. Furthermore, sometimes the actual number of notches/tabs is determined more by the spacing between notches/tabs.

    SepMaxMinExact See Counting Shapes above.
    RepeatCount X: Whole machine step is repeated this many times. Y: If this is >1, then do a rectangular array of repeats.
    RepeatOffset

    XY: Offset vector between copies (for linear repeats). For arrays of repeats, X is the X offset and Y is the Y offset.

    Example

    Here is a little example of a BorderDeco step repeated in a 3x2 array:

    Repeat Example

    ProfileFolder Folder for QPFs, default BitmapFolder, can be relative.
    ProfileName Name of the profile. The default extension is ".qpf". An array of names is allowed, if defining multiple profile edging.
    ProfileEdging Array of edge treatments. See Edge and Pocket Profile Tutorial : Defining a Profile
    Pocket

    Entry is a yes/no determining whether the area inside the machinestep is to be removed. Applies to contours (closed polylines only).

    See Edge and Pocket Profile Tutorial : Pocket 



    See Also