Operation icons

The following icons are available at the bottom of the operations window:

 

Save

All settings and parameters of the operation are saved on your disk. The tool path, however, is not calculated. This button enables you to postpone the calculation or to calculate operations in batches.

Use the corresponding commands of SolidCAM Manager to calculate the operation later on. 

In the operations list, all operations that have not been calculated are marked with an asterisk (*).

Save & Calculate

All settings and parameters of the operation are saved to your disk and the tool path is calculated. After the calculation has been performed, you can exit from the operation dialog box and return to SolidCAM Manager.

There is no need to recalculate an operation if its changed parameters do not affect the tool path. These operation parameters include:

There is no need to recalculate all the operations if the CNC-Machine is changed, as long as the following VMID parameters are not changed:

    • Compensation Exists
    • Compensation by Zero
    • Compensation Needs First Line
    • Min Delta Arc Rad
    • Smallest Movement
    • Procedures
    • Set Direction

Save & Calculate with all related operations

All settings and parameters of the operation are saved on your disk, and the tool path is calculated. In all operations based on the current one, the material boundary is updated automatically, and they are calculated again.

Save, Parallel Calculate & Exit

When you calculate a complex and time-consuming operation, you can choose the option of parallel calculation.

SolidCAM starts calculation, exits the current operation and enables you to define a new operation. Until the calculation is complete, you can see that the operation is locked.

Save, Parallel Calculate & Copy

This option is similar to Save, Parallel Calculate & Exit, but instead of exiting, you can continue working with a new operation, which is a copy of the initial operation. Until the calculation is complete, you can see that the operation is locked.

Simulate

This button performs simulation of the cutting process.

If you click this button to simulate an operation that was not previously calculated, the following message is displayed:

GCode

This button generates a temporary GCode file for the operation. The GCode file is generated into the CAM-Part folder regardless of the defined settings. The generated GCode file is opened in the text editor determined by SolidCAM Settings. When you close the operation dialog box, the file is removed.

This button generates a temporary GCode file, which specifies the operation time in the job_time parameter. Calculating the GCode with the operation time is usually longer than calculating an ordinary GCode.

To save the temporary GCode file, use the text editor functionality.

If you click these buttons to generate the GCode for an operation that was not previously calculated, the following message is displayed:

When you click Yes, SolidCAM performs calculation of the operation tool path and then continues to GCode generation.

When you click No, SolidCAM closes the message box and returns the focus to the operation dialog box, enabling you to perform calculation manually.

The Don’t ask again option enables you to automatically choose the Yes option, without displaying this prompt, next time a similar situation occurs.

Save & Copy

This button saves the current operation data and automatically creates a new operation with the same parameters. The new operation is automatically opened for editing.

Using the Save & Copy functionality, you can quickly create a new similar operation where most parameters are identical.

Save & Exit

This button enables you to save the current operation data, close the operation dialog box and return to the SolidCAM Manager. The operation will appear in the CAM tree with the asterisk symbol, meaning that the tool path is not calculated.

Exit

This button enables you to close the operation dialog box and return to the SolidCAM Manager. Any changes you made in the operation dialog box are lost if you exit the operation without prior saving.

You can also close the current operation by double-clicking another operation name in the CAM tree. If the current operation has been previously saved, the next operation dialog box is opened without any notice. If the current operation has not been saved, you will be prompted to save it.