Usage

The post processor application is run from the command line which can be opened by selecting Start - Search -> Command Prompt.

The post processor at minimum takes the path of the post processor configuration script following by the path of the intermediate NC data file. The configuration scripts use the extension .cps which stands for "Customizable Post-processing System".

post config.cps intermediate.cnc

You can specify –help for getting a list of the available options.

post --help

The NC output path is automatically generated if not specified on the command line. The NC output filename will be set to the same as for the intermediate NC path.

The path of the log can be set using the –log option. If not set, the path will be set to the path of the NC output file with the extension substituted with "log".

The original NC output file is by default backed up to the file which has the extension substituted with 'bak'. The –nobackup option can be used to prevent this behavior.

The generated NC output should never be used if the processing has failed. The NC output file will only be generated on successful processing. On failure the generated NC output will be stored in a file which has the extention substituted with 'failed'.

The post processor may write debug information or error messages directly to the NC output file. These messages are all prefixed with an exclamation mark ('!'). An error message is always written to the NC output on processing failure to indicate bad NC data. The NC debug data can be enabled using the –debugall option.

Properties

You can override user-defined as well as built-in properties by specifying the name-value pairs using the –property option. This allows you to trigger specific post behavior without having to modify the post configuration itself.

The user-defined properties are dumped when running the post processor in verbose mode. The default value as well as the current value are shown. The modified properties are highlighted with an asterix ('*').

post --property programName 100 --property writeTools false config.cps intermediate.cnc

Localization

The post processor has built-in support for localization of the configuration script. Arbitrary messages can be translated into a specific language using the localize() function. When invoked localize() will lookup the specified message in a translation file (known as locale) which must accompany the configuration script. The path of the translation file is derived from the path of the configuration script by substituting the extension with the country code specified by the –lang option and adding '.lang'. For instance, if the path of the configuration script is 'C:\posts\genericiso.cps' and the language id is 'de' then the translation file path will be 'C:\posts\genericiso.de.lang'. The post processor will also try to load the translation file 'common.?.lang' (where ? is substituted with the country code). This allows several post configurations to be translated using a single translation file.

Editor

The post processor will try to open the log and NC output files automatically in the preferred editor when the post processing has completed. The path of the preferred editor is specified in the Windows Registry under "Software\Autodesk\Autodesk\Post Processor\editor" (string type). The entry is valid for both the personal and machine Registry with the personal setting taking priority.

The post processor will try to open the generated files in the included NC editor by default (see http://cam.autodesk.com).

Attention
Serious problems might occur if you modify the Windows Registry incorrectly. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Exit Codes

The post processor will returns different exit codes dependent on the kind of failure.



Generated by Autodesk, Inc. 19 April 2024
Copyright (c) 2012-2024 by Autodesk, Inc.