WHAT’S NEW IN ALPHACAM 2021.0 This document contains a general overview of the new features within ALPHACAM 2021.0 21/05/2020 Index Contents Important Information ............................................................................................................... 5 Operating System Support .................................................................................................... 5 More Information about New Features .................................................................................. 5 ALPHACAM Maintenance Expiry Date .................................................................................. 5 Automation Manager ................................................................................................................ 6 Automation Manager - Reordering Layers and Styles in the Layer Mapping Setup Tab ....... 6 Automation Manager - Turn Part Over For Machining ........................................................... 7 Automation Manager - Automatically Save Failed Nesting Parts to New Job ........................ 8 Automation Manager - Support for Parametric Fittings ........................................................ 10 Automation Manager - Folder Watcher ............................................................................... 11 Automation Manager - Custom Columns for Job files ......................................................... 13 Automation Manager - Select Machining Styles Dialog for Layer Mapping Setups ............. 15 Automation Manager - Log Files ......................................................................................... 16 Automation Manager - Retaining Solids in Nested sheets ................................................... 17 Automation Manager - Part Origin to remain unchanged in new Configurations ................. 17 Geometry Node Editing .......................................................................................................... 18 Geometry Node Editing - GUI Improvement for Conflicting Selected Nodes ....................... 18 Geometry Node Editing - New Line/Arc Conversion modes and Undo/Redo support ......... 19 Geometry Node Editing - New Joining method Checkbox added ........................................ 20 Pocketing ................................................................................................................................ 21 Pocketing - Auto Z - Use Z Contour Roughing - Rapid Down To - Allow absolute negative or relative values ................................................................................................... 21 Simulation ............................................................................................................................... 22 NCSIMUL Essential ............................................................................................................ 22 NCSIMUL Essential - Rapids .............................................................................................. 22 Nesting ................................................................................................................................... 23 Nesting - Offcuts - Enhanced Type Generation ................................................................... 23 Nesting - Optimise Toolpath Overlapping Option ................................................................ 24 Nesting - New Option to Retain Solids in Nested Sheet ...................................................... 25 21/05/2020 2 Index Mill & Lathe Modules .............................................................................................................. 26 Mill & Lathe Modules - Rough / Finish - Break-out Cut Support .......................................... 26 Set Materials Command ......................................................................................................... 27 Set Materials Command Improvements .............................................................................. 27 Reports Designer .................................................................................................................... 28 Reports Designer Updates .................................................................................................. 28 Solid Model Faces .................................................................................................................. 29 Solid Model Faces - User Layer Support ............................................................................. 29 Machining Styles .................................................................................................................... 31 Machining Styles - Solid Faces in Layers Support .............................................................. 31 Insert Clamps Enhancements ................................................................................................. 32 Clamp Insert Project Manager Page ................................................................................... 32 Material Position Relative to Clamp ..................................................................................... 33 Clamp Inserter Warning Configuration ................................................................................ 34 Rough/Finish Cycle ................................................................................................................ 35 Rough/Finish Cycle- Remembers to Apply Compensation on Rapids ................................. 35 Sawing .................................................................................................................................... 36 Sawing - Solid Model Faces - Improved Ordering and New ‘Minimise Angle Changes’ Option ................................................................................................................................. 36 Queries ................................................................................................................................... 37 Queries - New Test Fields – ‘IsHighest’ and ‘IsDeepest’ Z level values .............................. 37 User Interface ......................................................................................................................... 38 Highlight Valid Solids During Selection ............................................................................... 38 InputAlphaArt - Now Part of the ALPHACAM Installation .................................................... 39 Maintenance Requirement Removed for PDF and Illustrator File Import............................. 40 ALPHACAM Install DVD - Robot Solution Removed ........................................................... 41 Supported CAD File Versions ................................................................................................. 42 Supported CAD File Versions ............................................................................................. 42 Maintenance Report ............................................................................................................... 44 Maintenance Report ............................................................................................................ 44 21/05/2020 3 Index Appendix A - API Improvements in ALPHACAM 2021.0 ......................................................... 47 Automation Manager – New Event raised if parts fail to nest .............................................. 47 Post Driven Simulation – Set Motion Feed Rate ................................................................. 48 Feature – Solid Body Faces in Layers ................................................................................. 49 Nesting – Offcuts ................................................................................................................. 51 Nesting – Nest List Optimised Toolpath Overlap Mode ....................................................... 53 Nesting – Associated Solid Parts ........................................................................................ 55 Automation Manager – Events List ...................................................................................... 57 21/05/2020 4 What's New in ALPHACAM 2021.0 www.alphacam.com Important Information Operating System Support Please refer to the Installation Guide or System Requirements page on http://www.alphacam.com for further information. More Information about New Features The What’s New document contains only a brief introduction to the new features available in this release. Further details and examples about this functionality can be found on our Customer Community Forums Wiki page. ALPHACAM Maintenance Expiry Date To run ALPHACAM 2021.0, the maintenance expiry date in your license must be April 2020 or later. 21/05/2020 5 What's New in ALPHACAM 2021.0 www.alphacam.com Automation Manager Automation Manager - Reordering Layers and Styles in the Layer Mapping Setup Tab ALPHACAM 2021.0 introduces new ribbon buttons in the ‘Layer Mapping Setup’ tab of Automation Manager. The position of Layers and the Styles assigned to those Layers can be moved and/or deleted with ease. The layer and styles order defined in the layer mapping setup will be used when applying the toolpaths. This means that users now can control the order in the layer mapping setup instead of using the Machining Order. Machining Order can still be used for ordering operations by tool. You can also drag-and-drop the Layers and assign Styles in order to move them: 21/05/2020 6 What's New in ALPHACAM 2021.0 www.alphacam.com Automation