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Finding a postprocessor for your machine

Can I use a postprocessor for CAM program A in program B ?


We regularly receive emails about this, sent by users that were happy to have found a postprocessor for their machine. Next they are disappointed to find that this postprocessor did not work in DeskProto.

Exchanging postprocessors between different CAM programs is not possible: every CAM software builder uses a different format, so postprocessors are specific to the CAM system. This means that the answer to the question above is a clear No.
For instance it is not possible to use a Mastercam postprocessor in Fusion360 (so this is not a DeskProto issue). Exceptions are CAM programs that come from the same manufacturer or share the same history.

The information that is stored in a postprocessor definition file will not be exactly the same either. Many CAM software builders for instance store a complete machine definition in their postprocessor (dimensions, speeds, etc). DeskProto does not, in DeskProto the postprocessor only sets the format of the NC file that will be written. That is much more efficient, as now many machines can share the same postprocessor. For instance all machines that use the Mach3 control software can share DeskProto's Mach3 postprocessor.

DeskProto uses machine definitions to store all machine-specific settings (like the dimensions and speeds just mentioned), which contain a link to the postprocessor to be used. So in DeskProto you need to select the machine that you want to use, and that defines which postprocessor will be used. In case you cannot find your machine you can best read What to do when the machine that you have is not listed

Postprocessors in DeskProto can be edited by the end-user (they are user-configurable), in a dialog with a series of easy to understand tab pages. This is quite a unique feature, as for most CAM programs configuring a postprocessor involves editing a complicated text file, which needs to be done by a specialist. Ordering a postprocessor for a high-end CAM program in most cases will cost you (much) more than a complete DeskProto license.


Postprocessor library dialog
Postprocessor dialog
Left the Library of postprocessors, right the postprocessor dialog.


You can find all DeskProto postprocessors in the Library of postprocessors (Options menu). Press Edit and the dialog show above will pop up, with a number of tab pages that allow you to define the format of the NC files that DeskProto will write. You can compare the NC code from DeskProto with the code in a sample NC file that runs OK on your machine and make the changes that you need to correct the differences (remember to use the Help button in DeskProto). Then again write an NC file and test that on your machine.

Configuring a postprocessor is covered in a tutorial video, on page How to configure a postprocessor in DeskProto.

When you feel that this is too complicated you can email us and ask to configure a postprocessor for you. In order to do this we need a sample NC file that runs OK on your machine. We will then configure a postprocessor for you that generates similar NC code, and send you an NC file to test with. And if OK we will email you the new postprocessor. No charge: this is a free service as the more postprocessors we can add the better it is for DeskProto !