Program Settings

Description

In the settings menu, various options for the software can be chosen. Each set of options are separated into different tabs in the settings menu.

Options that can be set here include: default part settings, results/output format, results/output settings, language, default storage locations, and more.

How To

To access the settings, click the settings menu on the main tool bar. Click the program settings option in the drop down menu, as shown below.

General Tab

The library storage location, default part file storage location, language, touch screen, invert zoom, and combine bend settings can be adjusted in the general tab.

• Die, Material, and Export Template Storage: This folder will be the storage location for the dies in the die library, the materials in the material library, the templates created in the export template library, and the machines in the machine library. For the dies, materials, and machines, each library is stored as a single file. Each individual export template is stored as a single file. To change the storage location, click on the folder button right below the field and select a new location.

• Part Files Default Storage Location: The folder listed here will be the default storage location for part files. This folder will be automatically opened in the Save Part window when a new part is being saved. To change the default storage location, click the folder button below the field and choose a new storage location.

• Language Selection:
  
  The language of the software can be chosen here. As updates are made more languages will become available here. To select a language, click the drop down menu and choose a language from the list, as shown to the right.

Note: If a language is unavailable and you would like to see it in the software, please let us know! We'll try our best to add it to the available languages.

When any language other than English is selected, the language list button can be clicked. Click this button to open a list of all the words and statements in the software. Each item in the list can be edited. To edit an entry, double click on the word or statement and type in new text. When changes are made, every instance of that word or statement in the software will be affected. To save edits, click the save button.

Note: Whenever changes are made to the language list, a copy of the edited language list will be sent to us. This is to ensure that our master language list is as accurate as possible.

• Touch Screen: If a touch screen is being used to navigate the software, this option should be enabled. Check the check box next to the touch screen icon while a touch screen is in use.

• Invert Zoom: Invert zoom will switch the direction the mouse scroll wheel will zoom. When invert zoom is enabled, scrolling up will zoom in and scrolling zoom will zoom out. To enable this option, check the box next to the invert zoom icon.

• Combine Bends: When the combine bends function is activated, if two 90° bends are created with none or very little straight length between them, they will be automatically combined into one 180° bend.

When in apex mode or while designing in grapple, harpoon, or XYZ be sure the length between the two bends is double the achieved CLR of the die. In the example below on the left, the CLR is 128, so 256 units of length are needed between the bends. To turn on the combine bends option, click the check box next to the combine bends icon.

Defaults Tab

The default notes, default cut-offs, and dimension display can be set in the defaults tab.

• Default Notes: The default notes given here will be added to the notes section on every new part design. To add default notes, type in the provided text area.

• Cut-off Start/End: The default cut-off values will be supplied in the cut-off fields of every new part design. To add start or end cut-off, enter values into the appropriate fields. See image below.

• Display Dimensions:
  
  The display dimensions check box controls whether the dimension markers and measurements are displayed on the part model in the part display. To have the dimensions displayed, check the box next to the display dimensions icon. While this box is not checked, just the part model and the apex lines/points will be displayed. See image to the right.

Results/Output Format

The way the part results are calculated and displayed in the results table can be set in the Results/Output Format tab. There are 4 different predefined result formats: rotary draw, center compression, rotary compression, and length of straight. There is also the option to manually customize the output format.

Notice how when a format is selected, an example of how the dimensions will be measured is shown to the right. The example part is a unbent, 2D model of a simple part that is 100 units long. The bends are sectioned off with grey lines.

The settings are shown to the right of the format options. Whenever a predefined option is selected, they will be greyed out/unavailable, but they can still be seen. See image to the right.

• Rotary Draw: This format is for standard rotary draw benders. These kind of benders have a die that spins and pulls the material around it. The dimension location is at the start of the bend and there is no fixed offset.

• Center Compression: This format is for center compression benders. The die can move, but doesn't rotate/spin and the material is pushed around it. The dimension location is at the center of the bend and there is no fixed offset.

• Rotary Compression: This format is for rotary compression benders. The die is stationary (No moving or spinning) and the material is pushed around the side of the die. The dimension location is at the end of the bend and there is no fixed offset.

• Length of Straight: This format will only include the straight lengths of tube. To get just straight lengths of tube when designing, this option must be chosen.

• Custom: The dimension location, fixed offset and can be chosen individually using the custom format.

• Dimension Location: This will determine where the end of the dimension will be placed. The start of bend, center of bend, or end of the bend can be selected. Click on a dimension location option to select it.

• Utilize Part Length: When the utilize part length check box is checked, the location values will be based off of the total length of the part. Each location values will be calculated by either adding or subtracting the original bend location value from the part length measurement. Click on the green plus to add the location to the part length or click the red minus option to have the locations subtracted from the part length. When the red minus option is selected, the location is essentially being measured from the opposite end.

• Fixed Offset: The fixed offset setting will allow a value to be added or subtracted from the location value. This will be necessary to apply when an indexing table is used with the machine. To add a fixed offset value, enter the offset value into the provided field. Click the green plus option for the offset value to be added to each location or click the red minus option for the offset to be subtracted from each location.

Results/Output Settings

• Decimal Tolerances:
  
  The decimal tolerance for the lengths, angles, and rotations can be adjusted here. This will affect the dimensions that are displayed on the 3D part model and the values in the results table. The decimal tolerance controls how many digits will be allowed after decimals points for length, angle, and rotation. In the tolerance options, each digit place is represented by an n.

For example, if the angle tolerance is set to n.nn and the actual angle is 90.539°, the angle will be rounded to 90.54°. If the angle tolerance is set to just n, then the angle would be rounded to 91°.

To change the decimal tolerance for the length, angle or rotation, click the drop down menu next to the appropriate option and select an option from the list. See image to the right.

• Rotation Settings:
  
  The rotation settings control how rotation values are displayed in the results table. Rotation can be measured in incremental or absolute terms. Each rotation angle range can also be chosen.

• Incremental: Rotation angles will start from the end of the previous bend's rotation. Click the incremental rotation option to select it.

• Absolute: Rotation angles will always start from the very beginning of the angle scale. Click the absolute rotation option to select it.

• Angle Scale: The rotation scale will determine what the rotation angles will range between. The rotation scale will show where the angle measurements begin and where they end. Choose a rotation scale by clicking on one of the scale options. The rotation scales available are 0 - 360, 360 - 0, (-180) - 180, and 180 - (-180).

• Bender Type:
  
  The default bender type can be selected using the bend type button. This will open the bender type menu (Shown to the right). Seven bender types are available. Each type is represented by a tile that displays a short animation of what a bender of that type will look like while bending a part. To select the bend type for the machine, click on a tile. Click the green check button to confirm. Above the bend type button, the number of the selected bender type will be displayed, as shown below.

Note: If the simulation plug-in is installed, the bender type chosen here will be automatically selected in simulation.

Help Videos

Below the tabbed settings, towards the bottom right corner, there will be a blue question mark button. See image to the right. When this button is clicked, some of the attributes and options will have small help icons displayed next to them. These help icons will appear in all four tabs. (To hide the help icons, click the question mark button again.)

Click on any of these help icons to watch help videos that will visually explain certain attribute or how to use a certain function. See image below. Use the play, pause and stop buttons in the bottom left corner of the window to control the video. Click the grey X button to close the video.