PowerMILL 2012 R2

User Guide
Macro Programming Guide

Release issue 1
Copyright 1996 - 2012 Delcam plc. All rights reserved.
Delcam plc has no control over the use made of the software
described in this manual and cannot accept responsibility for any
loss or damage howsoever caused as a result of using the software.
Users are advised that all the results from the software should be
checked by a competent person, in accordance with good quality
control procedures.
The functionality and user interface in this manual is subject to
change without notice in future revisions of software.
The software described in this manual is furnished under licence
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this manual or portions of this manual for personal use only.
Schools, colleges and universities that are licensed to use the
software may make copies of this manual or portions of this manual
for students currently registered for classes where the software is
used.
Acknowledgements
This documentation references a number of registered trademarks
and these are the property of their respective owners. For example,
Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States.
Patents
The Raceline smoothing functionality is subject to patent
applications.
Patent granted: GB 2374562 Improvements Relating to Machine
Tools
Patent granted: US 6,832,876 Machine Tools
Some of the functionality of the ViewMill and Simulation modules of
PowerMILL is subject to patent applications.
Patent granted: GB 2 423 592 Surface Finish Prediction
Licenses
Intelligent cursor licensed under U.S. patent numbers 5,123,087
and 5,371,845 (Ashlar Inc.)

PowerMILL 2012 R2. Published on 28 February 2012

Contents
Macros 1
Creating macros ................................................................................................. 1
Recording macros in PowerMILL ........................................................................ 2
Running macros ......................................................................................... 3
Editing macros............................................................................................ 3
Running macros from within macros .......................................................... 4
Writing your own macros .................................................................................... 5
PowerMILL commands for macros ............................................................. 6
Adding comments to macros ...................................................................... 7
Macro User Guide ...................................................................................... 8
Variables in macros .................................................................................. 25
Using expressions in macros.................................................................... 41
Operator precedence ............................................................................... 43
Macro functions ........................................................................................ 45
IF statement ............................................................................................. 49
IF - ELSE statement ................................................................................. 50
IF - ELSEIF - ELSE statement.................................................................. 50
SWITCH statement .................................................................................. 52
BREAK statement in a SWITCH statement .............................................. 53
Repeating commands in macros .............................................................. 54
RETURN statement .................................................................................. 59
Printing the value of an expression .......................................................... 59
Constants ................................................................................................. 60
Built-in functions ....................................................................................... 60
Entity based functions .............................................................................. 86
Organising your macros .................................................................................... 88
Recording the pmuser macro............................................................................ 89
Recording a macro to set up NC preferences ................................................... 91
Tips for programming macros ........................................................................... 92

Index 95

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Contents • i

Macros

A macro is a file which contains a sequence of commands to

automate recurrent operations. You can create macros by recording
operations as they occur in PowerMILL, or by entering the
commands directly into a text editor. Recorded macros have a .mac
extension, and can be run from the Macro node in the explorer.
You can record single or multiple macros to suit your needs. You
can call a macro from within another macro.
There are two types of macros:
 The initialisation macro, pmuser.mac, is run when PowerMILL
starts. By default, a blank copy of this macro exists in
C:\Program Files\Delcam\PowerMILL xxx\lib\macro folder. By
overwriting or adding PowerMILL commands to it, you can set up
your own default parameters and settings. You can also place the
pmuser macro in the pmill folder, directly below your Home area.
Doing this enables personalised macro settings for individual
login accounts.
 User-defined macros are macros you define to automate various
operations.

In addition to tailoring PowerMILL by the creation of an

initialisation macro, you can create macros for undrawing,
drawing and resetting leads and links, setting NC preferences,
defining regularly used machining sequences, and so on.

Creating macros
You can create macros by:
 Recording (see page 2) a sequence of commands within
PowerMILL.
 Writing (see page 5) your own macro using a text editor.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 1

 Recording macros in PowerMILL
An easy way to create a macro is to record PowerMILL commands
as you work. Only the values that you change in the dialogs are
recorded in the macro. Therefore, to record a value that's already
set, you must re-enter it in a field, or re-select an option. For
example, if the finishing tolerance is currently set to 0.1 mm, and
you want the macro to store the same value, you must re-enter 0.1
in the Tolerance field during recording.
To record a macro:
1 From the Macros context menu, select Record.

This displays the Select Record Macro File dialog which is a

standard Windows Save dialog.
2 Move to the appropriate directory, enter an appropriate File name
and click Save.
The macro icon changes to red to show recording is in
progress.

All dialog options that you want to include in your macro

must be selected during its recording. If an option already
has the desired value, re-enter it.
3 Work through the set of commands you want to record.
4 From the Macros context menu, select Stop to finish recording.
For more information, see Recording the pmuser macro (see page
89) and Recording the NC preference macro (see page 91).

2 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 Running macros
When you run a macro the commands recorded in the macro file are
executed.
1 Expand Macros, and select the macro you want to run.
2 From the individual macro menu, select Run.

You can also run a macro by double-clicking its name in the

explorer.

Running the macro you have just recorded

The location of the macro you have just recorded becomes the local
folder. So, the macro you have just recorded is available in the local
macro search path . However, the list of macros isn't updated
dynamically. To force an update:
1 Click next to Macros to collapse the contents.

2 Click next to Macros to expand and regenerate the contents.

3 Click next to to see the macros in this directory, which
includes the one you have just created.

Editing macros
You can edit recorded macros to troubleshoot and correct any
errors.
1 Expand Macros and select the macro you want to edit.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 3

 2 From the individual macro menu, select Edit.

A standard WordPad document opens.

If you get an error message advising you that your macro

can't be edited, open Windows Explorer, and from the Tools
menu select Folder Options. Click the File Types tab, and set
WordPad as the default program for files with the .mac
extension.
3 Edit the macro commands, and then save the file.

Running macros from within macros

You can create small macros that perform a single operation, and
then call them from within a larger macro. This example shows how
to add the h400_prefs macro and the iniblock macro to the pmuser
macro.
1 From the pmuser macro context menu, select Edit.
2 Scroll to the bottom of the file, and add the following lines:
macro h400_prefs

4 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 macro iniblock

If you precede a line with two forward slash characters (//),

it is treated as a comment, and is not executed.
3 Save and close pmuser.mac.
4 Exit and restart PowerMILL to check that the settings from the
pmuser macro have been activated.

Writing your own macros

A more powerful way of creating macros is to write your own. The
principles are described in the Macro User Guide (see page 8).
Macros enable you to:
 Construct expressions (see page 41).
 Use expressions to control macro flow (see page 22).
 Use a range of relational (see page 36) and logical (see page 38)
operators.
 Evaluate both expressions (see page 41).
 Assign values to variables and parameters by using assignments
(see page 26).
The Menu bar option Help >Parameters >Reference > Functions lists all
the standard functions you can use in macros.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 5

 PowerMILL commands for macros
When you use PowerMILL interactively, every menu click and entry
in a dialog sends a command to the program. These are the
commands that you must enter in your macro file if you want to
drive PowerMILL from a macro.
This example shows you how to:
 Find the PowerMILL commands to include in your macros.
 Place them in a text editor such as WordPad.
 Display the macro in the explorer.
To create a macro:
1 From the Menu bar, select View > Toolbar > Command to open the
command window.
2 Select Tools > Echo Commands from the Menu bar to echo the
issued commands in the command window.

3 To see the commands needed to calculate a block:

a Click the Block button on the Main toolbar.

b When the Block dialog opens, click Calculate, and then click
Accept.
The command window shows the commands issued:

The commands are shown in square brackets; \r should be

ignored. The commands you need are: FORM BLOCK, EDIT
BLOCK RESET, and BLOCK ACCEPT.
4 Open WordPad, and enter the commands into it.

The commands aren't case-sensitive so FORM BLOCK is

the same as Form Block which is the same as foRm bLock.

6 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 5 Save the file as say, iniblock.mac. The macro is added to the
macro tree.

For more information see Running macros (see page 3).

Adding comments to macros

It is good practice to put comments into a macro file to explain what
it does. A comment is a line of text which has no effect on the
running of the macro file but will help anyone examining the file to
understand it. Comment lines start with //. For example,
// This macro imports my standard model, creates a block,
// and a ball nosed tool.
It is also good practice to have comments explaining what each
section of the macro file does. This may be obvious when you write
the macro but later it may be difficult to understand. It is good
practice to put the comments which describe commands before the
actual commands.
// Clean all the Roughing boundaries
MACRO Clean 'boundary\Roughing'
Another use of comments is to temporarily remove a command
from a macro. When debugging or writing a macro, it is a good idea
to write one step at a time and re-run the macro after each change.
If your macro contains a lengthy calculation, or the recreation of
toolpaths, you may want to temporarily comment out the earlier
parts of the macro whilst checking the later parts. For example:
// Import the model

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 7

 // IMPORT TEMPLATE ENTITY TOOLPATH "Finishing/Raster-
Flat-Finishing.ptf"

Macro User Guide

This example shows you how to use the PowerMILL macro
programming language to create a macro which prints the words of
the counting song "Ten Green Bottles".
10 green bottles sitting on the wall
10 green bottles sitting on the wall
And if 1 green bottle should accidentally fall
There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the wall

9 green bottles sitting on the wall

9 green bottles sitting on the wall
And if 1 green bottle should accidentally fall
There will be 8 green bottles sitting on the wall

and so on until the last verse

1 green bottle sitting on the wall

1 green bottle sitting on the wall
And if 1 green bottle should accidentally fall
There will be 0 green bottles sitting on the wall.

The main steps are:

1 Creating the basic macro (see page 9).
2 Adding macro variables (see page 9).
3 Adding macro loops (see page 10).
4 Running macros with arguments (see page 11).
5 Decision making in macros (see page 13).
6 Using functions in macros (see page 15).
7 Using a SWITCH statement (see page 17).
8 Returning values from macros (see page 18).
9 Using a FOREACH loop in a macro (see page 22).
10 Using arrays in a FOREACH loop (see page 24).

8 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 Basic macro
This shows you how to create and run a basic macro using
PowerMILL's programming language.
1 In a text editor such as WordPad enter:
PRINT "10 green bottles sitting on the wall"
PRINT "10 green bottles sitting on the wall"
PRINT "And if 1 green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT "There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the
wall"
2 Save the file as example.mac.
3 In PowerMILL, from the Tools menu select Toolbar > Command.
4 From the Macro context menu, select Run. This displays the
Select Macro to Run dialog.
5 Move to the appropriate directory, select example.mac, and click
Open. The macro runs and the command windows displays the
text enclosed in quotations marks (") in the macro.

Adding macro variables

The first two lines of example.mac are the same. To minimise
repetition (and for ease of maintenance) it is good practise to write
the line once and then recall it whenever it is needed. To do this
you must create a local variable to hold the line of text.
You can create different types of variables (see page 25) in
PowerMILL. To store a line of text you must use a STRING variable.
1 Open example.mac in your text editor and change it to:
// Create a variable to hold the first line
STRING bottles = "10 green bottles sitting on the wall"
PRINT $bottles
PRINT $bottles
PRINT "And if 1 green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT "There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the
wall"

The first line is a comment which explains the second line.

2 Save the file as example.mac.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 9

 3 In PowerMILL, Run the Macro. The command windows displays
the same as before:

You should be aware of several issues with variables:

 You must define all local variables before they are used, in this
case STRING bottles = "10 green bottles sitting on the
wall" defines the local variable bottles.
 The variable bottles is a local variable, so is only valid within the
macro where it is defined. It isn't a PowerMILL variable. Typing it
into the command window gives an error.

 When you have defined a local variable you can use it as many
times as you want in a macro.
 You can define as many local variables as you want in a macro.

Adding macro loops

There are two lines of the macro which are the same: PRINT
$bottles. This is acceptable in this case since the line only appears
twice, but if you wanted to repeat it 5 or 20 times it would be better
to use a loop. PowerMILL has three looping statements:
 WHILE (see page 56)
 DO - WHILE (see page 57)
 FOREACH (see page 55)
This example uses the WHILE statement to repeat the command 5
times.
1 Open example.mac in your text editor and change it to:
// Create a variable to hold the first line
STRING bottles = "10 green bottles sitting on the wall"

// Create a variable to hold the number of times

// you want to print the first line.
// In this case, 5
INT Count = 5

10 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Repeat while the condition Count is greater than 0
WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1
}

// Print the last two lines

PRINT "And if 1 green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT "There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the
wall"

$Count = Count - 1 is an assignment statement which is

why the variable ($Count) to the left of = must be prefixed
with $.

The empty lines aren't necessary, but make it easier to

read the macro.
2 Save the file as example.mac.
3 In PowerMILL, Run the Macro. The command windows displays:

Changing INT Count = 5 to INT Count = 10 prints 10 green

bottles sitting on the wall ten times, rather than five.

Running macros with arguments

The loop you added to example.mac works well if you always want to
print 10 green bottles sitting on the wall the same number of times.
However, if you want to change the number of repetitions at run
time, rather than editing the macro each time, it is much better to
write the macro so it is given the number of repetitions. To do this
you need to create a Main FUNCTION (see page 45).
1 Open example.mac in your text editor and change it to:
// Create a Main FUNCTION to hold the number of times
// you want to print the first line.
FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Create a variable to hold the first line

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 11

 STRING bottles = "10 green bottles sitting on the
wall"

// Repeat while the condition Count is greater than

0
WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1
}

// Print the last two lines

PRINT "If 1 green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT "There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the
wall"
}
2 Save the file as example.mac.
3 To run the macro you can't select Run from the Macro context
menu, as you need to give a value for Count. Therefore, in the
command window type:
MACRO example.mac 5
Where 5 is the value for Count. The command windows displays:

If you get a warning that the macro can't be found, check

you have created the necessary macro path (see page 88).

Adding your own functions

As well as a Main function you can create your own functions. This is
useful as a way of separating out a block of code. You can use
functions:
 to build up a library of useful operations
 to make a macro more understandable.

You can call a function any number of times within a macro.

This example separates out the printing of the first line into its own
function so that the Main function is more understandable.
1 Open example.mac in your text editor and change it to:
FUNCTION PrintBottles(INT Count) {

12 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Create a variable to hold the first line
STRING bottles = "10 green bottles sitting on the
wall"

// Repeat while the condition Count is greater than

0
WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1
}
}

FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Print the first line Count number of times

CALL PrintBottles(Count)

// Print the last two lines

PRINT "If 1 green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT "There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the
wall"
}
2 Save the macro.
3 Run the macro by typing MACRO example.mac 5 in the command
window.

This produces the same result as before.

The order of functions in a macro is irrelevant. For example, it

doesn't matter whether the Main function is before or after
the PrintBottles function.

It is important that each function name is unique and that the

macro has a function called Main.

You can have any number of functions in a macro.

Decision making in macros

The macro example.mac runs provided that you enter a positive
argument. However, if you always want the 10 green bottles sitting
on the wall line printed at least once use:

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 13

  A DO - WHILE (see page 57) loop as it executes all the commands
before testing the conditional expression.
 An IF (see page 49) statement.

DO - WHILE loop
1 Edit the PrintBottles function in example.mac to
FUNCTION PrintBottles(INT Count) {

// Create a variable to hold the first line

STRING bottles = "10 green bottles sitting on the
wall"

// Repeat while the condition Count is greater than

0
DO {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1
} WHILE Count > 0
}
The main function remains unchanged:
FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Print the first line Count number of times

CALL PrintBottles(Count)

// Print the last two lines

PRINT "And if 1 green bottle should accidentally
fall"
PRINT "There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the
wall"
}
2 Type MACRO example.mac 0 in the command window.

The 10 green bottles sitting on the wall line is printed once.

IF statement
You can use an IF statement to ensure the 10 green bottles sitting on
the wall line is printed at least twice.
1 Edit the Main function in example.mac to:
FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

14 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Make sure that Count is at least two
IF Count < 2 {
$Count = 2
}

// Print the first line Count number of times

CALL PrintBottles(Count)

// Print the last two lines

PRINT "And if 1 green bottle should accidentally
fall"
PRINT "There will be 9 green bottles sitting on the
wall"
}
The PrintBottles function remains unchanged:
FUNCTION PrintBottles(INT Count) {

// Create a variable to hold the first line

STRING bottles = "10 green bottles sitting on the
wall"

// Repeat while the condition Count is greater than

0
WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1
}
}
2 Type MACRO example.mac 0 in the command window.

The 10 green bottles sitting on the wall line is printed twice.

More on functions in macros

So far you have only printed the first verse of the counting song
"Ten Green Bottles". To make your macro print out all the verses
you must change the PrintBottles function so it takes two
arguments:
 Count for the number of times "X green bottles" is printed.
 Number for the number of bottles.
1 Edit the PrintBottles function in example.mac to

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 15

 FUNCTION PrintBottles(INT Count, INT Number) {
// Create a variable to hold the first line
STRING bottles = String(Number) + " green bottles
sitting on the wall"

// Repeat while the condition Count is greater than

0
WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
Count = Count - 1
}
}
This adds a second argument to the PrintBottles function. It then
uses a parameter function to convert the Number to a string
value, STRING (Number). It is then concatenated (+)with green
bottles sitting on the wall to make up the bottles string.
2 Edit the Main function in example.mac to:
FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {
// Make sure that Count is at least two
IF Count < 2 {
$Count = 2
}

// Start with ten bottles

INT Bottles = 10

WHILE Bottles > 0 {

// Print the first line 'Count' number of times
CALL PrintBottles(Count, Bottles)
// Count down Bottles
$Bottles = $Bottles - 1
// Build the number of 'bottles_left' string
STRING bottles_left = "There will be " +
string(Bottles) + " green bottles sitting on the
wall"
// Print the last two lines
PRINT "If 1 green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT $bottles_left
}
}

16 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 3 Type MACRO example.mac 2 in the command window.

In Main when you CALL PrintBottles you give it two arguments

Count and Bottles whilst within the PrintBottles function the
Bottles argument is referred to as Number. The parameters
passed to a function don't have to have the same names as
they are called within the function.

The order you call the arguments is important.

Any changes made to the value of a parameter within a

function doesn't alter the value of parameter in the calling
function unless the parameter is defined as an OUTPUT (see
page 18) value.

Using the SWITCH statement

So far you have used numerals to print the quantity of bottles but it
would be better to use words. So, instead of printing 10 green bottles
… print Ten green bottles ….
One way of doing this is to use a large IF - ELSEIF (see page 50)
chain to select the text representation of the number. Another way
is to use the SWITCH (see page 52) statement.
SWITCH Number {
CASE 10
$Text = "Ten"
BREAK
CASE 9
$Text = "Nine"
BREAK
CASE 8
$Text = "Eight"
BREAK
CASE 7
$Text = "Seven"
BREAK
CASE 6
$Text = "Six"
BREAK
CASE 5

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 17

 $Text = "Five"
BREAK
CASE 4
$Text = "Four"
BREAK
CASE 3
$Text = "Three"
BREAK
CASE 2
$Text = "Two"
BREAK
CASE 1
$Text = "One"
BREAK
DEFAULT
$Text = "No"
BREAK
}
The switch statement matches the value of its argument (in this
case Number) with a corresponding case value and executes all the
subsequent lines until it encounters a BREAK statement. If no
matching value is found the DEFAULT is selected (in this case No).

DEFAULT is an optional step.

Returning values from macros

This shows you how to create an OUTPUT variable from a SWITCH
statement.
1 Create a new function called NumberStr containing the SWITCH
statement in Using the SWITCH statement (see page 17) and a
first line of:
FUNCTION NumberStr(INT Number, OUTPUT STRING Text) {
and a last line of:
}
2 Edit the PrintBottles function in example.mac to
FUNCTION PrintBottles(INT Count INT Number) {

// Convert Number into a string

STRING TextNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Number,TextNumber)

// Create a variable to hold the first line

STRING bottles = TextNumber + " green bottles
sitting on the wall"

18 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Repeat while the condition Count is greater than
0
WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1
}
}
This adds the OUTPUT variable to the PrintBottles function.
3 Edit the Main function in example.mac to:
FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Make sure that Count is at least two

IF Count < 2 {
$Count = 2
}

// Start with ten bottles

INT Bottles = 10

WHILE Bottles > 0 {

// Print the first line Count number of times
CALL PrintBottles(Count, Bottles)
// Countdown Bottles
$Bottles = $Bottles - 1

// Convert Bottles to string

STRING BottlesNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Bottles, BottlesNumber)

// Build the number of bottles left string

STRING bottles_left = "There will be " +
lcase(BottlesNumber) + " green bottles sitting on
the wall"
// Print the last two lines
PRINT "If one green bottle should accidentally
fall"
PRINT $bottles_left
}
}
The BottlesNumber variable is declared in the WHILE loop of the
MAIN function.

Each code block or function can define its own set of local
variables; the scope of the variable is from its declaration
to the end of the enclosing block or function.
4 Add the NumberStr function into example.mac.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 19

 FUNCTION PrintBottles(INT Count, INT Number) {

// Convert Number into a string

STRING TextNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Number,TextNumber)

// Create a variable to hold the first line

STRING bottles = TextNumber + " green bottles sitting
on the wall"

// Repeat while the condition Count is greater than 0

WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1
}
}

FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Make sure that Count is at least two

IF Count < 2 {
$Count = 2
}

// Start with ten bottles

INT Bottles = 10

WHILE Bottles > 0 {

// Print the first line Count number of times
CALL PrintBottles(Count, Bottles)
// Countdown Bottles
$Bottles = $Bottles - 1

// Convert Bottles to string

STRING BottlesNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Bottles, BottlesNumber)

// Build the number of bottles left string

STRING bottles_left = "There will be " +
lcase(BottlesNumber) + " green bottles sitting on the
wall"
// Print the last two lines
PRINT "If one green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT $bottles_left
}
}

FUNCTION NumberStr(INT Number, OUTPUT STRING Text) {

SWITCH Number {

20 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 CASE 10
$Text = "Ten"
BREAK
CASE 9
$Text = "Nine"
BREAK
CASE 8
$Text = "Eight"
BREAK
CASE 7
$Text = "Seven"
BREAK
CASE 6
$Text = "Six"
BREAK
CASE 5
$Text = "Five"
BREAK
CASE 4
$Text = "Four"
BREAK
CASE 3
$Text = "Three"
BREAK
CASE 2
$Text = "Two"
BREAK
CASE 1
$Text = "One"
BREAK
DEFAULT
$Text = "No"
BREAK
}
}

To run the macro:

Type MACRO example.mac 2 in the command window.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 21

 Using a FOREACH loop in a macro
This example shows you how to use a FOREACH (see page 55) loop
to control the number of bottles rather than a WHILE loop.
1 Edit the Main function in example.mac to:
FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Make sure that Count is at least two

IF Count < 2 {
$Count = 2
}

FOREACH Bottles IN {10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1} {

// Print the first line Count number of times
CALL PrintBottles(Count, Bottles)
// Countdown Bottles
$Bottles = $Bottles - 1

// Convert Bottles to string

STRING BottlesNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Bottles, BottlesNumber)

// Build the number of bottles left string

STRING bottles_left = "There will be " +
lcase(BottlesNumber) + " green bottles sitting on
the wall"
// Print the last two lines
PRINT "If one green bottle should accidentally
fall"
PRINT $bottles_left
}
}
The rest of example.mac remains unaltered.
FUNCTION PrintBottles(INT Count, INT Number) {

// Convert Number into a string

STRING TextNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Number,TextNumber)

// Create a variable to hold the first line

STRING bottles = TextNumber + " green bottles sitting
on the wall"

// Repeat while the condition Count is greater than 0

WHILE Count > 0 {
// Print the line
PRINT $bottles
// Reduce the count by 1
$Count = Count - 1

22 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 }
}

FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Make sure that Count is at least two

IF Count < 2 {
$Count = 2
}

FOREACH Bottles IN {10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1} {

// Print the first line Count number of times
CALL PrintBottles(Count, Bottles)
// Countdown Bottles
$Bottles = $Bottles - 1

// Convert Bottles to string

STRING BottlesNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Bottles, BottlesNumber)

// Build the number of bottles left string

STRING bottles_left = "There will be " +
lcase(BottlesNumber) + " green bottles sitting on the
wall"
// Print the last two lines
PRINT "If one green bottle should accidentally fall"
PRINT $bottles_left
}
}

FUNCTION NumberStr(INT Number, OUTPUT STRING Text) {

SWITCH Number {
CASE 10
$Text = "Ten"
BREAK
CASE 9
$Text = "Nine"
BREAK
CASE 8
$Text = "Eight"
BREAK
CASE 7
$Text = "Seven"
BREAK
CASE 6
$Text = "Six"
BREAK
CASE 5
$Text = "Five"
BREAK
CASE 4

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 23

 $Text = "Four"
BREAK
CASE 3
$Text = "Three"
BREAK
CASE 2
$Text = "Two"
BREAK
CASE 1
$Text = "One"
BREAK
DEFAULT
$Text = "No"
BREAK
}
}

You don't need to declare the type or initial value of the

Bottles variable as the FOREACH loop handles this.
To run the macro:
Type MACRO example.mac 2 in the command window.

This gives exactly the same output as the Returning values from
macros (see page 18) example. It shows you an alternative way
of creating the same output.

Using arrays in a FOREACH loop

This example shows you how to use an array (see page 30) in a
FOREACH loop, rather than using a list, to control the number of
bottles.
1 Edit the Main function in example.mac to:
FUNCTION Main (INT Count) {

// Make sure that Count is at least two

IF Count < 2 {
$Count = 2
}

24 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Define an array of bottle numbers
INT ARRAY BottleArray[10] = {10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1}

FOREACH Bottles IN BottleArray {

// Print the first line Count number of times
CALL PrintBottles(Count, Bottles)
// Count down Bottles
$Bottles = $Bottles - 1

// Convert Bottles to string

STRING BottlesNumber = ''
CALL NumberStr(Bottles, BottlesNumber)

// Build the number of bottles left string

STRING bottles_left = "There will be " +
lcase(BottlesNumber) + " green bottles sitting on
the wall"
// Print the last two lines
PRINT "If one green bottle should accidentally
fall"
PRINT $bottles_left
}
}
The rest of example.mac remains unaltered.
2 Type MACRO example.mac 2 in the command window.

This gives exactly the same output as the Returning values from
macros (see page 18) example. It shows you an alternative way
of creating the same output.

Variables in macros
You can create variables in macros just as you can in a PowerMILL
project. When you create a variable in a macro, it has the same
properties as a PowerMILL parameter, and can store either a value
or an expression.

There are some restrictions on the use of macro variables.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 25

  Variable names must start with an alphabetic character (a-z, A-
Z) and may contain any number of subsequent alphanumeric
characters (a-z, A-Z, 1-9, _). For example, you can name a
variable Count1 but not 1Count.
 Variable names are case insensitive. For example, Count, count,
and CoUnT all refer to the same variable.
 All variables must have a type which can be:
INT - integer numbers. For example, 1, 21, 5008.
REAL - real numbers. For example, 201, -70.5, 66.0.
STRING - a sequence of characters. For example, hello.
BOOL - truth values, either 0 (false) or 1 (true).
 You must declare the variable type. For example,
INT Count = 5
REAL Diameter = 2.5
STRING Tapefile = "MyFile.tap"
 You can access any of the PowerMILL parameters in variable
declarations, expressions, or assignments.
 Any variables you create in a macro are only accessible from
within the macro. When the macro has finished the variable is no
longer accessible and can't be used in expressions or other
macros.
 If you need to create a variable that can be used at any time in a
PowerMILL project then you should create a User Parameter.

Assigning parameters
When you assign a value to a variable the expression is evaluated
and the result is assigned, the actual expression is not retained.
This is the same as using the EVAL modifier in the PowerMILL
parameter EDIT PAR command. These two statements are
equivalent:
EDIT PAR "Stepover" EVAL "Tool.Diamter * 0.6"
$Stepover = Tool.Diameter * 0.6

Variable and parameter names may optionally be prefixed

with a $ character. In most cases, you can omit the $ prefix,
but it MUST be used when you assign a value to either a
variable or parameter within a macro.

Inputting values into macros

An input dialog enables you to enter specific values into a macro.

26 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 The basic structure is:
$<variable> = INPUT <string-prompt>
This displays an input dialog with a specified prompt as its title
which enables you to enter a value.

If you add an input dialog you should consider adding an error

function to check the value entered is reasonable.
For example:
string prompt = "Enter a number"
$i = input $prompt
$err = ERROR i
}
produces this dialog:

Asking a Yes/No question

A Yes/No query dialog is a very simple dialog.
Selecting Yes assigns 1 to the variable.
Selecting No assigns 0 to the variable.
The basic structure is:
$<variable> = QUERY <string-prompt>
For example:
string yesnoprompt = "You entered 5. Would you like to
have another go?"
bool carryon = 0
$carryon = query $yesnoprompt
produces this dialog:

Creating a message dialog

There are three types of message dialogs:
 Information dialogs
 Warning dialogs
 Error dialogs

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 27

 The basic structure is:
MESSAGE INFO|WARN|ERROR <expression>
For example, an input dialog to enter a number into a macro:
real i = 3
string prompt = "Enter a number"
do {
bool err = 0
do {
$i = input $prompt
$err = ERROR i
if err {
$prompt = "Please 'Enter a number'"
}
} while err
string yesnoprompt = "You entered " + string(i) + ".
Would you like to have another go?"
bool carryon = 0
$carryon = query $yesnoprompt
} while $carryon
message info "Thank you!"
An example to find out if a named toolpath exists:
string name = ""
$name = input "Enter the name of a toolpath"
if pathname('toolpath',name) == "" {
message error "Sorry. Couldn't find toolpath " + name
} else {
message info "Yes! Toolpath " + name + " exists!"
}

Carriage return in dialogs

You can specify a carriage return to control the formatting of the
text in a message dialog using crlf..
For example, looking at the input dialog to enter a number into a
macro:
real i = 3
string prompt = "Enter a number"
do {
bool err = 0
do {
$i = input $prompt
$err = ERROR i
if err {
$prompt = "Please 'Enter a number'"
}
} while err

28 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 string yesnoprompt = "You entered " + string(i) + "." +
crlf + " Would you like to have another go?"
bool carryon = 0
$carryon = query $yesnoprompt
} while $carryon
message info "Thank you!"
produces this query dialog:

User selection of entities in macros

Use the INPUT command to prompt the user to select a specific
entity in PowerMILL, such as a toolpath or a tool. You can use this
to:
 Display a list of available entities
 Prompt the user to select one of them s.
For example, to list all the available tools and then ask the user to
select one:
STRING ToolName = ''
$ToolName = INPUT ENTITY TOOL "Please select a Tool."

This command returns the name of the tool the user selected.
This example creates two folders, creates two tool in each folder,
then asks the user to select one of the tools:
// Create some tools in folders
CREATE FOLDER 'Tool' 'Endmills'
CREATE IN 'Tool\Endmills' TOOL 'End 20' ENDMILL
EDIT TOOL ; DIAMETER 20
CREATE IN 'Tool\Endmills' TOOL 'End 10' ENDMILL
EDIT TOOL ; DIAMETER 10
CREATE FOLDER 'Tool' 'Balls'
CREATE IN 'Tool\Balls' TOOL 'Ball 12' BALLNOSED
EDIT TOOL ; DIAMETER 12
CREATE IN 'Tool\Balls' TOOL 'Ball 10' BALLNOSED
EDIT TOOL ; DIAMETER 10
// Prompt user to pick one
STRING ToolName = ''
$ToolName = INPUT ENTITY TOOL "Please select a Tool."

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 29

 User selection of a file name
You can prompt your user for a filename with Use the FILESELECT
command to prompt the user for a file name. This command
displays an Open dialog which enables user to browse for a file.
For example:
STRING Filename = ''
$Filename = FILESELECT "Please select a pattern file"

Arrays and lists

Arrays
In addition to simple variables of type INT, REAL, or STRING you
can also have arrays of these types. When you declare an array you
must initialise all of its members using an initialisation list. When
you have specified an array you cannot change its size. The syntax
for an array is:
BASIC-TYPE ARRAY name[n] = {…}
For example, to declare an array of three strings:
STRING ARRAY MyArray[3] = {'First','Second','Third'}
All the items in the initialisation list must be the same BASIC-TYPE
as the array.
You can access the items of the array by subscripting. The first item
in the array is subscript 0. For example:
INT Index = 0
WHILE Index < size(MyArray) {
PRINT MyArray[Index]
$Index = Index + 1
}
Prints:
First
Second
Third
If you leave the size of the array empty, then PowerMILL
determines its size from the number of elements in the initialisation
list. For example:
STRING ARRAY MyArray[] =
{'First','Second','Third','Fourth'}
PRINT = size(MyArray)
Prints:
4

30 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 Lists
PowerMILL also has a LIST type. The main difference between a list
and an array is that the list doesn't have a fixed size, so you can
add and remove items to it. You can create lists:
 that are empty to start with
 rom an initialisation list
 from an array.
// Create an empty list
STRING LIST MyStrings = {}
// Create a list from an array
STRING LIST MyList = MyArray
// Create a list using an initialisation list
STRING LIST MyListTwo = {'First','Second'}
You can use two inbuilt functions add_first() and add_last() to
add items to a list.
For example using the inbuilt function add_last():
CREATE PATTERN Daffy
CREATE PATTERN Duck
// Create an empty list of strings
STRING LIST Patterns = {}
FOREACH pat IN folder('Pattern') {
// Add the name of the pattern to the list
int s = add_last(Patterns, pat.Name)
}
FOREACH name IN Patterns {
PRINT = $name
}
Prints:
Daffy
Duck
You can also add items to the front of a list by using the inbuilt
function add_first():
CREATE PATTERN Daffy
CREATE PATTERN Duck
// Create an empty list of strings
STRING LIST Patterns = {}
FOREACH pat IN folder('Pattern') {
// Add the name of the pattern to the list
int s = add_first(Patterns, pat.Name)
}
FOREACH name IN Patterns {
PRINT = $name
}

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 31

 Prints:
Duck
Daffy

Using lists
A list, like an array, contains multiple values. You can create a list
with initial values:
INT LIST MyList = {1,2,3,4}

Unlike an ARRAY, you do not use the [] syntax.

You can specify an empty list:
INT LIST MyEmptyList = {}
You can use lists anywhere you might use an array. For instance,
you can use a list in a FOREACH loop:
FOREACH i IN MyList {
PRINT = i
}
or to initialise an array:
INT ARRAY MyArray[] = MyList
You can also use an array to initialise a list:
INT LIST MyList2 = MyArray
You can pass a list to macro functions that expect an array:
FUNCTION PrintArray(INT ARRAY MyArray) {
FOREACH i IN Myarray {
PRINT = i
}
}

FUNCTION Main() {
INT LIST MyList = {10,20,30,40}
CALL PrintArray(MyList)
}
You will normally access the elements of a list with a FOREACH loop,
but you can also access the elements using the array subscripting
notation:
INT Val = MyList[2]

Adding items to a list summary

The main differences between a list and an array is that a list can
have items added to it and removed from it.

32 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 To add an item to a list you can use either of the inbuilt functions
add_first() or add_last().
For example, to collect the names of all the toolpaths in a folder:
// Create an empty list
STRING LIST TpNames = {}

FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath\MyFolder') {
INT Size = add_last(TpNames, tp.name)
}
For more information see Adding comments to macros (see page 7).

Removing items from a list summary

The main differences between a list and an array is that a list can
have items added to it and removed from it.
To remove an item from a list you can use either of the inbuilt
functions remove_first() or remove_last().
For example, if you have a list of toolpath names some of which are
batched and you want to ask the user whether they want them
calculated now. You can use a function which removes calculated
toolpaths from the list and creates a query message for the rest.
FUNCTION CalculateNow(STRING LIST TpNames) {
// Cycle through the list
FOREACH Name IN TpNames {
IF entity('toolpath',Name).Calculated {
// Toolpath already calculated so
// remove name from list
BOOL success = remove(TpNames,Name)
}
}
// Do we have any names left
IF size(TpNames) > 0 {
// Build the prompt string
STRING Msg = "These toolpaths are uncalculated"
FOREACH name IN TpNames {
$Msg = Msg + CRLF + name
}
$Msg = Msg + CRLF + "Do you want to calculate them
now?"
// Ask the user if they want to proceeed
bool yes = 0
$yes = QUERY $msg
IF yes {
// Loop through the toolpaths and calculate them
WHILE size(TpNames) > 0 {
STRING Name = remove_first(TpNames)
ACTIVATE TOOLPATH $Name
EDIT TOOLPATH ; CALCULATE

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 33

 }
}
}
}
You could use a FOREACH loop rather than a WHILE loop:
FOREACH Name IN TpNames {
ACTIVATE TOOLPATH $Name
EDIT TOOLPATH ; CALCULATE
}
PowerMILL has an inbuilt function which allows you to remove
duplicate items from a list: remove_duplicates. For example, to
determine how many different tool diameters there are in your
toolpaths you could add the tool diameters from each toolpath and
then remove the duplicates:
REAL LIST Diameters = {}
FOREACH tp IN folder('toolpath') {
INT s = add_first(Diameters, tp.Tool.Diameter)
}
INT removed = remove_duplicates(Diameters)
For more information, see Removing items from a list (see page 76)
or Removing duplicate items in a list (see page 75).

Building a list
You can use the inbuilt member() function in a macro function to
build a list of tool names used by toolpaths or boundaries without
any duplicates:
FUNCTION ToolNames(STRING FolderName, OUTPUT STRING LIST
ToolNames) {

// loop over all the items in FolderName

FOREACH item IN folder(FolderName) {

// Define local working variables

STRING Name = ''
INT size = 0

// check that the item's tool exists

// it might not have been set yet
IF entity_exists(item.Tool) {
// get the name and add it to our list
$Name = item.Tool.Name
IF NOT member(FolderName, Name) {
$dummy = add_last(FolderName, Name)
}
}

// Check whether this item has a reference tool

34 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // and that it has been set
IF active(item.ReferenceTool) AND
entity_exists(item.ReferenceTool) {
// get the name and add it to our list
$Name = item.ReferenceTool.Name
IF NOT member(FolderName, Name) {
$dummy = add_last(FolderName, Name)
}
}
}
}
Since this function can work on any toolpath, or boundary folder,
you can collect all the tools used by the toolpaths in one list and all
of the tools used by boundaries in another list. You can do this by
calling the macro function twice:
STRING LIST ToolpathTools = {}
STRING LIST BoundaryTools = {}
CALL ToolNames('Toolpath',ToolpathTools)
CALL ToolNames('Boundary',BoundaryTools)
To return a list containing the items from both sets with any
duplicates removed:
STRING LIST UsedToolNames = set_union(ToolpathTools,
BoundaryTools)

Subtract function
You can use the subtract() function to determine what happened
after carrying out a PowerMILL command. For example, suppose
you to find out if any new toolpaths are created during a toolpath
verification. If you get the list of toolpath names before the
operation, and the list of names after the operation, and then
subtract the ‘before’ names from the ‘after’ names you are left with
the names of any new toolpaths.
FUNCTION GetNames(STRING FolderName, OUTPUT STRING LIST
Names) {
FOREACH item IN folder(FolderName) {
INT n = add_last(Names, item.Name)
}
}

FUNCTION Main() {

STRING LIST Before = {}

CALL GetNames('toolpath',Before)

EDIT COLLISION APPLY

STRING LIST After = {}

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 35

 CALL GetNames('toolpath',After)
STRING LIST NewNames = subtract(After, Before)

IF is_empty(NewNames) {
PRINT "No new toolpaths were created."
} ELSE {
PRINT "The new toolpaths created are:"
FOREACH item IN NewNames {
PRINT = item
}
}
}

Vectors and points

In PowerMILL vectors and points are represented by an array of
three reals.
PowerMILL contains point and vector parameters, for example the
Workplane.Origin, Workplane.ZAxis, ToolAxis.Origin, and
ToolAxis.Direction. You can create your own vector and point
variables:
REAL ARRAY VecX[] = {1,0,0}
REAL ARRAY VecY[] = {0,1,0}
REAL ARRAY VecZ[] = {0,0,1}
REAL ARRAY MVecZ[] = {0,0,-1}

REAL ARRAY Orig[] = {0,0,0}

For more information, see the inbuilt Vectors and points functions
(see page 62)

Comparing variables
Comparing variables allows you to check information and defines
the course of action to take when using IF (see page 49) and WHILE
(see page 56) statements.
The result of a comparison is either true or false. When true the
result is 1, when false the result is 0.
A simple comparison may consist of two variables with a relational
operator between them:
Relational operator Description
Symbol Text
== EQ is equal to
!= NE is not equal to
< LT is less than

36 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 <= GE is less than or equal
to
> GT is greater than
>= GE is greater than or
equal to

You can use either the symbol or the text in a comparison.

For example,
BOOL C = (A == B)
is the same as:
BOOL C = (A EQ B)
C is assigned 1 (true) if A equals B and . If A doesn't equal B, then
C is 0 (false).

The operators = and == are different.

The single equal operator, =, assigns the value on the right-
hand side to the left-hand side.
The double equals operator, ==, compares two values for
equality.
If you compare the values of two strings, you must use the correct
capitalisation.
For example, if you want to check that the tool is an end mill, then
you must use:
Tool.Type == 'end_mill'
and not:
Tool.Type == 'End_Mill
If you are unsure about the case of a string then you can use one of
the inbuilt functions lcase() or ucase() to test against the lower case
(see page 70) or upper case (see page 69) version of the string:
lcase(Tool.Type) == 'end_mill'
ucase(Tool.Type) == 'END_MILL'
For example, comparing variables:
BOOL bigger = (Tool.Diameter+Thickness
>=ReferenceToolpath.Tool.Diameter+ReferenceToolpath.Thick
ness)
gives a result of 1 (true) when the Tool.Diameter + Thickness is
greater than or equal to the ReferenceToolpath.Tool.Diameter +
ReferenceToolpath.Thickness and a result of 0 (false) otherwise.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 37

 Logical operators
Logical operators let you to do more than one comparison at a time.
There are four logical operators:
 AND
 OR
 XOR
 NOT

Remember the result of a comparison is either true or false.

When true, the result is ; when false, the result is 0.

Using the logical operator AND

The result is true (1) if all operands are true, otherwise the result is
false (0).
Operand 1 Operand 2 Operand 1 AND
Operand 2
true (1) true (1) true (1)
true (1) false (0) false (0)
false (0) true (1) false (0)
false (0) false (0) false (0)

Using the logical operator OR

The result is true (1) if at least one operand is true. If all the
operands are false (0) the result is false.
Operand 1 Operand 2 Operand 1 OR
Operand 2
true (1) true (1) true (1)
true (1) false (0) true (1)
false (0) true (1) true (1)
false (0) false (0) false (0)

Using the logical operator XOR

The result is true (1) if exactly one operand is true. If all the
operands are false the result is false (0). If more than one operand
is true the result is false (0).
Operand 1 Operand 2 Operand 1 XOR
Operand 2
true (1) true (1) false (0)
true (1) false (0) true (1)

38 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 false (0) true (1) true (1)
false (0) false (0) false (0)

Using the logical operator NOT

The result is the inverse of the input.
Operand 1 NOT Operand 1
true (1) false (0)
false (0) true (1)

Advance variable options

Scratchpad variables
It is possible to create and manipulate variables in the command
line window. These are called scratchpad variables as you can use
them to test the results of parameter evaluation without having to
write a macro.
For example, to test some code, in the command line window type:
STRING Test = Tool.Name
DEACTIVATE TOOL
ACTIVATE TOOL $Test

To clear the scratchpad, in the command line window type:

RESET LOCALVARS
If you don't issue the RESET LOCALVARS command, the local
variable, Test, remains defined until you exit from PowerMILL.

Using variables and parameters in macro commands

You can substitute the value of a variable or parameter in a
command wherever the command expects a number or a string. To
do this, prefix the variable or parameter name with a $.
For example, to create a tool with a diameter that is half that of the
active tool.
// Calculate the new diameter and name of tool
REAL HalfDiam = Tool.Diameter/2
STRING NewName = string(Tool.Type) + " D-" +
string(HalfDiam)

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 39

 // Create a new tool and make it the active one
COPY TOOL ;
ACTIVATE TOOL #

// Now rename the new tool and edit its diameter

RENAME TOOL ; $NewName
EDIT TOOL $NewName DIAMETER $HalfDiam
This creates a tool with half the diameter.

Scope of variables
A variable exists from the time it is declared until the end of the
block of code within which it is declared. Blocks of code are macros
and control structures (WHILE, DO - WHILE, SWITCH, IF-ELSEIF-
ELSE, and FOREACH).
A variable, with a specific name, can only be defined once within
any block of code.
For example,
// Define a local variable 'Count'
INT Count = 5
// Define a second local variable 'Count'
INT Count = 2
Gives an error since Count is defined twice.
However, within an inner block of code you can define another
variable with the same name as a variable (already defined) in an
outer block:
INT Count = 5
IF Count > 0 {
// Define a new local variable 'Count'
INT Count = 3
// Print 3
PRINT $Count
// The local Count is no longer defined
}
// Print 5
PRINT $Count
A variable defined within an inner block of code hides any variable
declared in an outer block. This is also important if you use a name
for a variable which matches one of PowerMILL’s parameters. For
example, if the toolpath stepover is 5 and in your macro you have:
// 'Hide' the global stepover by creating your own
variable
REAL Stepover = 2
// Print Stepover
PRINT $Stepover

40 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 The value printed is 2 not 5, and the toolpath stepover value is
unchanged. To access the current toolpath's stepover parameter
you must use toolpath.Stepover.
// 'Hide' the global stepover by creating your own
variable
REAL Stepover = 2
// Print 2
PRINT $Stepover
// Print the value of the toolpath's stepover - which is
5
PRINT $toolpath.Stepover

As macro variables cease to exist at the end of a macro or

block of code, you should not use a variable defined in a
macro within a retained expression. You can use assignments,
as the value is computed immediately. Don't use a macro
variable in an EDIT PAR expression without EVAL as this
causes an expression error when PowerMILL tries to evaluate
it.
REAL Factor = 0.6
// The next two commands are OK as the expression is
evaluated immediately.
$Stepover = Tool.Diameter * Factor
EDIT PAR "Stepover" EVAL "Tool.Diameter * Factor"
// The next command isn't OK because the expression is
retained.
EDIT PAR "Stepover" "Tool.Diameter * Factor"
The Factor variable ceases to exist at the end of the macro, so
Stepover will evaluate as an error.

Using expressions in macros

An arithmetic expression is a list of variables and values with
operators which define a value. Typical usage is in variable
declarations and assignments.
// Variable declarions
REAL factor = 0.6
REAL value = Tolerance * factor

// Assignments
$Stepover = Tool.Diameter * factor
$factor = 0.75

When using an assignment you MUST prefix the variable

name with a $. So PowerMILL can disambiguate an
assignment from other words in the macro command
language.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 41

 In assignments, the expression is always evaluated and the
resulting value assigned to the variable on the left of the =
operand.
In addition to using expressions in calculations, you can use logical
expressions to make decisions in macros. The decision making
statements in PowerMILL are IF-ELSE_IF (see page 50), SWITCH
(see page 52), WHILE (see page 56), and DO-WHILE (see page 57).
These execute the commands within their code blocks if the result
of an expression is true (1). For example:
IF active(Tool.TipRadiused) {
// Things to do if a tip radiused tool.
}
IF active(Tool.TipRadiused) AND Tool.Diameter < 5 {
// Things to do if a tip radiused tool and the diameter
// is less than 5.
}
You can use any expression to decide whether or not a block of
code will be performed.

Operators for integers and real numbers

The standard arithmetical operators are available for integers and
real numbers.
Operator Description Examples
+ addition 3+5 evaluates to 8
- subtraction 5-3 evaluates to 2
* multiplication 5*3 evaluates to
15
/ division 6/2 evaluates to 3
% modulus. This is the 11%3 evaluates to
remainder after two 2
integers are divided
^ to the power of 2^3 is the same as
2*2*2 and
evaluates to 8
For a complete list of operators, see the HTML page displayed when
you select Help > Parameters > Reference > Functions.

Operators for strings

The concatenation (+) operator is available for string.
For example "abc"+"xyz" evaluates to abcxyz.

42 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 You can use this to build strings from various parts, for example:
MESSAGE "The Stepover value is: " + string(Stepover)

Operator precedence
The order in which various parts of an expression are evaluated
affects the result. The operator precedence unambiguously
determines the order in which sub-expressions are evaluated.
 Multiplication and division are performed before addition and
subtraction.
For example, 3 * 4 +2 is the same as 2 + 3 * 4 and gives the
answer 14.
 Exponents and roots are performed before multiplication and
addition.
For example, 3 + 5 ^ 2 is the same as 3 + 5 and gives the
answer 28.
-3 ^ 2 is the same as -3 and gives the answer -9.
 Use brackets (parentheses) to avoid confusion.
For example, 2 + 3 * 4 is the same as 2 + (3 * 4) and gives the
answer 14.
 Parentheses change the order of precedence as terms inside in
parentheses are performed first.
For example, (2 + 3) * 4 gives the answer 20.
or, (3 + 5) ^2 is the same as (3 + 5) and gives the answer 64.
 You must surround the arguments of a function with
parentheses.
For example, y = sqrt(2), y = tan(x), y = sin(x + z).
 Relational operators are performed after addition and
subtraction.
For example, a+b >= c+d is the same as (a+b) >= (c+d).
 Logical operators are performed after relational operators,
though parentheses are often added for clarity.
For example:
5 == 2+3 OR 10 <= 3*3
is the same as:
(5 == (2+3)) OR (10 <= (3*3))
but is normally written as
(5 == 2+3) OR (10 <= 3*3).

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 43

 Precedence
Order Operation Description
1 () function call, operations
grouped in parentheses
2 [] operations grouped in square
brackets
3 +-! unary prefix (unary operations
have only one operand, such
as, !x, -y)
4 cm mm um ft unit conversion
in th
5 ^ exponents and roots
6 */% multiplication, division, modulo
7 +- addition and subtraction
8 < <= > >= relational comparisons: less
(LT, LE, GT, than, less than or equal,
GE) greater than, greater than or
equal
9 == != (EQ, relational comparisons: equals,
NE) not equals
10 AND logical operator AND
11 NOT logical operator NOT
12 XOR logical operator XOR
13 OR logical operator OR
14 , separation of elements in a list
Examples of precedence:
Expression Equivalent
a*-2 a * (- 2)
!x == 0 (!x) == 0
$a = -b + c * d – e $a = ((-b) + (c * d)) – e
$a = b + c % d – e $a = (b + (c % d)) – e
$x = y == z $x = (y == z)
$x = -t + q * r / c $x = ((-t) + ((q * r) / c))
$x = a % b * c + d $x = (((a % b) * c) + d)
$a = b <= c | d != e $a = ((b <= c) | (d != e))

44 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 $a = !b | c & d $a = ((!b) | (c & d))
$a = b mm * c in + d $a = (((b mm) * (c in)) + d)

Macro functions
When you run a macro you can use arguments, such as the name of
a toolpath, tool, or a tolerance. You must structure the macro to
accept arguments by creating a FUNCTION called Main (see page
46) then specify the arguments and their type.
For example, a macro to polygonise a boundary to a specified
tolerance is:
FUNCTION Main(REAL tol) {
EDIT BOUNDARY ; SMASH $tol
}
A macro to set the diameter of a named tool is:
FUNCTION Main(
STRING name
REAL diam
)
{
EDIT TOOL $name DIAMETER $dia
}
To run these macros with arguments add the arguments in the
correct order to the end of the MACRO command:
MACRO MyBoundary.mac 0.5
MACRO MyTool.mac "ToolName" 6
If you use FUNCTION in your macro, then all commands must be
within a function body. This means that you must have a FUNCTION
Main, which is automatically called when the macro is run.
FUNCTION CleanBoundary(string name) {
REAL offset = 1 mm
REAL diam = entity('boundary';name).Tool.Diameter
// Delete segments smaller than tool diameter
EDIT BOUNDARY $name SELECT AREA LT $diam
DELETE BOUNDARY $name SELECTED
//Offset outwards and inwards to smooth boundary
EDIT BOUNDARY $name OFFSET $offset
EDIT BOUNDARY $name OFFSET ${-offset}
}
FUNCTION Main(string bound) {
FOREACH bou IN folder(bound) {
CALL CleanBoundary(bou.Name)
}
}

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 45

 Within a function, you can create and use variables that are local to
the function, just as you can within a WHILE loop. However, a
function can't access any variable that's defined elsewhere in the
macro, unless that variable has been passed to the function as an
argument.

In the CleanBoundary function, ${-offset} offset the

boundary by a negative offset. When you want to substitute
the value of an expression into a PowerMILL command rather
than the value of a parameter, use the syntax
${expression}. The expression can contain any valid
PowerMILL parameter expression including: inbuilt function
calls; mathematical, logical, and comparison operators.

As this macro requires an argument (the boundary name) you

must run this from the command window. To run
Clean_Boundary.mac macro on the Cavity boundary you must
type macro Clean_Boundary "Cavity" in the command line.

Main function
If a macro has any functions:
 It must have one, and only one, FUNCTION called Main.
 The Main function must be the first function called.
Function names aren't case sensitive: MAIN, main, and MaIn all refer
to the same function.
Running a macro where the Main function is called with either the
wrong number of arguments or with types of arguments that don't
match, causes an error. For example:
MACRO MyTool.mac 6 "ToolName"
generates an error since the macro expects a string and then a
number, but is given a number and then a string.
If you want to repeat a sequence of commands at different points
within a macro, you can use a FUNCTION.
For example, if you want to remove any small islands that are
smaller than the tool diameter and smooth out any minor kinks
after a boundary calculation. One solution is to repeat the same
commands after each boundary calculation:
EDIT BOUNDARY ; SELECT AREA LT Boundary.Tool.Diameter
DELETE BOUNDARY ; SELECTED
EDIT BOUNDARY ; OFFSET "1 mm"
EDIT BOUNDARY ; OFFSET "-1 mm"

46 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 This is fine if you have a macro that creates one boundary, but if it
creates a number of boundaries you end up with a macro with
excessive repetition. However by using a FUNCTION you can define
the sequence once:
FUNCTION CleanBoundary(string name) {
REAL offset = 1 mm
REAL diam = entity('boundary';name).Tool.Diameter
// Delete segments smaller than tool diameter
EDIT BOUNDARY $name SELECT AREA LT $diam
DELETE BOUNDARY $name SELECTED
//Offset outwards and inwards to smooth boundary
EDIT BOUNDARY $name OFFSET $offset
EDIT BOUNDARY $name OFFSET ${-offset}
}
Then call it whenever it is needed:
FOREACH bou IN folder('boundary') {
CALL CleanBoundary(bou.Name)
}
CREATE BOUNDARY Shallow30 SHALLOW
EDIT BOUNDARY Shallow30 CALCULATE
CALL CleanBoundary('Shallow30')

Returning values from functions

There are two types of arguments to FUNCTIONS:
 Input variables ($ Input arguments). If a parameter is an input
then any changes to the parameter inside the function are lost
when the function returns. This is the default.
 Output variables ($ Output arguments) retain their value after
the function returns.
When you call a function, PowerMILL creates temporary copies of all
the arguments to the function, these copies are removed when the
function returns. However, if the macro contains an OUTPUT to an
argument, then instead of creating a temporary copy of the
variable, it creates an alias for the existing variable. Any changes
that you make to the alias directly, change the actual variable.
In the example, the Test function has two arguments: aInput and
aOutput. Within the Test function:
 The argument aInput is a new temporary variable that only exists
within the function, any changes to its value only affect the
temporary, and are lost once the function ends.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 47

  The aOutput variable is an alias for the variable that was passed
in the CALL command, any changes to its value are actually
changing the value of the variable that was given in the CALL
command.
FUNCTION Test(REAL aInput, OUTPUT REAL aOutput) {
PRINT $aInput
$aInput = 5
PRINT $aOutput
$aOutput = 0
PRINT $aOutput
}

FUNCTION Main() {
REAL Par1 = 2
REAL Par2 = 1
CALL Test(Par1, Par2)
// Prints 2 - value is unchanged
PRINT $Par1
// Prints 0 - value has been changed
PRINT $Par2
}
When the CALL command is executed in the MAIN function:
1 PowerMILL creates a new REAL variable called aInput. It is
assigned the value of Par1, and passed into Test.
2 PowerMILL passes Par2 directly into Test where it is known as
aOutput.

Sharing functions between macros

You can share functions between macros by using the INCLUDE
statement. You can put all your common functions in a file which
you then INCLUDE within other macros. For example, if you put the
CleanBoundary function into a file called common.inc you could
rewrite the macro as:

INCLUDE common.inc
FUNCTION Main(input string bound) {
FOREACH bou IN folder(bound) {
CALL CleanBoundary(bou.Name)
}
}
To call this macro from PowerMILL:

// Clean all the boundaries

MACRO Clean 'boundary'
// Clean all the Roughing boundaries
MACRO Clean 'boundary\Roughing'

48 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 IF statement
The IF statement executes a series of commands when a certain
condition is met.
The basic control structure is:
IF <expression> {
Commands A
}
Commands B
If expression is true then Commands A are executed, followed by
Commands B.
If expression is false, then only Commands B are executed.

For example, if you want to calculate a toolpath, but don't want to

waste time re-calculating a toolpath that has already been
calculated:
// If the active toolpath hasn't been calculated do so
now
IF NOT Computed {
EDIT TOOLPATH $TpName CALCULATE
}
You must enclose Commands A in braces, {}, and the braces must be
positioned correctly. For example, the following command is NOT
valid:
IF (radius == 3) PRINT "Invalid radius"
To make this command valid, add the braces:
IF (radius == 3) {
PRINT "Invalid radius"
}

The first brace must be the last item on the line and on the
same line as the IF.
The closing brace must be on a line by itself.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 49

 IF - ELSE statement
The IF - ELSE statement executes a series of commands when a
certain condition is met and a different series of commands
otherwise.
The basic control structure is:
IF <expression> {
Commands A
} ELSE {
Commands B
}
Commands C
If expression is true, then Commands A are executed followed by
Commands C.
If expression is false, then Commands B are executed followed by
Commands C.

// Set tool axis lead/lean if tip radiused tool

// Otherwise use the vertical tool axis.
IF active(Tool.TipRadius) OR Tool.Type == "ball_nosed" {
EDIT TOOLAXIS TYPE LEADLEAN
EDIT TOOLAXIS LEAD "5"
EDIT TOOLAXIS LEAN "5"
} ELSE {
EDIT TOOLAXIS TYPE VERTICAL
}

IF - ELSEIF - ELSE statement

The IF - ELSEIF - ELSE statement executes a series of commands
when a certain condition is met, a different series of commands
when the first condition isn't met and the second condition is met
and a different series of commands when none of the conditions are
met.
The basic control structure is:

50 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 IF <expression_1> {
Commands A
} ELSEIF <expression_2> {
Commands B
} ELSE {
Commands C
}
Commands D
If expression_1 is true, then Commands A are executed followed by
Commands D.
If expression_1 is false and expression_2 is true, then Commands B are
executed followed by Commands D.
If expression_1 is false and expression_2 is false, then Commands C
are executed followed by Commands D.

ELSE is an optional statement. There may be any number of

ELSEIF statements in a block but no more than one ELSE.
IF Tool.Type == "end_mill" OR Tool.Type == "ball_nosed" {
$radius = Tool.Diameter/2
} ELSEIF active(Tool.TipRadius) {
$radius = Tool.TipRadius
} ELSE {
$radius = 0
PRINT "Invalid tool type"
}
This sets the variable radius to:
 Half the tool diameter if the tool is an end mill or ball nosed tool.
 The tip radius if the tool is a tip radiused tool.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 51

  Displays Invalid tool type if the tool is anything else.

SWITCH statement
When you compare a variable with a number of possible values and
each value determines a different outcome, it is advisable to use the
SWITCH statement.
The SWITCH statement allows you to compare a variable against a
list of possible values. This comparison determines which
commands are executed.
The basic control structure is:
SWITCH variable {
CASE (constant_A)
Commands A
CASE (constant_B)
Commands B
DEFAULT
Commands C
}
Commands D
If condition_A is true then Commands A, B, C, and D are executed.
If condition_B is true then Commands B, C, and D are executed.
If condition_A and condition_B are false then Commands C, and D are
executed.

When a match is found all the commands in the remaining

CASE statements are executed. You can prevent this from
happening by using a BREAK (see page 53) statement.

52 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 You can have any number of CASE statements, but at most
one DEFAULT statement.
This example makes changes to the point distribution based on the
tool axis type. There are three options:
1 3+2-axis toolpaths to have an output point distribution type of
Tolerance and keep arcs and a lead in and lead out distance of
200.
2 3-axis toolpaths to have an output point distribution type of
Tolerance and keep arcs.
3 5-axis toolpaths to have an output point distribution type of
Redistribute.

Because the CASE 'direction' block of code doesn't have a

BREAK statement the macro also executes the code in the
'vertical' block.
SWITCH ToolAxis.Type {
CASE 'direction'
EDIT TOOLPATH LEADS RETRACTDIST "200.0"
EDIT TOOLPATH LEADS APPROACHDIST "200"
// fall though to execute
CASE 'vertical'
// Redistribute points to tolerance and keep arcs
EDIT FILTER TYPE STRIP
BREAK
DEFAULT
// Redistribute points
EDIT FILTER TYPE REDISTRIBUTE
BREAK
}

BREAK statement in a SWITCH statement

The BREAK statement exits the SWITCH statement.
The basic control structure is:
SWITCH variable {
CASE (constant_A)
Commands A
BREAK
CASE (constant_B)
Commands B
BREAK
DEFAULT
Commands C
}

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 53

 Commands D
If condition_A is true then Commands A are executed followed by
Commands D.

Remember, if there is no break statements then commands A,

B, C, and D are carried out.
If condition_B is true then Commands B are executed followed by
Commands D.
If condition_A and condition_B are false then Commands C are
executed followed by Commands D.

Repeating commands in macros

If you want to repeat a set of commands a number of times, for
example, creating a circle at the start of every line in the model,
you can use loops.
For example, if you have two feature sets, Top and Bottom, which
contain holes you want to drill from the top and bottom of the
model respectively, use the macro:
STRING Fset = 'Top'
INT Count = 0

WHILE Count < 2 {

ACTIVATE FEATURESET $Fset
ACTIVATE WORKPLANE FROMENTITY FEATURESET $Fset
IMPORT TEMPLATE ENTITY TOOLPATH "Drilling\Drilling.ptf"
EDIT TOOLPATH $TpName CALCULATE
$Fset = 'Bottom'
$Count = Count + 1
}

54 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 There are three loop structures:
 FOREACH (see page 55) loops repeatedly execute a block of
commands for each item in a list.
 WHILE (see page 56) loops repeatedly execute a block of
commands until its conditional test is false.
 DO - WHILE (see page 57) loops executes a block of commands
and then checks its conditional test.

FOREACH loop
A FOREACH loop repeatedly executes a block of commands for each
item in a list or array.
The basic control structure is:
FOREACH item IN sequence{
Commands A
}
Commands B
where:
item is an automatically created variable that PowerMILL initialises
for each iteration of the loop;
sequence is either a list or an array.
Commands A are executed on the first item in the list.
Commands A are executed on the next item in the list. This step is
repeated until there are no more items in the list.
At the end of the list, Commands B are executed.

For example,
FOREACH item IN folder("path") {
Commands A
}

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 55

 Commands B
Where <path> is a folder in the explorer such as, Toolpath, Tool,
Toolpath\Finishing.
Within FOREACH loops, you can:
 Cancel the loop using the BREAK (see page 58) statement.
 Jump directly to the next iteration using the CONTINUE (see page
58) statement.
You can't create your own list variables, there are some built in
functions in PowerMILL that will return lists (see the parameter
documentation for component, and folder).
You can use one of the inbuilt functions to get a list of entities, or
you can use arrays to create a sequence of strings or numbers to
iterate over. For example, use the inbuilt folder function to get a list
of entities.
An example of using a FOREACH loop is to batch process tool holder
profiles:
FOREACH ent IN folder('Tool') {
ACTIVATE TOOL $ent.Name
EDIT TOOL ; UPDATE_TOOLPATHS_PROFILE
}

The loop variable ent is created by the loop and destroyed

when the loop ends.
Another example is to renumber all the tools in a project:
INT nmb = 20
FOREACH t IN folder('Tool') {
$t.number.value = nmb
$t.number.userdefined = 1
$nmb = nmb + 2
}
To get the most out of these macro features, you should familiarise
yourself with the inbuilt parameter functions detailed in Help >
Parameters > Reference.

WHILE loop
A WHILE loop repeatedly executes a block of commands until its
conditional test is false.
The basic control structure is:
WHILE condition {
Commands A
}
Commands B

56 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 If condition is true, then Commands A are executed.
While condition remains true, then Commands A are executed.
When condition is false, Commands B are executed.

Within WHILE loops, you can:

 Cancel the loop using the BREAK (see page 58) statement.
 Jump directly to the next iteration using the CONTINUE (see page
58) statement.

DO - WHILE loop
The DO - WHILE loop executes a block of commands and then
performs its conditional test, whereas the WHILE loop checks its
conditional test first to decide whether to execute its commands or
not.
The basic control structure is:
DO {
Commands A
} WHILE condition
Commands B
Commands A are executed.
While condition remains true, then Commands A are executed.
When condition is false, Commands B are executed.

Within DO - WHILE loops, you can:

 Cancel the loop using the BREAK (see page 58) statement.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 57

  Jump directly to the next iteration using the CONTINUE (see page
58) statement.

CONTINUE statement
The CONTINUE statement causes a jump to the conditional test of
any one of the loop constructs WHILE, DO - WHILE, and FOR EACH in
which it is encountered, and starts the next iteration, if any.
This example, calculates and offsets, all unlocked boundaries,
outwards and inwards.
FOREACH bou IN folder('Boundary') {
IF locked(bou) {
// This boundary is locked go get the next one
CONTINUE
}
REAL offset = 1 mm
EDIT BOUNDARY $bou.Name CALCULATE
EDIT BOUNDARY $bou.Name OFFSET $offset
EDIT BOUNDARY $bou.Name OFFSET ${-offset} }
The CONTINUE statement enables the selection of the next
boundary.

BREAK statement in a WHILE loop

The BREAK statement exits the WHILE loop.

Nested constructs can require multiple breaks.

58 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 RETURN statement
If a macro contains functions, the RETURN statement immediately
exits the function. If the macro doesn't contain functions, the
RETURN statement immediately terminates the current macro. This
is useful if an error is detected and you don't want to continue with
the remaining commands in the macro.
The basic control structure is:
EDIT TOOLPATH $tp.Name CALCULATE
IF NOT Computed {
// terminate if toolpath didn't calculate
RETURN
}
To immediately exit from a function:
FUNCTION Calculate(STRING TpName) {

IF NOT active(entity('toolpath',TpName).Tool.TipRadius)
{
// Error if toolpath does not use a tipradius tool
PRINT "Toolpath does not have TipRadius tool"
RETURN
}

EDIT TOOLPATH ; CALCULATE

}

FUNCTION Main() {

FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath') {
ACTIVATE TOOLPATH $tp.Name)
}
}

Terminating macros
The command MACRO ABORT immediately terminates the current
macro.
The command MACRO ABORT ALL terminates the all the macros that
are currently running. If you call MACRO ABORT ALL from within a
macro that has been called by another macro, then both macros are
terminated.

Printing the value of an expression

To print the value of a scalar expression or parameter use the
syntax:
PRINT = expression

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 59

 For example, to print the answer to a simple arithmetic expression:
PRINT = 2*5
When you run the macro, the command window displays the result,
10.

You can also apply an arithmetic expression to the value of a

parameter. For example:
EDIT TOOL ; DIAMETER 10
PRINT = Tool.Diameter * 0.6
When you run the macro, the command window displays the result,
6.

Constants
PowerMILL has a small number of useful constant values that you
can use in expressions and macros these include:
REAL PI = 3.141593
REAL E = 2.718282
BOOL TRUE = 1
BOOL FALSE = 0
STRING CRLF = newline
Use these values to make your macros more readable. For example,
use CRLF constant to build up multi-line messages and prompts:
STRING msg = "This is line one."+CRLF+"This is line two."
MESSAGE INFO $msg
Displays the message:
This is line one.
This is line two.

Built-in functions
This section details all the built-in functions that you can use in your
macros.
 General mathematical functions (see page 61).
 Trigonometrical functions (see page 61).
 Vector and point functions (see page 62).
 Workplane functions (see page 64).
 String functions (see page 64).

60 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

  List creation functions (see page 72).
 Path functions (see page 79) (Folder (see page 79), Directory
(see page 80), Base (see page 80), and Project (see page 81)
names).
 Conditional functions (see page 81).
 Evaluation functions (see page 82).
 Type conversion functions (see page 83).
 Parameter functions (see page 84).
 Statistical functions (see page 85).

General mathematical functions

The basic structure of the general mathematical functions are:
Description of return value Function
Exponential real exp( real a )
Natural logarithm real ln( real a )
Common (base 10) logarithm real log( real a )
Square root real sqrt( numeric a )
Absolute (positive value) real abs( numeric a )
Returns either -1, 0 or 1 real sign( numeric a )
depending on the sign of the
value
Returns either 1 or 0 real compare( numeric a,
depending on whether the numeric b, numeric tol )
difference between a and b is
less than or equal to tol

Trigonometrical functions
The basic structure of the trigonometrical functions are:
Description of return value Function
Trigonometric sine real sin( angle )
Trigonometric cosine real cos( angle )
Trigonometric tangent real tan( angle )
Trigonometric arcsine real asin( real a )
Trigonometric arccosine real acos( real a )
Trigonometric arctangent real atan( real a )

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 61

 Trigonometric arctangent of real atan2( real a, real
a/b, quadrant is determined b )
by the sign of the two
arguments

Vector and point functions

In PowerMILL vectors and points are represented by an array of
three reals.
PowerMILL contains point and vector parameters, for example the
Workplane.Origin, Workplane.ZAxis, ToolAxis.Origin, and
ToolAxis.Direction. You can create your own vector and point
variables:
REAL ARRAY VecX[] = {1,0,0}
REAL ARRAY VecY[] = {0,1,0}
REAL ARRAY VecZ[] = {0,0,1}
REAL ARRAY MVecZ[] = {0,0,-1}

REAL ARRAY Orig[] = {0,0,0}

Length
The length() function returns the length of a vector.
For example:
REAL ARRAY V[] = {3,4,0}
// Prints 5.0
PRINT = length(V)
The inbuilt function unit() returns a vector that points in the same
direction as the input vector, but has a length of 1:
PRINT PAR "unit(V)"
// [0] (REAL) 0.6
// [1] (REAL) 0.8
// [2] (REAL) 0.0

// prints 1.0
PRINT = length(unit(V))

Parallel
The parallel() function returns TRUE if two vectors are either
parallel (pointing in the same direction) or anti-parallel (pointing in
the opposite direction) to each other.
For example:
// prints 0
PRINT = parallel(VecX,Vecy)

62 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // prints 1
PRINT = parallel(VecX,VecX)
Print = parallel(MVecZ,VecZ)

Normal
The normal() function returns a vector that is normal to the plane
containing its two input vectors. If either vector is zero it returns an
error. If the input vectors are either parallel or anti-parallel a vector
of zero length is returned.
For example:
REAL ARRAY norm = normal(VecX,VecY)

Angle
The angle() function returns the signed angle in degrees between
two vectors, providing that neither vectors have a zero length.
For example:
// Prints 90
PRINT = angle(VecX,VecY)
// Prints 90
PRINT = angle(VecY,VecX)
The apparent_angle() function returns the apparent angle
between two vectors when looking along a reference vector. If a
vector is parallel or anti-parallel to the reference vector, or if any of
the vectors have a zero length it returns an error:
// prints 270
print = apparent_angle(VecX,VecY,MVecZ)
// prints 90
print = apparent_angle(VecY,VecX,MVecZ)

Setting
The set_vector() and set_point() functions return the value 1 if
the vector or point is set.
For example:
REAL ARRAY Vec1[3] = {0,0,1}
REAL ARRAY Vec2[3] = {0,1,0}

// set vec1 to be the same as vec2

BOOL ok = set_vector(vec1,vec2)
// make a X-axis vector
$ok = set_vector(vec2,1,0,0)

REAL X = Block.Limits.XMax
REAL Y = Block.Limits.YMin
REAL Z = Block.Limits.ZMax
ok = set_point(ToolAxis.Origin, X,Y,Z)

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 63

 Unit vector
The unit() function returns the unit vector equivalent of the given
vector.
For example:
REAL ARRAY V[3] = {3,4,5}
PRINT PAR "unit(V)"
BOOL ok = set_vector(V,0,0,6)
PRINT PAR "unit(V)"

Workplane functions
You can use the inbuilt function set_workplane() to define the
origin and axis of a workplane entity. You can call the function:
 with two workplanes, where the values from the second
workplane are copied into the first:
bool ok =
set_workplane(Workplane,entity('workplane','3'))
which sets the active workplane to have the same values as
workplane 3.
 with a workplane, two vectors, and an origin:
REAL ARRAY YAxis[] = {0,1,0}
REAL ARRAY ZAxis[] = {0,0,1}
REAL ARRAY Origin = {10,20,30}
bool ok =
set_workplane(entity('workplane','reference'), YAxis,
Zaxis,Origin)

String functions
PowerMILL parameters and variables can contain strings of
characters. There are a number of inbuilt functions that you can use
to test and manipulate strings.
The basic structure of string functions are:
Description of return value Function
Returns the number of int length( string str )
characters in the string.
For more information see
Length function in a string
(see page 66).

64 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 Returns the position of the int position( string str,
string target from the start of string target[, numeric
the string str, or -1 if the start] )
target string isn't found.
If you use the optional
argument start then scanning
begins from that position in
the string.
For more information see
Position function in a string
(see page 67).
Replaces all occurrences of string replace( string
the target string with a str, string target,
replacement string. The string replacement)
original string is unchanged.
For more information see
Replacing one string with
another string (see page 68).
Returns part of the string. You string substring( string
can define where the str, int start, int
substring starts and its length)
length. The original string is
unchanged.
For more information see
Substrings (see page 69).
Returns an upper case string. string ucase( string str)
The original string is
unchanged.
For more information see
Upper case function in a string
(see page 69).
Returns a lower case string. string lcase( string str)
The original string is
unchanged.
For more information see
Lower case function in a string
(see page 70).
Returns the string without any string ltrim( string str)
leading whitespace
Splits a string into a list of the list tokens( string str)
strings, separated by
whitespace

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 65

 The first character of a string is always at index 0. You can append
(add) strings together use the + operator. For example:
STRING One = "One"
STRING Two = "Two"
STRING Three = "Three"

PRINT = One + ", " + Two + ", " + Three

When you run the macro, the command window displays the result,
One, Two, Three.

Another way of achieving the same result is:

STRING CountToThree = One + ", " + Two + ", " + Three
PRINT = CountToThree
When you run the macro, the command window displays the result,
One, Two, Three.

Converting a numeric value into a string

The string function converts a numeric value into a string value.
The basic structure is:
STRING string( numeric str )
This is useful when you want to append a number to a string. For
example to name tools so they contain the tool's type and diameter
use:
CREATE TOOL ; BALLNOSED
EDIT TOOL ; DIAMETER 5
STRING TName = string(Tool.Type) + " Diam: " +
string(Tool.Diameter)
RENAME TOOL ; $TName
PRINT = Tool.Name
When you run the macro, PowerMILL creates a ball nosed tool with
a diameter of 5 and gives the tool the name, ball_nosed Diam: 5.0.

The command window displays the result,ball_nosed Diam: 5.0.

Length function in a string

The length function returns the number of characters in the string.
The basic structure is:

66 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 int length( string str )
For example:
STRING One = "One"
PRINT = length(One)
The command window displays the result, 3.

Another example:
STRING One = "One"
STRING Two = "Two"
STRING CountToTwo = One + ", " + Two
PRINT = length(CountToTwo)
The command window displays the result, 8.

Another way of producing the same result:

PRINT = length(One + ", " + Two )
The command window displays the result, 8.

Position function in a string

The position string returns the position of the string target from
the start of the string str, or -1 if the target string isn't found.
If you use the optional argument start then scanning begins from
that position in the string.
The basic structure is:
int position( string str, string target [, numeric start]
)
For example:
PRINT = position("Scooby doo", "oo")
The command window displays the result, 2. PowerMILL finds the
first instance of oo and works out what its position is (S is position
0, c position 1 and o position 2).
position("Scooby doo", "oo", 4)
The command window displays the result, 8. PowerMILL finds the
first instance of oo after position 4 and works out what its position
is (b is position 4, y position 5, " "is position 7 and o position 8).
position("Scooby doo", "aa")

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 67

 The command window displays the result, -1 as PowerMILL can't
find any instances of aa.
You can use this function to check whether a substring exists within
another string. For example,if you have a part that contains a cavity
and you machined it using various strategies with a coarse
tolerance and each of these toolpaths has CAVITY in its name. You
have toolpaths with names such as, CAVITY AreaClear, CAVITY flats.
To recalculate those toolpath with a finer tolerance use the macro
commands:
// loop over all the toolpaths
FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath') {
// if toolpath has 'CAVITY' in its name
IF position(tp.Name, "CAVITY") >= 0 {
// Invalidate the toolpath
INVALIDATE TOOLPATH $tp.Name
$tp.Tolerance = tp.Tolerance/10
}
}
BATCH PROCESS

Replacing one string with another string

The replace function replaces all occurrences of the target string
with a replacement string. The original string is unchanged.
The basic structure is:
string replace( string str, string target, string
replacement)
For example:
STRING NewName = replace("Scooby doo", "by", "ter")
PRINT = NewName
The command window displays the result, Scooter doo.
For example, whilst trying different values in the strategy dialogs
you add DRAFT to the name each toolpath.

When you are satisfied with a particular toolpath you want to

change DRAFT to FINAL. To save yourself from manually editing the
toolpath name, you could use a macro to rename the active
toolpath:
FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath') {
ACTIVATE TOOLPATH $tp.Name
STRING NewName = replace(Name, 'DRAFT', 'FINAL')
RENAME TOOLPATH ; $NewName

68 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 }
This macro renames the toolpaths to:

Any instance of DRAFT in the toolpath name is changed to

FINAL. However, the macro is case sensitive, so instances of
Draft are not changed.
Alternatively, you could write a macro to rename a toolpath name
without activating the toolpath:
FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath') {
STRING NewName = replace(tp.Name, 'DRAFT', 'FINAL')
RENAME TOOLPATH $tp.Name $NewName
}

Substrings
The substring function returns part of the string. You can define
where the substring starts and its length. The original string is
unchanged.
The basic structure is:
string substring( string str, int start, int length)
For example:
PRINT = substring("Scooby doo", 2, 4)
The command window displays the result, ooby.

Upper case function in a string

The upper case function converts the string to upper case. The
original string is unchanged.
The basic structure is:
string ucase( string str)
For example:
PRINT = ucase("Scooby doo")
The command window displays the result, SCOOBY DOO.
In the Replace one string with another (see page 68) example
instances of DRAFT are replaced with FINAL, but instances of Draft
aren't.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 69

 The ucase statement replaces instances of Draft, draft, dRAft with
DRAFT. The rest of the macro replaces DRAFT with FINAL.
FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath') {
// Get the upper case version of the name
STRING UName = ucase(tp.Name)
// check if the name contains 'DRAFT'
if position(UName, 'DRAFT') >= 0 {
// replace DRAFT with FINAL
STRING NewName = replace(UName, 'DRAFT', 'FINAL')
RENAME TOOLPATH $tp.Name $NewName
}
}
This macro renames the toolpaths to:

Previously Draft_ConstZ wasn't renamed, but it is this time. All the

toolpath names are now upper case.

Lower case function in a string

The lower case function converts the string to lower case. The
original string is unchanged.
The basic structure is:
string lcase( string str)
For example:
PRINT = lcase("SCOOBY DOO")
The command window displays the result, scooby doo.
In the Replace one string with another (see page 68) example
instances of DRAFT are replaced with FINAL, but instances of Draft
aren't.
In the Upper case function in a string (see page 69) example
instances of Draft, draft, dRAft are replaced with DRAFT.
The lcase statement changes the upper case toolpath names to
lower case. It replaces instances of Draft, draft, dRAft are replaced
with draft.
FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath') {
// Get the upper case version of the name
STRING UName = ucase(tp.Name)
// check if the name contains 'DRAFT'
if position(UName, 'DRAFT') >= 0 {
// replace DRAFT with FINAL
STRING NewName = replace(UName, 'DRAFT', 'FINAL')
RENAME TOOLPATH $tp.Name $NewName

70 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Get the lower case version of the name
STRING LName = lcase(tp.Name)
RENAME TOOLPATH $tp.Name $LName
}
}
This macro renames the toolpaths to:

All the toolpath names are now lower case

Whitespace in a string
The ltrim() function removes any leading whitespace from a
string. Use this to clean up user input before further processing. The
original string is unchanged.
For example:
STRING Original = " What's up Doc!"
STRING Trimmed = ltrim(Original)
print = Original
print = Trimmed
Where:
print = Original displays " What's up Doc!" in the command
window.
print = Trimmed displays "What's up Doc!" in the command
window.

Splitting a string
The tokens() function will split a string into a list of strings that were
separated by the separator characters. By default the separator
characters are spaces and tabs.
For example:
STRING InputStr = "One Two Three"
STRING LIST Tokens = tokens(InputStr)
FOREACH Tok IN Tokens {
PRINT = Tok
}
You can also give the tokens() function an optional extra argument
that changes the separator character.
For example:
STRING InputStr = "10:20:30:40"
STRING LIST Tokens = tokens(InputStr,':')

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 71

 FOREACH Tok IN Tokens {
PRINT = Tok
}

List functions
List functions control the content of a list or array.
The basic structure of list functions are:
Description Function
Returns the components (see list components( entity
page 72) of another object. entity )
Returns a list of all the list folder( string
entities in the folder (see page folder )
73).
Determines if the list has any is_empty()
content (see page 74).
Determines if the list contains member()
a specific value (see page 74).
Adding (see page 75) a list or +
array to another list or array
Removes duplicate (see page remove_duplicates()
75) items from a list.
Creates a list by compiling the set_union()
contents of two lists (can
contain duplicate naming)
Creates a list containing items intersection()
that are present in two lists
(see page 75).
Creates a list by subtracting subtract()
(see page 76) from the first
list those items that are
present in the second list.

List components
The inbuilt components function returns the components of another
object.

Currently NC Program and Group entity parameters are

supported.

72 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 The components function returns a list of all items regardless
of type. You must check the type of the variable of each item,
in the list.
The basic structure is:
list components( entity entity )
For example if you want to batch process tool holder profiles for the
tools in a group that contains toolpaths, boundaries, and tools:
FOREACH ent IN components(entity('Group', '1')) {
IF lcase(ent.RootType) == 'tool' {
EDIT TOOL $ent.Name UPDATE_TOOLPATHS_PROFILE
}
}
An example, to ensure that all the area clearance toolpaths in an NC
program have flood coolant turned on and that mist is set for all the
others:
FOREACH item IN components(entity('ncprogram','')) {
// only check nctoolpath items
IF lcase(item.RootType) == 'nctoolpath' {
// If the area clearance parameter is active then use
flood
IF active(entity('toolpath',item.Name).AreaClearance)
{
$item.Coolant.Value = "flood"
} else {
$item.Coolant.Value = "mist"
}
}
}

List folder
The folder function returns a list of all entities within a folder,
including those in subfolders.
The basic structure is:
list folder( string folder )
The names of the root folders are:
 MachineTool
 NCProgram
 Toolpath
 Tool
 Boundary
 Pattern

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 73

  Featureset
 Workplane
 Level
 Model
 StockModel
 Group

The name of the folder is case sensitive, so you must use Tool
and not tool.
You can use a FOREACH loop to process all of the entities within a
folder. For example, to batch process tool holder profiles:
FOREACH tool IN folder ('Tool'){
EDIT TOOL $tool.Name UPDATE_TOOLPATHS_PROFILE
}
An example, to batch process all the boundaries in your project:
FOREACH bou IN folder('Boundary') {
EDIT BOUNDARY $bou.Name CALCULATE
}

Empty list
The is_empty() function queries a list to determine whether it is
empty or not.
REAL LIST MyList = {}
IF is_empty(MyList) {
PRINT "Empty List"
}

List member
The member() function returns TRUE if the given value is one of the
items in the list. For example, to check that a toolpath doesn't occur
in more than one NC program, you can loop over all NCProgram and
check that each toolpath is only seen once. Do this by building a list
of toolpath names and checking that each time you add a name you
haven't already seen it.
// Create an empty list
STRING List names = {}
// Cycle through the NC programs
FOREACH ncp IN folder('NCProgram') {
// loop over the components in the nc prog
FOREACH item IN components(ncp) {
// Check that it is a toolpath
IF item.RootType = 'nctoolpath' {

74 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Use MEMBER to check that we haven't seen this
name before
IF NOT member(names, item.Name) {
bool ok = add_last(names, item.Name)
} else {
// We have already added this name
STRING msg = "Toolpath: "+item.Name+crlf+" in
more than one NCProgram"
MESSAGE ERROR $msg
MACRO ABORT
}
}
}
}

The is_empty() function queries a list to determine whether it is

empty or not.
REAL LIST MyList = {}
IF is_empty(MyList) {
PRINT "Empty List"
}

Adding lists
The + function adds a list or array to another list or array. For
example, you can add two lists together to get a list of all the tools
used by the toolpaths and boundaries:
STRING LIST UsedToolNames = ToolpathTools + BoundaryTools

Removing duplicate items in a list

The remove_duplicates() function removes duplicate values. For
example, a tool may be used in both a toolpath and a boundary, so
the UsedToolNames list may contain duplicate values.
To remove the duplicate values:
INT n = remove_duplicates(UsedToolNames)
The set_union() function returns a list containing the items from
both sets, removing any duplicates. So you can create the
UsedToolNames list using:
STRING LIST UsedToolNames = set_union(ToolpathTools,
BoundaryTools)

Intersecting items in lists

The inbuilt function intersection() returns a list containing the
items present in both lists or arrays. To obtain the names of the
tools that are used in both toolpaths and boundaries use:

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 75

 STRING LIST TP_Bound_Names = intersection(ToolpathTools,
BoundaryTools)

Items present in one list, but not the other

The inbuilt function subtract() returns the items that are in the
first list, but not in the second list.
STRING UnusedToolNames = subtract(AllToolNames,
UsedToolNames)

Adding items to a list

You can add items to the start or end of a list.

Adding items to the start of a list

The inbuilt function add_first(list, item) adds an item to the
start of a list. It returns the number of items in the list after the
addition.
For example, to add the name of a pattern to the start of a list:
STRING LIST Patterns = {}
FOREACH pat IN folder('Pattern') {
// Add the name of the pattern to the start of the list
int s = add_first(Patterns, pat.Name)
}

Adding items to the end of a list

The inbuilt function add_last(list, item) adds an item to the end
of a list. It returns the number of items in the list after the addition.
For example, to add the name of a pattern to the end of a list:
STRING LIST Patterns = {}
FOREACH pat IN folder('Pattern') {
// Add the name of the pattern to the end of the list
int s = add_last(Patterns, pat.Name)
}

Removing items from a list

You can remove items from the start or end of a list.

Removing items from the start of a list

The inbuilt function remove_first(list) removes an item from the
start of a list. It returns the removed item.
For example, to print the names of patterns in a list:
// Print the names of the Patterns in reverse order
// Create a list of the pattern names
STRING LIST Patterns = {}
FOREACH pat IN folder('Pattern') {

76 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 // Add the name of the pattern to start of the list
int s = add_first(Patterns, pat.Name)
}
// Keep taking the first item from the list until
// there are no more
WHILE size(Patterns) > 0 {
STRING name = remove_first(Patterns)
PRINT $Name
}
If you have three patterns in the explorer:

The FOREACH loop adds each item to the start of the list. As the
add_first command adds the next pattern to the start of the list.
So you end up with a list
{"Pattern_3","Pattern_2,"Pattern_1"}.
The WHILE loop takes the first item in the list, removes it from the
list and pints it. This gives:
Pattern_3
Pattern_2
Pattern_1

Removing items from the end of a list

The inbuilt function remove_last(list) removes an item to the end
of a list. It returns the removed item.
For example, to print the names of patterns in a list:
// Print the names of the Patterns in reverse order
// Create a list of the pattern names
STRING LIST Patterns = {}
FOREACH pat IN folder('Pattern') {
// Add the name of the pattern to end of the list
int s = add_first(Patterns, pat.Name)
}
// Keep taking the last item from the list until
// there are no more
WHILE size(Patterns) > 0 {
STRING name = remove_last(Patterns)
PRINT $Name
}
If you have the same three patterns in the explorer:

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 77

 The FOREACH loop adds each item to the end of the list. As the
add_last command adds the next pattern to the end of the list. So
you end up with a list {"Pattern_1","Pattern_2,"Pattern_3"}.
The WHILE loop takes the last item in the list, removes it from the
list and pints it. This gives:
Pattern_3
Pattern_2
Pattern_1
To end up with the patterns in the same order as they are in the
explorer either:
 In the FOREACH loop use the add_last command and in the
WHILE loop use the remove_first command; or
 In the FOREACH loop use the add_first command and in the
WHILE loop use the remove_last command.

Finding values in a list

The inbuilt function remove(list, value) returns true if the value
is in the list and false if it isn't. If the value is in the list, it also
removes the first instance of the value from the list.
For example, to print a list of tool diameters and the number of
toolpaths using each tool:
// Print a list the tool diameters and the
// number of Toolpaths using each unique diameter.

REAL LIST Diameters = {}

FOREACH tp IN folder('Toolpath') {
INT s = add_last(Diameters, tp.Tool.Diameter)
}
// Create a list with just the unique diameters
REAL LIST UniqueD = Diameters
INT n = remove_duplicates(UniqueD)
// Loop over the unique diameters
FOREACH diam = UniqueD {
// set a counter
INT Count = 0
DO {
$Count = Count + 1
} WHILE remove(Diameters, diam)
STRING Msg = "There are "+Count+" toolpaths using
"+diam+" tools"
PRINT $msg
}

78 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 Path functions
The path function returns part of pathname of the entity,
The basic structure of the path functions are:
Description of return value Function
The Folder name (see page string pathname( entity
79) function returns the full ref )
folder name of the entity, or
an empty string if the entity
doesn't exist.
The Folder name (see page string pathname( string
79) function can also be used type, string name)
to return the full folder name
of the entity.
The Directory name (see page string dirname( string
80) function returns the path)
directory prefix from the path.
The Base name (see page 80) string basename( string
function returns the non- path)
directory suffix from the path.
The Project name (see page project_pathname(bool
81) functions returns the basename)
pathname of the current
project on disk.

Folder name
The pathname function returns the full folder name of the entity,
or,if the entity doesn't exist, an empty string.
The basic structure is:
string pathname( entity ref )
Also,
string pathname( string type, string name)
Returns the full folder name of the entity.
For example, if you have a BN 16.0 diam tool in a Ballnosed tool
folder, then:
pathname('tool', 'BN 16.0 diam')
returns the string Tool\Ballnosed tools\BN 16.0 diam.

If the entity doesn't exist it returns an empty string.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 79

 You can use this function in conjunction with the dirname() (see
page 80) function to process all the toolpaths in the same folder as
the active toolpath.
STRING path = pathname('toolpath',Name)
// check that there is an active toolpath
IF path != '' {
FOREACH tp IN folder(dirname(path)) {
ACTIVATE TOOLPATH tp.Name
EDIT TOOLPATH ; CALCULATE
}
} ELSE {
MESSAGE "There is no active toolpath"
RETURN
}

Directory name
The directory name function returns the directory prefix from the
path.
The basic structure is:
string dirname( string path)
For example you can use this to obtain the argument for the inbuilt
folder() function.
STRING flder = dirname(pathname('toolpath',Name))

Base name
The base name function returns the non-directory suffix from the
path.
The basic structure is:
string basename( string path)
Usually basename(pathname('tool',tp.Name)) is the same as
tp.Name, but you can use this in conjunction with dirname (see page
80) to split apart the folder names.
For example, suppose your toolpaths are split in folders:
Toolpath\Feature1\AreaClear
Toolpath\Feature1\Rest
Toolpath\Feature1\Finishing
Toolpath\Feature2\AreaClear
Toolpath\Feature2\Rest
Toolpath\Feature2\Finishing
You can rename all your toolpaths so that they contain the feature
name and the area clearance, rest, or finishing indicator.

80 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 FOREACH tp in folder('Toolpath') {
// Get the pathname
STRING path = pathname(tp)
// Get the lowest folder name from the path
STRING type = basename(dirname(path))
// get the next lowest folder name
STRING feat = basename(dirname(dirname(path)))
// Get the toolpath name
STRING base = basename(path)
// Build the new toolpath name
STRING NewNamePrefix = feat + "-" + type
// Check that the toolpath hasn't already been renamed
IF position(base,NewNamePrefix) < 0 {
RENAME TOOLPATH $base ${NewNamePrefix+" " + base}
}
}

Project name
The project pathname function returns the pathname of the current
project on disk.
The basic structure is:
project_pathname(bool basename)
The argument dirname_only gives a different result if it is true to if
it is false.
 If true, returns the name of the project.
 If false returns the full path of the project.
For example if you have opened a project
called:C:\PmillProjects\MyProject
project_pathname(0) returns"C:\PmillProjects\MyProject.
project_pathname(1) returns MyProject.
A PowerMILL macro example is:
EDIT BLOCKTYPE TRIANGLES
STRING $ARBLOCK = project_pathname(0) + '\' + 'block_test.dmt'
GET BLOCK $ARBLOCK

Conditional functions
The basic structure of conditional functions are:

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 81

 Description of return value Function
Returns the value of variant select(
expression 1 if the conditional conditional-expression;
expression is true, otherwise expression1;expression2)
it returns the value of
expression 2.

Both expressions must be of the same type.

This example obtains either the tool radius or its tip radius, if it has
one.
You can use an IF block of code:
REAL Radius = Tool.Diameter/2
IF active(Tool.TipRadius) {
$Radius = Tool.TipRadius
}
Or you can use the inbuilt select function:
REAL Radius = select(active(Tool.TipRadius),
Tool.TipRadius, Tool.Diameter/2)

If you are assigning an expression to a parameter then you

will always have to use the inbuilt select() function.
Within a macro you can use either method.

Evaluation functions
The evaluation function evaluate a string argument as an
expression.
For example:
print = evaluate("5*5")
prints 25.
You can use evaluate to provide a different test at runtime.
This example provides a bubble sort for numeric values. By
changing the comparison expression you can get it to sort in
ascending or descending order.
FUNCTION SortReals(STRING ComparisonExpr, OUTPUT REAL
LIST List) {
// Get number of items.
INT Todo = size(List)
// Set swapped flag before we start
Bool swapped = 1
// Repeat for number of items

82 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 WHILE Todo > 1 AND Swapped {
// start at the beginning
INT Idx = 0
// Signal that nothing has been done yes
$Swapped = 0
// loop over number of items still to do
WHILE Idx < ToDo-1 {
// swap if they are out of sequence
// Uses user supplied comparison function to
perform test
IF evaluate(ComparisonExpr) {
REAL swap = List[Idx]
$List[Idx] = List[Idx+1]
${List[idx+1]} = swap
// signal that we've done something
$Swapped = 1
}
// look at next pair
$Idx = Idx + 1
}
// reduce number of items
$ToDo = ToDo - 1
}
}

FUNCTION Main() {
/Set up some data
REAL ARRAY Data[] = {9,10,3,4,1,7,2,8,5,6}
// Sort in increasing value
CALL SortReals("List[Idx] > List[Idx+1]", Data)
PRINT PAR "Data"
REAL ARRAY Data1[] = {9,10,3,4,1,7,2,8,5,6}
// Sort in decreasing order
CALL SortReals("List[Idx] < List[Idx+1]", Data1)
PRINT PAR "Data1"
}

Type conversion functions

The type conversion functions enable you to temporarily convert a
variable from one type to another within an expression.
The basic structure of the type conversion functions are:
Description of return value Function
Convert to integer value. int int( scalar a)
Convert to real value. real real( scalar a)
Convert to boolean value. bool bool( scalar a)
Convert to string value string string( scalar a)

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 83

 Normally you would use inbuilt string() conversion function to
convert a number to a string when building up a message:
STRING $Bottles = string(Number) + " green bottles ..."
In other cases, you may want convert a real number to an integer,
or an integer to a real number:
INT a = 2
INT b = 3
REAL z = 0
$z = a/b
PRINT $z
This prints 0.0.
If you want the ratio then you have to convert either a or b to real
within the assignment expression.
INT a = 2
INT b = 3
REAL z = 0
$z = real(a)/b
PRINT $z
This prints 0.666667.

Parameter functions
All of the PowerMILL parameters have an active state which
determines whether the parameter is relevant for a particular type
of object or operation.
The basic structure of the parameter functions are:
Description of return value Function
Evaluates the active bool active( par )
expression of par.
Returns whether the bool locked( par )
parameter can be changed or
not.
Returns the number of sub- int size( par )
parameters that par contains.

For example, the Boundary.Tool parameter is not active for a block

or sketch type boundaries. You can test whether a parameter is
active or not with the inbuilt active() function. This can be useful in
calculations and decision making.
The basic control structure is:

84 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 IF active(….) {
…
}
You can test whether a particular parameter is locked or not with
the inbuilt locked() function. You can't normally edit a locked
parameter because its entity is being used as a reference by
another entity. If you try to edit a locked parameter with the EDIT
PAR command, PowerMILL raises a query dialog asking for
permission to make the change. You can suppress this message
using the EDIT PAR NOQUERY command. The locked() function
allows you to provide your own user messages and queries that are
tailored to your application.
For example:
IF locked(Tool.Diameter) {
BOOL copy = 0
$copy = QUERY "The current tool has been used do you
want to make a copy of it?"
IF NOT copy {
// cannot proceed further so get out
RETURN
}
COPY TOOL ;
}
$Tool.Diameter = 5
The inbuilt size() function returns the number of immediate items in
the parameter. You can use this to determine the number of
toolpaths in a folder:
PRINT = size(folder('Toolpath\Cavity'))

Statistical functions
The statistical functions enable you to return the minimum and
maximum values of any number of numeric arguments.
The basic structure of the statistical functions are:
Description of return value Function
Returns the largest value in a real max( list numeric a
list of numbers. )
Returns the smallest value in real min( list numeric a
a list of numbers. )

This example finds the maximum and minimum block height of the
toolpaths in the active NC program.
REAL maxz = -100000
REAM minz = abs(maxz)

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 85

 FOREACH item IN components(entity('ncprogram','')) {
IF item.RootType == 'nctoolpath' {
$maxz = max(maxz,entity('toolpath',item.Name))
$minz - min(minz,entity('toolpath',item.Name))
}
}
MESSAGE "Min = " + string(minz) + ", max = " +
string(maxz)

Entity based functions

These functions work on specific entities.
Command Description
entity_exists() Returns true if the named entity
exists (see page 87).
geometry_equal() Compares two tools, or two
workplanes for geometric
equivalence.
new_entity_names() Returns the name (see page 87)
assigned to the next entity.
set_workplane() Sets the vectors and origin
of a workplane (see page
64).
segments() Returns the number of segments in
a boundary or pattern.
limits() Returns the XYZ limits of an entity.

Equivalence
You can use the inbuilt function geometry_equal() to test whether
two tools,or two workplanes are geometrically equivalent. For a tool
the test is based on the cutting geometry of the tool.

Number of segments
The inbuilt function segments() will return the number of segments
in a pattern or boundary:
IF segments(Pattern) == 0 {
PRINT "The pattern is empty"
}

Limits
The inbuilt function limits() returns an array of six elements
containing the XYZ limits of the given entity. The supported entities
are: pattern, boundary, toolpath, feature set, or model.
REAL ARRAY Lims[] = limits('model','MyModel')

86 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 The values in the array are :
REAL MinX = Lims[0]
REAL MaxX = Lims[1]
REAL MinY = Lims[2]
REAL MaxY = Lims[3]
REAL MinZ = Lims[4]
REAL MaxZ = Lims[5]

Does an entity exist?

The inbuilt function entity_exists() returns true if the entity
exists. You can call this function with:
 an entity parameter such as entity_exists(Boundary),
entity_exists(ReferenceTool), or
entity_exists(entity('toolpath','')).
 two parameters that specify the entity type and name such as
entity_exists('tool','MyTool').
For example:
IF entity_exists(Workplane) {
PRINT "An active workplane exists"
} ELSE {
PRINT "No active workplane using world coordinate
system."
}

IF NOT entity_exists(entity('toolpath','')) {
PRINT "Please activate a toolpath and try again."
MACRO ABORT ALL
}

New entity name

The inbuilt function new_entity_name() returns the next name that
PowerMILL gives to a new entity of the given type. You can supply
an optional basename argument to obtain the name that powermill
will use when creating a copy or clone of an entity.
This example shows you how to determine the name of a new
entity.
CREATE WORKPLANE 1
CREATE WORKPLANE 2
CREATE WORKPLANE 3

// Prints 4
PRINT = new_entity_name('workplane')

DELETE WORKPLANE 2

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 87

 // Prints 2
PRINT = new_entity_name('workplane')

CREATE WORKPLANE ;

// Prints 2_1
PRINT = new_entity_name('workplane', '2')

Organising your macros

Recorded macros are listed in the explorer under the Macros node.
This example shows you how to manage the macro paths.
1 From the Macros menu select Macro Paths.

Alternatively, from the Tools menu, select Customise Paths

> Macro Paths.

88 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 The PowerMILL Paths dialog is displayed showing you all the
default macro paths. PowerMILL automatically searches for
macros located within these folders, and displays them in the
explorer.

The period (.) indicates the path to the local folder

(currently, the folder to which the project is saved).
The tilde ( ) indicates your Home directory.

2 To create a macro path, click , and use the Select Path dialog
to select the desired location. The path is added to the top of the
list.
3 To change the path order, select the path you want to move, and
use the and buttons to promote or demote the path.
4 Click Close.
5 To load the new paths into PowerMILL, expand the Macros node
in the explorer.

Only the paths that contain at least one macro are shown.
For more information, see Displaying Macros in explorer.

Recording the pmuser macro

The pmuser.mac is automatically run whenever you start PowerMILL
providing you with your preferred settings.
1 From the Tools menu, select Reset Forms. This ensures that
PowerMILL uses the default parameters in the dialogs.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 89

 2 From the Macros context menu, select Record.

3 Browse to pmill4 folder in your Home area. In the Select Record

Macro File dialog, enter pmuser in the File name field, and click
Save.

If you are asked whether you want to overwrite the existing

file, select Yes.
The macro icon changes to red to show recording is in
progress.

All dialog options that you want to include in your macro

must be selected during its recording. If an option already
has the desired value, re-enter it.
4 Set up your preferences. For example:
a From the NC Programs menu, select Preferences.
b In the NC Preferences dialog, select a Machine Option File (for
example, heid.opt).
c Click Open.
d Click Accept.

e Click on the Main toolbar to open the Rapid Move Heights

dialog.
f Enter a Safe Z of 10 and Start Z of 5.
g Click Accept.
5 From the Macros context menu, select Stop to finish recording.

90 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

 6 Expand the Macros node. The pmuser.mac macro is added under
pmill4.

7 Close and then restart PowerMILL to check that the settings from
the pmuser macro are activated.

Recording a macro to set up NC

preferences
This example records a macro that sets up NC preferences for
Heid400 machine controllers.
1 From the Tools menu, select Reset Forms. This ensures that
PowerMILL uses the default parameters in the dialogs.
2 From the Macros context menu, select Record.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 91

 3 Browse to pmill folder in your Home area in the Select Record
Macro File dialog, enter h400_prefs in the File Name field, and click
Save.
The macro icon changes to red to show recording is in
progress.

All dialog options that you want to include in your macro

must be selected during its recording. If an option already
has the desired value, re-enter it.
4 From the NC Programs context menu, select Preferences.
5 In the NC Preferences dialog, select the Heid400.opt in the
Machine Option File field on the Output tab.
6 Click the Toolpath tab, and select Always in the Tool Change field.
7 Click Accept.
8 From the Macros context menu, select Stop to finish recording.

Tips for programming macros

This section gives tips to help you record macros.
 Macros record any values you explicitly change in a dialog, but
don't record the current default values. For example, if the
default tolerance is 0.1 mm and you want a tolerance 0.1 mm,
you must re-enter 0.1 in the tolerance field during recording.
Otherwise PowerMILL will use whatever the current tolerance
value, which isn't necessarily the value you want.
 From the Tools menu, select Reset Forms. This ensures that
PowerMILL uses the default parameters in the dialogs.
 When debugging a macro it is important to have the macrofixer
turned off. Use the command:
UNSET MACROFIX
This ensures all syntax and macro errors are reported by
PowerMILL directly. You can use SET MACROFIX to turn it back
on.
 If you get a syntax error in a loop (DO-WHILE, WHILE, FOREACH)
or a conditional statements (IF-ELSEIF-ELSE, SWITCH) check you
have a space before any opening braces ({). For a DO-WHILE
loop make sure the closing brace (})has a space after it and
before the WHILE keyword.
 Your code blocks must have matching braces. They must have
the same number of opening braces ({) as closing braces (}).

92 • Macros PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

  The ELSEIF keyword doesn't have a space between the IF and
the ELSE.
 If you encounter expression errors check you have balanced
parentheses, and balanced quotes for strings.
 Decimal points in numbers must use a full stop (.) and not a
comma (,).
 The variable on the left of the = sign in assignments must have a
$ prefix. So:
$myvar = 5
is correct, but:
myvar = 5
is wrong as it is missing the $ prefix.
 Local variables override PowerMILL parameters. If your macro
contains:
REAL Stepover = 10
then during the execution of the macro any use of Stepover will
use the value 10 regardless of what the value specified in the
user interface. Also the command:
EDIT PAR "Stepover" "Tool.Diameter*0.6"
will change the value of this local Stepover variable NOT the
PowerMILL Stepover parameter.

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Macros • 93

Index

A C
Adding items to a list • 32, 76 Calling from other macros • 4
Adding lists • 75 Carriage returns in dialogs • 28
Adding macro loops • 10 Comparing variables • 36, 37
Adding macro variables • 9 Components
Arguments in macros • 44 List components • 72
Function values • 46 Compound macros • 4
Running macros with arguments • 11 Conditrional functions • 81
Sharing functions • 48 Constants • 60
Arrays • 29 Euler's number • 60
Lists • 29 Pi • 60
Points • 35 Converting numerics to strings • 66
Using arrays • 24 Creating macros • 1
Vectors • 35 Basic macro • 9
Creating variables (macros) • 25

B
Base name • 80
D
Basic macro • 9 Decision making in macros • 13
Adding macro loops • 10 Decisions in macros
Adding macro variables • 9 BREAK statement • 53, 58
Decision making in macros • 13 IF - ELSE statement • 49
Returning values from macros • 18 IF - ELSEIF - ELSE statement • 50
Running macros with arguments • 11 IF command • 48
Using a FOREACH loop • 21 SWITCH statement • 51
Using arrays • 24 Dialogs in macros • 26
Using functions in macros • 15 Carriage returns in dialogs • 28
BREAK statement • 53, 58 Directory name • 80
Building a list • 34 DO - WHILE loop • 57
Built-in functions • 60 Decision making in macros • 13

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Index • 95

 Type conversion functions • 83
E Using functions in macros • 15
Editing macros • 3 Using the SWITCH statement • 17
Empty list • 74 Vector functions • 62
Enter values into macros • 26 Angle between vectors • 62
Entities in macros • 28 Length of a vector • 62
Entity based functions • 86 Normal vectors • 62
Parallel vectors • 62
Equivalence • 86
Point functions • 62
Limits • 86 Setting a vector • 62
New entity name • 87 Unit vector • 62
Number of segments • 86
Workplane origin • 64
Equivalence • 86 I
Euler's number • 60
Evaluation functions • 82 IF - ELSE statement • 49
Example of programming language • 8 Decision making in macros • 13
Exiting a function • 59 IF - ELSEIF - ELSE statement • 50
Exponential • 61 IF command • 48
Expressions in macros • 41 Inputting values into macros • 26
Order of operations • 42 Entities in macros • 28
Precedence • 42 File name in macros • 29
Intersecting items in lists • 75
Items in one list • 76
F
File name in macros • 29 L
Folder
List folder • 73 Length of a string • 66
Folder name • 79 Limits • 86
FOREACH loop • 55 List components • 72
Using a FOREACH loop • 21 List folder • 73
Function values • 46 List functons • 72
Functions in macros • 60 Adding items to a list • 32, 76
Arguments in macros • 44 Adding lists • 75
Conditrional functions • 81 Empty list • 74
Entity based functions • 86 Findin values in a list • 76
Evaluation functions • 82 Intersecting items in lists • 75
Exiting a function • 59 Items in one list • 76
Function values • 46 List components • 72
List components • 72 List folder • 73
List folder • 73 List member • 74
List functons • 72 Removing duplicate items • 75
Main function • 45 Removing items from a list • 32, 76
Parameter functions • 84 List member • 74
Path functions • 79 Lists • 29
Point functions • 62 Adding items to a list • 32, 76
Setting a point • 62 Arrays • 29
Returning function values • 46 Building a list • 34
Sharing functions • 48 Removing items from a list • 32, 76
Statistical functions • 85 Using lists • 31
STRING function • 64 Logarithm • 61

96 • Index PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide

Loops Repeating commands in macros • 54
Adding macro loops • 10 Running macros • 3
Decision making in macros • 13 Setting paths • 88
DO - WHILE loop • 57 Variables in macros • 25
FOREACH loop • 55 Writing macros • 5
WHILE loop • 56 Main function • 45
Mathematical functions • 61
Exponential • 61
M Logarithm • 61
Macro comments • 7 Mathematical functions • 61
Macro statement • 6 Natural logarithm • 61
Adding macro loops • 10 Square root • 61
Arguments in macros • 44
BREAK statement • 53, 58
DO - WHILE loop • 57
N
FOREACH loop • 55 Natural logarithm • 61
IF - ELSE statement • 49 NC preference macro • 91
IF - ELSEIF - ELSE statement • 50 New entity name • 87
IF command • 48 Number of segments • 86
Macro statement • 6
RETURN statement • 59
SWITCH statement • 51 O
Using the SWITCH statement • 17 Operators • 41
WHILE loop • 56 Logical operators • 37
Macro statemenyts Relational operator • 36
Adding macro loops • 10 Order of operations • 42
Arguments in macros • 44
BREAK statement • 53, 58
DO - WHILE loop • 57 P
FOREACH loop • 55
IF - ELSE statement • 49 Parameter functions • 84
IF - ELSEIF - ELSE statement • 50 Path functions • 79
IF command • 48 Base name • 80
Macro statement • 6 Directory name • 80
RETURN statement • 59 Folder name • 79
SWITCH statement • 51 Path name • 79
Using a FOREACH loop • 21 Project name • 81
Using the SWITCH statement • 17 Path name • 79
WHILE loop • 56 Pi • 60
Macros pmuser macro • 4, 89
Calling from other macros • 4 Point functions • 62
Compound macros • 4 Setting a point • 62
Creating macros • 1 Position of a string • 67
Editing macros • 3 Precedence • 42
Expressions in macros • 41 Print
Macro comments • 7 Print the values of an expression • 59
Macro statement • 6 Programming language example • 8
NC preference macro • 91 Project name • 81
pmuser macro • 4, 89
Recording macros • 2, 89, 91

PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide Index • 97

R U
Recording macros • 2, 89, 91 Upper case function • 69
Relational operator • 36 Using a FOREACH loop • 21
Removing duplicate items • 75 Using arrays • 24
Removing items from a list • 32, 76 Using functions in macros • 15
Repeating commands in macros • 54 Using lists • 31
BREAK statement • 53, 58 Using the SWITCH statement • 17
DO - WHILE loop • 57 Using variables (macros) • 26
FOREACH loop • 55
WHILE loop • 56
Replacing strings • 68 V
RETURN statement • 59 Variable scope (macros) • 39
Returning function values • 46 Variables in macros • 25
Returning values from macros • 18 Adding macro variables • 9
Running macros • 3 Comparing variables • 36, 37
Running macros with arguments • 11 Creating variables (macros) • 25
Logical operators • 37
Operators • 41
S Order of operations • 42
Scratchpad variables • 38 Precedence • 42
Selecting a file name in macros • 29 Relational operator • 36
Selecting entities in macros • 28 Returning values from macros • 18
Setting paths • 88 Scratchpad variables • 38
Setting up your working directories • 88 Using variables (macros) • 26
Sharing functions • 48 Variable scope (macros) • 39
Splitting a string • 71 Vector functions • 62
Square root • 61 Angle between vectors • 62
Statistical functions • 85 Length of a vector • 62
Stopping macros • 59 Normal vectors • 62
STRING function • 64 Parallel vectors • 62
Converting numerics to strings • 66 Point functions • 62
Length of a string • 66 Setting a vector • 62
Position of a string • 67 Unit vector • 62
Replacing strings • 68
Splitting a string • 71
Substrings • 67, 69 W
Upper case function • 69 WHILE loop • 56
Whitespace in a string • 71 Whitespace in a string • 71
Substrings • 67, 69 Workplane origin • 64
SWITCH statement • 51 Writing macros • 5
Using the SWITCH statement • 17

T
Tips for programming macros • 92
Trouble shooting macros • 92
Type conversion functions • 83

98 • Index PowerMILL 2012 R2 User Guide