Can global macro variables have a name or description? (VF-2 with Next Gen Ctrl)

[CallMeGeorge]

I'm writing a set of macro programs for a VF-2 with Next Gen Control. The program will use nearly 50 global variables.

It would be helpful to refer to a variable by name in the program instead of its number.

Failing that, the ability to attach a description to the variable in the list of variables would be nice.

I didn't see mention of either of these features in the programming manual, so I'm not hopeful. Still, it's worth asking. I don't have access to the machine yet, or I would go out to the floor and have a look at the HMI.

 

[Booze Daily]

Comments can be written inside parentheses. Just put a comment on each line that you want to identify a variable. To my knowledge variables can’t be reassigned with aliases.

 

[jaredgtd]

I agree with Booze!

 

[bryan_machine]

If you are writing the code "by hand" you might look into a symbolic macro front end from the Unix world. (M4 was a famous one.)

You then set up these symbolic macros to expand things like $FixtureBase to #10037 - the output is G-code, the input in a "language" you make up.

(You might get some of the more powerful text editors to do it, or you could write scripts in awk or sed.)

Note that "macro" in this sense means symbolic expansion, while in the world of G-code it amounts to a procedure call.