Configuration

Arcs are displayed using multiple line segments. This setting defines the angle between each segment. Smaller numbers make smoother curves but slower display rates.

The tolerance used when automatic arc fitting is applied in some drawing operations.

Zero will use an automatically calculated value.

If True, transformations such as rotations, moving, resizing and array copies will automatically apply transformations and reset the transformation matrix.

In some cases, such as rotating a circle around the Y or X axis, this is not possible so the original entity plus transformation matrix is retained.

Whether to apply arc fitting in certain drawing operations (such as plane slicing).

When displaying surface meshes, faces with back facing normals (using right hand rule) are not displayed

This can speed up displaying meshes considerably and also make the wireframe 3D view clearer.

True | False

If True, the program will check for updates from the internet when it loads.

Set this option False if you are not connected to the internet.

The version check only downloads a tiny text file from the CamBam web site containing the latest version number. No other information is transferred.

The color used to display toolpath cut widths.

This is the font used when no font is specified for text drawing objects.

A default file extension used when gcode files are produced.

The color to use when new layers are inserted into a drawing.

The default color to use to display stock objects.

An integer number used to control the number of information messages displayed in the message pane at the bottom of the CamBam interface. Typical values are 0 to 4, where 0 displays little or no messages and 4 displays reams of diagnostic information.

Controls the method used to display the 3D drawing view.

OpenGL is a fast, preferred method but may cause problems with some graphics drivers.

OpenGL_Legacy uses immediate mode which was the standard OpenGL method up to 0.9.8M.

GDI is a slower but potentially less susceptible to driver problems. Use this mode if the drawing display seems very slow or corrupted.

Changing the DisplayMode option requires CamBam to be restarted.

Holding the SHIFT key while starting CamBam will force the use of GDI mode.

This property can contain the filename of a CamBam drawing (.cb file) to be used as a template for new drawings.

Whenever a new drawing is created, or a non CamBam (such as DXF, 3DS etc) is loaded, the basic format and properties of the drawing template will be used for that document.

This is useful for setting default values for properties stored in documents, such as Post Processors.

This sets the drawing units to be used for new drawings.

This property may be overridden by the drawing units of the Drawing Template, if one is supplied.

When saving CamBam (.cb), library or post processor files, a backup of the existing file is created before overwriting.

The backup file is of the format 'filename.b#', where # is a number. The number of backups to keep is specified in the File Backups property.

Specify an external command used to edit gcode files. If no command is specified, the internal editor is used.

GCode files can be edited by invoking the Machining, Edit gcode menu option.

Example:
%windir%\system32\notepad.exe.

If True, flatten all layers to a single (unioned) layer.

If True, 'Clear' layers will be subtracted from previous layers.

If True, all shapes on each layer will be unioned together.

If True, each trace will be unioned together. If False the traces will be left as line and arc sections.

The version of the OpenGL shader language to use.

110 is older but should be more compatible with older display drivers.

330 may only be supported by newer display drivers.

The color of the drawing grid.

Information that defines the drawing grid when Inches drawing units are used.

• Drawing Units - drawing units used by the grid.
• Minimum - X, Y location of the lower left point of the visible grid.
• Maximum - X, Y location of the upper right point of the visible grid.
• Major Scale - Number of units in the grid's major scale.
• Minor Scale - Number of units in the grid's minor scale.

Information that defines the drawing grid when Metric drawing units are used.

True | False

If True, holding tabs are automatically applied to toolpaths when tabs are moved.
If False tabs will be applied when the toolpaths are regenerated.

The desired language to use for the CamBam user interface.

CamBam will need to be restarted for this change to take effect.

Language translation files will need to be downloaded from the internet for the translations to function.

The translation files may be periodically updated. Use the Tools - Download latest translations menu item to download the latest versions from the CamBam website.

See www.cambam.info/ref/ref.lang for more details.

If True, back track drawing glitches in polylines are detected and removed by the offset routine used in toolpath generation.

Back tracks can cause the offset routines to produce unexpected results.

If True, drawing commands will be repeated. To end the current drawing mode, press ESC or click the middle mouse button.

ALT+Left | Left+Middle | Left+Right

The key and mouse combination used to rotate the drawing view.

ALT+Left - the view is rotated by holding down the ALT key and dragging with the left mouse button.

Left+Middle - the view is rotated by pressing the middle mouse button and dragging with the left mouse button. The middle mouse button can be released while dragging.

Left+Right New [0.9.8] - the view is rotated by pressing the right then left mouse button and dragging. The right mouse button can be released while dragging.

The color used to select paint selected shapes.

Controls how much unselected shapes are faded (as a percent).

Sets whether the drawing grid is displayed.

Alternatively use the show grid button on the toolbar.

True | False

If True, drawing points will snap to the minor grid units.

This option can also be changed from the View - Snap to Grid menu option or toggled using Ctrl+G.

True | False

If True, drawing points will snap to shape control points, circle centers and other significant points.

When splines are displayed, their shape is approximated by line segments. This setting controls the number of segments used to display. A larger number will give a smoother appearance but may slow display performance.

This setting does not affect the resolution of geometric operations based on splines, such as toolpath generation.

Splines are converted to polylines internally before they can be used for some operations, such as toolpath generation.

This setting controls the degree of error allowed in this conversion, measured in drawing units.

A smaller value will result in more accurate spline conversions but can hinder performance considerably.

The system path is the root folder where CamBam library (styles, tools etc), post processor and drawing templates are stored.

The following macros can be used:

{$common} - Common application data folder (%ALLUSERPROFILE%).
In Windows XP this is typically:
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\CamBam plus 0.9.8\
And in Windows 7
\ProgramData\CamBam plus 0.9.8\

{$user} - User application data folder (%USERPROFILE%).

Text objects are converted to polylines internally before they can be used for some operations, such as toolpath generation.

This setting controls the degree of error allowed in this conversion, measured in font units (0-2048).

A smaller value will result in more accurate text conversions but can hinder performance considerably.

Message to display when CamBam is busy calculating. Displayed in full, unexpurgated technicolor! :-)

The color of arc segments in toolpaths.

The color of line segments in toolpaths.

The color used to display toolpath rapids.

If True, selected 3D meshes will be displayed using the selection color.

If True, 3D meshes will be displayed in wireframe mode.

The color of the drawing background.

For Perspective projection mode, drawing objects are set back from the view point by a distance based on the height of the view port, multiplied by the View Focal Length Scale.

Smaller values will give a greater perspective effect but may result in some clipping when viewing larger objects.

Orthographic - drawing dimensions are consistent regardless of depth.

Perspective - drawing dimensions are perspective scaled based on depth. Drawing objects are set back from the view point by a distance base on View Focal Length Scale.

The color used to display text in the drawing view.

If True, prevents gcode creating if errors are suspected in 3D waterline toolpaths.

Number of simultaneous worker threads to use.