PCM - inquireList size

[[Cl...]]

Using something like this in my presetting's to prompt the operator to select a size;

part_num = inquireList("Which part number would you like to run?", "8mm", "10mm", "12mm", "14mm", "16mm", "18mm")

Can I increase the size of the box that prompts the operator? It's too small!

[[Ro...]]

Yes, but No.

So i have a couple programs that i've used and learned a TON from, but they are customer supplied so i had no hand in their creation, but i did do a whole bunch of adding onto the back end.
When you start the program it launches a box that asks for you to select a part number from a dropdown, then it populates about 20 variables, deletes the old cad model, loads the new cad model, and sets which miniplan to use, as well as a host of other things.
It gets its data from n Excel file instead of a parafile, and the pop up box is an EXE.
I always thought the guys at customer site were genius for coming up with this system, but I just now realize that its either a prefab (boxed) program from Ellison, or possibly Ellison wrote the program.
So yes its possible to make a much larger box, i just wouldn't know the first step in how to do it.

Ok, so i just googled "Ellison technologies PCM Interface", and i see its a program they provide. Looks pricey......
https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/sit ... rview1.pdf

jhkghfghfgdsfd.JPG

[[Ro...]]

But to be honest, since i have this program in my hand, and i now know its not made of pixie dust or sorcery, i might try to use this (not now, later) to combine several programs into 1 giant program.

And good luck to the next programmer should i kick over and die.

[[Is...]]

Try to Combine Calypso with other Software:
Normally we use sharpDevelop to increase our possibilities; After to generate the *.exe you can call it with

systemCallWithWait()

Normally with these *.exe applications we generate text files as output and the results go to Calpyso by:

readPCMFile() 

or

readListFile()

SharpDevelop is a Freeware portable software (does not require Installation or administrator rights) and it has several program languages to select.

[[Ch...]]

Most of the cool stuff from Ellison Technologies is from when Ryan Stauffer worked there. He's pretty much the Calypso grand wizard. I know he's a director for Zeiss's North Carolina facility and even still teaches the PCM class from time to time.

[[Is...]]

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I wrote this example (maybe this is not the ideal application but it helps to demonstrate how easy is to combine calypso with other software):

part_num=""
VQuestion="Which part number would you like to run?"
VOptions="8mm" + cr() + "10mm" + cr() +"12mm" + cr() +"14mm" + cr() +"16mm" + cr() +"18mm" + cr() +"20mm" + cr() +"22mm"  + cr() +"24mm"  + cr() +"34mm" + cr() +"46mm" + cr() +"44mm" + cr() +"46mm" + cr() +"48mm" + cr() +"49mm" + cr() +"50mm" + cr() +"51mm" + cr() +"53mm"  //separated by cr()

deleteFile(getActualInspectionDir() + "\Qestion.txt")
addToFile(getActualInspectionDir() + "\Qestion.txt",VQuestion)

deleteFile(getActualInspectionDir() + "\Options.txt")
addToFile(getActualInspectionDir() + "\Options.txt",VOptions)


systemCallWithWait(getActualInspectionDir() + "\Combo.exe")
readPCMFile(getActualInspectionDir() + "\selected.para") 

message("The option selected was: " +  part_num )

The source code of the *.exe is inside of the program Folder:

Combobox.7z

[[Ri...]]

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Wow, I am trying to find the source code for this exact product.
I am working at Eaton in SC, we need to update this system.
Going out on a limb, have you ever found information on this PCM utility?

[[No...]]

For a simple list dialog like in the original question you can also use the internal Smalltalk dialog functions. This allows you to set the number of lines to your needs:

part_num=executeCode("Dialog choose: 'Which part number would you like to run?' fromList: #('8mm' '10mm' '12mm' '14mm' '16mm' '18mm') values: #(8 10 12 14 16 18) lines: 25 cancel: 0")
display(part_num)

fromList: specifies the strings to be displayed
values: sets the values to be returned for the list items
lines: sets the maximum number of lines to be displayed in the dialog window. If your list is shorter than this value, the window will be as large as as needed to display the whole list. If it's larger, the window will display as many lines as you specify here and an additional scroll bar.
cancel: specifies the value to be returned when the cancel button is clicked.

There are more dialog functions that I have yet to explore. Maybe there are even better ones.

[[Er...]]

Here is an old solution thats very powerful.

viewtopic.php?t=4635




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