Important New Report Tokens Added for Calculated Lengths

• Previous versions of VTube report tokens for inserting cut lengths into reports were ambiguous when elongation compensation was included in the values.
• This is a problem when comparing a pre-bending cut length with the measured tube's length.
• The bent-measured length could be reported as the bent-measured length with elongation compensation - which is not logical.
• To clear this ambiguity, VTube now has six new tokens - each with the word "with_elong" or "without_elong" at the end.

calclengthmaster_with_elong

calclengthmaster_without_elong

calclengthmeasured_with_elong

calclengthmeasured_without_elong

calclengthmastermeasureddelta_with_elong

calclengthmastermeasureddelta_without_elong

Use the new tokens inside report templates like this:

<tr>
   <td class="td_spec_name">Calculated Master Length:</td>
   <td class="td_spec_value"><vtube_val>calclengthmaster_without_elong</vtube_val></td>
</tr>

<tr>
   <td class="td_spec_name">Calculated Measured Length:</td>
   <td class="td_spec_value"><vtube_val>calclengthmeasured_without_elong</vtube_val></td>
</tr>

<tr>
   <td class="td_spec_name">Calculated Master-Measured Delta:</td>
   <td class="td_spec_value"><vtube_val>calclengthmastermeasureddelta_without_elong</vtube_val></td>
</tr>

A new "calctubeelongationpercentage_cutlength_measuredlength" report token is added to the report engine

• This token will report a calculated elongation percentage based on the CUT LENGTH minus the MEASURED TUBE LENGTH.

calctubeelongationpercentage_cutlength_measuredlength

Use it like this in report templates:

<tr>

 <td class="td_spec_name">Elongation Percentage:</td>

 <td class="td_spec_value"><vtube_val>calctubeelongationpercentage_cutlength_measuredlength</vtube_val></td>

</tr>

A new report template has been added to the VTube installation: Tube Lengths.

Installation Update Note

• Please note that the "calclengthmaster" token (without the "elong" word) is removed from the logic of VTube's report engine to avoid this ambiguity moving forward.
• If you use this token in one of your report templates, it is important to replace it with either the "calclengthmaster_without_elongation" or "calclengthmaster_with_elongation" token in the source code of the report template.
• If you need help with this modification, please send a request to support@advancedtubular.com. We will be happy to help.

<tr>

 <td class="td_spec_name">Calculated Master Length:</td>

 <td class="td_spec_value"><vtube_val>calclengthmaster</vtube_val></td>

</tr>

changes to

<tr>

 <td class="td_spec_name">Calculated Master Length:</td>

 <td class="td_spec_value"><vtube_val>calclengthmaster_without_elong</vtube_val></td>

</tr>

VTube has improved Automatic Calc Cut Length handling in Part Setup.

• Rather than only ON or OFF, the feature now allows for three settings from a dropdown box.
• The settings are:

1. Disabled
2. ON Nominal
3. ON + Elong Comp

• When the calculator is on, the Recalculate Cut Length buttons in the popup menu will be disabled. This is because VTube now controls the cut length automatically.

• When the calculator is on, VTube will remind you to turn it off if you want to control the Cut Length in Part Setup manually.

• The dialog above will display for any time you attempt to change a cut length manually in the user interface. This is true for Part Setup and for Master Tube Data's Absolute chart.

Other User Interface Fixes

The Bend Profile Planar default tolerance box now takes in the default tolerance when manually entered.

VTube's SOLIDWORKS Builder now shows a Builder Report after the build is complete.

• This report will show either SUCCESS, SUCCESS with Warnings, or ERRORS.
• The report dialog is not modal and will not stop with any other process in VTube-LASER.

Before starting a build, the SOLIDWORKS builder warns users of any negative straights in the bender data.

• SOLIDWORKS cannot handle negative straight distances between bends when building parts. This warning allows users to stop the build to correct the problem first.

Adjustments were made so VTube can now always draw a model with near zero-length distances between bends.

• Previous versions could throw errors during redraw when distances between bends were within the range of +/- 0.0002 millimeters (+/- 0.000008 inches).

Multiple enhancements were made to the true views in SOLIDWORKS tube layouts.

• Tube layouts now have Arc Lengths and DBB+Arc Length values in each SOLIDWORKS true bend.
• The language spreadsheet now controls the language in the layout labels.
• The labels fix the linear distances to match the correct linear unit.

SOLIDWORKS Builder no longer causes SOLIDWORKS to crash every other load.

BENDER PROJECT CONTROL Enhancement - The part number boxes are now read-only.

Also, when they are not being used, VTube colors them grey.

BENDER PROJECT CONTROL Enhancement - PART NUMBERS now display below each button in the BPC window.

BEND PROFILE ENHANCEMENT - Automatic synchronization of Part Setup OD to the nominal OD in the Bend Profile section of Inspection Data

This synchronization is essential when operators want to correctly measure and calculate bend profile radii. The correct ODnom value is used to calculate the centerline radius of the bend from inside-only radius measurements.

Tube model images now display in Bender Project Control bender buttons.

The Pass-Fail icons are now disabled when starting the alignment

The icons previously stayed red or green during the alignment phase - making it seem like the alignment state was set before the alignment was complete. This change clarifies that VTube-LASER is still working on an alignment pass-fail decision.

Point values can now be pasted into the tangent centerline point grids.

Set the proper point count for regular centerline points, turn the grid locking off, enter the tangent grid, right-click to get the pop-up menu, and press Paste the XYZ data. VTube will take in the data and automatically calculate regular centerline XYZ coordinates.

We added the VTube-LASER Bender Project (BPC) Control feature.

The BPC feature is designed to allow projects to be controlled by bender numbers. The goal was to allow bender operators to associate a VTube project file with any bender and then quickly switch to that project by selecting the bender number.