PREREQUISITES

An automated process that will drop off a FACTORn.txt file to be used by QC-CALC. It is important that the FACTORn.txt file is dropped off before data collection. Therefore, you may need to change your process line to make sure the bar code scanner is upstream.

INTRODUCTION

QC-CALC can be set to read Factor information from an external text file. This system was added to support production line systems that are not tightly integrated but must pass important trace information to QC-CALC. When QC-CALC receives inspection data from your CMM it optionally looks for the existence of 1 to 30 files named FACTORN1.TXT, FACTORN2.TXT, FACTORN3.TXT, … and FACTORN30.TXT in the same folder QC-CALC was installed. This is typically c:\Prolink\QC-CALC 3.4\ or other version number. In version 4.0 we use the C:\Users\Public\Prolink\QC-CALC 4.0 directory.

If any of these files exist and are not in use by another program, QC-CALC reads them and writes the contents in the corresponding Numeric FACTOR. The number found in the file’s name is used as the Factor number within QC-CALC.

Similarly, QC-CALC looks for the existence of another 30 files named FACTORT1.TXT, FACTORT2.TXT, FACTORT3.TXT, … and FACTORT30.TXT in the folder QC-CALC was installed. If any of these files exist, QC-CALC reads them and writes the contents in the corresponding Text FACTOR.

The files must be ASCII and can have 1 of 2 formats. The two formats are:

Label, Value
OR
Value

i.e. Lot number,123

STEPS

1. In QC-CALC, go to Tools > Options > Factors > General Factor Settings (Tools > Options > Trace Fields > General Trace Field Settings in 4.0+) and check the box that says Use FACTORn.txt. This tells QC-CALC to start looking for factor files whenever data arrives from the inspection machine.
2. If you wish to delete the file after it has been used, check the Delete FACTORn.txt box. If you wish to use the same factor settings for each part, leave this box unchecked and the same factor value will be used each time new data is collected until the value is changed.
3. Click OK.

MORE INFORMATION

• The file is not deleted after use unless instructed to do so.
• QC-CALC only reads the first line in the file so if more lines exist, they are ignored.
• If no label is given, QC-CALC generates a label of "FACTOR n" where n is the appropriate number.
• If the file is in use when QC-CALC tries to read it, QC-CALC retries 10 times. If it is still busy, QC-CALC leaves the Factor value blank (0).