CNC Shark Forum

I have a program (Microcarve V4) that saves the G-code file with the extension of .nc. Will the Shark controller recognize this file and run it? I have not tried it yet, but I thought I'd ask the question before I mess something up on my new machine.
Thanks, Dave.

Hi Dave - the Shark is looking for a file extension of .tap

Do you know if the Shark controller reads only .tap files and not other G-code files such as .nc or .txt. I have used Mach 3 in the past and it would load all 3 of these files this is why I am asking.
Thanks, Dave

BessieHunter wrote:Do you know if the Shark controller reads only .tap files and not other G-code files such as .nc or .txt. I have used Mach 3 in the past and it would load all 3 of these files this is why I am asking.
Thanks, Dave

The software prefers the .tap files, though ANY file that contains GCODE should be able to be loaded.
Most people assume that because Vectric makes TAP files and NWA uses them that there is a special thing about those letters.
There is not. In fact, the output file extension is specified in the post-process files:

FILE_EXTENSION = "tap"

So, yes, TAP is the normal. But you can really use whatever you like, and NC and TXT are just fine .

Thom

When you go to load a file into the Shark Controller simply click the down arrow for file types and it lists them. Have you tried that?

No, I have not tried any of the other g-code file extension as I just received the machine this past week and I am in process of playing around to see how things work. I'm use to using Mach 3 with my last 2 diy built machines.

I have not tried this with an HD4 pendant yet - but older machines and SCP software would look for the .tap file extension. Things may have changed since I last looked at this aspect a few years ago.

This person doesn't assume that just because Vectric products write a file with a .tap extension by default, that this is the case. A question was asked, and I answered it to the best of my ability. If you haven't tried other file extensions, or if you have and you weren't clear about them working - please clarify your statement, instead of just throwing things on the wall to see where they stick.

In the end, even if other file extensions are in fact supported - most useful text editors will allow you to specify the extension you want to save as, as well as open - so I guess it also begs the question of what does it matter at that point.

Lastly, the software is looking for other information that has a specific structure in the text file. Now, last I checked if that information wasn't present in the file, the job would still run. But, you can expect that certain dialogues in either the SCP display or the pendant will not appear to 'work', as that information is not present in the 'text' file.

You may want to search this forum for other topics about gcode - as the Shark does not support all possible gcode commands known to man - regardless of the file extension type.

It sounds like most here have provided good answers. The reality is that it is the contents of the file that matters. The g-code is what controls and drives the motion of the machine and this files structure must be correct to work. The file extension is irrelivent as you can easily rename the file to whatever extension you want/need. If the file is created in .nc you can rename it to .tap as long as it is in ascii (text) format (the file contents) and the g-code structure matches the requirements of the machine. In other works, the post must be correct.

Does this help?

Steve

Steve - thanks - that's the most important point. And while it's been 5+ years since I looked at this in any detail - http://cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 97&p=10186. This may be a helpful starting point to those working with other software sets and generating the file.