MC2026 Level manager

[Jeff]

That levels manager... ooooof.

I'm starting "Project 2026" today.
I'll keep it clean and polite for once and just say that "oooof" is a massive understatement.

[champshire]

I have only programmed 2 parts so far in 2026. There are a couple things I don't like about the level manager. I don't like you can't double click the same way to change level numbers. It does still work but it's like the timing of the clicks has to be different. The work around is use F2.
I also don't like how you can't resize the columns anymore for long level names. This behavior is the same in plane manager, so if you have a long plane or level name you can't see it all at once. I ended up changing my font size smaller so I could differentiate between them easier.

All in all, I like the groups, could do without the eyeball icon like Solidworks. Maybe I'm getting old and cranky and don't like change much as the years go by. The grouping was a nice addition and was more needed than I realized.

2026 seems to load faster, verify faster and simulate faster for me however, so that is nice.

[CNCAppsJames]

I found right clicking everything was more efficient than timing the double clicks in the levels manager. 

[champshire]

Yeah, I tried the right click and didn't like it much. May hot key a few key functions. F2 is already done, but need to figure out the hot key for renumber so I can do it in one shake of a lambs tail.

I guess I'm more of a hot key guy than all the extra right click and move up the fly out window. One and done.

[MIL-TFP-41]

That levels manager... ooooof. That IS going to take some getting used to.

I am hesitant to roll out 2026 here just because of the levels manager. I can get used to the change, as can a couple of the other guys. What will get me more than the change is the 8 or so other users venting their frustrations about it in my ear.

Now if one were to give me the cell phone number of the guy in charge of this "enhancement", and our guys could vent their frustrations directly to that guy, I would switch today.

[CNCAppsJames]

I am hesitant to roll out 2026 here ...

That's been the consensus for the most part.

I go as early as possible in order to find as many of the difficulties/issues before my customers. Like the Levels 999 through 1001 issue. That's not Mastercam's issue but there's two pieces to the equation for our 5-Axis customers that use CAMplete that I need to be in tune with. 

[Jeff]

It seems with every new version the things they change or implement are a just a shell of what they're supposed to be. The level manager is a perfect example, we know it's not complete, they know it's not complete yet we're forced to use it.
That's like us making a part for our customer but only machining half of it and shipping it, then tell them...well we're working on fixing that, here's an R#. We can't tell you when you'll get the full part, but pay us anyways.

[Newbeeee™]

It seems with every new version the things they change or implement are a just a shell of what they're supposed to be. The level manager is a perfect example, we know it's not complete, they know it's not complete yet we're forced to use it.
That's like us making a part for our customer but only machining half of it and shipping it, then tell them...well we're working on fixing that, here's an R#. We can't tell you when you'll get the full part, but pay us anyways.

100%. See post #12
Remember the first X that was missing soooo many features, and it was X2 before the features were nearly all back in?
Aaaaannnndddd the setup sheets, which couldn't yet handle rotary and stock diameter couldn't be called - it would tell you to make from 1" radius etc
Oh, and tool manager which had no gauge line.... and yous have to remember X7 when UBVS was rush implemented, where round holes and countersinks were all facet and lines
And don't start talking about Machine and Control defs....

[Jeff]

And don't start talking about Machine and Control defs..

lol

[Zoffen]

And don't start talking about Machine and Control defs....

Its all good everything is gonna be fixed with MP.net!

I remember being excited to explore MP.net... a decade ago! WTF!

[CNCAppsJames]

Its all good everything is gonna be fixed with MP.net!

I remember being excited to explore MP.net... a decade ago! WTF!

Few people remember Mastercam had Multi-Spindle Lathe functionality in V6. Not X6... V6. It was a C-Hook. SyncLath.dll IIRC. It was limited, but then again full blown multi-tasking lathes didn't really come on line for a few more years after V6 had been retired. I'm thinking either Index, Miyano, Hitachi Seiki, or Nakamura were first in the space. It was a promising foundation IMHO. I last used it on a Mori Seiki SL-150YSMC. Don't ask me how it worked. That was 1997-ish. Since I was mostly a mill guy, my lathe seat time was limited... not enough reps to remember all the details.

[Jeff]

I'm starting "Project 2026" today.
I'll keep it clean and polite for once and just say that "oooof" is a massive understatement.

Well that was short lived.
FUCK Mastercam 2026.

[gcode]

Well that was short lived.
FUCK Mastercam 2026.

Jeff, tell us how you really feel 

[Jeff]

Jeff, tell us how you really feel 

If I did that, then I would most likely be banned from the official site lol.
I posted there, but tried to keet my cool as much as possible.

[neurosis]

Well that was short lived.
FUCK Mastercam 2026.

Do I dare ask what happened?