Advanced Tubular Technologies can provide software solutions that perform automatic translation between customer data formats and industry-standard file formats.

Translation programs provide the final link between proprietary formats on customer computers and bending cells with measuring centers and tube benders.

This page describes an actual program that we started to develop and test while we were installing two Benderlink control systems on-site. The program took 16 hours to write, including revisions. (Of course, some applications will take longer.)

Before implementation of this software, data was printed at another location, then re-entered by hand at the benders. This software provides a much improved system because it allows the data to pass directly from the main server to the work cell through a direct network connection.

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Click on the image to the right to see a program that was written specifically for a Benderlink customer. It translates their internal engineering files to the Supravision measuring center format.

(Please note that the Source TU File window is blurred in the TUSV Translator as a courtesy to our customer. Their format is proprietary.)


The User Interface

We pay careful attention to the user interfaces of our programs. To use the TUSV program, the operator presses the Input File... button and then browses for the file.

True Windows 95 Programs

Since the translator is a true 32 bit Windows program, it recognizes long filenames, and will recognize any network connection automatically. This means that the program can even load data off a remote server.

Automatic Naming

When the source file is selected, the operator can either name the Supravision file to receive the data, or allow the translator to automatically create the Supravision name from data inside the customer file. The operator presses the Translate button, and the translation is performed in less than a second.

If you look closely at the Supravision filename in the first image above, you will notice that it created a filename that uses an unusual directory structure. This is because our translator created a Supravision file using the long Supravision filename format. If the translation was performed from within the measuring center itself, the file correctly displays in the Supravision list as soon as the translation is complete.

Configuration

The image below (left) shows the configuration options in this translation program. It allows you to manually or automatically name the Supravsion file. The exact options in this window depend on each customer application.

 

The image to the right above shows an additional toolbar "Output File" button that displays if the operator configures TUSV to allow manual naming of the Supravision file.

Help Menu

The software includes a help page that shows, step by step, how to use the program.

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