RanFab 4 changelog
RanFab 4 Tutorials
A new series of tutorials aimed at the changes found in RanFab 4.
This is the most fundamental and comprehensive update for RanFab to date. We have decided to remove the Sencha library and replace it with KendoUI. Apart from the technical considerations, the benefits for the end-user are as follows:
Cross compatibility of the entire system for all devices, desktop and mobile ( assumes that sufficient screen real-estate exists on the device )
Much faster-rendering speed for all pages and widgets
Equal performance on all HTML 5 platforms
Future proof
Optimised memory usage and not known memory leaksNew user interface
RanFab 4 has been released with a complete UI redesign with a much improved efficient layout. The main redesign elements are as follows :
Main menu replaced with a toolbar which has been streamlined to display business sectors without detail cluttering
Dashboard updates for the weather and Google Maps widgets where the initial display is initialised with the system data like city and country. The Maps can now also offer directions between locations. Weather can use C or F display for any City/Country combination
Grids of data can now display record detail on row expand
New filters in grids with powerful search capabilities
New grid headers with menu items related to the grid data
The new form and grid toolbars with main action items located on the left and non-critical ones displayed as icon only at the right side of the toolbar
Row highlights for both mouse over and selection of row items
Modeless windows- open forms and records in windows that are floating on the screen and allow you to move them around or minimise them while being able to continue using other elements in the background.
New modern and high-quality themes to suit all tastes
Schedule improvement
The schedule has been improved by removing the automatic reset every two hours and enabling the midnight auto-schedule only. This was done because the user is now encouraged to reset the schedule whenever it is necessary given that we have changed the implementation to execute the schedule without locking access during the process and also improved dramatically the speed at which jobs slots are calculated. Small reported bugs have also been fixed in this version.
Please note that the new schedule requires you to re-define your machine shifts.
CAD Importer Update
We have completely replaced the Silverlight importer with a new HTML 5 version which is now compatible with all browsers and completely independent of any plugins. All functionality has been retained and we are very proud of this new version. Please note that your current licence for the nesting server remains valid and the upgrade process is simply uninstalling the nesting server and client/s followed by re-installing them. You will also need to install a new service called an importer. The nesting preferences need to be replaced and reflect the new settings, you can see a sample set below:
Local URL : http://yourIP:9500/api/RanFabRequest
ProgressURL: http://yourIP:9500/WebApp/index.html
ImporterURL: http://yourIP:9700/WebApp/index.html
As you can see from the above sample set you will need to open port 9700 in your firewall rules.
Extra nesting user-defined parameters
Added the option to modify extra parameters on the nest by nest basis plus two extra nesting modes explained below:
The irregular mode will nest all the parts of common material and thickness together on the available sheet sizes. After determining the best sheet size the system will assign their areas and the scrap they create, according to your assignment and offcut preferences, in order to determine the value of the material that should be charged for the part. Nest together and nest separately operate on this mod to allow and disallow nesting together of parts.
Fill Sheet Rectangle mode will take each part individually and use a rectangular nesting mode (nesting the parts according to their drawn orientation as a rectangle) to see how many will fit on each available sheet size. The sheet size with the best yield will then be used to calculate what proportion of the sheet should be used to charge for the part. i.e. 100 parts fit on the best sheet, the quote is for 10 so the system will assign the material weight for charging 10x100ths of the sheet.
Fill Sheet Irregular mode uses the same principle as the rectangle mode but uses our irregular tiling algorithm to find the highest number of shapes possible to fit on each available sheet size.
Added NFB format for nest files compatibility with NestFab
Replaced QuoteFab files with NestFab files and made it optional. If users desire to clear their database of previously saved QFB files that are no longer required they can execute a query similar to the example below using Navicat. If you are not comfortable with this procedure please do not attempt it and book a support session.
DELETE FROM RANFAB_SYSTEMDOCUMENT WHERE Document_DOCTYPE='Nesting.QFB'
Doing this will dramatically reduce the size of your database and backup files.
New nesting workflow
RanFab 4 brings a much-improved nesting workflow for quoting profile-cutting parts. Users can now execute multiple permutations of nests and change and modify them without creating parts calculations until they are satisfied with the result. The video below shows an example where one can change various parameters and execute the nest, followed by the parts created when the desired nest is found.
Added XY dimensions to parts from automatic nesting
Weight and dimensions in quotes
Added parts weights and dimensions to quotes from automatic nesting
Production nest creation
This was a very popular request from many users. Our nesting algorithm exceeds the quality of many other nesting platforms and some users were forced to reduce to quoting with the standard nesting quality to match their production nesting software capabilities. This is no longer necessary as we are not providing the means to create a DXF of a production run from the programming module which can be imported into your post-processor and used to create the NC code. The video below shows one such example.
Libelulla Integration
New integration with Libelulla nesting and production software. Simply define your export directory and map your materials to Libellula and RanFab will generate a specifically formatted CSV file ready to import into Libellula together with all found DXF files for each job in a nest.
Xero integration update
Added purchase order export to Xero. To match your Xero accounts with RanFab PO accounts please set your account numbers from Xero for your Cost of goods sold to your account options in your Purchase Orders.
Parts In Order and Assemblies
New functionality added at part level with users having the capacity to execute a query starting from the part screen and display all assemblies and orders linked to the part in context.