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Take me back to 2007 please

Wes Cisco
In the late summer of 2007 I was pretty happy with Pc-Dmis version 3.7MR3. Sure, the 3.5s and first 3 tries at 3.7 had been rough around the edges and 3.6 a disaster of historical proportion, but 3.7MR3 was stable and mostly trouble free.

It was then that I had my big opportunity to tell my employers what I wanted in a new CMM. The finer indexing capabilities of Zeiss were appealing. I like to learn, so taking on a new software also had enough appeal to outweigh the downside.

A couple of things tipped my decision to stay with the Hexagoon product line. The biggest was the hundreds of existing Pc-Dmis programs on my company's server. And we were keeping the CMM we had, so having both use the same software made sense. While smaller, a still significant part of my decision was this forum and the community of regulars. I "knew" and respected many here, so if I had a problem, I knew I could post here and get answers from a source I trusted.

Since 3.7MR3 I have been underwhelmed with the new versions. I took the Xactmeasure GD&T course and have tried to leave legacy dimensions behind. But after several months I still find it cumbersome, confusing, and often just not ready for real world use. Frankly it is barely up to the point I think a betatest release would be proper as of v2009 about 2 years after you released it!

If I could go back to 2007 and make that decision again, Pc-Dmis would not even get it's hat in the ring.

In fact I am going to be looking into switching to CMM Manager or some other 3rd party software, since replacing both of my CMMs is not an option.

Dear Hexagon, as the cranky old guy used to say, "If that's the best you can do. . . it ain't good enough!" Banning or deleting your critics won't make it better.

Stop releasing junk. Stop thinking you have to have a major release every year. Take 5 years if you need but make your next release the next 3.2063 or 3.7MR3. Make every release after that just as solid and reliable. A number of the best programmers out here in the real world using your software every day feel the same way and are saying the same things. We are tired of getting junk in exchange for our SMA$. One by one we are telling our employers, don't pay the SMA, let's look into other CMM software/hardware options.

You can ban me now, but it won't make what I have said untrue.

-Wes Cisco
  • I have 3.2063 on one of my machines.... it makes me happy Smiley

    V3.2065+MR2 on mine & I am happy.

    I too specifically instructed the 'Seniors' NOT to buy, pay anything towards Hexagoon purely on the strength of the comments of those here on this forum who paid to use the upgrades.

    Proof that this forum is useful & does teach you things.
  • Well said Wes!
    I thought you were happy with Xactmeasure (based on some of your posts).

    But I don't blame you, I also took the course and agree that is cumbersome.

    I still using legacy and DPage as requested by my enginerds. They don't like how Xact reports TP.


    I am delighted with the idea of Xactmeasure. If it worked as it should for all cases, it would be an improvement over legacy. But the improvement is mostly aesthetic and in the isolated cases of material condition modifiers on datums. For 99% of what I check legacy is quite adequate.

    I appreciate what a difficult project coding it up and integrating it into pc-dmis must be.

    I am flabberghasted that they rolled it out with version 4.0 but did not even offer decent support until a few years later, and as of last October when I took the class, it is "Still a work in progress". A "work in progress" should not be included in a major release IMNSHFO. The GUI is clunky, cumbersome, and quirky.

    I still have huge issues with reporting. When I use Xactmeasure sometimes some data does not get into my reports! I have wasted days watching tutorials and fiddling about with templates and rule trees. I submitted this issue to the call center, they forwarded it to Wilcox. If a cause/solution/workaround was found, it never got back to me.


  • So I just took a call from my sales rep. He and an applications engineer are going to be here next week to go over my xactmeasure issues.


    I told him, same as I have been saying for years, my number one frustration is them pushing junk out the door before it is ready.


  • So I just took a call from my sales rep. He and an applications engineer are going to be here next week to go over my xactmeasure issues.


    I told him, same as I have been saying for years, my number one frustration is them pushing junk out the door before it is ready.


    I'm eager to hear the results.
  • I'm eager to hear the results.


    I am working on a list. I am curious how many of my gripes they will be about to find workarounds for. I will update here after.
  • Please let us know, how "productive" this visit result.

    I might post a similar thread as well.
  • I use legacy with my 4.3 MR2 and no SMA. So far it meets my needs 100%.I am learning the finer points with the help files, this forum and trial and error. Had our CMM (one with a manual head) calibrated in Feb 2011 and was found well above standards. Seldom does my machine crash and when it does 90% of the time it is my fault. I now have confidence i can measure any part that comes through the receiving door.
    Work is good (well except the money but I am working on that)

    One daughter just got married and the other one is expecting so in Sept I will be a granddad, BP is steady at 115/75 at 53 y/o and my sons are growing into fine young men.
    LIFE IS GOOD!

    Just putting in my 2 cents.. sorry I got carried away
  • The thing about software versions is that you expect it to be like evolution - progressively getting better.

    If human evolution were anything like PC-DMIS evolution, we'd all look like Brangelina, but paralyzed and drooling all over the place.
  • I am not sure any of us knows enough about the developers and code writers to comment on their abilities. I think you hit the nail on the head with the bells and whistles thing. You can have an army or great software developers and coders but if your resources are misdirected then it is all for naught.

    That would be a top down problem which is what my money is on.

    Ok, my bad. I don't write code, so I probably should have left that out. But now, I think YOU hit the nail on the head. Coders have bossholes too, and IMHO they have probably lost their focus.
    Personally, i am only interested in giving accurate part data to whomever needs it. Leave the fancy stuff to those who want it. Maybe Hexagon can release PC-DMIS Deluxe - Media Edition for those who need snappy video in the middle of a program run. I'd prefer that the release notes speak of "Fixes" for past release bugs/anomalies found, not 'NEW' crap, and that if your SMA was current when the problem was reported? you're entitled to a free 'update'. yeah, like that will happen. Surgeons we get touring our facility really aren't impressed by media files we can play, but moreso by the accuracy of our inspection methods. We just need to back it up, whether 'driven by precision' or driven by Miss Daisy.
    Top Down mandates are indeed most likely the cause of B$ 'enhancements' instead of fixes. The upper level folks rarely care to give support to those down in the trenches of reality.
    Does anyone from Hexagon read this forum and ACT on customer issues??
    Why can't they fix the analysis window? MANY people have asked here, and AFAIK? all you can do is set the width in the settings editor. So why the 'fit to page' in the insert analysis view?
    Move/All command screws up scans that follow it. Oh, only on Global Images. Probably not many of THEM out there.
    How about this.
    I can change my animated probe tip to a nice ripe banana yellow color if so desired.
    Why can't i place a Happy Face on it? It would be so cool. (2011MR1?) Ok, so the last one is just me. But seems that only the big time customers get listened to at WAI.
    BTW, what the h3ll is VP Sales/Key Accounts?
    We've got only 3 seats, so put in your earplugs, put on your eyeshades, I know where to put my cork.....
  • In the late summer of 2007 I was pretty happy with Pc-Dmis version 3.7MR3. Sure, the 3.5s and first 3 tries at 3.7 had been rough around the edges and 3.6 a disaster of historical proportion, but 3.7MR3 was stable and mostly trouble free.

    It was then that I had my big opportunity to tell my employers what I wanted in a new CMM. The finer indexing capabilities of Zeiss were appealing. I like to learn, so taking on a new software also had enough appeal to outweigh the downside.

    A couple of things tipped my decision to stay with the Hexagoon product line. The biggest was the hundreds of existing Pc-Dmis programs on my company's server. And we were keeping the CMM we had, so having both use the same software made sense. While smaller, a still significant part of my decision was this forum and the community of regulars. I "knew" and respected many here, so if I had a problem, I knew I could post here and get answers from a source I trusted.

    Since 3.7MR3 I have been underwhelmed with the new versions. I took the Xactmeasure GD&T course and have tried to leave legacy dimensions behind. But after several months I still find it cumbersome, confusing, and often just not ready for real world use. Frankly it is barely up to the point I think a betatest release would be proper as of v2009 about 2 years after you released it!

    If I could go back to 2007 and make that decision again, Pc-Dmis would not even get it's hat in the ring.

    In fact I am going to be looking into switching to CMM Manager or some other 3rd party software, since replacing both of my CMMs is not an option.

    Dear Hexagon, as the cranky old guy used to say, "If that's the best you can do. . . it ain't good enough!" Banning or deleting your critics won't make it better.

    Stop releasing junk. Stop thinking you have to have a major release every year. Take 5 years if you need but make your next release the next 3.2063 or 3.7MR3. Make every release after that just as solid and reliable. A number of the best programmers out here in the real world using your software every day feel the same way and are saying the same things. We are tired of getting junk in exchange for our SMA$. One by one we are telling our employers, don't pay the SMA, let's look into other CMM software/hardware options.

    You can ban me now, but it won't make what I have said untrue.

    -Wes Cisco

    My company is looking to add another cmm in the next year, and Wes now has me thinking about looking into options other than PCDIMIS that might be better for my company,

    So thank you to opening up my eyes, I'm taking another look around now
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