PC DMIS changes their software too much for me to have any desire to use GEOTOL or Xact Measure. I personally don't ever want to get into a situation where I now have to update 3000 programs because they decided to yank part of the software out & call it an "update".
I always create alignments that RECALL/STARTUP that have all six degrees of freedom controlled & my results always correlate with the surface plate measurements which should always be our overall goal. I've never once had someone question me about "whats my datum shift?" nor have I ever worked with anyone that wanted to understand/use the datum shift info unless it was another CMM programmer.
The biggest advantage is when you need to recalculate an alignment far down in the program, say A10, for example. If A10 recalls the Startup alignment, it will be easy for it to recalculate. If A10 recalls A9, which recalls A8, etc. etc. then it takes the software a long time to recalculate every prior alignment in the program, and also makes it more likely to calculate something wrong. Recalling the startup alignment in every alignment is a very good habit to get into regardless of whether or not you use Legacy dimensioning.
The biggest advantage is when you need to recalculate an alignment far down in the program, say A10, for example. If A10 recalls the Startup alignment, it will be easy for it to recalculate. If A10 recalls A9, which recalls A8, etc. etc. then it takes the software a long time to recalculate every prior alignment in the program, and also makes it more likely to calculate something wrong. Recalling the startup alignment in every alignment is a very good habit to get into regardless of whether or not you use Legacy dimensioning.
