Overdrive
Pro Folder Structure
The folder structure employed by Microvellum products is the foundation of how the products are used. To begin, let's look at this structure. After opening Microsoft Windows Explorer, navigate to the Microvellum root folder. The first folder you should look at is the library. This folder contains the information to build all the products a company makes. If you expand it, you will see additional folders listed below. These are product categories that can be used to help organize the products you have in your library. To suit your preferences you can rename, delete, or add to this folder structure. Library Files There are three different kinds of files inside each product category folder of the “Library” folder: files with a CUT extension, files with a WMF or JPG extension in sub folders, and an additional file with a PRT extension. The CUT files are actually Excel Workbook files. Normally, these files have an XLS extension; however, Microvellum has changed the extensions to make them easy to differentiate from other Excel documents. As you will discover after working with Microvellum, Excel workbooks are the central nervous system of both Microvellum Toolbox and Overdrive Pro; thus, there are many Excel documents that you will be learning about. The WMF files in the library category subfolders are “Windows MetaFiles”. The JPG files, also located in a subfolder, are “Joint Photographic Experts Group" files. Both of these files are picture files, and are used as a visual aid to help you select the products you want to include in your jobs. The product viewer in Microvellum Toolbox and Overdrive Pro supports both the JPG format and the WMF format. The program will first look for a JPG file. If a JPG file is not found, the program will then find a WMF file to display. The file with the PRT extension is a parts file. It is common to repeatedly use the same variety of parts in various products. The parts file provides a way to save parts with each product category so that you can retrieve these parts quickly while designing or modifying your products. This file is similar to a storage location for individual parts. Library Designer A folder called "Library Designer" is stored in the Microvellum folder. This folder is the one used when you are using the Library Designer. Inside the "Library Designer" folder are the products used while in Library Design mode. There are also "Library Designer.cut" and "Common Parts Library.xls" files inside the "Library Designer" folder. For information on the "Library Designer" please see the Library Designer section. Subassembly Library Stored in a folder called "Subassemblies" is the Subassembly Library. The Subassembly Library is used to add subassemblies to products. Please see the Subassemblies section for information about subassemblies and the Subassembly Drop-down Menu for information on adding subassemblies to products. Jobs Folder Next, open the “Jobs” folder. All jobs will be placed in this folder. The jobs folder has the capability to be moved to a common server so that multiple users can access the same folder structure. Furthermore, when a job is created, the files in any specific job folder are copied from the template folder so that if you discover that your job does not contain a required file, you can verify that it exists in the template folder. Job Files In the course of a job progression, a job will contain several files that were not copied from the template folder. Examples of these files are: “Overdrive Pro.mdb”, “Product Labels_MV.mdb”, “Part Labels.mdb”, “Part Labels_MV.mdb”, “Part Labels_Nest.mdb”, and "Product List.mdb”. These files are created when a new job is created and then populated at various times in the usage of the program.
Template Folder The template folder is where all your default job files are stored and then copied from when a new job is started. Template Files There are many files inside the template folder that are needed for every job, and are automatically copied from the template folder to a job folder when a new job is created. This section will give a brief overview of the file located in the “Template” folder. Each of the files is discussed in further detail later. The "Global.xls" file is an Excel workbook that contains variables or settings that apply to each job. One or more material files with an MTF extension must be included in every job. These files are also Excel documents, but are given a unique extension to make them easy to identify as material files. They contain all the information about the materials you will use in the product of the job. There are several “Crystal Reports” template files with an RPT extension. These files are used for reporting. The “Render.xls” file contains the configuration settings for the Microvellum Render interface. It is the source document for that interface. Another Excel format file in the template folder is “Labor.xls”. This file contains the labor cost categories that the “material file” references. Since this file is in the “Template” folder, it can be modified on a per job basis from an empty state, or it can be configured once and then included in the “Template” folder in its modified state. Every job will then contain the modifications to that file. There are two more files in an Excel format that have CUT file extensions. These files are “Template.cut” and “SubTemplate.cut”. These files can be thought of as ‘dummy’ files in the sense that they eliminate the defined name errors in the “Global Variable” file when no product has yet been loaded that references that global variable. When no product has been loaded referencing the global variable, the formula containing the reference will evaluate to a ‘name error’ since it cannot find that defined name in any product in the job folder. The “Template.cut” and “SubTemplate.cut” files eliminate these errors until a product is loaded that contains those names. The “Template.cut” is used for non-subassembly products and the “SubTemplate.cut” is used for subassembly products. One more Excel format file is “Wizard.xls”. “Wizard.xls” can be customized as a file location to enter specific company and/or job information that can be used to modify global variable and material files. It can also be used in the Crystal Reports. There is a sub-folder located in the “Template” folder called "Subassembly". This is where all your subassembly files are stored. This folder, and all of the folder’s contents, is copied into any new job created just like other Template files. Drawing Template The “Drawing Template” folder includes the AutoCAD DWT files that Microvellum uses when creating new jobs. The DWT file is a Drawing Template file that contains dimension styles, layers, and text styles required for Microvellum to work efficiently and correctly. It also contains various AutoCAD variable settings that have an effect on the way AutoCAD draws. Tool files The folder named “Toolfiles” includes the tool file that defines the format for G-code. This file should not be ignored, even if you are not producing G-code for a CNC machine. It is also used in drawing accurate machining in 3D. User Files The last key folder is named “User Files”. This folder contains various files that are used by the software, particularly those which are ‘User definable,’ such as ‘blocks’, custom ‘LISP’ routines, etc. One notable file also contained in this folder is the “Drawing Setup.xls” file. This file is responsible for setting several program defaults. Inside the “User Files” folder are subfolders. Each of these subfolders contains AutoCAD drawing files for architectural turnings, carvings, hardware, moldings, profiles, and routers. |
