I find that software is a quite individual part of the entire machine. Some programmers love to have at least 20 windows open at one time and others prefer to put all information on one single page. What appears to be easy for one, may be difficult for others. For myself, I prefer some personal interaction with the computer ( �please correct placement position in line 231. The position is outside the travel area.�)(see �dream machine� on this forum). Third party software may be not the right solution for you and can easily become outdated, if you upgrade your machine software. Try to cope with the software as is and make it as easy as possible for you to get the data into the machine. Identify the problems the current software has. Do you: have problems with the CAD translator, or have difficulties with the component feeder set up file? Can you import any data in any other format, or do you have type in everything manually? Unless you deal with Gerber data, you may able to make up your own software. Try to �program� the machine in a format you like best ( Word, Excel, Works, Coral ) and then find a way to convert this format into the machine format. In some cases you may have to join the BOM and the reference designator into one table, or sort columns differently. It is very likely that someone else did it already before you. Let us know, which brand of machine you have and possibly this site can offer more support
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