iTNC 530 Tables & System Data

The iTNC 530 keeps everything that Fanuc hides behind offset screens and #2000-series variables in plain, editable files: the tool table is a file, the presets are a file, datums are a file — and the control gives your NC program functions to read and write them. This reference maps the table landscape, the FN 26/27/28 functions for your own tables, FN 18: SYSREAD for system data, and FN 16: F-PRINT for formatted output.

The Table Landscape

File type is carried by the extension. The ones a programmer touches:

TOOL.T key columns: T (number, indexed like 5.2), NAME (32 chars max, capitals), L/R/R2 (length, radius, corner radius for toroid cutters), DL/DR/DR2 (delta/wear values, ±999.9999 mm), LCUTS and ANGLE (tooth length and max plunge angle for Cycles 22/208/25x), TL (tool locked), RT (replacement tool), TIME1/TIME2/CUR.TIME (tool life), DOC, PLC, NMAX, plus the TT measuring columns (CUT, LTOL, RTOL, DIRECT, R-OFFS, L-OFFS, LBREAK, RBREAK). It is editable only in a machine operating mode via the TOOL TABLE soft key.

TOOL_P.TCH key columns: P (pocket), T (tool number), ST (special/oversize tool), F (fixed pocket), L (locked pocket), RSV and LOCKED_ABOVE/BELOW/LEFT/RIGHT for box magazines, PTYP and P1…P5 (machine-builder defined).

PRESET.PR: lives in TNC:\, is editable only in Manual / El. Handwheel modes (read-only in Programming and Editing), stores presets referenced to the machine coordinate system, and carries a basic rotation in its ROT column. Line 0 is write-protected — the TNC parks the most recent manually set datum there. Machine-builder lines can be locked (shown red). Activate a preset from a program with Cycle 247 DATUM SETTING.

Datum tables (.D): workpiece-coordinate shifts, always relative to the current preset. Select the table with SEL TABLE (PGM CALL key → DATUM TABLE soft key) before Cycle 7, then activate a line:

77 CYCL DEF 7.0 DATUM SHIFT
78 CYCL DEF 7.1 #5              ; activate datum line 5 (a Q parameter works too)

Manual notes worth respecting: without SEL TABLE you must give the table status M in the file manager before running; datum-table values act only on absolute coordinates; new lines can be inserted only at the end; and old TNC 4xx datum tables referenced to the machine datum (MP7475 = 1) cannot be used on the iTNC 530. Probing cycles can populate both datum tables and the preset table automatically (parameters Q303/Q305 — see the probing article).

FN 26/27/28 — Freely Definable Tables

Create a .TAB file in the file manager (the TNC offers stored table formats; run COPY SAMPLE FILES first if the pop-up doesn’t appear), then shape it in the structure editor: each row of the editor defines one column via NR, NAME, TYPE (N numeric, C alphanumeric, L long, X date/time), WIDTH, DEC (max 4 decimals), and language dialogs. Limits: 30 columns, 200 characters per row.

53 FN0: Q5 = 3.75                            ; radius
54 FN0: Q6 = -5                              ; depth
55 FN0: Q7 = 7.5                             ; D
56 FN 27: TABWRITE 5/"RADIUS,DEPTH,D" = Q5   ; write all three to line 5

Test-run gotcha: FN 27 also writes during Test Run by default. Guard with a mode check — FN 18 ID990 NR2 IDX16 returns 0 in Test Run and 1 in a Program Run mode, so you can jump around the write.

FN 18: SYSREAD — Reading System Data

One block reads any exposed control datum into a Q parameter. The address is a group ID, a number NR within the group, and (where needed) an index IDX:

55 FN 18: SYSREAD Q25 = ID210 NR4 IDX3   ; active scaling factor, Z axis

32 FN 20: WAIT FOR SYNC                  ; stop look-ahead first...
33 FN 18: SYSREAD Q1 = ID270 NR1 IDX1    ; ...then read real-time X position

Because the TNC pre-calculates blocks, pair position reads with FN 20: WAIT FOR SYNC as shown, or the value may be stale. The most useful groups on the iTNC 530:

FN 16: F-PRINT — Formatted Output

FN 16 merges a mask file (a .A text file you write once) with live Q values and sends the result to a file, a printer/interface, or the screen. Mask syntax:

Example mask (from the manual) and the program-side call:

; MASK1.A - format file
"MEASURING LOG OF IMPELLER CENTER OF GRAVITY";
"DATE: %2d-%2d-%4d",DAY,MONTH,YEAR4;
"TIME: %2d:%2d:%2d",HOUR,MIN,SEC;
"X1 = %9.3LF", Q31;
"Y1 = %9.3LF", Q32;
"Z1 = %9.3LF", Q33;
M_CLOSE;

; In the NC program - mask file / target:
96 FN 16: F-PRINT TNC:\MASK\MASK1.A/RS232:\PROT1.A   ; out the serial interface
96 FN 16: F-PRINT TNC:\MASK\MASK1.A/SCREEN:          ; pop-up window on screen
96 FN 16: F-PRINT TNC:\MASK\MASK1.A/SCLR:            ; clear the pop-up window

Target a full path (e.g. TNC:\PROT1.TXT) to log on the control’s disk. Relative paths resolve to the directory of the calling program. SCREEN: output is how you show free-form operator messages from a macro — the counterpart to Fanuc #3006.

FN 19 & Datum Shifts from Macros

FN 19: PLC pushes up to two values to the PLC (56 FN 19: PLC=+10/+Q3, increments of 0.1 μm or 0.0001°) — the manual restricts it to use agreed with the machine tool builder, so treat it as OEM plumbing, not a portable macro tool. For shifting work offsets from a program, the portable patterns on this control are: write the shift into a datum-table line (FN 27 works on .TAB only — datum tables are maintained via the editor or probing cycles) and activate it with SEL TABLE + Cycle 7, program Cycle 7 values directly from Q parameters, or let a 4xx probing cycle write the preset/datum table for you (Q303/Q305 — see the probing article).

References

• HEIDENHAIN, iTNC 530 Conversational Programming User's Manual, NC software 606 42x-04, 737759-24.
• HEIDENHAIN, iTNC 530 Cycle Programming User's Manual, NC software 606 42x-04, 670388-25.