Epson-Seiko (non-VCA version used with AF-Client)

Owned by Tony LeBlanc
Last updated: Mar 02, 2016 by Stephane Cyr (Unlicensed)
3 min read

Satisloh used to provide a version of the Epson-Seiko calculator for use with AF-Client that had limited designs, and no click fees.This version of the calculator is not VCA-based, and does not operate similar to other LDS calculators, so some detail on properly configuring Rx-Universe is required.

As of version 6.40.00, Rx-Universe will interface with this older version of the Epson-Seiko interface.

First, the Epson-Seiko calculator does not monitor a folder for LDS files, as do VCA-compatible interfaces.  Rather, the calculator must be invoked by Rx-Universe for each job to be calculated.  This requires that the calculator be accessible to Rx-Universe.  For simplicity, then, Rx-Universe assumes the Epson.exe executable is located in the folder used for the LDS files.

For example, if the non-VCA Epson-Seiko interface is set up as follows:

The Epson.exe program, and associated DLL and database files, would reside in the DS\EPSONR6 folder underneath the root Rx-Universe folder.

The SDF folder needs to be set up with a complete URL, because the resulting surface point files will be moved, by Rx-Universe, to this folder, and this folder used as the complete path when sending the LDPATH to equipment.

Note that, even though this calculator does not use a VCA interface, Rx-Universe creates the data in VCA format, and then converts it to the Epson-Seiko format.  Therefore, an LDI file IS required for this interface.  The LDI file should look as follows (as with other interfaces, Rx-Universe will prompt to create the file if it does not exist):

Note there are 3 fields on the "Device" screen that do not exist for other calculators:

License Key - this is assigned to the lab by Epson-Seiko, and is used for every calculation.

Calculator version - there are 3 different versions of the non-VCA Epson-Seiko calculator released; the R5 version was released in 2005, R6 in 2006, and R7 in 2007.  If unsure, set the version to that indicated by the date on the Epson.exe file.

Calculator output type - there are several selections which produce different output; for Satisloh use, this will usually be "HMF / Vpro".

 

The LDS and LMS files and communication with the calculator

Rx-Universe creates an LDS file for a job to be calculated, and then converts that into the correct format for the Epson.exe calculator (based on R5, R6 or R7 version). 

The file created is named job.IN, and is placed in the LDS folder.  Both the LDS file and the .IN file are saved to the ARCHIVE folder.  This allows the LDS data and the contents of the IN file to be viewed from Rx-Universe:

The first section shows the regular VCA LDS data; the second section shows the data from the .IN file.  This allows for easier debugging in the event of problems.

Similar logic exists for the LMS file.  The Epson.exe calculator creates a file called job.OUT in response to the job.IN file, and Rx-Universe converts that to an LMS file.

Both the LMS file and the contents of the .OUT file can be viewed in the LMS viewer:

 

Details Of The Calculation

The Epson.exe calculator can be run from the command line, specifying the input and output parameters as part of the command.  The format is (from the folder where Epson.exe resides):

Epson.exe licensekey  /f:job.IN  /HMF  /PSM  /p:010

/f: specifies the input file to process; the /HMF specifies the output format (HMF/VPro), /PSM incorporates prism into the design, and /p:010 is a resolution factor.

The output will be a file job.OUT in the same folder.

 

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