Denford Software & Machines

VR Milling v2 and v5 has the ability to pick a .fnc program and run it from remote commands sent via an RS232 interface.

Setup the software by following the screenshots below:
Setup the 'CIM' comm port to match the other PC comms settings, eg Com 2: 9600 baud, even parity, 7 data bits, 1 stop bit

Then send $$MACHINE FROM testprogram.fnc
If the program is found and executed, then the text EXEC will be sent back via RS232
If you send $STATUS to the VR Milling PC, then it will return something like this:
R01D00M01 where the R01 means the program is running and M01 means the machine is connected and ready to run (ie, in auto mode)
R00 or M00 would mean the software is not ready to auto-run programs

Open a .fnc file in the correct directory 1st, so the software knows where to look for them and keep the software into Auto mode.

Another command from PC to VR Milling:
$$BLOCK
Will return the currently active CNC program line

Found this as well from some old notes

DNC
The Denford controller also recognises the commands “$$MACHINE”, “$$SCREEN” and “$$EXECUTE”. These commands initiate drip-feeding of a NC program.
$$MACHINE executes each block as it is received.
$$SCREEN simulates each block as it is received.
$$EXECUTE executes each block in the current machine mode (AUTO or SIMULATE).
To drip feed a program, put the line ‘$$MACHINE’ at the beginning of the file and the line ‘$$RESET’ at the end. The ‘$$RESET’ command flushes the RS232 buffer and resets the controller to its initial state.

Found this as well from some old notes

DNC
The Denford controller also recognises the commands “$$MACHINE”, “$$SCREEN” and “$$EXECUTE”. These commands initiate drip-feeding of a NC program.
$$MACHINE executes each block as it is received.
$$SCREEN simulates each block as it is received.
$$EXECUTE executes each block in the current machine mode (AUTO or SIMULATE).
To drip feed a program, put the line ‘$$MACHINE’ at the beginning of the file and the line ‘$$RESET’ at the end. The ‘$$RESET’ command flushes the RS232 buffer and resets the controller to its initial state.

NB - These commands are only valid for pre-VR Milling systems (ie the DOS control software) .... V2 and V5 milling don't support them.
In fact, I've just learned that Ver 2 VR Milling only supports $$MACHINE FROM