CNC Macro Programming Tutorial: IF Statements

G-Code Tutor ​talks about IF statements within G-code and how we can use them to shorten our code with CNC macro programming.

IF statements within G-code are typically used to check if a condition is true. If it is the machine tool will run a part of the code, if not the machine will ignore it. In order to understand the function of the IF statements, it’s important to understand the GOTO function works. GOTO commands are used to communicate the machine to jump to a specific line of code.
When an IF statement is added before the GOTO command, it instructs the machine to jump to a specific line of code if a particular condition is met. Here’s an example of a typical IF statement:

IF [#200​ EQ #300​] GOTO 500 GOTO 700

In this case, if variable #200​ is equal to variable #300​, the machine tool will jump to line 500. If not, the machine will keep reading the rest of the program, and in this case, it will jump to line 700.

IF statements can include different conditional options and often multiple conditions are added, using the AND or OR commands to either restrict or expand the conditions.

CNC macro programming is really beneficial to speed up our programming, and there are many uses for it, but knowing IF statements is a big part of being able to program with Macros.

To learn more about G-code and CNC macro programming, visit Gcodetutor.com. 

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