Contour Rules
Updated v2.4.9At a glance
- Rules on the machine profile and on individual cut charts — machine rules run before chart rules
- Conditions: material thickness, contour type (outer / hole / open), arc-aware perimeter, hole diameter (true circular arc holes only — not rounded rects or polygons)
- Operators: <, ≤, >, ≥, =, ≠ (is-not, e.g. Contour Type ≠ Hole targets everything but holes), and between (min/max range)
- Stackable actions: feedrate override, arc voltage (THC), pierce delay, custom G-code before/after, disable THC (full cut or before end), Skip (no toolpath/post), Center Spot Pierce (pierce-only on circular holes; hole-diameter-only condition), Lead Override
- Multiple rules and multiple actions can match one contour; percent overrides multiply, absolute overrides win later
- Transient — not permanent contour edits; disable or delete a rule and regenerate to restore cut-chart defaults
- Bold rule-colored edge overlay after generation, including skipped contours; toolpath colors stay theme-controlled; no stale highlights on dirty toolpaths
- Small holes convert to a soft-entry center pierce only when the size truly needs it — over-burn respected, and you're asked once
- Per-hole override: right-click → Drill / Center Pierce sets Auto (rules) / Drill / Cut normally on one hole or a whole Contour Select set, and beats any rule in either direction
- Drill-marked holes get a center spot pierce instead of a cut path, apply to every copy of the part, and post with the hole diameter named for the operator
Contour rules change how individual contours cut based on their geometry — slow down small holes, kill THC on short perimeters, skip a contour entirely — without touching the part. Define them on the machine profile (the + Cutting Rules button in the sidebar, or Machine Configuration → Rules) or on an individual cut chart, where they apply only when that chart is active. Rules are evaluated fresh every time you generate toolpaths.
Conditions
A rule matches contours by Hole Diameter (true circular arc holes only — a rounded rectangle or
polygon never reports one), Contour Type (hole, outer, or open), Material Thickness, and
Contour Perimeter (arc-aware length). Numeric conditions take <, ≤, >, ≥, =, ≠, or
between, and a rule can stack several conditions that must all hold. Use ≠ (is-not) to target
everything except one value — set Contour Type ≠ Hole and the rule applies to every contour
but holes.
Actions
Matched rules run their actions top to bottom: Feedrate, Arc Voltage, and Pierce Delay overrides (percent or absolute), Custom G-code inserted before or after the cut cycle, Disable THC for the whole cut or a set distance before the end, Skip (no toolpath, no post output — the contour drops out of pierce counts, cut time, and quotes), Center Spot Pierce (pierce-only marking for circular holes; requires hole diameter as the sole condition), and Lead Override for per-match lead-in/out geometry.
Marking one hole for the drill
A rule keyed on hole diameter marks every hole that size on the sheet. When it's a single hole on a single part — a bore that has to be accurate, so it gets drilled and bored on the mill rather than cut — right-click the hole and choose Drill / Center Pierce.
The submenu has three states. Auto (rules) is the default and leaves the decision to your rules. Drill / Center Pierce marks the hole whether or not a rule caught it. Cut normally forces a cut on a hole a Center Spot Pierce rule did catch — the way out when a rule is right for the sheet but wrong for one hole. Whichever you pick beats the rules, and Reset Overrides returns the contour to Auto.
Unlike a rule, this is a permanent property of the contour: it saves with the job and survives regeneration. Press C for Contour Select to mark several holes at once, and the setting carries to every copy of the part on the sheet. Marked holes show the same green X as rule-driven ones, sized to the hole, and post with the diameter named so whoever picks up the blank knows what to drill. Pierce timing comes from the cut chart unchanged.
How overlaps resolve
Machine rules evaluate before cut-chart rules, and feedrate percentages never compound: each percent applies to the base cut-chart feed, the last match wins, so a chart rule overrides a machine rule. When two feedrate rules collide, Generate names both rules and the winner in the error indicator. Rules are transient — disable or delete one and regenerate, and the contour returns to its cut-chart settings. After generation, matched contours get a bold edge overlay in each rule's color (skipped contours included) so you can verify what fired; separately from rules, holes too small for the configured arc lead get a soft-entry center pierce, and JetCad3 asks once per run before converting them.