Contour Rules
Updated v2.3.3At 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)
- 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
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.
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.
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.