Advanced Settings
Advanced Settings holds the defaults that shape how WSi calculates, nests, cuts and bends. The values apply to the whole database — every project and every user working against it — so a change here shifts results for everyone.
These are not user preferences. Language, unit system and currency are set per workstation under Client Settings.
Open the dialog with Settings → Database, then select Advanced settings from the table list. The settings are grouped into tabs, described below in the order they appear.
WARNING
Several of these values feed directly into cost and time calculations. Changing them changes the prices your quotes come out at. If you are unsure what a setting does, ask your WSoptics sales representative before editing it.
How settings work
Every setting in this dialog behaves the same way:
- Each row offers Default and Custom. With Default selected, the setting follows the value built into WSi and the input field is greyed out. Select Custom to enable the field and enter your own value.
- Switching a setting back to Default discards your stored value, so the setting will pick up any future change to the built-in default.
- Where a setting has a unit, it appears in square brackets after its name — for example Nesting distance [mm]. The unit follows your Localization setting, so an imperial workstation sees imperial units and more decimal places.
- Apply saves your changes; Reset discards them and restores what was loaded. Apply stays disabled until you have actually changed something and the result is valid.
- Some tabs only appear if your licence includes the matching feature. These are called out below.
TIP
Leave a setting on Default unless you have a reason not to. A defaulted setting is self-maintaining; a custom one is a value you now own.
Test report
Mill test reports for sheet metal.
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| enabled | — | On | Makes the test report option available at all |
| Costs | Currency | 20.00 | Charge added when a test report is requested |
This setting only makes the option available. Whether a test report is actually required is decided per node.
Angle w.r.t. rolling direction
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| enabled | — | On | Limits the rotations available to nesting so parts keep their orientation relative to the material grain |
Turn this off only where grain direction does not matter for the parts you cut — nesting then has more freedom and typically yields better material usage.
Manual deburring (legacy)
WARNING
Deprecated. Use the Processes - Calculation table instead — see Processes. This tab is hidden unless legacy tables are shown.
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | m/min | 2.000 | Rate used by the old manual mechanical deburring calculation |
Sheet cutting
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positioning - Speed | m/min | 100.000 | Maximum speed while the head moves between cuts |
| Positioning - Acceleration | m/s² | 10.000 | Maximum acceleration while positioning |
| Engraving - Speed | m/min | 10.000 | Maximum speed while engraving |
| Engraving - Acceleration | m/s² | 5.000 | Maximum acceleration while engraving |
| Tool change duration | s | 0.0 | Time added for each tool change |
| Nesting mode | — | Actual quantity (mixed) | How nesting is computed — see below |
| Nesting distance | mm | 10.00 | Distance between adjacent parts |
| Sheet scrap minimum contour area | mm² | 0 | Lower threshold for an area to count as scrap rather than trash |
| Automatic tap drill hole adjustment | — | Off | Adjusts the radius of tap drill holes when the hole as drawn does not match the specified thread |
Positioning and engraving speeds describe your machine. They drive the cutting time estimate, and through it the cost of every cut part.
Nesting mode offers three options:
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Actual quantity (mixed) | Compatible sheet nodes are nested together on the same sheet, each with its actual quantity. The most accurate mode for a single project with exact quantities |
| Actual quantity (individual) | Each sheet node is nested on its own, with its actual quantity |
| Virtual quantity (individual) | Each sheet node is nested on its own, with consumption derived from a single-sheet nesting regardless of quantity. The mode with the most stable prices across different quantities |
Choose by how firm your quantities are. Actual quantity (mixed) reports the sheet consumption you will really see, which makes it right once a project has committed quantities. Its consumption per part shifts as the quantity crosses sheet boundaries, though, so the price per part moves from one quantity to the next. Virtual quantity (individual) takes consumption per part from a single sheet, so it does not move with quantity and the price per part stays stable across every break you quote. That makes it the better basis for a request for quotation whose quantity break is not settled yet.
Areas above the Sheet scrap minimum contour area threshold count as reusable for nesting and are subtracted from net sheet consumption. Raise it to stop counting small offcuts as recoverable material.
CAD import settings
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet upper side | — | Prefer convex surface | How WSi decides which face of an imported sheet is the upper side |
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prefer upward bends | The side where most bends run upward (positive angle) becomes the upper side |
| Prefer downward bends | The side where most bends run downward (negative angle) becomes the upper side |
| Prefer convex surface | The convex side becomes the upper side. Convexity is measured by summing each minimal bend flange length with the sign of its angle; the more convex side has the lower number |
| Prefer concave surface | The opposite of prefer convex surface |
This applies to sheets with bends. It does not apply to flat sheets or to tubes, and single-sided features such as countersinks can override it.
Sheet bending
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety distance bend flange | mm | 2.00 | Reduces the maximum opening width considered for the lower die, per side |
| Distribute setup time | — | Off | Spreads die bending setup time across compatible nodes |
| Radius factor (warning) | — | 1.75 | Deviation between designed and resulting radius that triggers a warning, for both automatic and manual tool assignment |
| Radius factor (automatic tool selection) | — | 1.75 | Deviation the automatic tool selection will accept |
| Bend line engraving | — | -- | Which bend lines get engraved |
| Engraving length | mm | 0.00 | How much of each bend line is engraved |
The safety distance keeps flanges from ending exactly at the geometric limit of the die. Instead they reach past the opening width by this distance, which keeps the part stable while it is bent.
With Distribute setup time on, nodes count as compatible when they share the same upper and lower die choice, the same bend time parameters (material, thickness, bend line specifications) and the same source sheet.
The two radius factor limits work together: the warning threshold should be less than or equal to the automatic tool selection limit, otherwise the pair is contradictory — tools would be selected automatically that no warning ever flags.
Bend line engraving offers -- (none), Upward bends, Downward bends and All bends. Engraving length of 0.00 engraves the complete bend line; any larger value engraves that length at each end of the line, provided the bend line is at least four times as long as the engraving length.
CSV Locale
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSV Locale | — | Your system locale | Column delimiter and decimal formatting for CSV import and export |
The list offers your system locale, en_US and de_DE, plus whatever value is currently stored. Pick the one your spreadsheet application expects — a mismatched decimal separator is the usual cause of a CSV that imports as gibberish.
INFO
The Edit articles dialog in the tree view keeps its own CSV locale setting and ignores this one. See BOM CSV Settings.
Calculation
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article unit price accuracy | Currency | 0.010 | Article unit prices are rounded to a multiple of this amount |
| Completion time mode | — | Maximal path | How a project's best case completion time is computed |
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| Maximal path | Manufacturing and idle times are accumulated along each maximal path; the most expensive path sets the result |
| Maximal node incl. manufacturing time | Manufacturing time and idle time are summed per node; the largest sum sets the result |
| Maximal node excl. manufacturing time | Only idle time is considered per node; the largest idle time sets the result |
All three describe a best case, in which processes run in parallel wherever they can.
Tube cutting
| Setting | Unit | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positioning - Speed | m/min | 50.000 | Maximum speed while positioning |
| Positioning - Acceleration | m/s² | 5.000 | Maximum acceleration while positioning |
| Clamping length | mm | 0.00 | Length reserved for clamping, unavailable for nesting |
| Nesting distance | mm | 10.00 | Distance between adjacent parts |
| Nesting mode | — | Virtual quantity (individual) | How nesting is computed — same options as Sheet cutting |
Clamping length is deducted from every stock tube before nesting, so it directly increases the number of tubes a job consumes.
Custom article user data (Experimental)
Defines additional, freely named fields carried on each article and exported alongside it.
WARNING
Experimental. The configuration format may change between releases.
Requires a licence including the erpInterfaceStandard feature.
ERP interface - Server configuration
Where WSi sends its ERP exports: the endpoint address, project user data, custom HTTP headers, and whether the application quits after a successful transfer.
Requires a licence including the erpInterfaceStandard feature. For the credentials themselves, see ERP Credentials.
ERP interface - Content
Chooses the format and the content of the ERP export — which documents, prices and article data are included.
See Standard Interface for the full description of the available formats.
It Blech ERP Einstellungen
Configuration for the IT-Blech ERP export: which CAD file types are exported for each work step, and how each one is attached to the exported article.
WARNING
For any one work step, at most one CAD file type may be set to be exported via cost centre, because a cost centre refers to a single document. If two are set that way, only one file is exported and the others are dropped silently. This tab checks for that conflict and refuses to save it — which is why you should change these settings here rather than by editing the stored value directly.
Requires a licence including the erpInterfaceItBlech feature. See ERP Export for the export workflow.
INFO
This tab's title is shown in German in every language, including English. That is how the application labels it.
Tolerances
These six values decide when two measurements count as the same — when a part's measured thickness matches a row in your sheet or tube tables, when two parts can share a nesting run, and when a thickness constraint is violated.
| Setting | Unit | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sheet thickness (absolute) | mm | 0.01000 | 0 – 1000 |
| Sheet thickness (relative) | — | 1.0000 | 0 – 1 |
| Profile thickness (absolute) | mm | 0.01000 | 0 – 1000 |
| Profile thickness (relative) | — | 1.0000 | 0 – 1 |
| Profile dimensions (absolute) | mm | 0.01000 | 0 – 1000 |
| Profile dimensions (relative) | — | 1.0000 | 0 – 1 |
Each measurement has a pair: an absolute limit in millimetres and a relative limit expressed as a fraction of the measurement itself.
How the two limits combine
The stricter limit wins. For any comparison, WSi works out two candidate limits and uses the smaller one:
- the absolute value, as entered; and
- the smaller of the two measurements, multiplied by the relative factor.
Two values match when the difference between them is less than that limit.
Because the relative factor can be at most 1.0000 — and starts there — the relative limit begins as loose as it can possibly be, which leaves the absolute 0.01000 mm deciding every realistic comparison. It follows that the relative setting can only ever make matching stricter, never more permissive. Lower it to tighten matching on small dimensions, where a fixed hundredth of a millimetre may be too generous.
Worked example
A part measures 2.000 mm thick, and you are asking whether it matches a table row. With the defaults (absolute 0.01, relative 1.0):
| Measured | Table row | Absolute | Relative | Limit that applies | Match? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.000 mm | 2.005 mm | 0.01 | 1.0 | 0.010 mm (absolute) | Yes |
| 2.000 mm | 2.020 mm | 0.01 | 1.0 | 0.010 mm (absolute) | No |
| 2.000 mm | 2.005 mm | 0.01 | 0.001 | 0.002 mm (relative) | No |
In the third row the relative factor takes over: 2.000 mm × 0.001 gives 0.002 mm, which is stricter than the absolute 0.01 mm, and the 0.005 mm difference no longer fits inside it.
WARNING
Comparing a measurement against zero always requires an exact match — no tolerance is applied. A zero-valued entry in a table will only ever match another zero.
Tube profiles
Profile thickness and Profile dimensions apply to tubes, with two particularities:
- For rectangular profiles, the limit follows the smaller of the two dimensions, and a profile whose width and height are swapped still counts as the same profile.
- For circular profiles, the limit follows the diameter, not the radius.
What changing these affects
Widening a tolerance makes WSi treat more measurements as equal; narrowing it makes fewer match. Both directions have consequences:
- which sheet or tube stock is considered available for a part;
- which cutting and bending parameter rows are picked, and therefore the calculated times and costs;
- how parts are grouped for nesting and for sharing bending dies;
- the maximum bend line length allowed for a part;
- whether a node reports a sheet thickness constraint violation.
TIP
If parts that should share a nesting run are being kept apart, or stock that should match is not being offered, the sheet thickness tolerance is the first place to look. Widen it a little rather than a lot — these values propagate into every calculation downstream.
Setting keys
If you configure WSi through the scripting interface rather than this dialog, these are the identifiers behind each setting.
| Tab | Setting | Key |
|---|---|---|
| Test report | enabled | sheetTestReportEnabled |
| Test report | Costs | sheetTestReportCosts |
| Angle w.r.t. rolling direction | enabled | sheetCuttingFixedRotationsEnabled |
| Manual deburring | Speed | manualMechanicalDeburringSpeed |
| Sheet cutting | Positioning - Speed | laserSheetCuttingVMax |
| Sheet cutting | Positioning - Acceleration | laserSheetCuttingAMax |
| Sheet cutting | Engraving - Speed | sheetCuttingEngravingVMax |
| Sheet cutting | Engraving - Acceleration | sheetCuttingEngravingAMax |
| Sheet cutting | Tool change duration | sheetCuttingToolChangeDuration |
| Sheet cutting | Nesting mode | sheetNestingMode |
| Sheet cutting | Nesting distance | sheetNestingDistance |
| Sheet cutting | Sheet scrap minimum contour area | sheetScrapAreaThreshold |
| Sheet cutting | Automatic tap drill hole adjustment | automaticTapDrillHoleAdjustmentEnabled |
| CAD import settings | Sheet upper side | sheetUpperSideStrategy |
| Sheet bending | Safety distance bend flange | bendFlangeSafetyDistance |
| Sheet bending | Distribute setup time | dieBendingSetupTimeDistributionEnabled |
| Sheet bending | Radius factor (warning) | dieChoiceRadiusFactorSoftLimit |
| Sheet bending | Radius factor (automatic tool selection) | dieChoiceRadiusFactorHardLimit |
| Sheet bending | Bend line engraving | bendLineEngravingMode |
| Sheet bending | Engraving length | bendLineEngravingLength |
| CSV Locale | CSV Locale | csvLocale |
| Calculation | Article unit price accuracy | articleUnitPriceMultiple |
| Calculation | Completion time mode | completionTimeMode |
| Tube cutting | Positioning - Speed | tubeCuttingPositioningVMax |
| Tube cutting | Positioning - Acceleration | tubeCuttingPositioningAMax |
| Tube cutting | Clamping length | tubeClampingLength |
| Tube cutting | Nesting distance | tubeNestingDistance |
| Tube cutting | Nesting mode | tubeNestingMode |
| Custom article user data | (whole tab) | customArticleUserDataConfigJson |
| ERP interface - Server configuration | Endpoint | erpIntegrationEndpointUrl |
| ERP interface - Server configuration | Project user data | erpIntegrationProjectUserData |
| ERP interface - Server configuration | Quit on success | erpIntegrationQuitOnSuccess |
| ERP interface - Server configuration | HTTP headers | erpIntegrationHttpHeaders |
| ERP interface - Content | (whole tab) | erpStandardInterfaceConfig |
| It Blech ERP Einstellungen | (whole tab) | itBlechConfig |
| Tolerances | Sheet thickness (absolute) | absoluteSheetThicknessTol |
| Tolerances | Sheet thickness (relative) | relativeSheetThicknessTol |
| Tolerances | Profile thickness (absolute) | absoluteProfileThicknessTol |
| Tolerances | Profile thickness (relative) | relativeProfileThicknessTol |
| Tolerances | Profile dimensions (absolute) | absoluteProfileDimensionsTol |
| Tolerances | Profile dimensions (relative) | relativeProfileDimensionsTol |
WARNING
Writing these values through the scripting interface skips the checks the dialog performs. A configuration this dialog would reject is stored silently and can produce a broken export. Prefer the dialog.
See Also
- Database Management — the Database dialog and the other tables
- Client Settings — per-workstation preferences
- Processes — process calculation, including manual deburring
- Standard Interface — ERP export formats
- ERP Export — the ERP export workflow