Icam V27 Release

These release notes describe the most significant V27 enhancements and problem corrections.

We hope you enjoy your new release of the Icam products and we sincerely welcome your feedback.

The Vericut Icam R&D Team
June 25, 2026

Systems and Packaging

Product Availability

System Manufacturer

O/S Minimum Requirement

Microsoft Windows Version

11, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025

Important

  • Windows 10 will still work for V27 but we do not officially support it due to being out of support by Microsoft (EOL).

  • V27 includes changes in the database format for PP, CE, and VM objects. A V27 database cannot be used with a V26.x run-time or lower. If you have a QUEST developer license, please ensure that you upgrade all your client installations (developer and run-time).

  • Icam software is not available for UNIX systems. An Icam database created with V20 or earlier on a UNIX system is fully compatible with Icam Post software running on Windows systems.

  • 32-bit versions of Icam software are no longer available.


Licensing

  • The license server can now be configured to use 2 different client identifications. This is the data recorded by the license server when a license is checked out. The client is then part of the pool of 5 maximum clients per license quantity.

    • The computer name is the default and was always the information kept to identify the client.

    • The user name logged in on the computer that is requesting a license can now be used instead of computer name.

    This can be set in the license manager on the server side in the “Setup»Server Option” dialog. The “Default” selection will use the licensed option (this is Computer Name for the majority of people).

    ../../_images/icamls_option.png

  • A new license update application is now installed with the license server. On the Initial installation, the application will run after finishing the installation. This allow to paste the license content received by email directly into the text box.

    When receiving an updated license, run the application from the start menu "Icam License Server V27" → "Update Server License".

Productivity Tools

QUEST Developer’s

  • A new post AI assistant is available under the main “Help” menu and on the top toolbar. The assistant is trained on the Icam Post reference manual. The AI assistant is available also on the GENER run-time interface.

    ../../_images/postassistant.png

  • The User Dialog section now has a new “Browse” control that can be added to dialogs and that is used to browse and select a file or folder. The control will pass the file or folder path to a STRING macro variable.

    ../../_images/browsecontrol.png

  • The QUEST database navigator tab now has a “Show In Explorer...” context menu choice. When used on a selected database, a Windows explorer will open at the database location and the database file will be selected. This new feature is also available in the launch panel database manager.

  • LCS question: A new question 38.50 “Rotary axis move code” has been added to the Coordinate System section of the Questionnaire.

    ../../_images/MoveAxisCode01.png

  • Tape file name: A new question 9.05 “File naming convention for each channel” has been added to the General Description / Output format section of the Questionnaire.

    ../../_images/SuffixExtensionQuestion.png

  • Unwind sub-spindle axis

    A new question 115.70 “Unwind C2'-axis rotation code” has been added to the Machine Description / C-Axis section of the Questionnaire.

    ../../_images/UnwindSubSpindle.png

GENER Post-processing

  • New SmartPATH options

    • The following SmartPATH commands allow automatically avoiding collisions at the SmartPATH target position if that position is singular and some parts of the machine are causing collisions. When the starting or target position is not safe (there is an over-travel or collision) the SmartPATH optimization will not even start its actions. The exception is when there is a collision at the target position and the tool axis orientation is singular and a rotary table is available. In that case SmartPATH will attempt to find such a rotary table position where the collision can be avoided. If the target position represents the CYCLE point, the collision avoidance position is sought to the configuration when the tool is located either at the top or at the bottom of the hole to be machined.

      \textbf{SMARTP}\;\textbf{/}\;\textbf{POLAR},\textbf{AVOID}\,\bigl[,\textbf{OFF}\,\bigr]

      The POLAR,AVOID couplet activates the feature; POLAR,AVOID,OFF will deactivate the feature.

    • The SmartPATH generated WALL motion is usually retracting the tool at some angle to the tool axis direction. There are cases where angular retract is not desired and straight tool axis retraction is preferred. The WALL,0.0 option cancels angular retractions in most circumstances. The following command ensures that only tool axis direction retract motions will be generated:

      \textbf{SMARTP}\;\textbf{/}\;\textbf{WALL},\textbf{OMIT}

      When specified it has the effect of setting WALL,0 amount and telling touch processing algorithm to generate the motion only in the TAD direction.

  • SmartPATH is now available for robot machines. Positioning motions can be replaced with safe, optimized motions based on the machine's kinematics and physical travel limitations. SmartPATH ensures that generated multi-axis motions do not cause collisions with in-process stock and any fixtures. SmartPATH does not verify nor select alternative robot configurations, such as elbow-up or elbow-down.

  • Improved navigation in the kinematics window: pan with the left mouse button, move the view up and down with the mouse wheel, and fit the view with Ctrl+Space.

GENER & CERUN Run-Time

  • GENER and CAM integration are now fully available in German.

  • The breakpoint manager has been redesigned and is now available when using dedicated solutions. The breakpoint manager allows adding breakpoints of additional types beyond those added directly to the source window.

    ../../_images/breakpointmanager.png

    • Dedicated PP can now use the following breakpoint type:

      • Internal Sequence Number

      • Tape Sequence Number

      • CL Record class

      • Macro Generated Record Class

      • Diagnostic number

      • Diagnostic severity

    • Dedicated CE can now use the following breakpoint type:

      • CODE Identifier

      • DATA Identifier

      • Diagnostic number

      • Diagnostic severity

    • If Virtual Machine is in use, the following breakpoint are also available:

      • Collision event

      • Over-travel event

    • The breakpoint manager is now dockable and allow for a better dynamic interaction.

  • The macro manager has been redesigned into a dockable window.

    ../../_images/macromanager.png

    • The controls managing the list filter and system variable controlled macro state have been changed to drop-down menus.

    • Double-clicking a macro will select it in the source window.

  • Starting with V27, the run-time source and trace window limits are removed by default. If very large programs are processed, the limits can be re-enabled in the menu Tools»Preferences under the “Trace” tab.

Virtual Machine

  • Virtual Machine is now fully available in German.

  • Virtual machine toolbars have been redesigned and moved to the 3D window in order to simplify the main interface and make access to functionality more intuitive.

  • All four Virtual Machine 3D windows are now accessible from the View toolbar.

  • Camera roll functionality is now available on the 3D window integrated camera popup toolbars.

  • Workpiece coordinate marker can now be toggled using the integrated Display Options popup toolbar.

  • Virtual Machine lock functionality, which is used to make options the same in all 3D windows, is now also accessible from the 3D window integrated toolbar.

  • A popup menu has been added to the Kinematics button for hiding or showing specific kinematics components.

    ../../_images/ShowHideKinematicsComp.png

  • It is now possible to set the camera rotation point on a specific vertex of a 3D mesh for Virtual Machine mouse schemes supporting camera rotation definition by the user. The original behavior is still accessible using the CTRL modifier key.

  • The Boolean diffs between design and in process stock has been improved by removing flat surfaces from the resulting mesh.

  • Colorized diffs computation speed has been improved.


Integration Tools

Supported CAM Systems

  • The following is the list of currently supported CAM systems and their versions.

    CAM system

    Supported versions

    3DEXPERIENCE

    2015x–2026x

    CATIA

    V5R21, V5-6R2012–2026

    Cimatron

    2026

    Creo

    7–12

    FeatureCAM

    2017–2025

    Fusion 360

    2021–2025

    GibbsCAM

    2024–2026

    Mastercam

    2019–2026

    NX

    12, 1847, 1872, 1899, 1926, 1953, 1980, 2007, 2206–2512

    PowerMill

    2021–2026

General Enhancements

  • GibbsCam Extractor:

    • GibbsCam Extractor interface to output the setup, tools, compensation values, STL files, and additional information needed for generating the simulation.

  • PowerMill DLL registration in the setup utility:

    • The user in setup can now register the ICAM DLL file, assuming they have admin privileges.

  • Log file options:

    • The setup utility, extractor, and post now output a log file for debugging purposes.

  • NX Solid Tool:

    • Supported the representative tool for the NX tool library. Lathe tool and Mill tool representatives are now fully supported.


Macros and Customization

Macro language

  • $P macro parameter variables will now be hard typed with some exception. Being hard typed, they will diagnose early on when being assigned a wrong value. Exceptions are the following $P variables which can accept more than one type of value.

    Macro

    Variable

    Supported types

    PP Cycle Startup/Shutdown

    $P8

    LOGICAL or REAL (value of 2)

    CE Pre-processor identification

    $P2

    STRING or REAL

  • User Function Macros defined in Virtual Machine model can now be called from the main post-processor or control emulator macros. If user functions with the same name exist in both the base PP/CE and the VM model, the function defined in the same OBJECT as the caller takes precedence.

Macro Functions and System Variables

Variable

PP/CE

Type

R/W

Description

$CPPDATE

PP

STRING

NO

Returns the active composite component creation date

Fixes and Small Enhancements

  • The following is a partial list of corrections made to V27. Corrections due to internally generated problem reports, user interface problems, as well as customer reports of an obscure nature, are not reported here. Many of these corrections are also available in updated releases of older versions. The oldest updated release number is listed in brackets at the end of the description in [Vvv-yyww] format, where vv is the version, yy is the year and ww is the week (1-52).

    Reference

    Description

    006807

    Fixed an issue where the output trace could not synchronize in Multi-Kernel mode, which also affected Find, Save, Load, and Sync. [V25.1-2529]

    006809

    Fixed missing circular motion when using the CATIA interface kit after helical motions created with the MOVARC command, caused by too tight a tolerance when detecting full 360-degree circular moves. [V24.2-2530]

    006810

    Fixed an issue where GENER could fail to load the APT source file on certain operating systems (Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2016) due to a character-encoding conversion error. [V25.1-2530]

    006822

    Fixed an issue where ICAM background tray icons accumulated in the Windows taskbar because each instance was remembered separately by Windows. [V24.2-2536]

    006828

    Added robot kinematics support for the Universal Robot. [V26.0-2535]

    006833

    Fixed an LCS difference between V23 and V25 where a -90-degree rotation was missing on Echospeed machines. [V24.2-2538]

    006844

    Fixed a possible GENER crash when too many CL records were appended together using '$' markers. [V25.1-2541]

    006847

    Fixed the kinematics window incorrectly displaying the head offset as a tool offset. [V25.1-2541]

    006855

    Changed the Mastercam interface to avoid generating a tool vector with no direction (0,0,0). [V25.1-2544]

    006856

    Fixed the Mastercam interface so the MULTAX status is correctly restored when switching back to milling mode after APPLY/TURN. [V25.1-2545]

    006877

    LCS parameters can now be matched to the physical axis when only one rotary axis is active. [V25.1-2551]

    006879

    Fixed a crash in the variable watch window that occurred when using the context menu to clear or remove an item while the floating edit box was open. [V25.1-2551]

    006882

    Fixed the QUEST Security dialog not appearing when the connection file was missing or invalid; the connection dialog or diagnostics are now shown as appropriate. [V26.0-2603]

    006885

    Fixed an issue where the license server could hang the client software or license manager when the license file was missing or in an unsupported format. The server now returns a properly formatted response and logs clearer messages, including the supported license format. [V25.1-2604]

    006904

    Fixed the GENER kernel incorrectly reading CPJ custom symbols when the JOB file CAM_CUSTOM symbol was set to 0. [V25.1-2610]

    006909

    Improved the performance of large file output (such as QUEST and CERUN listings), which could be very slow over a VPN due to excessive per-line writes. [V25.1-2610]

    006910

    Fixed APT errors in the hyperMILL POF2APT conversion caused by special characters (such as ' and ^) not being escaped correctly. [V25.1-2612]

    006914

    Added a consistency check in the questionnaire to ensure each file extension in the General Description - Output Format section is unique (Mill/Turn 3+ channels). [V26.0-2614]

    006915

    Fixed an auto-clamping issue where clamping codes were generated just before unclamping codes because the operation type was unknown. [V26.0-2613]

    006917

    Fixed inconsistent output of the R-plane / initial plane that depended on the cycle type for certain drilling and reaming cycles. [V27.0-2613]

    006918

    Fixed an incorrect tapping-cycle pitch value (in MMPR) in the GibbsCAM interface. [V25.1-2613]

    006920

    Fixed an incorrect Start menu shortcut for the CATIA launcher. [V26.0-2614]

    006925

    Fixed the French-language UI so the "ND" choice is correctly available for G/M code questions. [V24.2-2615]

    006927

    The license expiration notice no longer warns about already-expired licenses; they remain visible in the license manager. [V24.2-2615]

    006934

    Updated the setup utility to register icamSimulation.dll with the elevation required for PowerMill. [V26.0-2617]

    006937

    Fixed the Portal Start menu shortcut appearing outside of the ICAM V2x folder. [V24.2-2618]

    006941

    Fixed missing code-table descriptions and missing ALT codes in the G/M code listing. Fixture compensation codes are now shown as a range (for example, "G54 - G59") in the QUEST listing file. [V27.0-2620]

    006948

    Fixed the launch panel so the /mrs command-line option correctly checks the MRS button when the MRS comes from the selected dedicated post. [V24.2-2620]

    006956

    Fixed an issue where long comments in a Creo NCL file could cause the TURRET and SPINDL commands to be dropped or errored in V25 and later. [V25.1-2622]