Block Skip Character Operations

In many CNC controllers, a / character at the beginning of a line means “skip block” when the machine’s hardware Block Skip switch is turned on. In NCPlayer, such lines are also recognized and can be excluded from simulation. The Format → Block Skip Chars Operations section contains three tools for bulk operations with the / character.

How it works in NCPlayer

• A line is considered “skippable” if it starts with one or more / characters before any code addresses.
• Empty lines and pure comments ( ... ) do not need to be marked with / — the tools will skip them.
• Operations apply to the selection, or to the entire program if no selection is made.

1) Add Block Skip Chars — add “/” characters

Adds a / at the beginning of each executable line. Lines where / already exists will not be duplicated. Comments and empty lines remain unchanged.

Example

; Before
N10 G00 X0 Y0
(lead-in)
N20 G01 X50 F200

; After
/N10 G00 X0 Y0
(lead-in)
/N20 G01 X50 F200

When useful

• Quickly prepare a “soft” version of the NC program — so that parts of the code can be enabled/disabled via the machine’s switch.
• Create a safe dry-run: mark rapid moves, tool changes, or M-codes.

2) Remove Block Skip Chars — remove “/” characters

Removes leading / characters from the beginning of lines. If a line contains multiple /, the entire prefix is removed. The rest of the line (addresses, comments) remains unchanged.

Example

; Before
//N10 G00 X0 Y0
/N20 G01 X50 F200

; After
N10 G00 X0 Y0
N20 G01 X50 F200

3) Protect Code Lines with “/” — protect executable lines with “/”

Quickly marks only executable lines (with addresses G/M/T/S/F/X/Y/Z/…) with /, skipping pure comments and empty lines. Useful when you want to leave notes and documentation untouched, but temporarily disable the execution of motion/technology commands.

Example

; Before
(Setup)
N10 G90 G54
(Roughing)
N20 G01 X50 F200

; After
(Setup)
/N10 G90 G54
(Roughing)
/N20 G01 X50 F200

Tips and warnings

• On a real CNC machine, the behavior of lines with / depends on the position of the hardware BLOCK SKIP switch. If it is off — such lines will execute normally.
• In NCPlayer simulation, lines with / will be skipped if the corresponding mode is enabled (supported in step-by-step simulation).
• If you use conditional jumps (IF/THEN/GOTO/WHILE) — avoid marking critical “jump” lines with “/” without analyzing the logic, as this may break the execution sequence.