This paper presents a method for determining machining parameters in electrical discharge machining process (EDM) based on discharge area. The parameters are the peak value of currents, the pulse-on time, and the pulse-off time, on which the EDM performance depends chiefly. The optimal machining parameters are closely related on discharge area, which can be calculated from a tool electrode and a discharge height. In the paper the discharge area is obtained from NC code for machining the tool electrode instead of its geometric model. The method consists of following three steps. First a Z-Map model is constructed from the NC code. Secondly, the discharge area is obtained from the Z-Map model and a Z-height. Finally, the machining parameters are calculated from the discharge area. An introduced example shows that the machining parameters are calculated by the using a Z-map model obtained from the machining data for a tool electrode.