At part
http://www.ldraw.org/cgi-bin/ptdetail.cg...343c02.dat
on the parts tracker, an important question got raised,
which is probably complicated to discuss, so I suggest to relocate it to here:

the problem is: what filename should we assign to assemblies?

let's assume we have a door 4343.dat, and a glass 4344.dat.

Let me describe the common practice of the past first:

Our technique was - not knowing official TLG item or design IDs -
to use the "main" part, here: the door, of the assembly and number the assembly after it.
Thus, in our case, 4343c01.dat was the result.
In some assemblies it's unclear what the "main", "dominant" contributing part is, but you have to make a decision.
In that assembly, that main part usually gets color 16 to still let the user colorize it as desired.

NOWADAYS we do know some of the item or design IDs of such assemblies.

The question that now arises is how we deal with that. Let's assume, we somehow know that the assembly
should get number 123456789. What to do now?
The options we have is:
(a) abolish the ...c01 suffix technique at all in this case, just using 123456789.dat for the assembly
(b) keeping the old technique, i.e., 4343c01.dat, and creating an alias 123456789.dat pointing to there
© using 123456789c01.dat, i.e., mixing the 2 concepts

Sadly, all 3 options have disadvantages
Solution (a) drops 2 nice features of our library:
- you can recognize from the filename to which part an assembly belongs to, i.e. 4343c01.dat belongs to 4343.dat
- the ...c01 suffix is nicely matching the ...s01 and ...p01 and ...d01 suffixes
Solution (b) creates 2 files instead of 1.
Solution © is IMHO totally misleading. It suggests that 123456789c01.dat contains an assembly of 123456789.dat, i.e., an assembly of an assembly. So to me, this is the weakest of all 3 options.

To me, the smallest disadvantage is solution (b), because we anyway create shortcuts and aliases all the time.
Would we correctly create 123456789.dat as an alias, having a leading "=" in its name, then users even can
leave away such files if they find them to be clutter.

So my opinion is to use option (b).

In the reviews for part 85976.dat (Train Track 4Wide Curved) there are some comments about the origin for curved track parts. I thought it might be better to have that discussion here so it can still be easily found after 85976 becomes official.
When I created the part I put the origin in the middle of the middle sleeper to be consistent with existing track parts. Having it there is kinda consistent with the straight track part but I appreciate it may not be very intuitive to manipulate the part in MLCad. However it's not all that bad. When I do curved track parts I use the same trick I use for many rotations, my trusted friend the lime green light saber bar. I place it in the centre of rotation, select it, then select the part(s) I want to rotate and use the keys to make the actual rotation. If only it was a little easier to get to the grid step and rotation settings in MLCad...

I am unable to view the file "datsville.ldr" in the model attached to this post. LDView crashes in what I think is the last stage due to some type of runtime error. I don't have any additional information regarding the error.


Mike

Like the title says, I would like to have a recent messages link/page even when you're not logged in.

Just received this from an LDraw user in Prague, Czech Republic (Milan Vancura).

Quote:I found that LDraw model of 32072 contains holes (in knobs) of wrong diameter,
it's neither for Technich Pin or for Bar. As I checked, with the real part in
hand, they should be of 'Bar' diameter.

Thank you for the fix!

Hi all,

Looking for these two parts, both hair for a minifig. They're both in LDD but I can't seem to be able to export them into any LDR program (bricksmith, LeoCad, LDView...). Any help is much appreciated.

PIC

I was also wondering if anyone was working on the parts for the Incredible Hulk maxifigure?

thanks!
mike

Why are the sloped bricks numbered as they are?

For instance, the Slope Brick 10 6 x 8 is closer to 9 degrees. The Slope Brick 33 3 x 1 is closer to 27 degrees.

I also object to where the slope is being measured from. E.g. I think the slope should be measured when the bricks are stacked on top of each other. See the black dashed lines in the following images:

What would be the best way to attach streetlamps, fire hydrants, and other stuff to the sidewalks of the attached model and others like it? Is there such thing as a 1x2 hinge? Thanks.


Mike

Attached Files

  RAMP 04.ldr (Size: 120.79 KB / Downloads: 7)

Hi, I am contributing to a Blender LDraw Import script, and I was wondering if we could call it "Blender LDraw Importer". I know it has the name LDraw in it, but after all, it imports LDraw files, and if we called it anything else, nobody would know what it is.

Thanks!

-rioforce

-bye-