[LDPartEditor] 0.8.32 Beta Released (Manipulator / Usability / bugfix)

[Nils Schmidt]

Hey,

in the last weeks I had much fun at work and some time on the weekend for LDPE :)


As always, you can download LDPE from this page:
http://nilsschmidt1337.github.io/ldparteditor/

Changelog:
(10 new features and 6 bug fixes)

With this release you will be able to...

• ...see the distance traveled/angle rotated in the status bar while using the move or rotate tool.
  
• ...access the manipulator features from a sub menu in the 3D editor context menu.
  
• ...see a tooltip for view rotation in the primitive area.
  
• ...move the Manipulator with left/right or up/down arrows on keyboard.
  
• ...remove all "0 // Inlined:" notices with a "quick fix".
  
• ...download/update the "ldconfig.ldr" file from LDraw.org.
  
• ...download/update the "categories.txt" file from LDraw.org.
  
• ...benefit from much faster undo/redo.
  
• ...benefit fom a faster program start.
  
• ...benefit from the fact that when using the translate/scale/set etc actions, it displays the global axis, if global mode is active.
  

The following critical issues were fixed:

1. Sometimes, deselected elements were re-selected when selecting a subpart.
   
2. "Save As..." did not trigger a check for warnings / hints / errors
   
3. "LDConfig.ldr" / "ldconfig.ldr" issues on case sensitive file systems.
   
4. LDPE false reported that the single !HELP meta command was "split apart".
   
5. Sometimes, the UI freezed permanently under Linux.
   
6. Implementation: Little resource leak with org.eclipse.swt.graphics.Cursor instances.
   

What will the next release 0.8.33 deliver? Bug fixes, more header validation features, usability improvements...

---

The program was tested intensively with "real world" files.
However, it is still a beta version and something can go wrong in about 100.000 lines of code.

Make sure that you choose the right architecture for your OS and Java Virtual Machine (JVM) (64bit or 32bit).
A short guide how to check if a 64bit JVM is installed on your system is located at the bottom of this message.

1. Download the zip-Archive
   
2. Extract the archive content to the location of your choice
   
3. On windows, double-click "run.bat" to start LDPE.
   
4. On linux, you have to excecute the shell script "run.sh" to start LDPE.
   

Please note that this software is in the beta stage. Although, this version was tested, there are already known issues  for this release. There is a potential risk of data loss.

You can search for updates if you do the following steps:

1. On windows, double-click "update.bat" to search for updates.
   
2. On linux, you have to excecute the shell script "update.sh".
   

I listen carefully to your requests and possible complaints. Please leave me a message, with your thoughts and wishes to further improve the software.

LDPE is a 3D CAD application: The overall system requirements are higher. While I recommend to use a powerful 64-bit multicore system, it could be possible, to run LDPE on older machines as well.

System Requirements:


Minimum System Requirements:

• 64-bit Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.8
  
• OpenGL 2.1 compatible Graphics Card
  
• Operating System (64-bit): Windows [7 or newer], Linux [e.g. Ubuntu Linux >=14.4]
  
• CPU: Multicore-Processor e.g. Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon II (>2.0Ghz)
  
• RAM: 4GB
  
• Video-Memory: 1 GB
  
• Free Disk Space: 100 MB
  

Recommended Requirements:

• Operating System (64bit): Windows 7,8,10, Linux [e.g. Ubuntu Linux >=14.4]
  
• OpenGL 3.3 compatible Graphics Card
  
• CPU: Multicore-Processor with 4 cores (or more)
  
• RAM: >4 GB
  
• Video-Memory: >1 GB
  
• Free Disk Space: 512 MB
  
• For a faster start, LDPartEditor and the LDraw™ library should be installed on an SSD.
  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to check your JVM version (32- or 64-bit):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can try on the command line:

Code:

java -d64 version

If it's not a 64-bit version, you'll get a message that looks like:
This Java instance does not support a 64-bit JVM. Please install the desired version.

[Philippe Hurbain]

Hard to tell which is my favorite improvement/new feature, so many Good Things ™ in this release... Probably instant undo wins by a short margin in front of keyboard manipulator actions!

[Nils Schmidt]

Glad you like it. For version 0.8.33 two things are already in the making:

1. Absolute LDU based scaling. Lets say you have an 4-4edge and you want to set the diameter from 4 to 6 to 8 LDU, or a box that has a width of 10 LDU and should be 20 or 30 LDU. You don't have to calculate the scale factor anymore (#546)
   
2. I fixed an annoying bug: When adding something in the 3D view, a mouse click was sometimes ignored (#547)
   

[Magnus Forsberg]

Great fun, Thank you Nils.

Now I need to find a fun project....

[Philippe Hurbain]

• ...benefit from much faster undo/redo.
  

...but now it seems that when I key in ctrl+z with focus on 3D window, the focus shifts to text window

[Philippe Hurbain]

Absolute LDU based scaling. Lets say you have an 4-4edge and you want to set the diameter from 4 to 6 to 8 LDU, or a box that has a width of 10 LDU and should be 20 or 30 LDU. You don't have to calculate the scale factor anymore (#546)

I missed this feature for a long time, but I wasn't able to formalize my wish... Looks like you found a way!

[Philippe Hurbain]

In current implementation, a vertex already snapped on a primitive vertex can move to another primitive vertex if Unificator distance threshold is increased, or if a new primitive was added in the vicinity.
I've been burnt by this one twice today...

[Nils Schmidt]

...but now it seems that when I key in ctrl+z with focus on 3D window, the focus shifts to text window

I fixed this issue today (#548).

[Nils Schmidt]

In current implementation, a vertex already snapped on a primitive vertex can move to another primitive vertex if Unificator distance threshold is increased, or if a new primitive was added in the vicinity.

I fixed this issue (#549).

[Philippe Hurbain]

Sometimes I wish I could somehow control the intensity of reduction performed by mesh reducer tool...

[Philippe Hurbain]

Low priority wish...
I'd like to have a multi-copy button for the translate and (more useful) the rotate action (eg. to create a tire from a single tread pattern)

[Philippe Hurbain]

Another low priority wish...
For some tools (mainly Edger2 and Rectifier) I'd like to have a verbose mode telling about the elements created. For these tools I also somehow miss my "debug mode" that creates new elements in weird colors, allowing to easily spot them.

[Philippe Hurbain]

A low annoyance one...
If I create a new part (using the "New Part File" button) and reference other parts in the same folder, these parts trigger a "file not Found" error message. To get it working, I have to save, close and reopen the file.

[Philippe Hurbain]

Small annoyance: keyboard auto-repeat is not working for keyboard move/rotate (can be considered a feature, as you get better tracking of what you do!)

[Nils Schmidt]

Absolute LDU based scaling. Lets say you have an 4-4edge and you want to set the diameter from 4 to 6 to 8 LDU, or a box that has a width of 10 LDU and should be 20 or 30 LDU. You don't have to calculate the scale factor anymore.

I missed this feature for a long time, but I wasn't able to formalize my wish... Looks like you found a way!

I implemented and tested this feature today (#546).

[Nils Schmidt]

A low annoyance one...
If I create a new part (using the "New Part File" button) and reference other parts in the same folder, these parts trigger a "file not Found" error message. To get it working, I have to save, close and reopen the file.

It is not necessary to save, close and reopen. You can click on the "Update/Compile linked Subfile Data" and the warning disappears.
A feature to automagically synchronise subfile depedencies is not easy to implement. I created an issue long time ago (#249).

[Nils Schmidt]

Small annoyance: keyboard auto-repeat is not working for keyboard move/rotate (can be considered a feature, as you get better tracking of what you do!)

What does "keyboard auto-repeat" mean?

[Nils Schmidt]

Another low priority wish...
For some tools (mainly Edger2 and Rectifier) I'd like to have a verbose mode telling about the elements created. For these tools I also somehow miss my "debug mode" that creates new elements in weird colors, allowing to easily spot them.

I need clarification on the information you want to get and how this information should be formatted/delivered to the user.

Finally, I created some issues (#550 and #551).

[Magnus Forsberg]

Small annoyance: keyboard auto-repeat is not working for keyboard move/rotate (can be considered a feature, as you get better tracking of what you do!)

What does "keyboard auto-repeat" mean?

I think it's a good feature.
I like that I have to press five times on the arrow keys to move something five steps.

[Nils Schmidt]

Low priority wish...
I'd like to have a multi-copy button for the translate and (more useful) the rotate action (eg. to create a tire from a single tread pattern)

I implemented this feature today (#553).

Now it is possible to create copies with the arrow keys if Ctrl is pressed.

This is an extension to issue #537.

[Philippe Hurbain]

Low priority wish...
I'd like to have a multi-copy button for the translate and (more useful) the rotate action (eg. to create a tire from a single tread pattern)

I implemented this feature today (#553).

Now it is possible to create copies with the arrow keys if Ctrl is pressed.

This is an extension to issue #537.

Ah - interesting and useful, but that's not what I meant. I was instead thinking of dialog box Actions -> Rotate selection. there is already the (very useful) "make copy" button, I thought of adding a "number of copies" field next to this button (field default = 1). The benefit of Actions -> rotate is that it allows to specify an arbitrary angle without changing grid settings.

[Philippe Hurbain]

[quote pid='25522' dateline='1498074336']
I need clarification on the information you want to get 
[/quote]
For Rectifier: number of triangles paired into quads, number of condlines deleted because of tri->quad conversion, number of quads and number of edge lines converted to rect primitives.
For Edger2: number of condlines created, number of (normal) edge lines created, number of unmatched edge lines created.

and how this information should be formatted/delivered to the user.

Not sure on this one. Suggest to pop up a window with this information and a close button at the end of tool execution. Popup would be enabled by a global 'verbose' setting.

[Philippe Hurbain]

You can click on the "Update/Compile linked Subfile Data" and the warning disappears.

Mmh... I'm afraid it does nothing!
But again, it's only a mild annoyance, I can easily live with this if it's a tough fix!

[Philippe Hurbain]

What does "keyboard auto-repeat" mean?

When you hold a keyboard key more than a second or so, the keyboard generates the same key again and again rapidly while the key is pressed. But...

I think it's a good feature.
I like that I have to press five times on the arrow keys to move something five steps.

...as Magnus says, current behaviour is probably the best as it gives more control. If you want to move far away, the mouse drag is a better tool (and the new distance travelled display provides excellent feedback!)
...so drop this request

[Nils Schmidt]

I implemented this feature today (#553).

Now it is possible to create copies with the arrow keys if Ctrl is pressed.

This is an extension to issue #537.

Ah - interesting and useful, but that's not what I meant. I was instead thinking of dialog box Actions -> Rotate selection. there is already the (very useful) "make copy" button, I thought of adding a "number of copies" field next to this button (field default = 1). The benefit of Actions -> rotate is that it allows to specify an arbitrary angle without changing grid settings.

Ok, I understand. Its done: Translate (#554) and Rotate (#555).

[Nils Schmidt]

For Rectifier: number of triangles paired into quads, number of condlines deleted because of tri->quad conversion, number of quads and number of edge lines converted to rect primitives.
For Edger2: number of condlines created, number of (normal) edge lines created, number of unmatched edge lines created.

I implemented these features now: Edger2 (#556) and Rectifier (#557).

[Nils Schmidt]

I would like to announce that there will be a first official release for Mac OS X.
The upcoming version 0.8.33 was successfully tested on a MacBook Pro.
I just have to re-map the keys (because of the command button).



However, my support for Mac OS X is limited (I have access to this MacBook only for a short period of time).