[LDPE] 1.8.56 Beta Released (lines+surface intersections/ shortkeys/ empty subfile warnings)

[Nils Schmidt]

Hey,

this release adds just a handful of improvements!



As always, you can download LDPE from this page:

http://nilsschmidt1337.github.io/ldparteditor/

Changelog:

(5 new features)

With this release you will be able to...

• ...create all intersection points between lines and surfaces in a selection (Ctrl+Click on "Calculate Line Intersection Points").
  
• ...use drag and drop to open a file on the 3D Editor and open it on the Text Editor, too.
  
• ...use the shortkey Shift+L for C2L and Shift+C for L2C.
  
• ...scale "empty" subfiles in X or Z directions without a warning.
  
• ...enable anti-aliasing on all plattforms ("Tools...->Anti-Aliasing", works on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X)
  

The program was tested intensively with "real world" files.

However, it is still a beta version and something can go wrong in about 140.000 lines of code.

Installation on Windows:

1. Download and extract LDPartEditor_win32_x64.zip
   
2. Run LDPartEditor-1.8.56.msi
   
3. Start LDPartEditor from the start menu
   

Installation on Linux:

1. Download and extract LDPartEditor_linux_x64.zip
   
2. Install ldparteditor_1.8.56-1_amd64.deb
   
3. Start LDPartEditor from the menu or via launcher
   

Installation on Mac OS X:

1. Download and extract LDPartEditor_mac_x64.zip
   
2. Mount LDPartEditor-1.8.56.dmg
   
3. Drag LDPartEditor.app to the Applications folder
   
4. Copy ldparteditor.sh to your home folder
       4a. Open a Terminal.app and run ./ldparteditor.sh
       4b. Or open a Terminal.app and run /Applications/LDPartEditor.app/Contents/MacOS/LDPartEditor
   

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.

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:

• OpenGL 2.1 compatible Graphics Card
  
• Operating System (64-bit): Windows [7 or newer], Linux [e.g. Ubuntu Linux >=14.4], Mac OS X [>=10.6]
  
• 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], Mac OS X [>=10.6]
  
• 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.
  

[Philippe Hurbain]

All useful improvements! Thanks, Nils!
...but all the links to packages are currently broken 

[Nils Schmidt]

All useful improvements! Thanks, Nils!
...but all the links to packages are currently broken 

Thanks! Now the links are working correctly.

[Philippe Hurbain]

All useful improvements! Thanks, Nils!
...but all the links to packages are currently broken 

I got a bit deeper and found them. Main page links to a beta folder
https://github.com/nilsschmidt1337/ldpar...32_x64.zip
bur they are in a non-beta one, such as 
https://github.com/nilsschmidt1337/ldpar...32_x64.zip

[Max Murtazin]

Great job! 

Want to request few features I can see be useful:
Controllable outline thickness
Smooth shading
Checking for t-junctions on a selection

[Nils Schmidt]

Great job! 

Want to request few features I can see be useful:
Controllable outline thickness
Smooth shading
Checking for t-junctions on a selection

Controllable outline thickness is already available. On the UI it looks like this:


Smooth shading is already implemented, but works only on the OpenGL 3.3 renderer (click Tools... -> Use OpenGL 3.3, restart LDPE).
Then right-click on the 3D view, click "View Actions -> Smooth Shading".

[Magnus Forsberg]

Smooth shading is already implemented, but works only on the OpenGL 3.3 renderer (click Tools... -> Use OpenGL 3.3, restart LDPE).
Then right-click on the 3D view, click "View Actions -> Smooth Shading".

Not compatible with my graphics card. Looks terrible.

[Max Murtazin]

Controllable outline thickness is already available. On the UI it looks like this:


Smooth shading is already implemented, but works only on the OpenGL 3.3 renderer (click Tools... -> Use OpenGL 3.3, restart LDPE).
Then right-click on the 3D view, click "View Actions -> Smooth Shading".

Oh, okay thanks!

[Willy Tschager]

Controllable outline thickness is already available. On the UI it looks like this:

Works fine for small parts. When you've got a large baseplate and zoom out to see the whole thing the buttons become useless 'cos even the thickest line is barely notable.

w.

[N. W. Perry]

Smooth shading is already implemented, but works only on the OpenGL 3.3 renderer (click Tools... -> Use OpenGL 3.3, restart LDPE).
Then right-click on the 3D view, click "View Actions -> Smooth Shading".

Is there a way to check whether this and other options are enabled before launching the program? (In case you've forgotten…)

[Nils Schmidt]

Is there a way to check whether this and other options are enabled before launching the program? (In case you've forgotten…)

By "are enabled" you mean "are possible to enable and use"?
There is unfortunately no trivial way for me to check.

To put it in more technical words:
I implemented a basic check which determines the effective OpenGL version of the GL context which was created by the software.
If the version of the context is still below 3.3 then it will automatically fall back to the legacy 2.1 context.
On Mac OS X for example, I can only create a legacy context (OpenGL 2.1). The OpenGL support is really tricky on MacBooks.

What makes it difficult: the OpenGL compatibility depends on your hardware, it depends on the driver and operating system.
I have only a Linux/Windows Desktop and Notebook and a Macbook Pro to test LDPE on.
Whenever I make a change, it should still work on every platform.

I am currently not convinced to invest more time in improving automatic hardware detection and compatibility checks.
Mainly, because I can not really define what should be done/improved and I don't know how to test it properly.

[N. W. Perry]

By "are enabled" you mean "are possible to enable and use"?
There is unfortunately no trivial way for me to check.

I just meant if, say, I check "Use OpenGL 3.3" and then quit the program. Then I don't restart it until a week later, at which time I've forgotten whether I checked "Use OpenGL 3.3" or not. Can I find that out somehow before I launch the program? (In other words, is there a config file or prefs list somewhere?)

[Fredrik Hareide]

Unrelated to the new release, but would it be possible to add an option were linked inlining could happen in the folder the current file was saved in? 

So say I work on 1234.dat and I have 1234s01.dat and 1234s02.dat in /s folder in the same folder as the file I'm working on. If I inline s01 and s02 I would like them to be linked to the files that are located in the /s folder nearest to the file I work on. 

This is the case with me because I never remember to make projects in the correct way.

Best regards
Fredrik

[Nils Schmidt]

Unrelated to the new release, but would it be possible to add an option were linked inlining could happen in the folder the current file was saved in? 

So say I work on 1234.dat and I have 1234s01.dat and 1234s02.dat in /s folder in the same folder as the file I'm working on. If I inline s01 and s02 I would like them to be linked to the files that are located in the /s folder nearest to the file I work on. 

This is the case with me because I never remember to make projects in the correct way.

Best regards
Fredrik

Thanks, Fredrik. It will be possible in the next release by default (without an option). I created issue #901.

[Magnus Forsberg]

Thanks, Fredrik. It will be possible in the next release by default (without an option). I created issue #901.

I like this.
I've never been able to use this feature since I too only work in my own file structure, disliking the auto-generated project structure made by LDPE.

[Nils Schmidt]

The next version 1.8.57 will display the name of the selected subfile in the status bar, if only one subfile reference is selected (issue #902).

[Fredrik Hareide]

Thanks, Fredrik. It will be possible in the next release by default (without an option). I created issue #901.

Thanks! Will be a great improvement for me

[Fredrik Hareide]

Thanks, Fredrik. It will be possible in the next release by default (without an option). I created issue #901.

Would also be nice to have an option to reestablish the link. So un-inlining in a way. Or is that already an option?

[Philippe Hurbain]

Not sure it is related to this version, but copying a condlines also duplicates nearby lines/condlines.
Here is a short video showing the problem:
https://youtu.be/SFRBiciG1sk
Also happens with simple copy/paste.

[Nils Schmidt]

Would also be nice to have an option to reestablish the link. So un-inlining in a way. Or is that already an option?

I am not so convinced to implement this.
You can easily do manual unlinking by deleting the content from the file and adjust the !LPE INLINE meta command in a few seconds.

My main concern is that this un-inlining feature will delete something from the file and the user will be worried where the work is now.
Un-inlining will also forcing an override on the target subfile (it has to, by design, to keep the information).

I don't want to increase the complexity with an un-inlining feature and a potential for merge conflicts.

[Fredrik Hareide]

I am not so convinced to implement this.
You can easily do manual unlinking by deleting the content from the file and adjust the !LPE INLINE meta command in a few seconds.

My main concern is that this un-inlining feature will delete something from the file and the user will be worried where the work is now.
Un-inlining will also forcing an override on the target subfile (it has to, by design, to keep the information).

I don't want to increase the complexity with an un-inlining feature and a potential for merge conflicts.

I see your point. Not hard to do it manually so probably better yes.

[Nils Schmidt]

Not sure it is related to this version, but copying a condlines also duplicates nearby lines/condlines.
Here is a short video showing the problem:
https://youtu.be/SFRBiciG1sk
Also happens with simple copy/paste.

The reason behind it is, that "Show selection in 3D view" selects also the vertices of the line (including its control points).
When "copy" is called then the adjacent lines to the selected vertices got copied.

Workaround: To unselect vertices hold ALT and click on "Vertex Mode" to unselect the selected vertices.

This bug was introduced with a fix for issue #892 in version 1.8.55.
I will solve this with the next release.


I have to think about selected subfiles and subfile vertices, too.
Will not be straightforward, but I find a solution.

[Philippe Hurbain]

Workaround: To unselect vertices hold ALT and click on "Vertex Mode" to unselect the selected vertices.

Ah, I missed that trick... I always use keyboard shortcut so I've not seen the tooltip help

[Magnus Forsberg]

If I, in Vertex mode select 4 vertices, and then copy and paste, I get 2 triangles and 5 condlines. Not x,y,z for the 4 vertices.
Surface mode gives me 2 triangles, and Line mode gives me 5 condlines.

If I remember correcly, it used to be possible to pick and copy many vertices like this, and get their coordinates, instead of everything connected to those vertices.

[Philippe Hurbain]

Sometimes when you try to create a subfile from 3D selection, it fails... I noticed that a while ago, but couldn't reproduce the problem reliably. It seems that I finally got a useful sample!
Short video showing the problem
https://youtu.be/w_8RwK327vQ
Attached file below.

[Magnus Forsberg]

Sometimes when you try to create a subfile from 3D selection, it fails...

Yes, I have also seen this. But then I try again, and the second atempt create a subfile, but often without a link in the file I'm working on.

[Nils Schmidt]

Sometimes when you try to create a subfile from 3D selection, it fails.

Thanks, Philo. I solved this issue now (#904).