Hey,
in my opinion, alias parts and normal parts should be handled as equal as possible. It is too bad that LEGO uses different numbers for equal part designs but they will have their reasons. And I think that Philos argument "choose the exact design number" is weighty. So, I think it is not useful to have that "=".
Another possibility to get rid of the alias files would be to deposit the alias numbers in the original files. Maybe with some kind of new META statement. That would save time and space but make the search algorithms more difficult. Anyway, I think that the ldraw file format (and the tools based on it) is too deadlocked to accept such a cut.
Rolf
in my opinion, alias parts and normal parts should be handled as equal as possible. It is too bad that LEGO uses different numbers for equal part designs but they will have their reasons. And I think that Philos argument "choose the exact design number" is weighty. So, I think it is not useful to have that "=".
Another possibility to get rid of the alias files would be to deposit the alias numbers in the original files. Maybe with some kind of new META statement. That would save time and space but make the search algorithms more difficult. Anyway, I think that the ldraw file format (and the tools based on it) is too deadlocked to accept such a cut.
Rolf