Instruction making rant

[N. W. Perry]

Code:

0 STEP
0 !SOMENEWMETA FLOAT [target=engineBlock] [pos=100 100 100] [color=4] [ori=1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1]
........
0 STEP
0 !SOMENEWMETA FLOAT [target=engineBlock]

Where "engineBlock" is a group name.

The first float 'overrides' position, color and rotation. Just use the parameters which are needed all others initialize with the current values.

The second float uses all default parameters, so it returns the group to its original place, color and rotation.

And if the thing you are floating is a single, once used reference, you could also do something like:

0 !SOMENEWMETA FLOAT [targetKind=ldrRef] [target=3001.dat] [pos=100 100 100] [color=4] [ori=1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1]

This implies that if omitted the targetKind parameter defaults to "group"

my 2cts

Idea: Suppose you want to float a single instance of a multiple-used reference?

Perhaps it could be that if targetKind is omitted and target is not, then target is assumed to refer to a group name and the float command acts on that group. (Presumably a group ID could also be given, helpful if a group name is later changed.)

If targetKind and target are both omitted, then the float command acts on (and only on) the following type 1 line.

Alternatively (or additionally), there could be a targetKind value of "next" that would do the same thing.

And for targetKind=ldrRef, perhaps that could be assumed whenever the value of target ends with .ldr or .dat. What I'm getting at is that the targetKind parameter could often be omitted altogether, and its value determined by other context. That makes hand-editing a little quicker (and the targetKind parameter could always be auto-generated upon saving).

---

So in summary, what possible values for targetKind are there?

• "group" (default if the value of target is a group name or ID)
  
• "ldrRef" (default if the value of target ends with .ldr or .dat)—this acts on all instances of the specified part or submodel
  
• "next" (default if target parameter is absent)—this acts on the following type 1 line only, and could also be extended to apply to path point or path cap metas if placed within a flexible content section
  

Others? Perhaps "step"—acting on any float-able objects up to the next STEP command? Indeed, this could conceivably replace ROTSTEP altogether. And if there are other LPub-type metas used, like callouts or sub-builds, they could also be positioned using float commands. (I know there's a difference between rotating the view and rotating the parts themselves, but perhaps the latter makes more sense for an editing tool anyway.)