Unknown model commands/comments

[Michael Horvath]

There are a number of commands in the attached file. They were added by Tore Eriksson before I started working on Datsville.

Code:

0 !COLOUR red-brown CODE 70 VALUE #694027 EDGE 0 ALPHA 255
0 !COLOUR medium-stone CODE 71 VALUE #A3A2A4 EDGE 0 ALPHA 255
0 !COLOUR dark-stone CODE 72 VALUE #635F61 EDGE 15 ALPHA 255
0 EXTRACT
0 !LDSWITCH DEFINE TOWNPEEP Inline
0 !LDSWITCH TOWNPEEP
0 !LDSWITCH CASE Inline
0 !LDSWITCH CASE Use
0 !LDSWITCH End

What are these commands for? Can they be safely removed?

[Michael Heidemann]

The !COLOUR meta command defines the colors to use. If our code 70, 71, 72 has the same values than Tore used here these lines can be dropped. Otherwise the model will appear different.

LDSWITCH I have read about, but can not tell you details now. I believe that those should stay, otherwise you need to know what you are doing.
Google finding: http://news.lugnet.com/cad/dev/?n=11050

EXTRACT
I have no idea where this comes from. It is no official meta command (http://www.ldraw.org/article/401.html)

[Michael Horvath]

The aim for this project is to create a META command syntax to make alternatives inside LDraw models or parts, and a utility program that uses the syntax as a proof of concept. It may also be useful for smaller LDraw based animations.

I am having trouble understanding this quote. Alternatives? To what?

Also, some models have a REM command. I am familiar with the MS-DOS REM command, but don't understand what its purpose is here.

[Steffen]

the !COLOUR lines probably can be removed.
they define colors that in the meantime have become official,
obviously someone wanted to use them in datsville before they became official.
you could look up their official color numbers and apply those color numbers to the bricks
which use them in datsville. unless they were really intended to create a user-defined, custom color, the official colors should be preferred.

The !LDSWITCH statements were a syntax suggestion.
They allowed to declare variables and write conditional portions inside a file.
So when you want to drop them, you need to decide which of the conditional blocks you want to keep. This is what the term "alternatives" above means.
In your example, there seem to be 2 cases, one named "Inline" and one named "Use".

0 REM
was just 1 of the many variations to write a comment.
Nowadays, we use
0 //
for that purpose

0 EXTRACT seems to be simply a normal comment by some author.

[Michael Horvath]

Right! Thanks!

[Tore Eriksson]

The LDSWITCH statements can be safely deleted from the model files of Datsville. I never finished the implementation of those META statements.

The idea was to have two or more versions of a model in one file, for example different levels of simplification using LDBoxer. With an external "Switch" program, I wanted to be able to change the quality settings in a fully reversible way.

Also, I wanted to be able to switch on and off the headlights (Standard color 47/DatShine *L47.dat version) of a vehicle for example.

But I messed up my own standard and did never develop that shell program that was supposed to automatically switch the settings inside the models, and eventually I gave up *.LDraw .

/Tore

[Michael Horvath]

A lot of Jacob Sparre Andersen's models have the following lines in them:

Code:

0 venstre
0 | ned
0 | | bagud
0 | | |

Anyone know what these are for?

[Max Martin Richter]

I don't know, what it is for...
Translated from Danish to English it is

Code:

0 left
0 | down
0 | | backwards
0 | | |

Maybe it's something for the viewing direction?!

/Max

[Michael Horvath]

Yes, that makes sense. Thanks.

[Tore Eriksson]

I beleive they just pointed at the X, Y, and Z direction columns. Just remarks to support the author while making the model.
Those lines can be safely deleted, or they can be kept in order to preserve as much as possible of the artist's original work.

But OTOH, I have already had to alter so much from the original files, so there's not very much to preserve anyway.

/Tore

[Michael Horvath]

Well, I only AFAIK removed the stuff I listed in the first post. Most of the work was *adding* missing metacommands, or making them uniform across multiple models.