Power Function Light in MLCad and LPub

[Holger Matthes]

Hi all,

first of all, after a few years of not using MLCad, LPub, LSynth and so on I am back ;-) Thanks to everyone helping out here and providing the All-in-one-installer. That really helped me start off again.

My question:

I am creating an instruction for my little BR 80 Steamer with PowerFunctions – M motor, receiver, 2x PF lights and battery box all in one little engine. The first version of the instruction is done, you can find it at:
http://holgermatthes.de/bricks/data/inst..._small.pdf (~ 19 MB)

Now I have added PF lights and the cables using LSynth. If you insert the PF lights, you can not add all components of the lights in one step. So I had to splitt up:
#1 2x lights and some cable
#2 other parts
#3 middle 2x2 box and some cable
#4 other parts and receiver
#5 1x plug to the receiver and some cable

In LPub it shows the following in the part list per step:
#1 2x lights
#2 other parts
#3 middle 2x2 box
#4 other parts and receiver
#5 1x plug

How can I force the programme that the part list of step #1 shows the complete PF lights (http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=8870-1) and #3 and #5 do not show any further sub parts of the PF lights.

Same question shows up while adding the motor or the receiver and connecting them to another part in a later step.

I haven't found the complele PF lights, motors or receivers as one *.dat which I could use and Ghost them in MLCad. Then they should show up in the parts list per step in LPub? If so, how to get rid of the stand alone plugs or the middle box in the parts list? Can you Ghost parts from the parts list? The assembly should show the single element, but the part list should not show anything because the PF lights/motor/receiver was mentioned in an earlier step of the instructions.

Some with BOM: It should show the PF elements with cable and plug as one single element as you can buy them.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Holger

[Philippe Hurbain]

Current LDraw library is indeed missing complete shortcuts with cables. Maybe it would be a good idea to add them!
In the meantime, you can create these shortcuts using LSynth (or LDCad!) and make them a separate ldraw file. To show them in your PLI and BOM, you can use LPUB subst command, as explained here: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.ph...try1622253 (section 3.5)

[Holger Matthes]

Bonjour Philippe,
thanks for your quick advise an the link. I will study these quides carefully.
On my desk I also got the good old "Virtual LEGO – The official LDraw.org Guide to LDraw Tools for Windows" and I have bookmarked https://sites.google.com/site/workingwithlpub/
Is the Forum at eurobricks more active then this forum here at ldraw.org?
Holger

[Philippe Hurbain]

Both forums are quite active... but you'll see many people present on both!

[Gerald Lasser]

Hi Holger,

For some instructions I currently work on my own, I have created the following shortcuts:


I have attached the necessary LDRAW files.

@Philo: Let me know if those would be fine for the Part Tracker (e.g. cable lenght, naming, etc.) then I would upload them. I will do the remaining two motors and the lights in a similar fashion tonight or tomorrow.

Gerald

[Philippe Hurbain]

Hi Gerald,
I think the names are OK, but I'd prefer that the cables be generated from tori primitives for the curves, and u9054 for straight segments...

[Gerald Lasser]

Alright, however I cannot find u9054?

[Philippe Hurbain]

Sorry, I meant u9190...

[Max Martin Richter]

I think, he means u9190 and u9028...

/Max

[Gerald Lasser]

I had a look into your NXT cables and I got the idea how to make them with primitives.