[LDPartEditor] 0.8.0 Beta Released!

[Nils Schmidt]

Hello,

I'm just releasing LDPartEditor 0.8.0 Beta


You can download LPE from this page:
http://nilsschmidt1337.github.io/ldparteditor/

Make sure that you choose the right architecture for your OS and Java Virtual Machine (JVM) (64bit or 32bit).
A short guide how to check if a 64bit JVM is installed on your system is located at the bottom of this message.

1. Download the zip-Archive
   
2. Extract the archive content to the location of your choice
   
3. On windows, double-click "run.bat" to start LPE.
   
4. On linux/mac, you have to excecute the shell script "run.sh" to start LPE.
   

Please note that this software is in the beta stage. Although, LPE 0.8.0 was carefully tested and developed, there are already known issues for this release. There is a potential risk of data loss. LPE could endanger your system stability, too.

You can search for updates if you do the following steps:

1. On windows, double-click "update.bat" to search for updates.
   
2. On linux/mac, you have to excecute the shell script "update.sh".
   

LPE 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 LPE on older machines as well.

System Requirements:

Minimum System Requirements:

• Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.7
  
• OpenGL 2.1 compatible Graphics Card
  
• Operating System (32/64bit): Windows [XP; Vista; 7 or newer], Mac OS X [>=10.6], Linux [e.g. Ubuntu Linux >=10.4]
  
• CPU: Multicore-Processor e.g. Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon II (>2.0Ghz)
  
• RAM: 2.5GB
  
• Video-Memory: 512 MB
  
• Free Disk Space: 100 MB
  

Recommended Requirements:

• Operating System (64bit): Windows 7, Mac OS X [>=10.6], Linux [e.g. Ubuntu Linux >=10.4]
  
• CPU: Multicore-Processor with 4 cores (or more)
  
• RAM: >4 GB
  
• Video-Memory: >512 MB
  
• Free Disk Space: 512 MB
  

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to check your JVM version (32- or 64-bit):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can try on the command line:

Code:

java -d64 version

If it's not a 64-bit version, you'll get a message that looks like:

Code:

This Java instance does not support a 64-bit JVM. Please install the desired version.

In general, I recommend to install the 64-bit version of the JVM.

PS: I am still busy with the creation of the manual, so you "have to experiment" with my (complex) software product until you've got the manual.

[Magnus Forsberg]

I can't make it work.
Double clicking on run.bat and nothing happens...;(

[Max Martin Richter]

Magnus, do you have an updated Java-Version installed?
You can check this here: java.com.
I get it to work, but I'm to busy with real life stuff, to dive deeper in this program for now.

/Max

[Magnus Forsberg]

Updated Java from 8.31 to 8.40. Still not running.

Win 7 (64) i7
nvidia geforce GTX 560m
lots of free disc space

[Nils Schmidt]

Maybe your Java Virtual Machine is only a 32bit JVM?

[Philippe Hurbain]

LPE runs fine on my machine, also a Win 7 (64) on i7. Now I need to learn how to use

PS: I am still busy with the creation of the manual, so you "have to experiment" with my (complex) software product until you've got the manual.

It will be appreciated for sure...

[Magnus Forsberg]

How do I check that?
And how do I change it?

[Nils Schmidt]

You can try on the command line:

Code:

java -d64 version

If it's not a 64-bit version, you'll get a message that looks like:

Code:

This Java instance does not support a 64-bit JVM. Please install the desired version.

[Magnus Forsberg]

Yes, thats it.
Now it works. I had to install 64-bit JVM.
Thanks for the tip.

Looking forward to the manual...

[Steffen]

Thank you very much for the release!
I'm trying it out and will collect some feedback here.

(a) 32bit vs 64bit
Maybe you could clarify the doc a little:
Of course it is possible to run the 32bit version on a 64bit machine.
Whatever version you choose, you need the corresponding 32bit or 64bit exeuting JavaRE for that.

(b) small improvement of "run.bat":
if you change the current line
java -Djava.library.path="natives/" -jar LDPartEditor.jar
to
start "" java -Djava.library.path="natives/" -jar LDPartEditor.jar
, then the grey window will go away and not stay during program run

© icons
I find the top left icons (new, open, save) to be too transparent. I can barely see their icon and cannot easily
visually distinguish them.

(d) keyboard shortcuts
I just used Ctrl+Z on windows for "undo", but then something strange happened...

[Nils Schmidt]

Hi Steffen. Thank you for your feedback.

(a) I did already some clarification since Magnus had the JVM issue.

(b) Thats a nice one I changed it. Newer releases and upcoming updates will contain the modified *.bat-file.
edit: This is the correct command

Code:

start javaw -jar -Djava.library.path="natives/" -jar LDPartEditor.jar

© I created an issue here. LPE uses SVG icons. Its an easy task for me to modify the icons.

(d)

I just used Ctrl+Z on windows for "undo", but then something strange happened...

LPE needs a moment of time to restore the last state. During this time it displays a popup.

[Michael Heidemann]

On my 64bit machine I have 32bit Java, so i downloaded the 32 bit windows version.
1) I extracted the zip file to a new folder named 'LDPartEditor'. The I double-clicked on 'run.bat' and got the message that 'The program can not be used, because you have no rights to write to the application folder. It seems that It was a bad idea to create the folder 'LDPartEditor' in the folder 'C:\Program Files (x86)'. Now I copied the folder to the location 'documents' and I got the windows for the first installation.
2) I would like very much if the enviroment variable 'LDRAWDIR' is checked for the path. Also the unofficial part path can be filled by using the 'unofficial' path rule.

[Philippe Hurbain]

I am slowly starting to understand a few things, but a documentation will definitely be useful
The thing that puzzles me most is the manipulator concept!

- While the mode selection keys (F2, etc) work fine, it seems I can't get the tool keys (1, 2, etc) to work. Can be related to my French keyboard layout... Tried with main keyboard digit keys, shift+digit keys and numeric keypad. Nothing work.
- Though I have period ('.') defined as decimal separator on my system, windows with numerical fields (such as snapping grid window) display numbers with a comma and want a comma as decimal separator on input (very clumsy with numerical keypad...)
- primitives icons are quite illegible

[Nils Schmidt]

1) I [...] got the message that 'The program can not be used, because you have no rights to write to the application folder.'
2) I would like very much if the enviroment variable 'LDRAWDIR' is checked for the path. Also the unofficial part path can be filled by using the 'unofficial' path rule.

1) That is very good! I implemented a method which checks if the user has enough rights in the destination folder... It makes no sense to start LPE on a read-only location.

2) I created an issue here and did a commit to solve this. The improvement will be included in the next release.

[Nils Schmidt]

I am slowly starting to understand a few things, but a documentation will definitely be useful
The thing that puzzles me most is the manipulator concept!

-a) While the mode selection keys (F2, etc) work fine, it seems I can't get the tool keys (1, 2, etc) to work. Can be related to my French keyboard layout... Tried with main keyboard digit keys, shift+digit keys and numeric keypad. Nothing work.
-b) Though I have period ('.') defined as decimal separator on my system, but numerical fields display numbers with a comma.
-c) primitives icons are quite illegible

a) I don't know why this does not work at the moment.

b) I had to investigate and I hopefully fixed it.

c) You can zoom in/out with CTRL+Mouse Scroll

[Willy Tschager]

It seems that It was a bad idea to create the folder 'LDPartEditor' in the folder 'C:\Program Files (x86)'. Now I copied the folder to the location 'documents' and I got the windows for the first installation.

* Same here "C:\programme\LDPartEditor" produced the same error.

* I managed to move a vertex, but it seams I can only view in 2/3. No rotation in 3D?
* Looks like I cannot select a vertex via drawing a rectangle around.
* Looks like I have to press SHIFT to move a selection while I expected that toggle between Select/Move/Rotate would be enough
* Shortcuts 1,2,3 work fine
* Looks like the "Move Adjacent Data" button in the toolbar is not connected with the button of the same title in the Selection tab
* Is there a render mode which shows the part with the cond. lines working, say the part rounded?

But the rest looks impressive!

w.

[Philippe Hurbain]

c) You can zoom in/out with CTRL+Mouse Scroll

Ahhh.... and middle mouse button rotate view!

[Nils Schmidt]

* a) I managed to move a vertex, but it seams I can only view in 2/3. No rotation in 3D?
* b) Looks like I cannot select a vertex via drawing a rectangle around.
* c) Looks like I have to press SHIFT to move a selection while I expected that toggle between Select/Move/Rotate would be enough
* d) Shortcuts 1,2,3 work fine
* e) Looks like the "Move Adjacent Data" button in the toolbar is not connected with the button of the same title in the Selection tab
* f) Is there a render mode which shows the part with the cond. lines working, say the part rounded?

But the rest looks impressive!

w.

a) Press the middle mouse button and move the mouse to rotate in 3D.
b) Maybe it is the wrong mode? You can select vertices in "Vertex Mode" only.
c) You can press LMB+SHIFT to move a selection directly. You can use the manipulator or "Merge/Split...->Translate Selection", too.
d) ok.
e) This is intended.
f) LPE does not support smooth shading at the moment.

[Gerald Lasser]

I did try a lot but not this :-)

[Gerald Lasser]

The hints with the middle mouse-button were a big help.

a) I did not manage to move things in 3d. I can do something when pressing the shift key and middle mouse to move e.g. primitives around.
b) what I like is the "show in editor" command, however is there a way to select a primitive and the the parameters directly in the editor (Position + Matrix)? I could not find a combination that gave me this information.

c) When sekecting Red-Backfaces it looks like the renderer is not taking into account the BFC Statement for INVERTNEXT.the primitive still shows as RED.

Thansk

[Orion Pobursky]

Trying this out on my Mac:
OSX 10.10.3
JRE/JDK 8u40 64bit installed.

Ran run.sh and the following error:
***WARNING: Display must be created on main thread due to Cocoa restrictions.

[Philippe Hurbain]

Tried on another machine, Win XP 32 bits, java8-40. The application launched, asked for LDraw pathes. Then a looong time loading primitives, then another loong time saying nothing, then crash of java.exe: "instruction at 0x69c23ea7 uses memory address 0x00000, memory can't be read".

[Nils Schmidt]

Trying this out on my Mac:
OSX 10.10.3
JRE/JDK 8u40 64bit installed.

Ran run.sh and the following error:
***WARNING: Display must be created on main thread due to Cocoa restrictions.

Code:

java [b]-XstartOnFirstThread[/b] -Djava.library.path='natives/' -jar LDPartEditor.jar

should fix this.

[Nils Schmidt]

a) wait for the manual.
b) that is a new feature. I will integrate it in the next release.
c) I can't reproduce the error. I need more information.

[Nils Schmidt]

java.exe: "instruction at 0x69c23ea7 uses memory address 0x00000, memory can't be read".

I will try to reproduce this. However... my prioritiy for issues which regarding Win XP 32 bit is very low.

[Philippe Hurbain]

I can guess that... Oh well...

[Willy Tschager]

* a) I managed to move a vertex, but it seams I can only view in 2/3. No rotation in 3D?
* b) Looks like I cannot select a vertex via drawing a rectangle around.
* c) Looks like I have to press SHIFT to move a selection while I expected that toggle between Select/Move/Rotate would be enough
* d) Shortcuts 1,2,3 work fine
* e) Looks like the "Move Adjacent Data" button in the toolbar is not connected with the button of the same title in the Selection tab
* f) Is there a render mode which shows the part with the cond. lines working, say the part rounded?

But the rest looks impressive!

w.

a) Press the middle mouse button and move the mouse to rotate in 3D.
b) Maybe it is the wrong mode? You can select vertices in "Vertex Mode" only.
c) You can press LMB+SHIFT to move a selection directly. You can use the manipulator or "Merge/Split...->Translate Selection", too.
d) ok.
e) This is intended.
f) LPE does not support smooth shading at the moment.

a) Ain't working. But admittedly I've got this thing and it's kinda hard pressing anything on it. Would STRG+RMB be doable?
b) Hmm ... looks like I can only select the vertices hidden in the background, but not those in the foreground

g) I would like to have the "View angle icons" mirrored to the toolbars
h) I hould like to have the "Mesh lines, Vertices, Lights, ... mirrored to the toolbars
i) Is it just me or do others find the icons turning light blue when I hover over them irritating? Sometimes it looks like they are already pressed. I'm also irritated that they "fade" to gray (quite slowly) when deactivated.
j) For the next version I would love to have the Text Editor integrated below the viewing are. Nothing special. Just the line number and the code. Something that doesn't require pressing the "Show Selection in Text Editor" firing up the other window.
k) Is there a list of the last opened parts somewhere?
l) Is there a setting for the cursor's color? Light gray cursor over main color (showing up in light gray) isn't ideal.

w.

[Gerald Lasser]

Thansk
c) was my fault, coul dmake it work, wrongly formatted BFC statement

[Philippe Hurbain]

a) Ain't working. But admittedly I've got this thing and it's kinda hard pressing anything on it. Would STRG+RMB be doable?

Even though it works for me, I too would appreciate another mouse shortcut, middle mouse button is quite harder than other buttons to press and it hurts my poor little finger!

i) Is it just me or do others find the icons turning light blue when I hover over them irritating? Sometimes it looks like they are already pressed. I'm also irritated that they "fade" to gray (quite slowly) when deactivated.

Agreed. Telling activated icons from non-activated ones requires too much attention. Something like a red outline that can be seen at first sight would be much better.

l) Is there a setting for the cursor's color? Light gray cursor over main color (showing up in light gray) isn't ideal.

+1!

[Nils Schmidt]

a) Ain't working. But admittedly I've got this thing and it's kinda hard pressing anything on it. Would STRG+RMB be doable?
b) Hmm ... looks like I can only select the vertices hidden in the background, but not those in the foreground

g) I would like to have the "View angle icons" mirrored to the toolbars
h) I hould like to have the "Mesh lines, Vertices, Lights, ... mirrored to the toolbars
i) Is it just me or do others find the icons turning light blue when I hover over them irritating? Sometimes it looks like they are already pressed. I'm also irritated that they "fade" to gray (quite slowly) when deactivated.
j) For the next version I would love to have the Text Editor integrated below the viewing are. Nothing special. Just the line number and the code. Something that doesn't require pressing the "Show Selection in Text Editor" firing up the other window.
k) Is there a list of the last opened parts somewhere?
l) Is there a setting for the cursor's color? Light gray cursor over main color (showing up in light gray) isn't ideal.

w.

a) oh well... -.- it's the best CAD mouse I've ever seen.
b) okay.. try another viewing angle (open the context menu over a 3D view and select "Viewing Angles-Front")
g) h) I will not do this for now. I have plans to make the GUI more customisable. Any major changes to the toolbar will make the customisation more difficult.
i) Okay.. you are using Windows 7? The appearance of the button depends on the OS. It has nothing to do with LPE.
k) This will be a new feature for the next release.
l) very good point. Will be a new feature for the next release, too.

[Nils Schmidt]

Even though it works for me, I too would appreciate another mouse shortcut, middle mouse button is quite harder than other buttons to press and it hurts my poor little finger!

I will implement an option menu to change the shortkeys and mouse buttons.

[Steffen]

Hi Nils, thanks a lot!
Regarding (b), I had intentionally put the 2 double quotes "" directly after the start command,
because I have already seen it happen (depending on the command to launch AND its arguments)
that the "start" command sometimes mistakes (!) its arguments for the window title. The safest way to avoid
that is to explicitly state a title (or, as I did, an empty one), even if that argument is optional (see start /? for info).

[Orion Pobursky]

That worked. Thanks!

[Willy Tschager]

a) Ain't working. But admittedly I've got this thing and it's kinda hard pressing anything on it. Would STRG+RMB be doable?
b) Hmm ... looks like I can only select the vertices hidden in the background, but not those in the foreground

g) I would like to have the "View angle icons" mirrored to the toolbars
h) I hould like to have the "Mesh lines, Vertices, Lights, ... mirrored to the toolbars
i) Is it just me or do others find the icons turning light blue when I hover over them irritating? Sometimes it looks like they are already pressed. I'm also irritated that they "fade" to gray (quite slowly) when deactivated.
j) For the next version I would love to have the Text Editor integrated below the viewing are. Nothing special. Just the line number and the code. Something that doesn't require pressing the "Show Selection in Text Editor" firing up the other window.
k) Is there a list of the last opened parts somewhere?
l) Is there a setting for the cursor's color? Light gray cursor over main color (showing up in light gray) isn't ideal.

w.

a) oh well... -.- it's the best CAD mouse I've ever seen.
b) okay.. try another viewing angle (open the context menu over a 3D view and select "Viewing Angles-Front")
g) h) I will not do this for now. I have plans to make the GUI more customisable. Any major changes to the toolbar will make the customisation more difficult.
i) Okay.. you are using Windows 7? The appearance of the button depends on the OS. It has nothing to do with LPE.
k) This will be a new feature for the next release.
l) very good point. Will be a new feature for the next release, too.

b) Ain't working. When I select "Front" the rectangle selects the vertices in the back. When I switch to "Back" the rectangle selects the vertices in the front.
m) I've got multiple warnings for BFC Certify. Right-Clicking offers a "Quick Fix" but nothing happens. Also "Quick Fix Similar Problems" doesn't work.
n) "Move the camera to the manipulator position" set (im my case) all views to "Back" but the labels said something different:

   

o) I do not understand the difference between a project and the .dat file. I noticed however that the .dat file didn't get saved in the projects PARTS folder.
p) Closing LDPartEditor all my settings for split view, windows size, ... are gone.

w.

[Nils Schmidt]

b) Ain't working. When I select "Front" the rectangle selects the vertices in the back. When I switch to "Back" the rectangle selects the vertices in the front.
m) I've got multiple warnings for BFC Certify. Right-Clicking offers a "Quick Fix" but nothing happens. Also "Quick Fix Similar Problems" doesn't work.
n) "Move the camera to the manipulator position" set (im my case) all views to "Back" but the labels said something different:
p) Closing LDPartEditor all my settings for split view, windows size, ... are gone.
w.

I was able to reproduce some of the issues and try to fix it in the next release.

[Nils Schmidt]

The user manual is under construction. You can find it here.

[Nils Schmidt]

I just updated the Advanced Text Editor Features in the user manual.

[Willy Tschager]

* LDPE took a while to load a 1700 line part
* When I finally managed to load a background image (*.png) there was just a black square instead
* Did not find any settings to set the transparency of the triangles I'm used in LDPC
* Deleting a part from the project deletes the part physically from the disk. No trash can backup, no luck with tools like Recuva. It's GONE!

w.

[Nils Schmidt]

* Deleting a part from the project deletes the part physically from the disk. No trash can backup, no luck with tools like Recuva. It's GONE!

Well, I am very sorry to hear that. I will change this behaviour in the next release immediately.
I hope you saw this warning before:

Are you sure you want to permanently delete "your filename"?

THIS ACTION CAN NOT BE UNDONE!

* LDPE took a while to load a 1700 line part

"Premature optimization is the root of all evil"

* When I finally managed to load a background image (*.png) there was just a black square instead

This is a bug. I will investigate.

* Did not find any settings to set the transparency of the triangles I'm used in LDPC

There is no feature for it yet.

[Willy Tschager]

* Deleting a part from the project deletes the part physically from the disk. No trash can backup, no luck with tools like Recuva. It's GONE!

Well, I am very sorry to hear that. I will change this behaviour in the next release immediately.
I hope you saw this warning before:

Are you sure you want to permanently delete "your filename"?

THIS ACTION CAN NOT BE UNDONE!

Sure I have, but I presumed it would "unload" the part from the project, not deleting it physically from the disk. Anyway even if I had understood the warning correctly, I would have taken for granted that the part gets moved to the trash can.

Playing around I really wish there would be a "simple" mode where I just load a .dat manipulate and save it without all the fancy project stuff.

w.

[Gerald Lasser]

Loading and working on a *.DAT works when you use "Open Part File", one of the icons with "DAT" on them, works usually fine with me

[Willy Tschager]

This isn't what I'm talking about. There is no way to reload or close/open a part. When you close a tab in the text editor the part is still loaded in the project and open a file from the disk with the same name just reloads the already loaded file in the project with all the manipulations you have done.

At least I couldn't get rid off the file and say start all over again. Also the synchronisation button doesn't help. It's just telling me that there is an older version on the disk but I cannot access is.

So what I'm looking forward is loading a .dat without new.dat, texture, Unsaved files, ... do my thing and save it.

w.

[Nils Schmidt]

This isn't what I'm talking about. There is no way to reload or close/open a part. When you close a tab in the text editor the part is still loaded in the project and open a file from the disk with the same name just reloads the already loaded file in the project with all the manipulations you have done.

You can do a forced reload with "Revert All Changes" (right click on the file entry opens a context menu with this function) - this will "revert" all the manipulations you have done with LDPartEditor and reloads the file from the harddisk.