LDCad 1.5 Alpha 1 (win+linux)

[Roland Melkert]

Couldn't you place it to the src line directly, please? It's a similar problem like with icons in the top menu: I feel like watching (vertical) tennis match: pointing eyes on mouse cursor at the top part of the screen, then on the hint line at the bottom, then back on the mouse cursor... And in the source window, it would be useful even more: one can scroll source file "to the step 13", for example. If you cannot see those number directly there, you can't do that.

The hint in the statusbar started out to spare on OpenGL re-rendering but on modern cards this doesn't seem to be a real issue anymore. Maybe I'll add an optional 'real' hint system in a later version as I have some ideas on improving the windowing rendering system anyway. I'm not sure about displaying the step number in the source text it self as it isn't part of the step meta format. Although i do see your point so maybe it should use a different font or something, I'll have to think about it

It happened after editing another model and opening this one later. AFAIK, no editing of this model. But I cannot reproduce this bug now, even I try to simulate the same order of models opened etc. Same as with another bug I wanted to report you but I cannot reproduce it now either. So I agree to ignore this until/unless I can reproduce it.

Where you using the model nested before opening it on its own? I did a quick check on the source thinking 'how would it happen if I actually wanted it to happen' and the only way a line could move to another step is through the source window line moves or a 'move to step' operation both of which use the same core routine which basically replicates the line and marks the old one deleted (so it is still there for undo operations). As this a fairly complicated operation I don't see how it could happen own its own. This, of course, doesn't mean it can't happen as the program is getting ridiculously complicated / large

[Philippe Hurbain]

I just stumbled on something that can be considered as a bug (or at least it should trigger a warning message):
I created a model with some submodels, then I decided to make a submodel from that model. No problem, select all then use reorganize -> move to submodel. Saved the file, looked at source file... complete mess! the initial submodels were almost empty (only remained step metas), all the part were now dumped in the newly created submodel.
Then I realized (after some head scratching!) that when I selected everything to move to submodel I was stupidly in nested mode! So individual parts and not submodels were moved to the new submodel.

Fortunately LDCad was not closed so Undo made wonders

Side issue (is it?): the resulting file after my "nested mistake" was missing the parts of one copy of the submodel that was used twice.

...and a question: is there a way to import a model mpd inside another model mpd? I can of course use the mpd by reference, but I'd like to build a single, self contained mpd.

[Roland Melkert]

I just stumbled on something that can be considered as a bug (or at least it should trigger a warning message):
I created a model with some submodels, then I decided to make a submodel from that model. No problem, select all then use reorganize -> move to submodel. Saved the file, looked at source file... complete mess! the initial submodels were almost empty (only remained step metas), all the part were now dumped in the newly created submodel.
Then I realized (after some head scratching!) that when I selected everything to move to submodel I was stupidly in nested mode! So individual parts and not submodels were moved to the new submodel.

It's not a bug it's a feature

I'm not sure how a warning would be triggered though, as you usually want to move lines around even if they span multiple levels it's the main goal of the source window. I could however do a (nag) warning on just ctrl+a during nesting mode?

Side issue (is it?): the resulting file after my "nested mistake" was missing the parts of one copy of the submodel that was used twice.

This is also not a bug but more a shortcoming. The lines are moved and those submodels might be used multiple times but the lines them selves only exist once. I could probably add a warning for this though.

...and a question: is there a way to import a model mpd inside another model mpd? I can of course use the mpd by reference, but I'd like to build a single, self contained mpd.

Some mpd tools are pending (prob 1.6), tools like: pack/unpack unoffical files, convert to mpd/loose ldrs, drop unused submodels, etc. so I'll add it to the list thanks for the suggestion.

[Philippe Hurbain]

I could however do a (nag) warning on just ctrl+a during nesting mode?

I don't see warning useful on Ctrl+A but rather on "move to submodel" when in nested mode.

[Roland Melkert]

A warning before the move is better indeed. I'll add it to my todo list. It is a bit low on the list though as I'm currently working through the file reloading stuff

[Philippe Hurbain]

Clearly not a high priority

[Philippe Hurbain]

More annoying: if I select everything (Ctrl+A) then "move to submodel", the steps are not selected, so they are not moved to submodel. I have to manually select all steps in source window.

[Roland Melkert]

Hi all I've been working on LDraw file reloading this weekend and this indirectly forces me to rethink the open model list you can access by clicking the model/file name at the top right.

That list shows all currently loaded editable (sub)files. This list has been bothering me from the beginning as it gets crowded very fast and in doing so it basically becomes useless. And the list was never intended to be the main model navigation anyway, that should be done using the special overview bins.

Anyhow now models (technically editing sessions) can be closed the list becomes even more confusing as closing a model doesn't necessary mean the associated file will also be closed (MPD or file still used by another model etc). In my current Alpha 4/Beta 1 code I therefore decided to change the list into an 'open editing session' list instead of an 'all models etc' list. This means when you open a mpd the list will only show a single item (the main model) until you open one of the submodels by double click or through the overview bin. Closing a session will remove it again and release all undo info etc. I'm also considering to completely drop the menu altogether.

Problem I'm having and would like some feedback on is what to do with file changes upon closing a session combined with MPD's. Meaning if you close any session with changes and choose to 'revert' them it will revert all models in that file (managed in different sessions) or should an mpd not be able to close individual submodels at all?

I'm curious about the thoughts of anybody familiar with LDCad in regards to these issues, in short would you mind loosing the model list menu and or do you think the session oriented approach is better/understandable.

Hope this is somewhat clear as I've been dubbing about it myself for a couple of days now

[Roland Melkert]

More annoying: if I select everything (Ctrl+A) then "move to submodel", the steps are not selected, so they are not moved to submodel. I have to manually select all steps in source window.

ctrl+a in a editing view (or menu click) will only select visible things. ctrl+a in a source window will select all editable (so excluding e.g. 0 FILE) lines. Therefore you need to keep an eye on your mouse cursor before doing ctrl+a.

[Philippe Hurbain]

OK, it works. Not wonderfully intuitive, but I see no better way!

[Merlijn Wissink]

I can imagine that to be quite annoying. Can't you make it so, that when you select everything (ctrl+A) it also selects all the meta commands in between the first part and the last part? I can't imagine a case where you don't want to select all the meta-comments in between the parts.

[Roland Melkert]

OK, it works. Not wonderfully intuitive, but I see no better way!

I can imagine that to be quite annoying. Can't you make it so, that when you select everything (ctrl+A) it also selects all the meta commands in between the first part and the last part? I can't imagine a case where you don't want to select all the meta-comments in between the parts.

I've been struggling with this issue for some time. The way I currently see it: the 3D view is 'what you see is what you get', and the source window is the expert view.

This said using the ctrl+c will optionally preserve step meta's using the copy paste options dialog. I could add support for other/all metas to that setup.

This also brings me to another issue I'm currently not 100% happy about due to technical reasons I've chosen (for the moment) all selection operations are based on the order the lines were selected.

see also http://forums.ldraw.org/showthread.php?t...4#pid15644

So unless you use ctrl+a (uses line order) selections could (when not careful) break meta information order wise. Options to improve this are pending though.

[Philippe Hurbain]

So unless you use ctrl+a (uses line order) selections could (when not careful) break meta information order wise. Options to improve this are pending though.

Ah - I noticed things that were not clear for me but probably this explains it all!

[Milan Vančura]

Interesting...
At first, it's great you think about sessions and closing them. And I agree with you that the list of all (sub)models grows quickly and does not work well as an overview then.

Currently I use models in LDCad in this way:

1. I try to open only one mpd file in LDCad
2. Then the list of submodels accessible from the top-right navigation is good to see submodel names - it is helpful and well readable, comparing to images of submodels, cca 10 milimeters wide, in the Part Bin.
3. One may argue that I may make those images bigger but this size is OK for images of Parts and I need to save space on the screen
4. if I have more than one MPD open and want to switch between them, I use the top menu: Model->Change current model. But the list is too long now. "{M}" marker helps a little.

Therefore I'd prefer:

1. "session" is always per MPD file - I do not want to close a submodel only
2. top menu -> Model -> Sessions showing a list of sessions == MPD files. Similar to "Windows" menu in another GUI applications
3. the top-right navigation containing a list of submodels in the current model only - in the end, this navigation is placed inside the Editing window and so I expect it to be relative to the current MPD open in that Editing Window
4. closing a session should be equal to closing the MPD (i.e. while closing LDCad itself). This way there will be no confusion.


I'm not sure, Roland, I understood your description, so I let you to compare our ideas

[Philippe Hurbain]

Like Milan I'm not sure to understand all implications of your proposal. I mostly use one mpd per session, except sometimes for copy/paste between models, and so I somehow regret that LDCad is now single instance (I generally open one instance on both models) - but I guess multi-instance was causing other issues. What about a tabbed view, with one tab per mpd?

[Milan Vančura]

It seems we use LDCad in a similar way. Yes, tabs would be even more comfortable but a submenu under "Model->change current model" is OK for me as well, thanks to Roland's system of menu: one can "pin" the submenu on the screen for faster access. Not so comfortable as tabs but doable.
The main point is the equivalence: MPD file == session.

[Roland Melkert]

Therefore I'd prefer:

1. "session" is always per MPD file - I do not want to close a submodel only
2. top menu -> Model -> Sessions showing a list of sessions == MPD files. Similar to "Windows" menu in another GUI applications
3. the top-right navigation containing a list of submodels in the current model only - in the end, this navigation is placed inside the Editing window and so I expect it to be relative to the current MPD open in that Editing Window
4. closing a session should be equal to closing the MPD (i.e. while closing LDCad itself). This way there will be no confusion.

I think you are right only files should be closable not individual editing sessions.
Tabbed views is something that has been asked before and my main concern about them is limited space. Take a couple of long file names and you could have only a handful of tabs before you need to scroll or use multiline tabs etc. As a result of this I have been thinking about adding a bookmark system so you can choose what models you want a tab displayed for and may limit that to the simple 1, 2, 3 tabs like the bins. Not sure about any of that though

There will be a new bin group 'top level models' though, which always display all the main mpd models ('{m}') currently loaded.

...and so I somehow regret that LDCad is now single instance (I generally open one instance on both models) - but I guess multi-instance was causing other issues.

There is no real problem in using multiple instances except the last closed program will 'win' config files write wise. The main reason for single instance is so you can use file association in an expected manner. If you want you can still disable it by creating/editing LDCad.cfg see also http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/tech/config

What about a tabbed view, with one tab per mpd?

This will probably solve the crowded problem until you try to open something like datsville

Thanks for the input Milan and Philllippe.

[Michael Horvath]

Is there a command to reload a model from disk? For instance, I may be editing a sub-model in one editor window, and want to reload the parent model in another editor window reflecting the modifications.

[Roland Melkert]

Is there a command to reload a model from disk? For instance, I may be editing a sub-model in one editor window, and want to reload the parent model in another editor window reflecting the modifications.

I'm currently working on this feature so it should be in the next version (ether Alpha 4 or Beta 1). This includes reloading from disk in a undo kind of way and reloading files resulting from external changes.

[Niklas Buchmann]

I found this issues with LDCad 1.5 Alpha 3:
When you "cut" multiple parts from the model to paste them somewhere else, all the parts that are in any group disappear in the process. They get deleted from the source like they should, but they don't appear when you paste.
The only way to get them back is use "undo". When you use undo, however, the parts that preiously were in groups are all ungrouped.

Another thing: You can't dock windows when the option "lock docked windows" is activated. This can be quite confusing when you try to find ut why you can't dock windows the way it is explained.

[Roland Melkert]

When you "cut" multiple parts from the model to paste them somewhere else, all the parts that are in any group disappear in the process. They get deleted from the source like they should, but they don't appear when you paste.

Very weird but you are right none of the group content is copied to the clipboard. I've must have broken something along the way. It will be fixed in the next version.

The only way to get them back is use "undo". When you use undo, however, the parts that preiously were in groups are all ungrouped.

Currently the grouping state of things are not tracked in the undo system. To make that work all grouping actions must be tracked (e.g. ctrl+g etc) something somehow feels weird to me. I have some grouping changes/extensions planned for 1.6 so I might add it anyway, but I'll have to think about it some more.

Another thing: You can't dock windows when the option "lock docked windows" is activated. This can be quite confusing when you try to find ut why you can't dock windows the way it is explained.

I could make it so you can still dock while things are locked but as soon as you 'release' the window you won't be able to undock it again which to me seems a bit weird. Maybe a message box like 'docking is currently locked' is a better solution.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Owen Dive]

Tabbed views is something that has been asked before and my main concern about them is limited space. Take a couple of long file names and you could have only a handful of tabs before you need to scroll or use multiline tabs etc.

This shouldn't be a problem:
While there is still sufficient screen real estate, tabs have the full filename and are as wide as needed. As soon as there is insufficient space, the tab widths start contracting, dropping out characters from the middle of the filename (replace with ... so that the abbreviation is apparent). I reckon you could go down to first 3 characters, last 3 characters and extension and still maintain uniqueness in most cases. You could even get clever and choose which characters to drop based on maintaining uniqueness. Have the full name available in the status bar, and everything's sweet. Of course, you'd still need to deal with multiline/scrolling tabs eventually.

Owen.

[Owen Dive]

Just playing around with the parts bin configuration files, and I've noticed a small bug. Not sure if it's been there since Alpha 1, but I don't remember reading anyone mentioning it.

When the part bin is wider than it is long, the header bits (tab numbers, filter status, etc) switch to the side. This is great. However, when in that configuration, when you hover over a different view number (to change views) the view name turns green, but the text doesn't change to show you the name of the view you're about to select (as it does when the header bits are on the top). You have to check the status bar at the bottom to see what your new view is going to be if you don't remember what you put there.

Owen.

[Roland Melkert]

This shouldn't be a problem:
While there is still sufficient screen real estate, tabs have the full filename and are as wide as needed. As soon as there is insufficient space, the tab widths start contracting, dropping out characters from the middle of the filename (replace with ... so that the abbreviation is apparent). I reckon you could go down to first 3 characters, last 3 characters and extension and still maintain uniqueness in most cases. You could even get clever and choose which characters to drop based on maintaining uniqueness. Have the full name available in the status bar, and everything's sweet. Of course, you'd still need to deal with multiline/scrolling tabs eventually.

Session management will kinda change with the upcoming version as it is now (finally) possible to close/reload LDraw files. This gives people the chance to keep the tab count low.

I will do some experiments to see if tabs are usable but I don't think it will be included in the 1.5 version, maybe 1.6.

[Michael Horvath]

I am not sure what you should do.

MLCAD does not prompt you when a sub-model has changed. But you can click the "Revert" button and it will reload everything from the disk, including any saved changes to sub-models. But then, MLCAD does not support multiple sessions.

Pov-Ray only prompts you about unsaved sub-models when you try to render the parent model.

P.S. I still think if you are going to allow multiple sessions per instance, you should show tabs for each session.

[edit]

I just installed the latest alpha. Which menu shows the list of sessions? I can't find it.

[Roland Melkert]

I am not sure what you should do.

MLCAD does not prompt you when a sub-model has changed. But you can click the "Revert" button and it will reload everything from the disk, including any saved changes to sub-models. But then, MLCAD does not support multiple sessions.

Pov-Ray only prompts you about unsaved sub-models when you try to render the parent model.

I've got session (file) closing / manual reloading / file detection reloading roughly working it will be available in Alpha 4 (later this week I hope).

I still think if you are going to allow multiple sessions per instance, you should show tabs for each session.

I agree on adding tabs it's just very ineffective when e.g. working with your datsville, so I'm still thinking about how to change it. This is also why the part bin approach is still my own preferred / intended method for model/session navigation though but I will be adding tabs in one way or another (maybe just bookmarks or something) in the 1.6 version.

I just installed the latest alpha. Which menu shows the list of sessions? I can't find it.

The session menu is reachable by clicking the filename in the top right this hasn't changed (yet).

[Michael Horvath]

I think you should put an asterisk next to the name of the model if it has been modified and not saved yet. Remove the asterisk after you have saved any changes.

[Michael Horvath]

How do you replace a part with a different one while keeping the coordinates the same? In MLCAD you just right-click on the part and choose "Modify".

[Roland Melkert]

How do you replace a part with a different one while keeping the coordinates the same? In MLCAD you just right-click on the part and choose "Modify".

Select it in the model, then double click its replacement in the part bin, this will replace all parts in the selection with the one in the part bin while retaining their individual colors, orientations and positions.

[Michael Horvath]

Okay thanks.

[Roland Melkert]

I've been playing around with a Linux install script and I was wondering if any Linux people could give their thoughts on it.

It seems to work with debian, kubuntu, suse and mint but I'm not 100% sure its all 'official'

This is the current script

Code:

#!/bin/sh

# ======================================================================================================================
# This script will copy the LDCad files into suitable central, current user independend, locations.
# It will also try to register the application so it shows up in the application menu.
# This will also make LDCad available to 'open with' operations etc.
#
# NOTE 1: This might not work for all distributions, feel free to adjust the below script to make it work yourself.
#         If so, please consider sending me your modifications so I might be able to improve the script for all.
# NOTE 2: You need root/sudo rights to run the script as the /usr folders are usually read-only for normal users.
# ======================================================================================================================

if [ `whoami` != "root" ]
then
  echo "ERROR: This script needs 'sudo' rights to copy files to otherwise read-only locations."
  exit
fi


#Destination locations
# The <foo> strings are variables LDCad will process, see http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/tech/config for detauls.
appdir="/usr/bin"
datadir="/usr/share/LDCad"
cfgdir="/etc"
cfgfn="$cfgdir/LDCad.cfg"
userdir="<userAppDataDir>/LDCad"
scdir="/usr/share/applications"
mimebasedir="/usr/share/mime"
mimedir="$mimebasedir/packages"
scfn="$scdir/LDCad.desktop"
icofn="$datadir/resources/LDCad.ico"
mimefn="$mimedir/ldraw.xml"


#Copy the main (and only) executable.
echo "Copying executable to: $appdir"
cp LDCad $appdir

#Copy the central (static) program data
echo "Copying data files to: $datadir"
mkdir $datadir
mkdir $datadir/seeds
cp -av seeds/*.sf $datadir/seeds
cp -avr docs $datadir
cp -avr resources $datadir

#Create the main config file which instructs the main executable about where to find its stuff.
echo "Creating config file: $cfgfn"
echo "[paths]" > $cfgfn
echo "resourcesDir=$datadir/resources" >> $cfgfn
echo "seedsDir=$datadir/seeds" >> $cfgfn
echo "logDir=$userdir/logs" >> $cfgfn
echo "cfgDir=$userdir/config" >> $cfgfn
echo "guiDir=$userdir/gui" >> $cfgfn
echo "colorBinDir=$userdir/colorBin" >> $cfgfn
echo "partBinDir=$userdir/partBin" >> $cfgfn
echo "examplesDir=$userdir/examples" >> $cfgfn
echo "templatesDir=$userdir/templates" >> $cfgfn
echo "donorsDir=$userdir/donors" >> $cfgfn
echo "shadowDir=$userdir/shadow" >> $cfgfn

#Register ldraw mime type
if [ -e "$mimefn" ]
then
  echo "Skipping mime type stuff, file \"$mimefn\" is already there."
else
  echo "Creating ldraw mime type file: $mimefn"
  echo "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>" > $mimefn
  echo "<mime-info xmlns=\"http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info\">" >> $mimefn
  echo "   <mime-type type=\"text/x-ldraw\">" >> $mimefn
  echo "     <comment>LDraw model document</comment>" >> $mimefn
  echo "     <sub-class-of type=\"text/plain\"/>" >> $mimefn
  echo "     <glob pattern=\"*.ldr\"/>" >> $mimefn
  echo "     <glob pattern=\"*.mpd\"/>" >> $mimefn
  echo "   </mime-type>" >> $mimefn
  echo "</mime-info>" >> $mimefn

  echo "Updating mime database"
  update-mime-database $mimebasedir
fi

#Creating desktop entry file.
echo "Creating desktop entry file: $scfn"
./genDskEntry.sh "$appdir" "$datadir" "$scdir"

echo "Updating desktop database"
update-desktop-database

#Done
echo "All done."

After you 'sudo' run this script LDCad will/should be present in the graphics menu and will handle the mime type "text/x-ldraw" (double click on mpd etc).

Any feedback is welcome.

update: added screenshot

[Richard Speyer]

Looks good.
A couple of things to consider:
* You don't seem to be using the icofn variable.
* You might consider using a png icon in /usr/share/pixmaps to be a bit more "correct".
* LDView uses mime-type application/x-ldraw with a bit more complicated ldraw.xml
* Perhaps consider a base install variable, in case some distributions like to put stuff in /usr/local instead of /usr.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<mime-info xmlns="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/shared-mime-info">
  <mime-type type="application/x-ldraw">
    <comment>LDraw Model</comment>
    <glob pattern="*.ldr" />
    <glob pattern="*.LDR" />
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ ~Moved\ to" offset="0"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ LDRAW_ORG\ Part\ UPDATE" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ LDRAW_ORG\ Primitive" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ !LDRAW_ORG\ Part" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ !LDRAW_ORG\ Primitive" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ !LDRAW_ORG\ Shortcut" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ LDRAW_ORG\ Shortcut" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>

    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ Official\ LCad\ update" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ Official\ LCAD\ Part" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ Official\ LCad\ Part" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ Original\ LDraw\ Part" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
  </mime-type>

  <mime-type type="application/x-multipart-ldraw">
    <comment>LDraw Model</comment>
    <glob pattern="*.mpd" />
    <glob pattern="*.MPD" />
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="Author:\ MLCad" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ ROTATION\ CENTER\ " offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
    <magic priority="60">
        <match type="string" value="0\ Unofficial\ Model" offset="0:1000"/>
    </magic>
  </mime-type>

</mime-info>

[Michael Horvath]

LDCad doesn't seem to work with Windows 7's "Open with" explorer context menu feature. Is there any way you could get this to work? Thanks!

[Roland Melkert]

Looks good.
A couple of things to consider:
* You don't seem to be using the icofn variable.
* You might consider using a png icon in /usr/share/pixmaps to be a bit more "correct".
* LDView uses mime-type application/x-ldraw with a bit more complicated ldraw.xml
* Perhaps consider a base install variable, in case some distributions like to put stuff in /usr/local instead of /usr.

Thanks for your feedback Richard,

I changed the mime types so it won't conflict with LDView. Do you use "ldraw.xml" literal as I'm already testing on that files existence thinking the mime maintenance people might add it one day.

icofn is not needed anymore indeed, as I moved it to the genDskEntry.sh file. I removed it and added a basedir (/usr) var.

The ico seems to work without problems though. It's the same one which is packed in the windows exe. Also it holds multiple sized icons or does xwindows not use that?

[Roland Melkert]

LDCad doesn't seem to work with Windows 7's "Open with" explorer context menu feature. Is there any way you could get this to work? Thanks!

It's not there by default, but you can add it manually by choosing the "choosing default program" item in the open with menu. Use it to browse to the LDCad.exe.

It will be in the setup (as an option) from the 1.5 beta on.

[Roland Melkert]

When the part bin is wider than it is long, the header bits (tab numbers, filter status, etc) switch to the side. This is great. However, when in that configuration, when you hover over a different view number (to change views) the view name turns green, but the text doesn't change to show you the name of the view you're about to select (as it does when the header bits are on the top).

Sorry I almost missed this post. I've fixed it (it was rendering the wrong string) in the upcoming Alpha 4.

Thanks for reporting Owen.

[Richard Speyer]

I changed the mime types so it won't conflict with LDView. Do you use "ldraw.xml" literal as I'm already testing on that files existence thinking the mime maintenance people might add it one day.

I just added

Code:

MimeType=application/x-ldraw;application/x-multipart-ldraw;

to the .destktop file
The mime types don't conflict, in general the desktop environment lets the user choose default actions if there is more than one possibility and provides a list like the windows "open with..."

LDraw MIME types specification indicates that application/x-ldraw is the right one to use.

icofn is not needed anymore indeed, as I moved it to the genDskEntry.sh file. I removed it and added a basedir (/usr) var.

Thanks, that will clean things up and possibly make packaging easier too.

The ico seems to work without problems though. It's the same one which is packed in the windows exe. Also it holds multiple sized icons or does xwindows not use that?

I'm using KDE and it doesn't use the ico file. It might work in other environments.

[Michael Horvath]

It wouldn't let me do that either. When I try to browse for LDCad.exe it simply does not get added to the list of programs.

[Magnus Forsberg]

Yes, I've had a similar experience. It isn't possible to add LDCad in that menu.
But I also don't want to have to choose it as a default program.
I want to have all the editors in my right click menu as I very often jump between editors to use different features in them.
Right click on a dat-file and choose the editor I want.

[Roland Melkert]

Strange, it works for me:

   

I did both LDCad's trough 'choose default program' and then 'browse'

The only problem I know of is you can't browse for a executable with the same name as one already bound (also added through browse) to an extension. This is because the exe name is used as the registry entry.

Hopefully it will fix itself by registering the association in the setup (which should preserve existing ones too).

If anyone else know what could be going on please let me know.

[Roland Melkert]

I just added

Code:

MimeType=application/x-ldraw;application/x-multipart-ldraw;

to the .destktop file
The mime types don't conflict, in general the desktop environment lets the user choose default actions if there is more than one possibility and provides a list like the windows "open with..."

LDraw MIME types specification indicates that application/x-ldraw is the right one to use.

That text uses "application/x-multi-part-ldraw" instead of "application/x-multipart-ldraw" but as the LDView package is out there I will be using "application/x-multipart-ldraw" too.

I'm using KDE and it doesn't use the ico file. It might work in other environments.

It seemed to work on kubuntu, which is currently my KDE test environment. Which Linux are you using so I might get the live iso of it to test KDE some more. I will add a 128x128 png version for the desktop entry to be sure though.

[Richard Speyer]

That text uses "application/x-multi-part-ldraw" instead of "application/x-multipart-ldraw" but as the LDView package is out there I will be using "application/x-multipart-ldraw" too.

You're right, I hadn't looked at that bit! I think you're going the right way with it.

It seemed to work on kubuntu, which is currently my KDE test environment. Which Linux are you using so I might get the live iso of it to test KDE some more. I will add a 128x128 png version for the desktop entry to be sure though.

I'm using Slackware Linux, which doesn't have a live iso.
Slackel is pretty close and does have a live iso.
Download on sourceforge

Thanks for your hard work, especially your Linux support.

[Roland Melkert]

I've uploaded Alpha 4

You'll find it at
http://www.melkert.net/LDCad/nextVer

The major new feature is: LDraw file monitoring and reloading upon external changes.

As a result of these changes it is now also, finally, possible to close models you don't need anymore using the new 'close' tab in the top right session panel.

Please note the reloading stuff was somewhat harder to implement then I thought/ hoped so it might not be 100% stable jet.


I've also added an experimental Linux setup script to the Linux archive versions. This script will try to integrate LDCad into the xwindows environment given the distribution in question uses the free desktop file structures (which most seem to do).

The script installs files user independent, adds LDCad to the application menu and tries to associate ldr and mpd files with the main executable.

As this script is experimental please use it with care. I've tested it successfully on Ubuntu 15.04, Kubuntu 15.04, Open Suse 13.2 and Debian 7.5

It didn't seem to work for Slackware though, but this can be the result of me using the live version of the Slackel variant so it might work better on a fully installed environment. If anyone has suggestions on how to improve the setup.sh script please let me know.


For the full list of changes see the changeLog.txt in the docs folder.

[Roland Melkert]

I tried Slackel but it doesn't show the program in the graphics menu nor does it seem to process the mime changes. But this might just be the result of it being ran on a live environment as the whole Live session felt a bit sluggish to me compared to e.g. kubuntu etc.

I've released Alpha 4 including the setup.sh script, so I would appreciate it very much if you could give it a try yourself.

[Richard Speyer]

Looking good.
Install script works fine on fully installed Slackware.
Thanks heaps.

[Philippe Hurbain]

A very minor glitch: at startup, LDCad complains that 'Failed to load image from file "C:\Program Files\LDCad\resources\LDCad.ico".' - and this icon looks missing from archive.

Edit - Actually ist's pretty annoying as this message pops-up for many operations. I put a properly renamed icon there to avoid the problem!

Edit 2 - Got a crash trying to copy/paste a path point in nested mode, source window. But I couldn't reproduce the problem (I made the same kind of thing several times successfully after that).

[Roland Melkert]

A very minor glitch: at startup, LDCad complains that 'Failed to load image from file "C:\Program Files\LDCad\resources\LDCad.ico".' - and this icon looks missing from archive.

Minor fallout from the Linux changes The ico used to be in gui/default in the older versions so you can get it from there. Or re download alpha 4 as I've replaced the windows archive.

Got a crash trying to copy/paste a path point in nested mode, source window. But I couldn't reproduce the problem (I made the same kind of thing several times successfully after that).

Do you still have the log file of that session (last three sessions are kept) so I might see if it was generator related as I made some changes to that in order to fix another bug related to very short paths.

Thanks for reporting Philo

[Philippe Hurbain]

Attached the log file in my log folder. Doesn't seem utterly informative (paste, then nothing more...). As you see I wisely saved just before this potentially risky manipulation

[Roland Melkert]

Thanks,

It seems not to be related to path generating as those were completed. So it seems to crash somewhere between finishing the paste action and regenerating the path including the new parts after it completes the paste action.

Do you remember what parts you where pasting? In the mean time I'll put this issue on my 'no repo' list of potential bugs to keep an eye on.

[Philippe Hurbain]

Hi Roland,
Sorry for the late answer, was not home (again . The pasted part was a path element for a wide VEX rubber band (configured as a Bezier path).