[LDPE] 1.8.63 Released (usability / custom line size / bug fixes)

[Nils Schmidt]

Hi,

this release will add five small improvements and fixes one bug regarding the "Save As..." button.



As always, you can download LDPE from this page:

http://nilsschmidt1337.github.io/ldparteditor/

Changelog:

(5 new features and 1 bug fix)

With this release you will be able to...

• ...keep all files from the initial temporary project on application restart.
  
• ...see the D value (distance) of the distance meter not only shown in "LDU" but also in "mm" and "Stud".
  
• ...copy hint/error/warning messages to the clipboard to paste it to the PartsTracker.
  
• ...have a customizable line size button where you can set the thickness of the line for yourself (Ctrl+Click on a line size button).
  
• ...use more line size buttons (five).
  

The following critical issues were fixed:

1. "Save as..." removed sometimes a correct directory prefix (e.g. "48\") from the file header.
   

The program was tested intensively with "real world" files.
However, something can go wrong in about 140.000 lines of code.

Installation on Windows:

1. Download and extract LDPartEditor_win32_x64.zip
   
2. Run LDPartEditor-1.8.63.msi
   
3. Start LDPartEditor from the start menu
   

Installation on Linux:

1. Download and extract LDPartEditor_linux_x64.zip
   
2. Install ldparteditor_1.8.63-1_amd64.deb
   
3. Start LDPartEditor from the menu or via launcher
   

Installation on Mac OS X:

1. Download and extract LDPartEditor_mac_x64.zip
   
2. Mount LDPartEditor-1.8.63.dmg
   
3. Drag LDPartEditor.app to the Applications folder
   
4. Copy ldparteditor.sh to your home folder
       4a. Open a Terminal.app and run ./ldparteditor.sh
       4b. Or open a Terminal.app and run /Applications/LDPartEditor.app/Contents/MacOS/LDPartEditor
   

I listen carefully to your requests and possible complaints. Please leave me a message, with your thoughts and wishes to further improve the software.

LDPE 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 LDPE on older machines as well.

System Requirements:

Minimum System Requirements:

• OpenGL 2.1 compatible Graphics Card
  
• Operating System (64-bit): Windows [7 or newer], Linux [e.g. Ubuntu Linux >=14.4], Mac OS X [>=10.6]
  
• CPU: Multicore-Processor e.g. Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon II (>2.0Ghz)
  
• RAM: 4GB
  
• Video-Memory: 1 GB
  
• Free Disk Space: 100 MB
  

Recommended Requirements:

• Operating System (64bit): Windows 7,8,10, Linux [e.g. Ubuntu Linux >=14.4], Mac OS X [>=10.6]
  
• OpenGL 3.3 compatible Graphics Card
  
• CPU: Multicore-Processor with 4 cores (or more)
  
• RAM: >4 GB
  
• Video-Memory: >1 GB
  
• Free Disk Space: 512 MB
  
• For a faster start, LDPartEditor and the LDraw™ library should be installed on an SSD.
  

[Willy Tschager]

• ...see the D value (distance) of the distance meter not only shown in "LDU" but also in "mm" and "Stud".
  
• ...copy hint/error/warning messages to the clipboard to paste it to the PartsTracker.
  
• ...have a customizable line size button where you can set the thickness of the line for yourself (Ctrl+Click on a line size button).
  
• ...use more line size buttons (five).
  

You should have called it "Willy"-Edition

w.

[Willy Tschager]

As a user I'd like to have the "Copy" command in the contextual of the "Problems" tab, mirrored to the icon bar at the bottom of the tab.

w.

[Philippe Hurbain]

- Following this review I think it would be good to set "Rectifier does not convert quad to rect when the quad has adjacent condline(s). This may improve smooth shading of the part." as default option of Rectifier tool.

- A more personal wish: I'd like "verbose" option be common to all tools, and be remembered between sessions.

[Willy Tschager]

Bug:

The tabs in the 3D editor can't be moved around any longer. Text editor not affected.

w.

[Nils Schmidt]

As a user I'd like to have the "Copy" command in the contextual of the "Problems" tab, mirrored to the icon bar at the bottom of the tab.

w.

Thanks Willy, I created an issue for the next release (#983).

[Nils Schmidt]

- Following this review I think it would be good to set "Rectifier does not convert quad to rect when the quad has adjacent condline(s). This may improve smooth shading of the part." as default option of Rectifier tool.

- A more personal wish: I'd like "verbose" option be common to all tools, and be remembered between sessions.

Thanks Philo, I created issue #939 (Rectifier) and #940 (verbosity).

[Nils Schmidt]

Bug:

The tabs in the 3D editor can't be moved around any longer. Text editor not affected.

w.

I created issue #941.

The tabs in the 3D editor were always at fixed position as far as I know.
This bug occurs on older versions of LDPE, too.

[Max Murtazin]

Nils, could you add an option to multiply values directly in lines, not just in constants? 

I mean, do something like this: 2 24 0 0 0 1*2 3*4 5*6

Would find this option pretty helpful

[Nils Schmidt]

Nils, could you add an option to multiply values directly in lines, not just in constants? 

I mean, do something like this: 2 24 0 0 0 1*2 3*4 5*6

Would find this option pretty helpful

Hi Max,

how should I deal with warnings, since this line is not allowed in an official file?
It is not so easy to interpret each number as a potential calculation and show a warning if the value is calculated and what its result is.

I would rather like to introduce other features for the text editor instead.
One thing I wanted to do a long time ago is for example auto-completion in the text editor, then you don't need to remember all meta commands anymore and can type faster.

Cheers,
Nils

[Willy Tschager]

Nils,

it irritates me to no end that after running Edger I have to save the file before I can do anything in the Text editor.

w.

[Max Murtazin]

Hi Max,

how should I deal with warnings, since this line is not allowed in an official file?
It is not so easy to interpret each number as a potential calculation and show a warning if the value is calculated and what its result is.

I would rather like to introduce other features for the text editor instead.
One thing I wanted to do a long time ago is for example auto-completion in the text editor, then you don't need to remember all meta commands anymore and can type faster.

Cheers,
Nils

I think that a use of "*", "+", etc. anywhere but in last argument of line 1 should clearly signify that it is a calculation

Warning, I believe, could be added by the same function that handles detection of calculation being present, and would ideally be like the const stuff

I am perfectly fine if you would not implement such a feature, but it being present will be appreciated

[N. W. Perry]

Maybe this is already covered somewhere, but I'd love to be able to choose a different location for the error log, settings, and plugin and temp-project folders. They just look untidy sitting loose in my home folder somehow…

[Max Martin Richter]

I think that a use of "*", "+", etc. anywhere but in last argument of line 1 should clearly signify that it is a calculation

Warning, I believe, could be added by the same function that handles detection of calculation being present, and would ideally be like the const stuff

I am perfectly fine if you would not implement such a feature, but it being present will be appreciated

Maybe using round brackets for the term which can be calculated by using a button at the very end of the parts creation.

[Willy Tschager]

Switching from one size of edges to another sometimes it take ages until LDPE updates the screen, while you get the new size immediately when you click another tab and return to the tab you worked on - there is no waiting time.

w.

[Willy Tschager]

The Alt+V shortcut usually works once. Afterwards you have to go through the menu to split something.

w.

[Max Murtazin]

LDPE recognizes control points as vertices for "merge to nearest vertex". Looks a bit of problem to me because that doesn't look like intended behavior

[Nils Schmidt]

LDPE recognizes control points as vertices for "merge to nearest vertex". Looks a bit of problem to me because that doesn't look like intended behavior

Thanks, Max. I created issue #945 (https://github.com/nilsschmidt1337/ldpar...issues/945).

[Nils Schmidt]

The Alt+V shortcut usually works once. Afterwards you have to go through the menu to split something.

w.

I cannot reproduce this issue. Are there some steps to reproduce this problem?