General Housekeeping Tools/Features (#4292) - Suggestions

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ZeroLengthCurve		#1 Posted : Monday, April 16, 2012 10:39:18 AM(UTC)
Rank: Senior Member Joined: 5/15/2008(UTC) Posts: 993 Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 43 time(s) in 27 post(s)		I have around 130 layers in my Freeship models. Other users importing models may have similarly-sized layers, some or many with long names. When I import the dxf into VCP 7, I realize that some of my layer names are longer than comfortable. It still is not easy to drag and drop layers (even in Shark LT) within a tree. It is not even possible to move branches/layers out of their own, and this becomes really annoying after a long run of editing that necessitates moving a lot of geometry to a more logical/more sensible layer. It would be nice if VCP/Shark were endowed with ACAD-like layer-name-search-/sort/rename functionality. If not in the interface, then a tool to let us poke into our VCP/Shark binary to edit user-created things like colors, layers, text, and non-geometry things but things of importance to "general housekeeping". Even grand-sweeping border changes would be reasonable, as in batch changing of borders, and text entities in borders. It's really important to be able to batch-modify layers names and to shift them around. If it is not computationally economical to do it in a live/open drawing, then why not provide us users with a utility to inspect and house-clean files' contents? As long as it tracks and co-manages entity mappings internally, the user should be able to manipulate the cosmetic, functional, and administrative aspects of some entities... Please?


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misterrogers		#2 Posted : Monday, April 16, 2012 1:04:49 PM(UTC)
Rank: Senior Member Joined: 8/14/2009(UTC) Posts: 444		I agree - working with the layers isn't yet as intuitive as it should be. As I put each part on its own layer, I'd like to be able to use the arrow keys to navigate to each layer, hit return and allow me to edit the name. Otherwise I keep going back and forth from keyboard to mouse to get to the subsequent layer.


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phil		#3 Posted : Monday, April 16, 2012 1:30:53 PM(UTC)
Rank: Senior Member Joined: 9/5/2010(UTC) Posts: 105		+1 on need to modify the way the layers work. It's not as friendly as I like when trying to move across the branches on the tree (cannot be done:)). Also when i delete a layer that still has some stuff/items in it, i want all the stuff gone/deleted and not have these items jump to another unknown layer:) I know we are all supposed to use giant monitors with lots of pixels/resolution, but.... the issue i have with the layer's {Concept Explorer} box/window is has "too much" wasted space (white space) in it. When reduced to the smallest usable window, it's still too large and covers a lot of the screen. I'm running 1600x900 on the laptop and it takes up maybe 1/6 of the screen, and those using the standard 1366x768 will have a bigger problem. When i plug in the 1080p monitor i also don't want the Concept Explorer box to be too large (i need the window to be on all the time to switch layers, etc). Please help to reduce all the unused space inside this layers/CE box. Thanks.


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TeraVolt		#4 Posted : Tuesday, April 17, 2012 2:11:43 PM(UTC)
Rank: Junior Member Joined: 8/20/2011(UTC) Posts: 22		Hi Phil I agree to your posting for 100 percent! ViaCad is a powerful and easy to learn CAD-Program and I like it. But some stuff - and especially Inspector and Concept explorer belongs to it - are not the very best solution in design and ergonomics. There are a lot of other threads and postigs with good suggestions, to improve Viacad & Shark to the best CAD Programs in this universe. But sometimes I'm afraid that Tim Olsen don't read they, because there is unfortunately no, or very seldom a reply of him :( . regards, Harald
		WWW

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ZeroLengthCurve		#5 Posted : Tuesday, April 17, 2012 4:28:16 PM(UTC)
Rank: Senior Member Joined: 5/15/2008(UTC) Posts: 993 Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 43 time(s) in 27 post(s)		In windows, F2 is the standard hot-key to rename a file name. It would be grand if this functionality were wired (or at least made user-optional) into the key when the context is the Concept Explorer. Even if the C/E tree management never is going to change, it would make things vastly less stressful if F2 could be used. I can type fairly fast, and instinctively, I hit F2, then flit int a tirade that the name field is not opening for me to edit it. If I could edit it, I could then drop back to the previous layer, select stuff of interest based on the filters, and then wholesale move that stuff to the layer I just named. However, layer management enhancements would be better served if changes were made. Another suggestion is to have Layers name's be made inheritance-capable. So, if one has a lot of geometry on inconsistently-named layers, merely dragging that layer to a tree or branch along with a mouse or key alternate press would man the objects take a new home with a new parent name. This would work grandly for those who have dizzying nesting logic that could cost them time. Say some layer branch is named "Door-Left-Upper-Glass 01". but they run to 08. Merely dragging the to-be-moved layer over the target would tell VCP/Shark to nominate the floated-over layer's name as the basis, minus any of the final, different bits. The text entry field would open as if opened by F2, and the user could type in a value, maybe sequential, or skipping. If the user floats the moving layer between other layers of a branch, maybe VCP/Shark could offer two choices: -- push out the downstream layers to new names (which might mess up off-line documentation and layers in archived files. -- add a dot-suffix to the name of the floating layer and update it once the user releases the mouse button or hits an alternate key prior to releasing the mouse button.


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ZeroLengthCurve		#6 Posted : Tuesday, April 17, 2012 4:29:36 PM(UTC)
Rank: Senior Member Joined: 5/15/2008(UTC) Posts: 993 Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 43 time(s) in 27 post(s)		Re-zeroing of far-flung dialog boxes and tool boxes... Speaking of multiple screen sizes and resolutions, I have an external AOC 22" display which, funnily, allows me to put it to some 3800 x XXXX (I was surprised last night) and had two Windows 'desktops' spanning my laptop and the AOC display (or maybe it was one at a time, but I used VirtualBox to toggle them via my KDE4 virtual desktops selector, too). When I disconnect my AOC LCD (whether the laptop is running or suspended) and then wake up or return to the laptop, I may find the resolution has changed on me. Also, by using modifier keys, VBox may balloon up or collapse one of the VBox desktops to a larger or smaller size. Depending on where my Concept Explorer, Inspector, and Selector, and other VCP/Shark tools are, they may vanish. And, worse, they have no "magnetic lasso" to reel them in. Sometimes, they vanish for multiple un-suspends, even across windows sessions and even across machine reboots. They toggle but are invisible at times. This is frustrating, and the only way to "shake them out of the eaves" is to fiddle around with the VBox resolutions to re-limit Windows, to force it to wake up and houseclean itself to drag errant, wantonly unresponsive dialog boxes back to visibility. VCP/Shark should not rely on windows to force them to respond to visibility. SO, again, I re-request this: Please build a re-zeroing toggle into VCP/Shark so that we can magnetically 'suck' all dialogs to the mouse pointer, whether or not they are visible. This way, no dialogs "get disappeared" due to unstable system resolution or user fiddling. A few times, without the CE, I had to walk away from VCP for a few days to decompress. The windows dev world could learn a few things from playing around with KDE. There are a MULTITUDE of things devs can make their apps do -- if they want to -- even if ms says "let windows do that...." It's about the user, not the OS.


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