new features request

[j.bueche]

Hi,

Here are some improvement I would find usefull to have in LxFree.

-infobar where absolute and relativ coordinate and object size are shown in real time. (on the inspector it is first shown as we release the mouse)

-two coulour field for mixed color or for color and frost.

-possibility to set dmx-address-range for moving-lights

-more flexible key-bloc (choose between vertical or horizontal) and more compact. maybe a possibility to choose how much columns and row we want to allow. (or possibility to scale it with symbols)

-easier way to move objects to an other layer. (cut and past dosn't past at the same position)

-maybe as with autocad, all layer are free for editing on the same time, and let a possibility to freeze some of them.

-I would find good that position could be frozen as we work with lights, that's not yet possible because lights only interact with positions that are on the same layer.

-symbols are sometimes not easy to selecte when they are to close from each other. Is it possible to make the select area that fit the symbol shape an not a square around it?
(the problem is at most when symbols are rotate of 45° that makes a very big select area)

-a very usefull feature on MacluxPro that I miss on Lx, is the Command+clic on Position that select position an all lights attached to it.

-faster tool selection (for exemple with keybord Shortcuts)

-Unlimited field-length for Lights Note or Use. To allow a precise description of the focus. This could appear as a multi-rows text-field in the report. (I missed it on Maclux Pro too. I alwas had to write a separate spreadsheet file for the focus-list)

sorry not to talk about good things. The list would be to long , I think LX is going to be a very good programm.

Jérôme

[admin]

Jérôme,

There is a new version of LXFree available that addresses two of your points:

1) There is a "frost" field. The frost field (if used) appears in the color report so that appropriate frames can be prepared.

Is this an appropriate name or should it be called 2nd color? There's been some debate about the topic of multiple colors. Is it cleaner to have a single field and indicate multiple color "R80+119" or to have two fields? Part of the idea of LXFree is to make it simple and uncluttered which speaks to having only one field. However, I think that there's probably enough interest to have two and those who don't want to use separate fields can ignore the "frost" or "2nd Color" or whatever it ends up being named.

2) There is support (10.4 and later) for multiple lines in fields. To enter multiple lines, use option-return to start a new line. (Return ends editing as expected). Please speak up if you notice any problems with pagination when printing reports connected with this feature. Both reports and the inspector should automatically resize for multiple lines when editing is ended.

Some of the other things you mentioned:

You can select all the lights on a position. This is fairly new but select a position and choose "Select Position's Lights" from the edit menu. Command click is a very direct shortcut. But, if you never learned about it, it remains unused. LXFree tries not to have hidden secrets hence the menu item rather than a key-click combination as in MacLux Pro.

The key block is a grouped graphic. You can ungroup and re-arrange to suit your needs. There is unfortunately a bit hidden in the key block process in that the model unit shows fields determined by "Copy Field Locations" and is of the type selected by the inspector. This needs to be set before the key block is created. I agree, a future preference for number of columns may be useful. Perhaps there is a way to note the other functionality at that time.

One idea that is definitely on the list is a navigator window with a popup menu for changing layers and text coordinates for more precision than the rulers. The distance that objects are offset when copying and pasting is determined by the tools tab of the inspector. You can set the distance to 0 to make copying and pasting between layers easier.

The fact that lights are isolated into layers is an integral part of the design of LXFree. The control that this gives outweighs having interaction between layers. By request, there is some mitigation to this fact: You can now lock objects to prevent them from being accidentally moved. (Lock and Unlock) this should help one of the reasons there's an interest in separating lights and positions on different layers.

Finally, I appreciate the fact that it is sometimes difficult to select the object I want because of its neighbors. A light plot is actually a very complex drawing as CAD drawings go. There's not much of a way around this except that zooming in helps to select the correct object. Also, objects can be selected by using a list report such as the instrument schedule. This can help, along with Arrange menu items like "Bring Forward."

Thanks for your feedback,

-Claude

[Johan Söderberg]

Greetings from Sweden - with many thanks for a nice App.

I´ll use it in my next project to evaluate further.
Being familiar with Maclux I think it will work just fine.

I agree on all Jeromes suggestions and hopefully will come up with some of my own on the way.
-
til then I´d like to lay my vote for: "2nd Color", rather than "frost".

Alternatively "2nd frame"

That 2nd frame can be used for Colours, Frostfilters and "Donuts". Hence I think the name "frost" would be too limiting.

[admin]

Hi,

You are able to change the names of fields in LXFree. This may be particularly valuable to you in Sweden if you want non-English paperwork.

In the /Library/Application Support/lx folder there is a file named "_local field names.txt" that is part of the installation.

Changing the name of this file to "local field names.txt" by removing the "_" will cause it to be read when LXFree starts up.

Editing the file allows you to replace the name of any of the fields.

So, to change "Frost" to "2nd Frame", uncomment the line

!color2=Frost

by removing the "!" from the beginning. Change it to read

color2=2nd Frame

Save the file. When LXFree starts up, you should see the change.

(Note at the moment it appears that the channel line is uncommented and reads chan=CHannel. You might want to either comment that out by adding the leading exclamation point or rename the channel field without the capital "H". This will get fixed in the next installer version.)

[Johan Söderberg]

Hi again.

Ive tested to replace the textfile "local field names.txt" and it works just fine.
Ambitious, and unemployed, I even made a filemaker solution to store and generate the textfile in different languages. I´ll send you a standalone operative copy if you like.

There is however a problem remaining to solve with our letters å, ä and ö

Color is for instance "Färg" in Swedish, "Height" is "Höjd" and so on...

I tried with extended ASCII like for instance "aring;" for "å" but that didn´t work.
Is there any way I can use these letters?

[admin]

The "local field names.txt" file is a plain text file. LXFree recognizes two encodings, UTF8 and MacOS Roman, for the text. Chances are that the file you've generated uses a different encoding which is why your special characters aren't working.

There are several ways to change the encoding of a text file. I do all my plain text editing with BBEdit. This is a great tool for working with plain text and it allows you to change encodings easily. There is a free version called TextWrangler. www.barebones.com

TextEdit's "Save As" command should also let you select the encoding.

If you are having trouble creating the characters in the text, try the "Special Characters..." command from the Edit menu.

[Johan Söderberg]

Yes now it works just fine.
My texteditor was in default saving in format UTF16 so I just changed that and - Voila!

Thanks for your support.

[admin]

You are very welcome.

If you'd like to send your localized files, I will post them on the website with credit to you. You can include your contact info in the file. LXFree ignores every line beginning with an exclamation point (!).

[Johan Söderberg]

Of course you may have my translation.
I just think I need to get more familiar with LX first before anyone publishes.

There are several fields ( a vast majority!) in LX whos purpose I fail to understand.
Therefore I need to use it a while to see where anomalies occur.

Here are some examples of fields that I don´t know where they will pop up and why:

Num - Does a fixture with channel, dimmer & circuit number really need another identifier? Where is it used? if its for an index why is it changeable?

Note - there are two fields identically named "Note" - which occurs where?

Use - shouldnt that always be "1"? - why isn´t it?

Owner - of what?

mk - a mark of what?

a s o...


I guess I´m the only swedishspeaking member of this forum so there´s not much point in asking for help with evaluation/correction here.

But here it is anyway, in case your skills in Scandinavian languages are greater than I assume.

hang=Position
num=Nr.
color=Färg
color2=Färg 2
chan=Channel Nr.
cir=KK Uttag
dim=Dimmer Nr.
gobo=Gobo
use=Ändamål
grp=Grupp
mk=Mark
note=Anteckn.
foc_x=Fokus X
foc_y=Fokus Y
foc_z=Fokus Höjd
vbeam=Spot/Flood
vcd=Cd @ Spot/Flood
foc_a=Beam Axis
owner=Ägar ID
dtable=Parameters
pan=Pan
tilt=Tilt
mpan=Spegel Pan
mtilt=Spegel Tilt
pname=Namn
ht=Höjd
n_o=Numrering
l_o=Layout
space=Spacing
pnote=Anteckning
map_st_x=Map Start X
map_st_y=Map Start Y
map_st_z=Map Start Z
map_ed_x=Map End X
map_ed_y=Map End Y
map_ed_z=Map End Z
name=Typ
fname=Helt namn
id=ID
sid=Symbol ID
have=Lager
balance=Resultat
lamp=Glödlampa
watts=Watt
frame=Filterram
beam=Spridningsvinkel
bm_x=Beam X
bm_y=Beam Y
bm_w=Beam Wide
bm_t=Beam Tight
cd=Candela
cd_w=Candela Wide
cd_t=Candela Tight
cpf=Sections Per Fixture
lpc=Lamps Per Circuit
dbl=Distance Between Lamps
wt=Vikt kg.
note=Mer info
scroll=Device
loc_x=Location X
loc_y=Location Y
loc_z=Location Z
size_w=Storlek Bredd
size_h=Storlek Höjd
start_x=Start X
start_y=Start Y
end_x=End X
end_y=End Y
len=Längd
dir=Riktning
ctl1_x=Control One X
ctl1_y=Control One Y
ctl2_x=Control Two X
ctl2_y=Control Two Y
scale_w=Bredd %
scale_h=Höjd %
draw_fl=Rita Fyllning
dr_st=Rita Linje
fl_color=Fyllningsfärg
st_color=Linjefärg
st_w=Linjetjocklek
ln_style=Linjestil
ch_font=Ändra typsnitt
font=Typsnitt
rotate=Rotera
id=Key ID
space=Space
color+frame=Färg/Ram
pdist=Plats
foc_pt=Fokus Pt.
bnc_pt=Bounce Pt.
INPUT=Input
sheets=Ark
full_cname=Helt färgnamn

[admin]

Here is the reason for the fields you are unsure about:

Num - A fixture is uniquely identified by a combination of its hanging position and unit number. Both fields can be automatically filled by LXFree. But, it is also possible to override and enter the fields manually. In order to stop LXFree from automatically assigning numbers, a position's numbering options field "n_o" can be set to blank. (There is a popup menu in the Position tab of the Inspector to put a human interface on the numbering options.) The position name/unit number combination identifies a fixture in a report. Channels, dimmers and circuits can all be shared by more than one fixture.

Note - There are two note fields because a position and a fixture can both have a note attached.

Use - Use in English has two meanings that are spelled the same. In the sense that it is used in LXFree, "Use" could also be "Purpose". Although they can be used however you choose, the idea behind the Group and Use fields is that they work together to describe how a unit is used. The Group being a general designation such as "Blue Back" and the Use being the specific focus of that particular unit, "SR", for example.

Owner - A DMX Device has an owner. A color scroller changes the color of its owner. This is where the position/unit number identifier combination comes into play. A DMX Device finds its owner by using the following syntax: "position#number". An example might be "1st Electric#2" for the second fixture on the first electric.

MK - The mark field can be used for a number of things or it can be ignored. It purpose is to allow a mark or indicator to be added to a symbol. One style of plot has the degrees of a unit displayed inside the symbol. Another posible use is to display a "T" for template.