Feature Request: Negative Spacings

[dsmes]

For displaying multiple weather images, my favorite method is to have a menu pick that activates a pop-up frame with the image in it. So in the NRD tree view I'll have something like:

PopupFrame1
!...RadarImage1
PopupFrame2
!...RadarImage2
PopupFrame3
!...RadarImage3
PopupFrame4
!...RadarImage4

and so on (the radar image is in the popup frame). When I have dozens of images to pick from, the NRD editing is a real pain in the wrist. Obviously a Loop Frame would make this sooooo much easier. But only if one could enter negative X and Y Spacing values such that the popup loop frames are on top of each other. For example, if I had a 640 x 480px frame, and could specify a X Spacing of -640 and a Y Spacing of -480 for the frame's Position/Advanced Loop parameters, then I could use the <LoopIndex> in my frame name example above and greatly simplify and expedite the page design.

Is this a simple change / enhancement that could be added to NRD?

[Ben S]

Done, but it's limited to -200 to 200, for now. Is that okay?

It would be much easier if one button could have multiple states, right?

[avid]

It would be much easier if one button could have multiple states, right?
Yes please!

I'm emulating this with overlayed frames. My "top level" buttons have three states: normal (ready to run), disabled (e.g. no Girder active), and a highlighted variant for the currently active mode (TV, DVD, Video, Music, etc).

So the restriction to two states for a button is a bit limiting.

Brian

[dsmes]

Done, but it's limited to -200 to 200, for now. Is that okay? It's a start for the small stuff, but I'm surprised weather content is being provided in ever larger image formats. -1200 to -1600 should be the goal.


It would be much easier if one button could have multiple states, right?I'm not sure I totally understand, but based on Brian's example, it may be an equivalent solution.

Thamks Ben for your consideration. I'll be trying out the new version of NRD tonight.

[Ben S]

You're saying you're designing a 1600x1200 interface where you're using loop to overlay elements to create a 'layed' image that takes up the whole screen?

[dsmes]

Sorry, no, I was rambling... The largest loop overlay frame I use today is 768px wide. I was suggesting that in the future, as content for larger screens becomes more common, there may be a desire to overlay 1024px wide frames or larger. Support for -800px spacing would fulfill today's needs.

[dsmes]

Ben, The negative spacing worked great! My wind direction indicator now has 30 overlaid buttons that show the previous 30 samples of wind direction so one can see the variation. These are the shorter green lines in the bottom center dial chart. Next I'll add overlaid frames to the wind speed indicator to hopefully show the time averaged wind speed.

I can see how this is a bit awkward in NRD. Why would anyone want such a large X Spacing value anyway?! In this example, the X Spacing value was -120 which did not fit in the dialog box (not wide enough). But you could tell from the screen when you had an exact overlay. Perhaps instead of entering a negative value, it would make more sense to have a "Overlay X Frames?" check box which would automatically compute the negative value based on frame size. And then have it gray out the X Spacings entry box.

Again, Ben, thanks for adding this feature and considering ways to accommodate larger values.

[Promixis]

very cool.

is this getting data from G4?

[dsmes]

Thanks for the compliment Mike!

For the data, I scrap realtime weather data from http://www.aws.com/aws_2001/asp/obsForecast.asp?id=&obs=full (enter your zip code on the right pane). I also use a link that returns the same info as a 233 byte file which is easier to parse and is obviously more bandwidth friendly. Unfortunately, it's a paid service available through http://www.weatherbugstreamer.com/ A Lua script does the parsing in NetRemote. I've migrated this script to Girder where a recurring timer runs the script every minute. I'll be asking for your help on this in the Girder forum later (the timer bombs if the page request times out).

BTW, if you click on "Live Broadcast JAVA" at the aws.com url above and view the page source, there is a Java app that can be cut and pasted into a local HTML file for display on NetRemote with an embedded web browser frame. It updates your current conditions every 5 seconds or so.

[Promixis]

ok, let me know what you need help with!

[dsmes]

It would be much easier if one button could have multiple states, right?
Ben, What did you have in mind for multiple states? And how many states would a button have? 100 or so would be nice. If multiple states would not accomplish what I'm after, would it be possible to increase the negative spacings? See my post #7 above where I suggest an "overlay" toggle versus specifying a negative spacing. After all, that's ultimately what I'm after!

[Ben S]

My idea is any # of states, and the file format currently supports this but NR does not yet do so.

From what I understand, multiple states would accomplish what you're looking for.

[dsmes]

Thanks for your consideration Ben. I thought of another potential solution. I'll set up a (really) long horizontal loop frame and put this inside another frame such that only one image shows. Then, when Button<LoopIndex> is pressed, I'll have Lua move the loop frame like el:SetPosition(640*<LoopIndex>, 0) where 640 is the width of each image in the loop frame. In other words, I'll have a giant filmstrip of images that moves under another frame that only allows one to be shown. I'll experiment with this concept... might be easier then negative spacings!