Initial impressions

[quixote]

I found the interface to be aesthetically pleasing; very neat and organized.
I was totally lost at first until I figured out that I needed to switch it to expert view. I'm still kind of lost, but I have a better Idea now of what I'm doing.
All of the links were lost for my enable/disable commands from my old GML. I noticed that the "getting started" documentation wasn't there yet.
When you save your file, it retains the same name on the right side as the GML that you imported; if you import a file called whatever_v11.GML and then save whatever_v12.GML, then it still says whatever_v11.GML on the right side (I'm not sure if this is a flaw, but thought I'd mention it in case)
For some reason I still can't get my enable/disable commands to work. My main enable/disable command is ^` (control-`) to enable/disable mode change, but I'm missing something. On testing the commands they are functional. I can see the group folders changing their opacity.
I'd really like to try to save my old GML, but If I absolutely have to I will start from scratch again. What have the rest of you done? I hope I'm not too slow to keep up! :oops:

[Ron]

Thanks for your initial impressions, I will address your concerns tomorrow.

[danward79]

Hi,

I'd really like to try to save my old GML, but If I absolutely have to I will start from scratch again. What have the rest of you done? I hope I'm not too slow to keep up!

I have been wondering the same thing, but have just not had time too play. Althou it would be a good way of forcing a GML clean up!

[Ron]

You should be able to load the old GML's and plugins willing it should work as before... with the exception of lua, since we upgraded to a new version there are some differrences. Also the lua stuff is under some heavy development at the moment so play around with it but don't put in hours and hours of development since things are in a state of flux.

[quixote]

The GML loads and retains its structure, but one thing that I have noticed so far is that all of my enable/disabnle group commands want me to specify a node again.
One suggestion I have that would make my life easier is in the "tree picker" (?) would be that it starts off collapsed. It's a major pain to have to scroll down the entire thing everytime to get to the node I need to reach. Thanks for considering it. :)

[Ron]

The name of the GML on the right side in the treeview is actually not the filename but a name that you decide to give it. During import Girder sets that name to the filename. However after that you can change it to anything you llike.

I imported a G3.3 file that had a group enable in into G4 and it worked for me, can you send me the original offending file?

[Ron]

Treepicker now only expands the node that is selected.

[quixote]

Awesome. Thanks!

That'll make my conversion process a lot quicker and easier.

[danward79]

Also the lua stuff is under some heavy development at the moment so play around with it but don't put in hours and hours of development since things are in a state of flux.

Any ideas what or is it a secret? :wink:

[Ron]

Lua has objects for example the 'extend' object. (Open the variable inspector and click on the extend table). We are however changing in what object functions appear, so coding now would mean you'd have to redo some stuff.

[Ron]

Can anyone send me a G3.3 file that has looses the links during the import into G4?

[quixote]

I'll send you mine. It's not complete, but a work in progress. I will email it to you.
About the tree picker; I was wondering if anyone thinks that it would be good if it remembers the last state it was in? Is this an easy thing to do? Also, "collapse all" and "collapse node" sub-menu options on right click would be nice.

[Ron]

I have received your file and while looking at it I could not find any nodes that are imported incorrectly, can you tell me what node is messing up?

About collapse node, isn't that what the minus does? I can see collapse all being good.

[Ron]

History option added to the node picker :-)

[quixote]

Thank you for the added option, Ron. :D
As you mentioned, the minus sign does do that, sort of. but in Girder 3.3 the collapse node collapses everything under that node as well, not just the parent node. For example, when you collapse all in Girder 3.3, you can then go back and selectively expand certain branches of the tree. If you just go to the top minus sign and collapse, then when you expand it again, then everything under it is still open. I'm not sure if I am explaining properly?

As for my GML, I can't understand why it is only incorrect on mine. I opened the GML and looked at all of the commands that were there to enable or disable nodes and everytime I click on edit it does not specify a node. I only have the button "Specify Node". Could I have done something wrong?

[Ron]

Okay I understand what you mean with the collapse node. I'll see what I can do.

Do you mind if we do a VNC session so I can check what is going on? (VNC=remote desktop)...

[danward79]

Lua has objects for example the 'extend' object. (Open the variable inspector and click on the extend table). We are however changing in what object functions appear, so coding now would mean you'd have to redo some stuff.

That's a bummer, 80% of my gml is lua!

[quixote]

Do you mind if we do a VNC session so I can check what is going on? (VNC=remote desktop)...

I'm scared of VNCs. It's a phobia. :cry: I have my system set up to avoid trojans and other stuff like that and I'm not sure how I would go about allowing a remote connection like that.
It's not as if I don't trust having you in control of my system, (I mean, you could have just coded something into Girder if you had any malicious intent) but I'm very nervous about putting my computer in such a vulnerable state (ie. allowing remote connections control). You know what I mean?
Is there any possible way we could avoid it?

[Ron]

Okay.

[quixote]

You're not pissed are you? I mean, I guess it's kinda my duty as a beta tester to do it, right? :o
I could try setting up my firewall to accept it, and then deinstall the firewall and reinstall it to make sure that permissions for the processes involved are totally wiped.
If I absolutely have to. :wink:

[Ron]

Of course I am not pissed. :-)

Tell me exactly which node lost it's information. And what you did, maybe we can figure it out without VNC.

[quixote]

Ok, it was basically all of them. I will try opening it again and be more specific. But there is another issue that is more serious. I will start another thread and then return to this one.

[Ron]

Was this bug by any chance related to this one:
http://www.promixis.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=109997#109997

[quixote]

OK, I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I open my GML (the one I sent you) and try hitting CTRL-` as usual to change modes, and nothing happens. It seems that I cannot get any of my keyboard commands to function. At first I thought it was the links, but now I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's something else.
The reason why I no longer think that it's the links is because I think now that they may be there, just invisible (like the USB-UIRT commands; they are not visible, but function on test) Any pointers?


Also, on another topic: I noticed that there is no say plugin included with the install. I could be wrong, but wasn't it included with 3.3? If you are working on the plugin, I'd like to make a request. Can you incorporate a checkbox that makes the speech non-blocking when checked? I know it's a lot to ask, but it would be tons of work to go through my whole gml replacing the say plugin commands with lua script. Someone (I think fatherofmonstermagnet) mentioned that you could put
VoiceObj::Speak ("Hello",1)
to make it non-blocking, but like I said, the checkbox would be a great convenience.
Thanks for listening.

[Ron]

Use Luacom for the voice object.

[Ron]

Try to narrow down where the error is then start a new thread with information on what you found. For example you could send me a SMALL portion of your file that demonstrates were the error is.

[quixote]

very strange. I reimported it and suddenly it shows the links.
I'll have to mess around with it again tomorrow. I'm all Girdered out for tonight. Sorry about not starting a new thread. I'll stick to the protocol from now on.

[Ron]

Goodnight, thanks for the input.