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Author Topic: List of Jetcam requests :)  (Read 107034 times)

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Offline RandomAccess

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2007, 12:24:51 AM »
Dave,

Quote
Oh and while I remember have you had any problems with importing Graphics as background images ?
I find that if I import a 1024x768 image onto 1024x768 screen then the bottom of the screen is missing.


You need to be much more specific than that.  Is this happening in MACH or in the editor?
MACH does some very nasty things regarding screen size and item scaling.  I still need to sort
this out with Art,  but not until this editor is ready to roll.



Preview Mode
I just finished coding the basic preview mode for my new editor.

The editor now has a preview mode,  that lets you better see your screen
as it should look in MACH.  The preview window will automatically size to the
correct screen size.

Additionally,  some items in preview mode will be fully interactive. 
ie Buttons will press,  LEDs will light.  This is will
also work for buttons that are tied to LEDs.



LEDS
The editor will let you use your own bitmaps for these.

Furthermore,  optionally,  the editor will automatically
merge them with the screen background if necessary.
This is very usefull when the LED images you add are non rectangular.



Item Selection
In the existing editor,  you need to completely surround
all items you want to select when selecting multiple items.
You no longer have to do this.

The selection box will now select all items that intersect with the box.
This will make selecting multiple items a lot less hassle on a densly populated screen.



Regards

Stan
Download JetCam screen designer from
http://files.jetcam.net/stan/mach/

ynneb

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #21 on: February 05, 2007, 04:39:41 PM »
Sounds good Stan.
Thanks for your work. Is it available for downloading, or are you just telling us about your progress ?
I will edit you signature and insert a link to your download section, so that every post you make will display it. I hope that is OK ?

EDIT: Stan You will now notice an earth symbol under your name and a signature under every post you make. These both link back to your download page. This should help people find your screen designer.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2007, 04:54:17 PM by ynneb »

Offline RandomAccess

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #22 on: February 06, 2007, 03:01:39 PM »
Hi Benny,

The new version of the editor is NOT yet available.
I am just keeping everyone up to date on what's going into it
and what has already been done in case anyone has further requests
or something to add that might help.


More work done

1.  The new property editor is now in place.
This is no longer a dialog box,  so you can now
edit properties without covering the editing area.

Furthermore,  screen selection is performed with a thumbnail
list (something like Adobe Acrobat has).  The thumbnail panel
can be opened and closed to free up space for screen editing.

The control window,  is no longer a separate window either.
This window can also be opened and closed to free up space for
screen editing.

Some additional work was done to the preview system to handle
both types of LED toggling when buttons are pressed.
  a) Single LED on/off
  b) Single LED on/ Multiple LEDs off
  c)  The buttons will move up and down when you press them.

Later,  I will be trying to emulate screen changes using buttons as
MACH does it for my screen preview mode.



2.  User defined format strings can be created in the setup
and will then be available in a drop down list during editing.
This is followup to request by David Murray.



3.  I think I have fixed a problem related to flashing LEDS.
The documentation I found on the internet concerning the
MACH screen file format appears to be incorrect.



4.  More work done on the rendering engine,  however
the new editor still cannot render all the effects available
in the current editor.  This is ok,  as I intend to replace some
of the effects with better versions.



Screen Resizing
I've been reading some posts in these groups and understand that people are having
problems resizing screens.  Apparently,  an application called "ScreenTweak" can do this,
but there still seem to be problems using that also.  I will be building some similar functionality
into this editor,  so if anyone has any advice or requests,  let me know.


Best Regards

Stan
Download JetCam screen designer from
http://files.jetcam.net/stan/mach/
Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #23 on: February 06, 2007, 04:54:09 PM »
Hi Stan

Sounds like the new screen designer is keeping you out of trouble  :P.

With regard to the screen size issue, it occurs in the editor.

Cheers

Dave

Offline RandomAccess

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #24 on: February 06, 2007, 05:17:46 PM »
Hi David,

I think I need a screen shot from you,  showing the problem.


Additional completed items

Lock Control function is now available as requested by a user.
Effectively,  all controls on the screen can be locked so that they
are not accidently moved when selected.

This helps when you've finished positioning items,  but still need
to setup properties.



Regards

Stan
Download JetCam screen designer from
http://files.jetcam.net/stan/mach/
Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #25 on: February 07, 2007, 04:45:12 PM »
Hi Stan

Thanks for all the updates on how progress is going - it's really wetting my appetite for the new designer and I'm gettin more excited every day  ;)

No probs, I've attached some screenshots below. The background graphic is a 1024x768 Jpeg created in Realdraw.

First image shows a 1024x768 screen set in jetcam, the image display mode is set as normal.
Second image shows a 1024x768 screen set in jetcam, the image display mode is set as aspect stretched.
Final image shows a 1024x850 screen set in jetcam, the image display mode is set to tiled - this is the only way I have found to display the image correctly

Hope that gives you some idea of the problem - notice how the bottom seem to be cut off the graphics.

Cheers

Dave

Offline RandomAccess

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #26 on: February 07, 2007, 05:39:16 PM »
Hi David,

Thank you very much for the screen shots.
I have no idea why the images are being cut off like that.
That's definately a bug.  I must confess,  I never loaded
such a huge image into my editor.

About Bitmaps
Some older computers have limits on bitmap size and what can be done with large bitmaps.
This is a video card and video driver problem and known to many programmers who work with
graphics.  A bitmap might display on one computer properly,  but fail to display correctly on
another computer.

Newer computers,  don't really have this problem except when you start talking about really huge
bitmaps.  To use the editor smoothly,  you should minimize the use of very large bitmap images, as
this will make editing easier.



Some things I should point out about screen design

The editor was not designed to build screens the way you are doing it.
It is however designed to produce the same result as you already have in your image.

Now,  I know the existing editor that you are using doesn't have enough flexibility to create
what you have in your large background image,  but my new editor will have - meaning that
you will not have to work with such huge images again because you'll be constructing
the whole thing in the editor.

You will be able to assign images to buttons - This can be either 1 or 2 images.  In the case
of 2 images,  the second image is used for the button down state.

The same applies to LEDS.  You'll be able to supply separate images for LED on/off state.
This implies also then that your LEDs can be ANY color - hehe,  because you supply the image.
In fact the LED images can be any shape too as long as you adhere to the transparency rules
documented in the help file.

So typically,  the way to design a screen is to supply a background tile.
Supply button and LED bitmaps.
Optionally supply other images for use as panels,  sliders or anything like that.
And finally,  let the editor put it all together into an effective screen display.

Now,  I know that tiling dosn't give you a nice border around your screen if you
want one.  So,  I will be addressing screen borders also at a later time.


About Sliders
I had a chat (via email) with Art concerning these.  I was mistaken in believing that
"proper" sliders (with thumb tracking) already exist and were properly implemented
in MACH.  This is in fact not the case.  So there will be no special support for DRO
sliders in my editor,  other than to allow you to assign a slider image to be used by
MACH.

I was hoping to able to do more with sliders,  but right now,  it isn't possible
due to the way the MACH software works.




Best Regards

Stan

Download JetCam screen designer from
http://files.jetcam.net/stan/mach/

Offline RandomAccess

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #27 on: February 07, 2007, 08:14:02 PM »
David,

I forgot to mention (in case you didn't know :


In your first screen shot,  the background is white because
of the automatic selection of "transparent color".

The editor uses "Transparent color" to render an image to
a specific shape by ignoring all pixels matching the transparent
color.

The manual I wrote covers this properly in detail,
in case you need more information.

Basically,  to correct the white background,  change the
transparent color of the image to a color that does not
appear in the image at all.

best regards

Stan
Download JetCam screen designer from
http://files.jetcam.net/stan/mach/

Offline RandomAccess

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #28 on: February 10, 2007, 10:30:09 PM »
Hi All,

Lots of new stuff done on the up-coming editor.
Here's a screen shot showing the new layout that
the editor will use.





Regards

Stan.


Download JetCam screen designer from
http://files.jetcam.net/stan/mach/

ynneb

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Re: List of Jetcam requests :)
« Reply #29 on: February 11, 2007, 01:48:26 AM »
WOW, You have really put some thought into this. The layout looks very easy to use. I cant wait to try it out.
If it does every thing that screen 4 does and more easily, I will ask Art to make it the default screen designer. ( If thats OK with you?)