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Art,
Why not use a combination of "well-behaved" plug-ins which take care of the conflicts between each other, AND an enumeration "read-in" OF the plug-ins at M3/4 initialisation?
You're already creating a list of available plug-ins. Then we get to instantiate from that list as we wish. How about giving each one a superscript/subscript type ident as you read it into usage?
Following this line of thought but without any new features needed in Mach3, my next experiment is to try to see what would happen if I have the same binary code in two files, say, PlgDev1.DLL and PlgDev2.DLL. Provided I can get Windows to tell me the name of the DLL file then I can make up a unique name string for return by SetProName and Mach will not know or worry that they are the same beast. The DLL will of course know which instance it is and do suitable things with its interpretation of pin numbers, shared buffer addresses and XML profile key names.
Of it works the only cost is not sharing the actual code but it is IMO much better for two or three potential devices (e.g. handwheels or Modbus devices) than having to have a two level config architecture to support multiple devices in one piece of code.
John Prentice
>> This is very complex to do. Not only because M3 woudl have to recognise each plugin, but because each plugin woudl have to recognise another. Its my feeling that a plugin , properly designed, should take into account other devices of its type. This is likely to be a failing in some of the earlier plugins. For example, my joystick plugin looks for any JoyStick and uses the first it finds. It is not settable to the stick #. Properly done, it shoudl "tag" that stick as used, and it should then ignore it so another plugin could grab the next stick. (If multiple sticks are desired. ) and then xml tags should reflect the device being used. All very hard to do. A further problem is that when a plugin calls into MAch3, its very hard for MAch to tell WHO is calling, it just knows its a plugin. There is no enumeration device to show exactly whos on the phone, this makes it very difficult to make an easy interface to multiple objects. I suspect I can add support for this type of thing as I learn more on the shortcomings involved, but I think I'll do it as the next few Plugs are made, just in case a better solution pops up as I go. Even I have not played in this area enough to be considered an expert. But in the interim, I really recommend a plgin be the master of its device type. It is my hope by having most of them as open source, that some integration can aoocur of features for various types of devices, but this will always be an area of concern I think. Of course, for th eavergae user, his interest will be in using 1-5 plugins, each representing a particular device, someone for example, with multiple ModIO's is likely to be somethign of a configuration expert and not as concerned as he will already have learned the shortcomings of that type of system.
Hi:
This is my fault. SOme of the new features of the upcoming screend designer addin forced me to change the way things scale. The new method looks at each object and figues out its maximim size. It then scales the screen by the % change fro your displays size and the largest oibject.
Are you sure there is nothing at the extreme of the cramped side? Send me the screen if you like, and Ill see if I can fix the bahavious.. This happens when I much in the screen design stages, but in this case, it was necessary for me to do it to add more toys for all you artistic types...
Thanks
Art
[ART, Brian, James, Benny,
Hi,
I have a query. I need to add 3 labels for the leds shown next to the reset buton. But what are they for ?
Can someone please advise what these should be labelled.
Thanks
We are not using RealDraw.
Hello Art, Brian, Benny,
I've recently installed Screen4 and have some comments/ questions/ bug? reports...
My monitor is set to 1024x768, so if I am designing a 1024x768 screenset I cannot see the whole screen at once.
Or can i?
IOW, is there a button or means to simply "have a look" at the present state as it will appear without the screen designer tools, etc. IMO, this would be a very useful thing to have for those of us who do not have large resolution screens. (Yes, I realise I can have M3 running and simply import the screenset to have a look, but it would be nice to do it all within the Screen4 application, IMO.
Bug? if I close the workspace pane, how do I get it back? (The View menu does not have a checkbox item for it.)
FWIW, I just tried to increase the resolution of my desktop (winxp) to something larger than 1024x768, and was successful to some degree. However, when I then imported the current development version 1024.set; all the DRO's were incrementing in unison. Is this some feature I've missed since I haven't been following the new development very closely?
The Tab flyout screen in the latest M3D-release does not appear properly on my 1024x768 screen in winXP. Adjusting its width to the left to see the whole thing is possible using the win resize slider<->, but is not remembered the next time it's used in that run, or in the next run of the M3 application..
I'd like to see a new support video showing the creation of BMP's/JPG's etc FOR USE in M3. (Benny,Brian, give us a peek at how you're creating the screens you're posting...)
I'd like to understand--in a support video, or by text here--how to use the "invisible "color" in graphics to have "holes" in the screen graphics for DRO's. And any other non-obvious items/functions not already mentioned in the existing S4 video...
IOW, could we have an update to the docs/ videos for screen design; aimed at those who haven't been following the Yahoo discussion thread (where I'm sure this has all already been covered. Someof this I |"knew" and i've just forgotten because it's been awhile since i last used it. Where can i get the most comprehensive and current screen design info for the RELEASE version of M3?) For example, how does one edit a script button in the current M3 release version?
In addition, It might be useful to have perhaps some comments on the intended organisation of the M3 graphics folders, and consids for choosing a .jpg over a .png,. or .bmp (Not to mention HOW to go about these conversions; I mean how to choose the size to make the original, or what makes sense when re-sizing/changing filetypes...
Maybe what I'm asking for is an intermediate Screen design lesson? (Though I feel that some of this is more like the basics)
Thank you in advance,
Ballendo
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