Hi Guys

Sorry I ain't been around the last few days - picked up a bug so I've been spending my time in bed reading books and watching daytime tv (that alone is enough to make you feel ill!)

Anyhow, looks like you are making good progress with the editor - great news on the PNG front. Do you need any more test files in the meantime?

Cheers

Dave

Hi Dave,

I got an excellent screen set from Scott for testing.
So I'll be using that for now as it's a great example.

regards

Stan

Hi All,

I am currently "re-looking" at how images are handled by my editor.
After I downloaded Scott's excellent screen set and looked into some of the
problems he is having with Screen4,  I have decided to do the following :

All images used in a set file,  will be listed using absolute paths.
Screen3 and Screen4 use relative paths which normally is a good idea
but causes problems when directory names are changed.

By recording images used in a set file using absolute paths,  this means that
when designing screens,  you will not have to copy images for new sets.
You will be able to store all your images in one central location but not
necessarily all in one directory. 

For example,  you might want one directory
to contain LED images and another for Button images.

When exporting a screen set for use inside MACH,  the editor will then
copy any required files into a directory where MACH can find them.
Only image files that are not already in the required location will be copied.

Hopefully,  this should solve the various problems people are having with
managing image files when editing screen sets.


regards

Stan

AWESOME!   

Scott,

I have a question.
After I download your screen set,  I tried to load it into Screen4.
It came in ok,  but the images did not.

Is there something I am supposed to do to get your screen set to load
correctly into Screen4?

The reason I ask,  is because I need to see this set loaded in Screen4 to
determine what's going on with some of the positioning.

Your very large background images are loading in at an offset from (0, 0),
and I cannot determine why.

By the way,  you should note that you will NOT have to use large images
like that in my editor.  You can simply assign a background image to the
screen itself.  That way,  it isn't possible to accidently move the image.

regards

Stan

Hi Stan,

The folder of bitmaps needs to be put in the Mach3\bitmaps folder and the .set file in the root Mach3 folder.  Also, Screen4 needs to know where the the Mach3 folder is by going to Defaults/Mach Location.

I purposely placed the background at 5,5 just to give a black border around it when Mach3 is running.  Whenever I open it in Screen4, I choose 'Custom' and leave it at 1280 x 1024.  The screen itself is 1100 x 800 to give me the space I needed and give a nice size when used on a 17" LCD at 1280 x 1024.  I run it with 'Auto Screen Enlarge' off in Mach3 'General Config' for best appearance and I can get at the desktop for other stuff quicker. If you run it with auto screen enlarge on and maximize it, the graphics get fuzzy (as with any other screenset).

Regards,

Hi Scott,

Thanks for that info.  Now I understand what's happening.

The folder of bitmaps needs to be put in the Mach3\bitmaps folder and the
.set file in the root Mach3 folder.

Ok,  this seems to imply that Screen4 can't be used to develop add-ons.
Or at least,  I can't see how it would be possible.

I purposely placed the background at 5,5 just to give a black border
around it when Mach3 is running.

Great.  In my editor,  you would delete this image,  then set the
screen background to this image and set the ImageDisplayMode to
Center.  So,  if your screen is larger than the image,  you'd get that
border area around the image.

Also,  I am glad to hear that you turn off Auto Screen Enlarge.  When it's on, 
MACH rescales all images resulting in what you described.


Regards

Stan

Ok,  this seems to imply that Screen4 can't be used to develop add-ons.  Or at least,  I can't see how it would be possible.

It can, but you have to have the images in the bitmap folder while working on an add-on/wizard and also in the respective add-on folder or you can't see what you're doing. 

See this thread.....http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php?topic=1895.0

Regards,

Scott,

Yep,  it's the Bitmaps folder that causes the problem - There isn't one,  and
the images are stored with relative paths in the set file. 
All your images point to Back 'n Black directory,  so putting them in a Bitmaps directory
wont let Screen4 "see" them.  The strange thing is that Screen 4 wont load them from
the Back 'n Black directory either.  Which I think,  "forces" you to work directly in the
MACH directory.

Also,  I think there may be something coded into the Set file,  that tells MACH that it's not an AddOn,
but I can't be sure about that.  I'm almost certain that I'm missing something here unless the location of
set file determines everything.  ie,  if it's not in the AddOns folder,  then it's a replacement screen set.

In any case,  none of those restrictions are going to exist with my editor.
You'll be able to edit screen files without having them anywhere near MACH until
you're ready to export the screen set.  That's when it will get copied into the appropriate
MACH location along with the Bitmaps.

But all this is optional.  In other words,  if you want to work directly in the MACH folder(s),
as you do now,  that will be ok too.


Best Regards

Stan

Hi All,

Another progress update :

1.  Button and LED images
I've finally got the editor to handle images the way I want.
You can either supply a single image containing Up/Down or
On/Off pictures or you can supply seperate images for each
state.

When loading existing MACH screens,  the editor will detect and
decombine the images as the MACH software does and re-combine
them when exporting to a MACH screen set.


2.  Custom Screen Items
Like Screen4,  my editor has a palette of standard
items that can be put on your screens.
ie Button,  Led,  DRO,  etc...

However,  this palette can also be customized.
Not only can you drag items from the palette onto
your screens,  but you can drag items from your
screens into the palette.

This makes the items permanently available for
other screens and screen projects because they
are stored as part of the editors configuration and
not as part of a screen set.

To make this even more interesting,  you can select a group
of items on your screen and add them to the palette as a
single entry.

When you subsequently drag that palette item onto another
screen,  all the screen items associated with that palette item,
will be faithfully recreated onto the new screen.





Best Regards

Stan