Full Version: Group Therapy

I ran into an issue by editing an object without realizing that it was part of a group. The edit affected the entire group, including hidden objects! The issue was compounded because I had not noticed it until much later. Might that behavior be configurable to either generate a warning or to safeguard hidden objects from edits altogether?

Might it be possible to augment array commands to accumulate resulting groups, rather than creating a multiplicity of groups? I notice that it is possible to have a plurality of Group constituent objects of the same name. I'm suggesting that this is sometimes a desired end-result for an array command.

I love Moi!

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Hi Mindset,

re:
> The edit affected the entire group, including hidden objects!

Yes, that's the intended behavior, if you have a group selected then an edit works on the whole group including hidden sub objects.

That's the same behavior as other programs that use groups, like Affinity Designer or Inkscape for example.


> Might that behavior be configurable to either generate a warning or to
> safeguard hidden objects from edits altogether?

I'm sorry but it would become difficult to test things if there were settings that changed this type of behavior.

Are there other programs that you're using that support a grouping function that has settings or warnings for this?


> Might it be possible to augment array commands to accumulate resulting groups, rather
> than creating a multiplicity of groups?

It's also the intended behavior that copying a group object results in another separate group object and not a merged group.


But instead of using groups you can use object names which will behave like you're asking.

For example if you have multiple objects with the same name assigned, there will be one entry for them in the "Objects" section of the scene browser, and any that are hidden will not be targeted for an edit command and if you array them the copied objects will have the same name as the input objects and so will be controlled by that same scene browser entry as well.

Thanks,
- Michael

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> results in another separate group object and not a merged group.
Might there be some way to merge groups?

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Hi MindSet,

re:
> Might there be some way to merge groups?

The Ungroup function can be used to merge groups if you have sub objects selected when you trigger it. It will merge the contents of the sub group up into the parent.

So for example if you have 2 groups "GroupA" and "GroupB" and you want to merge the contents of GroupB into GroupA.

Select GroupB, then click on GroupA's name and choose "Assign selection here" (or right click on it which is a shortcut for assign)

Select GroupB which is now a child of GroupA and use "Ungroup". The contents of GroupB will be merged up into GroupA and the now empty GroupB will be removed.

- Michael

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> Yes, that's the intended behavior, if you have a group selected then an edit works on the whole group including hidden sub objects.
> That's the same behavior as other programs that use groups, like Affinity Designer or Inkscape for example.

Well, I'll have to disagree with Affinity Designer and the whole rest of the world because it is an opaque convention, especially to the uninitiated.
Mio has a smoother learning curve than most every other software. That's a big reason it so beloved (IMHO).

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Hi MindSet, in the future I want to have an additional type of hierarchical organizing tool - "folders" - which could have some different behavior than groups.

For groups though, it's safest for me to try and follow common behavior that is uniform across many apps.

If a group did not transform hidden sub objects when the parent group is moved, it would surprise other people that the group was not maintaining its structure.

Another related thing - say you have a box and hide some of the faces. If you then drag the box somewhere are you expecting the hidden faces would be left behind?

- Michael

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Michael - You are SO Good!
Thank you for explaining.

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