Hi Ella,

> It'd be nice to have a "Done" button for the script, instead
> of the "click on the viewport" bit, which is a bit too easy to
> trigger accidentally.

Give the version attached here a try - I added a Done button to this version. This one won't exit if you just click with a left-click, you end it by clicking the Done button or using one of the shortcuts for Done (right-click in a viewport or the Enter key).

The line factory part wasn't actually doing anything here, I think it was some left-over remnant from this having started out originally as a modification of the line command or something like that.

The actual meat of creating the construction lines was happening inside the GetPoint() call, which is set up to wait until a point is picked and then return. In this version I replaced that call to a manual event loop so it can respond to getting the "done" event.

Let me know if this one doesn't do what you wanted.

- Michael

Ah thank you Michael! The script and instructions worked flawlessly for me (an HTML challenged soul). THis will help enormously with my current projects. Will this CLine script function/feature become a permanent part of MoI going forward or will it remain an end-user add-on?

Hi Satoribomb, I'm glad you got it all set up!

At the moment I'm just planning on having this as an optional add-on. In the future I would like to make it easier to manage plug-ins though.

- Michael

Yes, it's great! Thanks for the update. One more question -- is it possible to have undo work while editing CLines? I.e., I lay down two lines, hit undo, have the most recent one go away, and then lay down another?

Hi Ella,

re: undo for clines - it's possible to set up a script that will remove the last placed cline, so that may work as a general "cline undo" that you could use either in this custom command or also at any other time you make a cline as well.

Setting up this script on a shortcut key should handle that:

script:var gd = moi.geometryDatabase; var clines = gd.getObjects().getConstructionLines(); if ( clines.length > 0 ) gd.removeObject( clines.item(clines.length-1) );

It should also be possible to alter this custom ConstructionLine command to have a "command-specific undo" in it which would allow it to respond to an undo event so it could handle a custom undo action during the command and it could do the same thing as above to remove the last entered cline. Let me know if you want me to make a new version that has that set up. But the shortcut key above is more general purpose since it will let you get rid of the last cline you created at any time, even if you are creating one while running some regular draw command instead of this special ConstructionLine command.

- Michael

Yeah, I've seen the first command before. The command-specific undo is closer to what I was thinking of, but ideally, I'd want it to be triggered by the same keystroke/button as any other undo. It currently works in batches while outside of the command, which is fine, but the actual undo keystroke doesn't work at all inside the command. Would the command-specific undo bind to the standard undo keystroke?

/Ella

Hi Ella,

> Would the command-specific undo bind to the standard undo keystroke?

Yeah command-specific undo can be set by a command so that if an undo is triggered (by whatever method - either by ctrl+z or by clicking on the undo button), it will receive a custom event for it rather than the standard undo happening.

Attached here is another updated version of the ConstructionLine command that now has a command-specific undo set on it, so with this version you can hit Ctrl+Z or the undo button on the bottom toolbar to remove the last placed cline.

- Michael

Perfect! Thanks much.

/Ella

Just installed the cLine script in Moi3, and in Moi2.
Found that the instruction for installing the Icon for ConstructionLine3.zip,
for Moi3beta (windows), needs to be slightly different from the Moi2 version.

Replace empty slot in SidePane.htm:EditTabContent with: (just showing the changed portion because I
forgot how to label code, as code.)

Moi2 version.
...CommandButton style="icon:icons/CLIcon.png;"

Moi3 version.
...CommandButton icon="icons/CLIcon.png"

(Please correct if this is in error)

Hi Brian, yup that looks correct - the UI structure in v3 is slightly different and icon is no longer assigned by style but by an icon="" attribute like you show there.

In v2 the entire button control was drawn with some code in the C++ back end but in v3 the button is drawn using all HTML with the icon being an <img> tag.

V3 uses a template mechanism to expand a single control tag out into a chunk of structured HTML, the template for a control is in a file name of the same name of the control in the \ui sub-folder. Like for example <moi:CommandButton> uses the template file CommandButton.htm to generate its internal HTML structure.

- Michael

Hello,

I am a bit confused with this Construction line script installation/utilization.

First I have tried the Petr's MoI page "ConstructionLine" scripts as shortcuts and all was fine.

So happy I was ! :-)

Then I have erased the 3 shortcuts created on Petr's indications and I have installed the Michael's ConstructionLine3 script found in this discussion.
After installation as explained in the readme.txt file and benfarmer's recommended modifications for the Beta3
and after the re-start of MoI I do not see anything like icons or something else to use the construction lines script...

Where am I wrong ?
Since I do not find anything to use MoI scripts, is anywhere a manual to understand how to well install and use MoI scripts ? (say not to program them, just on a boeotian-new user point of view...)

Thanks for your time,
Guy

Hi Guy, some of the information about modifying the UI to add buttons to it is old now and only applies to MoI version 2 and not version 3 anymore.

So you should avoid doing some parts of the instructions - skip anything that talks about adding buttons or modifying files inside the \ui subfolder, that adds a lot of complexity to getting things set up so I would not recommend trying to do that part right now unless you are familiar with editing HTML.

Instead of trying to add a button the more usual way of calling a plug-in for now is to set up a shortcut key for the plug-in and run it by pushing whatever key you assign to the shortcut.

In the future I do want to make it easier to set up some UI for plug-ins, something like a special plug-in menu or something like that.

- Michael

Hi Michael,

> So you should avoid doing some parts of the instructions [...] unless you are familiar with editing HTML.

Well, in fact I am a bit familiar with editing and text-editing the HTML code and I can do that without hurt the code, but of course I prefer to avoid it if I can, especially when I do not know the logical inside.

> Instead of trying to add a button the more usual way of calling a plug-in for now is to set up a shortcut key for the plug-in and run it by pushing whatever key you assign to the shortcut.

By "calling a plug-in" and "to set up a shortcut key for the plug-in" do you mean than, for instance with your "ConstructionLin3.zip" script, we just have to put both the .htm and .js in the MoI "./commands" directory and then "ConstructionLine.js" and "ConstructionLine.htm" are seen like plug-in by MoI and can just to be called by their root name - as "ConstructionLine" - just written as this in the "Command" section of one new shortcut created in the Shortcuts key section of the options ?

Or do we have to do anything else ?

In fact of course I have tried what I supposed above, and I found that if I choose "L" as shortcut key for instance, when I press "L" a panel "Drag to create construction lines" appears with "clear", "done" and "cancel" buttons which are quite simple to understand, but maybe I have missed something ?

> In the future I do want to make it easier to set up some UI for plug-ins, something like a special plug-in menu or something like that.

Sure it will be very easier, but for now it miss just a written method to deal with that because I have searched and found nothing nowhere... Maybe there is something but sure it is too hard to find for me.

So I suggest you to put something like that after "Scripting" title on the "Resources" page of the MoI website just to avoid many questions :
--8<--
To install a "ScriptName" script just unzip the zipped script "ScriptName.htm" and "ScriptName.js" files, put them in the "commands" directory of the MoI installation the re-start MoI.
To run this "ScriptName" script create a new shortcut with a new key of your choice in MoI options with "ScriptName" written in the "Command" line. Using this shortcut will run the script.
--8<--

Please if I am wrong tell me what I have missed !

Cordially,
Guy

Hi Guy,

Yup, that's correct!

Nope!

Nope, you haven't missed anything - when you see that it means you have successfully installed and then launched the plug-in, so you're all up and running and all set.


Usually I include those instructions in every forum post where I am introducing a new plug-in. Every once in a while when I'm talking to someone who has already done it a bunch before I may forget to include the instructions, sorry about that!

I definitely want to improve the entire plug-in system to make it easier to browse a central repository of plugins and just push a button or something to install one and also have some list of them displayed in the UI.

- Michael

Ok, thanks Michael :-)

BTW :
could you give us a short explanations on how to use this ConstructionLine script v3 ?
Is it the last (best) version of your Construction Line script ?
Is this version do all what the previous did ?

Cordially,
Guy

Hi Guy,

> BTW :
> could you give us a short explanations on how to use this ConstructionLine script v3 ?

While the ConstructionLine command is running you can create construction lines inside of a viewport by the usual method of pressing and holding the mouse down and dragging the mouse with the button still held down, but the difference from regular construction lines is that these ones will persist after that command exits.

Note though that if you just want to use a construction line as a helper during drawing you do not need to use this script to add one, you can create a construction line inside of any drawing command or anytime that MoI is asking you to pick a point input. To place a point you do a mouse click - if instead of clicking you hold down the mouse button and drag it away you will create a construction line at that time, the only thing the special script does is make lines that stick around for longer than the current command, normally construction lines are cleared when the current command exits.


> Is it the last (best) version of your Construction Line script ?

Yup, I think it is the latest - it's actually not my script it was created by someone else.


> Is this version do all what the previous did ?

I believe so, yes.

- Michael

So where is this last version in definitive?

Hi Pilou,

> So where is this last version in definitive?

I guess the last one that was attached in this thread which looks like here:
http://moi3d.com/forum/index.php?webtag=MOI&msg=1029.25

- Michael

Hello Guy
I have made a tuto in French for input an icon inside UI ;)
http://moiscript.weebly.com/ajouter-une-icocircne.html

Tout reste valable et pour l'installation de la nouvelle "CLine"

voici la ligne qu'il faut mettre entre les 2 td entre crochets en attente ;)

<moi:CommandButton icon="icons/CLIcon.png" command="ConstructionLine"><moi:Text textid="CLine"></moi:CommandButton>

et non le texte d'aide fourni (ça ne marche pas pour moi :)

A quoi il faut ajoute pour la version Française dans le fichier FrenchStrings.txt
CLine=Ligne par exemple

On obtient à la fin, la dernière icône en bas à droite :) les couleurs de l'interface sont juste inversées avec un programme 2D pour l'image jointe!
j'attends la V3 pour faire tout cela automatiquement :)

Thank you very much Michael and Pilou,

@Pilou : yes and thanks for your efforts, but I prefer the simplicity just using a letter as a shortkey and the name of the script as the commande line without anything else more.
For now it seems to be the easier and quickest way for me.

Best Regards,
Guy