I have been using the Add Weld Information tool a little bit, lately.
Its a pretty cool tool, I am a fan
R-E-S-P-E-C-TI see from discussion it is a newish addition, and I also saw that someone was soliciting feedback - so here is my wish list for 2021.
I would do it myself – but as you can see I struggle just to get LibreDraw to display…, let alone try to code for it.
- Hypothetical Weld Dialogue
- Add Weld 2.0.PNG (77.1 KiB) Viewed 2752 times
Collected Thoughts:
Mouse-over Info:
Currently, the mouse-over cursor in the Add Weld Dialogue displays a "text here" suggestion when hovering over the data fields.
I like that, but I think it is already obvious that this is for text entry.
Instead I thought they could be used to add some required-detail info (and a pic??) to make the mouse-over snappier and more informative.
In my experience, it is very easy to forget where all those obscure dimension details go)
(That is the pink mouse-over boxes BTW)
Weld finish Info:
The data required above the weld symbol in complex welds is clearer if it is on more than one line above the weld, so I added another field for this, top & bottom).
(Alternately a multi-line entry method like in the Annotation/default-text[...] field in the Properties Combo would be OK, if they could be designed to justify from the Symbol upwards)
Visual Checkboxes:
I think that Checkbox ‘icons’ in addition to text (Field Weld, All round, etc.) help to quickly show the buttons purpose and also helpfully telegraph its final represent on the Annotation line. (perhaps someone with more graphic-design skills however)
ISO, Other Side indication:
ISO uses an extra dash line on the reference portion of the leader line to indicate the placement of the off-side weld. These can be on either side of the main leader line.
(I think it is to help ISO detailers to draw AWS (upside-down) style, but using ISO (right-side up) tools)
- ISO style Depiction of Other Side of weld
- offsideISO.PNG (9.75 KiB) Viewed 2752 times
I don’t know if this would need to be added at the create-Leader-Line stage, or whether it is able to be added in the Add-Weld-Info stage (perhaps a check-box, like the Field Weld graphic-which is cooler).
So I made my hypothetical Dialogue to assume the latter.
The checkbox icon helps distinguishes between ISO and AWS offsetting styles.
ISO, Offset welds Indicator:
ISO also has a unique idea about offset welds. Their convention requires a Z shape running through the leader line and spanning both weld symbols.
Here it is for comparative purposes
- ISO style Depiction of Staggered Weld
- intermittent ISO.PNG (91.05 KiB) Viewed 2752 times
Extra fields to add a “Z” SVG symbol could do the same job
(For illustrative purposes , I added both options to the hypothetical Dialogue)
DELETE button:
I notice that the current DELETE button gets confused if you FLIP the symbols around.
It repetedly deletes & then replaces the deleted files in all sorts of combinations on the tool, meaning you have to delete the whole Weld from the tree to continue.
Don't know if that is just me?!
But, as an alternative (and possibly with less code complexity) I thought a little half-tone X / DELETE-checkmark in the add-SVG field might encourage it to behave better in future.
SVG Explorer Display:
Currently in my version, SVG thumbnails are displayed in a fixed column, which stays the same width no matter the size of the explorer window.
But if the file names are quite long (as they can be) then there are fewer thumbnails per row– so the symbols display haphazardly in the explorer which looks uncool, and slows choosing.
- SVG s display haphazardly
- random SVGs.PNG (26.59 KiB) Viewed 2752 times
(on the other hand the symbols are visually distinct in the Explorer so perhaps short numerical file names is enuff to keep them orderly ...?)
Sticky ‘Last Directory’:
I also notice that the Explorer does not remember the last directory selected when choosing SVG symbols from the current Dialogue.
The default directory in Tech Draw Preferences, is being selected with EXTREME prejudice.
It would be nice if there was some way to get the explorer to remember the last directory used to select a symbol in each page, so that, if for some reason I am choosing GOST symbols on this detail view, then I don’t have to constantly re-search for the GOST source directory.
Other thoughts
Obviously there are other conventions apart from AWS and ISO, eg GOST.
I think they could probably be added with a few more specific tweaks like those above without making the tool too complex.
Other than these random musings – I am very happy with the tool, which makes my drawings look very cool, and I commend the coderers and SVG designers for their efforts.
Cheers,
