Subject:
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Re: Seeking input on reused user parts in building instructions
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.dev, lugnet.inst
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Date:
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Fri, 17 Jan 2003 17:18:55 GMT
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Viewed:
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2843 times
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"Kevin Clague" <kevin_clague@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:H8t9F9.BAt@lugnet.com...
> Hi,
> I've decided to tackle an issue that has been on my mind for a while.
> LPub's handling of building instructions, where sub-model user-defined • parts
> are used multiple times in the overall design.
>
> It all started when I was editing a DSDK model created by JP Brown. I
> noticed that he made a laser cannon DAT file, and then used it four times • in
> his Star Wars fighter.
>
> LPub happliy created building instructions for each laser cannon that • was
> used. LPub made POV-Ray create the same images four times, as waste of
> computer time.
>
> In thinking about it, this can imact these aspects of LPub:
> 1. Only run POV-Ray on the first occurrence of a user defined part.
> 2. Screen web page step redundancy elimination
> 3. Web page table step redundancy elimination
>
> Number 1 is a given, because there is no harm in making this change.
Yeah! I have seen this with many of the train models I have created. In
one case I used a sub-model 8 times and LPub generated it 8 times.
>
> Number 2 and 3 are trickier.... How should I communicate the • multiplicity
> to the reader in this case. LPub will create part list images for the
> original part, but not for the subsequent parts (so the part list images
> themselves will not reflect the true part count, although the Bill of
> Materials image will). I think the right answer is to communicate to the
> reader that the steps need to be repeated. LEGO does this by placing a
> large multiplier indicator (x4 in this case) in the lower right corner of
> the last step. This seems like the solution to me, but I don't think
> scaling the part counts in the part list images is the right idea.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Kevin
I agree that the right way to do it is to communicate to the reader that the
steps need to be duplicated some number of times. LEGO typically does this
as a call out where the sub-assembly is boxed off from the main model and
the sub-steps are displayed. Usually these sub-assemblys have a light
yellow background to set them off. Usually in the lower right hand corner
will be some sort of xN (where N is some integer) indicating how many times
the step should be repeated.
In some cases there may be a sub-sub-assembly. Most of the ones I have seen
are set off in a light red background color. It is a hierarchy of sorts.
I don't think you should add the xN indicator on the last image but instead
create another image that is just the xN indicator to ensure it has the same
fonts as the rest of the images. This extra image can be added to the
generated web pages or to an actual document if someone (like me) is
creating instructions for the purposes of printing them.
Hope this helps.
Mike
--
Mike Walsh - mike_walsh at mindspring.com
http://www.ncltc.cc - North Carolina LEGO Train Club
http://www.carolinatrainbuilders.com - Carolina Train Builders
http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=mpw - CTB/Brick Depot
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