Subject:
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New guidelines on parts and numbers (long)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.cad.dev
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Date:
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Wed, 31 Mar 1999 16:01:49 GMT
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Viewed:
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684 times
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[Subtitle: Parts Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]
[Terry and others in the know: please don't be shy about correcting me on
any point I am mis-reporting.]
You may have noticed recent announcements about LDList and LDAO concerning
LDraw part-names and the underscore character (_). You may have wondering
what was going on. This message will explain what's happening and why it's
necessary. I will try to be complete and clear, but if I miss anything,
please ask. This stuff is important.
There has been a lot of discussion lately about part numbers, using actual
TLG numbers for parts, with or without the correct color-code, and dealing
with chromed pieces. This has caused Terry a lot of headache and hassle,
and we should not allow it to be a continuing source of contention.
James Jessiman originally developed LDraw in order to generate images for
his parts-reference website. When he developed LEdit and released it all
as package, it changed focus somewhat, and became a tool for recording LEGO
models on the computer. So the LDraw parts library has always had two,
sometimes conflicting purposes: to be a source for LEGO-CAD modelmakers,
and to be a repository of information about real LEGO parts.
The problem we're facing today is that there are two major types of TLG
part numbers: general numbers which apply to any color of a part (opaque or
transparent) and numbers which apply to one specific color for a part or
combination of component parts.
For parts-referencing, it is important to create partfiles for as many of
the known official numbers as possible, with the specific information
(primarily color) as fits each number. Sometimes this is fairly trivial,
like having a partfile for a part in chrome. Sometimes this is
non-trivial, like having partfiles for each set of minifig legs & hips, in
all their different colors.
For modelmakers, having multiple files for essentially the same parts or
not having a part available only in one or a few colors is a medium-to-big
problem.
To address these conflicts, Terry has been working on a way to serve both
masters. He has worked out a solution that Joshua and I (as major
representatives of the two camps) agree on. Martyn Boogarts, Lutz Uhlmann,
and John Van Zwieten are also (at least somewhat) aware of what's
happening.
Terry came up with the following solution. Not all details have been
settled, but the major points are in place.
For new partfiles, we will continue with the current standards. I'll
summarize the current standards:
-Partfiles are released using color-code 16 (except where appropriate to do
otherwise). If there is a known general-color part number, that will be
used for the partfile name. Otherwise, a 3-digit number will be used.
-Patterned elements will be named with the xxxxxPyy.dat standard.
-Pieces which are made of two or more sub-pieces will need to be released
with each sub-piece in a separate file, and a shortcut file will be
released linking the pieces together. If the sub-pieces are fused
together, the sub-pieces will be marked with a tilde (~) on the front of
their descriptive name, to mark them as a sub-part. If the sub-pieces are
moveable, each file will count as a 'real' part.
For official-number parts, that is, partfiles that are released primarily
to capture official TLG information, the following guidelines apply:
-Only *known* part-numbers will be released. Why release an actual-number
part, when we don't know the number?
-If the part-specification includes color, material, and/or coating
details, the color-code will be set appropriately.
-The descriptive name of the partfile will be preceded with an underscore
(_), to prevent the actual-number parts from overwhelming the existing
categories.
-As much as possible, actual-number partfiles should be written as shortcut
files, and reference the general-release partfile. This will not only
reduce download and storage size, but will document the link between the
files.
These changes will result in the minimum impact on modelmakers, while
providing the maximum benefit for part referencing. While some
LDraw-related software tools have been/will be changed to work better with
this new approach, these changes will not break any existing programs.
Many thanks are due to Terry for hammering out this new deal; it required a
lot of work, brainstorming, e-mailing and negotiating.
I now open the floor for discussion, questions and comments.
Steve
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: New guidelines on parts and numbers (long)
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| (...) Good one. :-) <snipped the rest of the relevant text> Steve's outline appears accurate to me. I _really_ , *REALLY* hope everyone will think this through and see the benefits it brings. And not argue against it from a strictly knee-jerk (...) (25 years ago, 1-Apr-99, to lugnet.cad.dev)
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