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"William R Ward" <bill@wards.net> wrote in message
news:m28zhwxvqo.fsf@komodo.bayview.com...
>
> I've noticed that a lot of pieces have been given names which do not
> allow for the full range of use of the elements.
+++ examples and comments snipped +++
I have to agree that a lot of the LDraw part names should be modified. I
personally use partsref (and Peeron and Brickbay) so much that I have gotten
accustomed to most of the names and under which categories specific parts are
classified.
Here is what I think....
A. Theme-specific names should be eliminated where possible. The Town
Loudhailer, as per your example, could easily be renamed Minifig Bullhorn. The
theme-specific categories ARE necessary, but a lot of the parts should be
reclassified.
B. Recalling Auczilla part naming, I remember how difficult it could be to
figure out what the elements were (if no image). Auczilla used almost 100%
FORM names with parts described only by their physical attributes. And
Auczilla did not use the term Wedge, instead it used such terms as Skew bricks;
trapezoidal notched plate; dual-tapered dual-notched brick; etc. and those
names were rather hard to put into my memory. However, I learned a lot about
good part naming using FORM instead of FUNCTION terminology.
C. Some parts, when newly released, seem to have only one use, hence the
use-specific or FUNCTION names they are often given by LDraw parts authors.
Certainly, names can and should be changed as we learn more about certain parts
and parts that they are associated with. Boat plates and bricks seem to be
named correctly as they appear single-use, but there are always multiple ways
to use almost any piece.
D. Associated parts may be classified differently than we would like. For
example, I sort and store all elements with a pin attached or where they can be
attached as Technic elements. Seems natural as that is where the Technic pins
and Technic beams that are associated with these pieces are located both
physically and in my mind. But I don't have any problem with the logical
placement of these parts into better categories such as tile, plate, and brick,
etc.
E. Many current element names are very intuitive for some reason or another.
This may make the names counter-intuitive for other reasons, however. Some
parts are better named using FORM, other as FUNCTION although I prefer FORM in
most cases. I do not think or speak the word 'slope' as regard to Lego slope
bricks--I use the term 'Bevel' However, in LDraw, there is no such thing as a
2 x 3 33 bevel brick or a 2 x 2 45 inverse corner bevel. What I call a
corner bevel LDraw calls a Double Convex. I think that name is totally
wrong--if anything, it is a single convex. And I will never get used to the
name for pn 4861 as that name is meaningless to me -->
http://guide.lugnet.com/partsref/search.cgi?q=4861
F. Partsref does not use the sub-category 'Modified' which I wish it would,
especially when Brickbay does. For BB, the 'Modified' sub-categories appear to
work well. I like them, anyway.
G. Partsref has awesome Keyword search capabilities. This is excellent when
looking for a part and you cannot figure out how it is classified. I can have
a part that looks like a pulley, so I enter 'pulley' in the search box and hope
that the part I am looking for appears (unfortunately, the search does NOT
indicate the partsref category when using either keyword search or part number
search). Same goes for 'grill', 'dish', 'female', 'horizontal', 'handle', etc,
as well as dimension like 2 x 2, etc.
H. I have nothing but high regard for everyone who has contributed to the
naming of Lego pieces. It is a complicated task the results of which can never
satisfy everyone.
__Kevin Salm__
.
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Naming of pieces
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| Sorry to quote so much from previous messages... (...) recap: the parts I'm referring to are: 'this particular piece': (URL) 'matching brick': (URL) 'plate-with-panel': (URL) See them all (along with other similar parts): (URL) (...) Wedges are (...) (23 years ago, 12-Jul-01, to lugnet.db.inv, lugnet.cad)
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