[therion-users] Re: New version of therion

[Wookey]

+++ Stacho Mudrak [03-07-17 09:05 +0200]:
> Hello everybody,
> 
> this morning I've uploaded new version of therion to our web-site. Thanks 
> to Wookey, we've also man pages for therion and xtherion (we've slightly 
> modified them) and also documentation has been changed according to his 
> proposals (and should be up to date now).
> 
> I've studied also the makeconvert.pl script changes, that Wookey did in his 
> Debian distribution, and it seems to me, that we've not understood 
> correctly. The projection stays in export command, but is inserted via 
> option.
> 
> E.g. if you want to export map of extended profile, you enter into thconfig 
> file:
> 
> export map -proj extended

OK- yes - I misunderstood. (mind you, it seemed to work in that I thought I
got the expected map out of my data with this option missing - but then I
didn't have any plan data to confuse matters).

Presumably you have fixed the script?

> The other thing for Debian distribution - at least at man pages is written, 
> that therion tex and mpost macros are installed into /usr/share/texmf/... 
> directory. But from version 0.2.13, therion don't need these macros! 
> They're compiled in therion executable - so no additional tex or metapost 
> configuration is needed! If you will remove them - nothing will happen and 
> therion continue to work.
> 
> I hope, you understood what I have written :)

Yep. I wasn't sure about that last point and as things were clearly working
I left it how it was in the previous version. OK - so I should just treat
those files as part of the source and not install them separately.

I thought that's what you said but I didn't understand how metapost and Tex
macros could be compiled into a C++ executable - I assumed TeX/Metapost
still needed to be able to see the files somewhere.

> The last point, if somebody is interested about future therion 
> developement, we would like to add to therion following features:
> 
> 1. Automatically generated graphical scale, north arrow, title, authors and 
> legend should be added to map and atlas by default. User will have 
> possibility to modify them.

That would be sensible - it wil need quite a lot of flexibility. Standard
slots for Grade/survey type/entrance location(s) would probably be helpful.
Other info can be free text.

> 2. The modification of symbol set by user. It will be done via layout.

Definately needed.

> 3. The therion tutorial - we're now working on some documents, that will 
> make first steps in therion much more easy, like it is now. Because a lot 
> of people are asking us for them - at least here in Czechoslovakia.

It would be useful to get a set of translators who understand caving,
surveying and computers (as well as at least 2 languages) to generate
documents in several world languages.Survex already has a set for error
messages. Debian has a project DDTP (Debian Description translation project)
to translate all software description (I see the .sk team is catching up
with .br and .de fast at the moment and is the 4th best-supported language!).

I don't know if it is possible to use this project for general documentation
translation - probably not yet.

> 4. 3D passage wall modeling.

Survex (survex-1_1 branch in CVS) now has general passages round centrelines using
opengl (also C++ code). Currently they are square because we haven't got
code to read in better passage-dimension info yet. It may well be possible
to 
1) use that code in therion or 
2) have therion provide passage dimension info to Aven and use that viewer 

5. My suggestion:
I need to do some more drawing to be sure but at the moment I think we need
to improve xtherion so that drawing is not so slow - It will never be as
fast as pen-drawing but currently I find it takes an amazingly long time and
this makes me wonder if Therion is really practical for my surveys -
things like code to auto-track walls would save a lot of time (TunnelX has
this but it's java so we can't just use it directly unfortunately). Easier
ways of drawing large, specific boulders. Maybe all I need is a list of the
keyboard shortcuts for starting and stopping lines, changing line types,
moving around the data-file. Is there one?

I admit I have spent too much time packaging and not enough actually using
recently! I have some surveys to draw soon so I'll use it some more...