[therion] General note and suggestions

[Stacho Mudrak]

> Whilst loading a new file in map editor it says 'noname0x.th2' in a slightly
> confusing manner. It should show nothin or the name of the files that is
> being loaded.


No problem.

> Can't create a point if it happens to be where the yellow direction tick is
> (or the control handle of previous point). Makes it difficult to do small
> stuff like rocks. I think this is a bug.


Yes, it is a bug.

> You can't move two points together (e.g if you have ended two lines at the same
> point but want to adjust them, you have to do them both separately). Not
> sure how the interface should work for this, but it would be an improvement.


It would be nice (I am having also such problems), but I have no idea how to do it.

> 'water-flow conjectural' does not show up in plans. I want to show this.


I have to check this.

> It is very hard to tell that you have loaded the wrong thconfig file. Some sensibe error like 'cannot find foo' would help. e.g:
> My data is in subdir 'bluemoon'
> load thconfig from dir above (soundriver)
> load bmb1.th2 from bluemoon dir
> hit compile - gives 'error' but doesn't show what error.
> run 'therion' in the bluemoon dir and things are fine (of course).


This sounds strange. Therion is allways started from dir, at which current thconfig file is located. You may not compile, unless some config-file is loaded (or you can? I have to check).

In any case, the compilation process needs to be changed. I am preparing new arrangement, but it will take some time.


> It would be _really_ useful to be able to do graphical joins: click on
> something and say 'join this to foo'. Difficult to do between two .th2
> files, but at least for joins within a .th2 file being able to do them
> graphically like areas would help a lot (especially if you have to name
> lines - same automatic naming as areas would help enormously).


OK, I will put it in the TODO. If you have to join scraps manually (line by line), it is real pain - I agree.

> inserting line points happens _after_ the current point
> inserting file entries happens _before_ the current line


This I think is natural. If you draw something, it should overlap things that were drawn previously. Example: firstly you draw rock-border and than rock-edge.

> inserting scrap happens at the start of the file
> this is confusing.


OK, I can change it that new scraps will be inserted before current scrap.

> inserting after the current position always would be good (then things appear in the file in the order you draw them, not reverse order


That's true, but then you should draw rock-borders/edges in reversed order.

> Difficult to add several points to the end of a line (i.e. carry on a line I
> accidentally stopped). First new point happens at end but then next point
> happens one back from end, which is never what I want.


Well, you just need to click manually on the "end of line" item in the line point list (or just hit Escape to jump there :) . Than you can continue inserting the line.

> Check to tell you you are entering line outside a scrap would be good.


OK, but I hate error windows, I have to click OK every time. Would a beep be enought?

> Splitting lines that are part of areas is tricky. Does label get removed from both halves of line?


Yes. You need to copy the label and paste it into part of line you wish to.

> Need to be able to find areas and lines better (especially after splitting a
> line). e.g if I click on an item it is highlyighted, but if it is currently
> off-screen then there is no clue where it is. maybe double-clicking would
> move the selected item on-screen?


This is only the problem of lines. OK - if line will be selected, last point of line will be highlighted and centered on the screen. You are right.

> Docs need explanation of 'scrap distortion' numbers. What do they mean? Mine
> are around 70% - is that as bad as it sounds?


OK, we should probably add something like relative distortion. This is absolute distortion. It means, that there exists two points in a scrap, which distance was changed by 70% in adjustment process. It may be bad, but it must not be bad.

We have to find some different measure of distortion, but no idea about it.

> Debris rocks look daft on 1:1000 plans. Thye look OK on some of the 1:200
> maps martinS showed me. This may be rectifiable by using the base-scale as
> well as scale options, but I haven't yet got both the rocks and the legend
> to look sensible.


This is a problem of map symbol metapost definition. It will certainly be improved.

> When you insert an area it is always 'water' not the last area you inserted. The line type gets defaulted to whatever you set the area to last time.


This is a bug.

> When you start a line or area and don't add anything to it you end up with an empty entry in the file. It would be smart to tidy these up.


OK, I can do it when saving the file.

> What is difference between floor-step and pit?


I think, that pit is big floor-step, which can not be passed without equipement (rope, ladder).

> Button for 'invisible', indeed a list of available subtypes in general would
> be useful. I've found it very easy to mis-spell '-subtype invisible', and
> having a list would save you needing to know which ones were available.


OK, but again - it will take some time.

> Why do newscraps go in at the top of the file, not bottom of file? This
> results in scraps being in reverse order in the file. I'd naturaly expect it
> to be the other way round.


No problem. No idea, why is it so.

> After creating the first scrap the cursor is left at a position such that if you enter any lines/points they end up outside a scrap.


This should not be true in the newest version :) But I will check it.

> 0.3.3
>
> keys needed:
> scroll up/down in side panel (pageup/down?)
> scroll up/down in file commands window (shift pageup/down?)


OK

> Shortcut for insert area is needed _very badly_. having to switch between
> the 'insert area' and 'insert scrap' action is just not good enough as an
> interface.
> insert area  ctrl-A
> insert scrap ctrl-S


I usually use Edit->Insert->Area/Scrap. Alt-E+I+A on Windows. But I will  add some shortcats.

> Shortcuts needed to select common types:
> wall
> rock-border
> rock-edge
> pit
> floor-step


That's true.

> A very useful thing to be able to do would be right-clicking on an item on the map and
> selecting a point or line type.
>
> Making the point type selector taller so that you don't need to page up
> _twice_ to get from 'wall' to 'border'.


No problem.

> some way to select a whole load of lines and move them to a new scrap.


This would need some interface. I will think about it.

> (present since at least 0.3.1 - still in 0.3.5)
> If entering a line then use ctrl-D to abandon it, one char disappears from
> current text field (eg pillar becomes illar, contour becomes ontour or
> cntour (depending on cursor position)


This doeas not happen on Win/Mac. I have to check on my Linux. It seems, that text control has mapped "Ctrl+D" to backspace. I can try to remove it.

> prone to crashing - still present in 0.3.5. Need to test with tcltk
> recompiled without thread support.


OK, it is a lot of things, but some of them are easy to implement. I will update TODO list and we will see.

Thanks for your feedback,
S.