Re: features

[Lars Clausen <lrclause cs uiuc edu>]

On Tue, 9 Oct 2001, Jason Maiorana wrote:

> I joined this list to ask about these features for Dia:
>
> * beziergon:  in the middle click menu or anywhere else- there seems
>       to be no way to convert a segment to a line (instead of a
> curve).
>       The usual symmetric, smooth and cusp commands are there- but
>       there is no way to apply them to more than one node at a time.
>       It would be nice to be able to apply such an change to a subset
>       of the nodes in a path.

Yes, that would be nice.  The problem is then how do you specify which
subset you want to affect?  Changing it for a single segment could make
sense, but beyond that the interface becomes tricky.

>       I didnt see a way to convert a beziergon to a bezierline (and
>       vice versa).

There is none.  This would be slightly tricky for various reasons (creation
of shapes outside of the UI, transferring connection points, loss of
filling info), but not impossible.

>       There is no way to create rings (holes in a beziergon) For
>       example there is no way to create a donut-like shape.

Hadn't thought about that.  It's rarely used in diagrams, so it hasn't been
a high priority.  It would take some restructuring to be able to do it, as
the bezier code assumes a continuous line ATM.  

>       The Filling options were limited. There are no Alpha, pattern,
>       gradient, etc filling options. Also (this is the gnome color
>       picker's fault- trying to pick a 0-255 rgb (value rather than a
>       1-100 value) fails).

The filling options are limited because Dia isn't a vector drawing program,
it's a diagramming program.  For a vector drawing program, try Sketch
<URL:http://sketch.sourceforge.net/> or Gyve <URL:http://www.gyve.org/>.

> * scale:
>       I saw no way to specify an arbitrary scale; For example if I
>       wanted to make a map diagram it would be nice to have a mile
>       scale and a distance finder tool.

True.  Our unit support is almost sinfully bad.  I've been looking into
some improvements, but not gotten far.

> Am I mistaken about the lack of these features? If not I was wondering
> about the feasability of them, and their possible planned inclusion...

It all depends on the amount of time people have available for working on
it.  Remember, there are no full-time developers on Dia (though I might at
some point offer to take money to concentrate my efforts on certain areas,
a la buskware).

-Lars

-- 
Lars Clausen (http://shasta.cs.uiuc.edu/~lrclause)| Hårdgrim of Numenor
"I do not agree with a word that you say, but I   |----------------------------
will defend to the death your right to say it."   | Where are we going, and
    --Evelyn Beatrice Hall paraphrasing Voltaire  | what's with the handbasket?