Re: Dia 0.94, WinXP, UML, Printing, Object Properties.

[Lars Clausen <lars raeder dk>]

On Fri, 2005-11-25 at 23:11 -0500, The Blackbird Enterprise wrote:
>     Disclaimer:
>        I am way new to using this kind of software (meaning Open 
> Source), so I may just not know where to look for the information I 
> need.  I know some of the problems may have to do with my own U.S 
> (United States) - centric point of view, and though it may seem odd to 
> some, many of us here in the states have trouble when we can't convert 
> from metric (tis' our upbringing, and I won't pretend to be proud of it).

Trying very hard to refrain from any snide comments:)  Maybe I should
just become a millionaire and donate enough money that all US schools
can afford teaching metric.

You will be glad to hear that there's a unit-aware number entry widget
making its way in.

>        I was drawn to Dia, because I needed a nice diagramming package 
> to add flow chart, and UML diagramming to the documentation I keep.  
> Right now, just to test things out I am using UML to diagram various 
> Javascript classes I have designed and use.  I love the ease of doing 
> this in Dia, in fact I have not found a package that I enjoy more.  So 
> that is what I like...

Thank you.  We're trying to keep it easy to use.

>     What I really need is more documentation, on:
>
> Printing:
>     It seems no matter what "page setup" options I try to use, they have 
> not the "expected" changes on the output.  Also I am flustered by the 
> lack of a "fit to page" option.  I simply want my class diagram to print 
> out all on one page, and even though I set the "page setup" options to 
> "Page Size -Letter" and "fit to - 1 by 1"  I get multiple pages of huge 
> print, though the grid pattern on the screen does change, its 
> correlation to printed output alludes me.

There is a bug in version 0.94 that makes random font size changes.  If
you can, try the newest CVS.

> Object Properties:
>     Again, my issues have to do with the effect, or lack there of, on 
> the printed page.  My example, when editing the Object Properties of a 
> "class" object, under the class tab, you can change various fonts.
>     When choosing a font, one can select "Other Fonts", a font selection 
> menu appears, from which you can select font family, style, and size 
> (ex: Verdana, Bold,14) Selecting style, does not always have an effect, 
> and though family, and size, seem to have a relative effect on the 
> display, the effect on the printed page is not as expected.  Though 
> messing around with the "size" option on the class tab, does change the 
> size of the font, I can not fathom the relationship of those numbers 
> with the expected point size of the printed output.

The font selection has changed in CVS to avoid the problem -- style and
size can now only be set in the menus, not in a dialog.  Font size is in
cm, btw:)

>     I apologize if a lot of this is just my flaming ignorance (of which, 
> it just may be), but I am lost, and given all that I love so far about 
> this package, I don't want to give up on it.  Hard copy is an important 
> part of my documentation process, so I really need to know the 
> intricacies of it.  I am also curious as to why the documentation does 
> not let one "drill down" to specifics, like the menus and sub menus 
> associated with individual object.  Is this simply a time issue, or do 
> you expect end users to have better intuition?  Is documentation an 
> area, that can be contributed to similar to code contributions?

Time issue, most certainly.  I'm hard pressed to just keep up with mail
and bugs, documentation alas is not very high on the list.
Contributions, both for documentation and for improving sheets, are
welcome.

-Lars

-- 
Lars Clausen (lars raeder dk, larsrc gmail com, http://lars.raeder.dk)
"I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the
 death your right to say it."
    --Evelyn Beatrice Hall paraphrasing Voltaire