Re: merging layers

["Lars Clausen" <lars raeder dk>]

Alan Horkan sagde:
> On Sat, 5 Mar 2005, Lars Clausen wrote:
>
> > Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2005 16:12:34 +0100 (CET)
> > From: Lars Clausen <lars raeder dk>
> > Reply-To: discussions about usage and development of dia
> >     <dia-list gnome org>
> > To: discussions about usage and development of dia <dia-list gnome org>
> > Subject: Re: merging layers
> >
> > Robert sagde:
> > > I think I may've went too crazy with layers on my first diagram.
> > >
> > > At the time I figured I could always Cut/Paste between layers so
> > merging
> > > layers would never be a big deal.
> > > Now I find that cutting & pasteing severes connections (and it makes
> > > perect sense that it does).
> > >
> > > I'd like to consolidate a few layers together.
> > > Is there an easy way to do this?
> > > Or, is there a mode to let you move & edit all objects from all layers
> > > when making big changes?
> >
> > Alan's workaround of using an editor should indeed work.  Version 0.94
> > also allows you to select which layersyou can connect to, but not which
> > ones you can select in.  It would be easy to add a "merge layers"
> > function
> > to the layers dialog, I wouldn't mind seeing that.
>
> I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it either, with the emphasis on seeing
> it.  I think Dia has a lot of great functionality including Layers that
> users perhaps are not making the most of because of how they are
> presented.

As Alan is implying, I probably won't code this at the present.  However,
it got me thinking about the layer dialog and how to select the layers to
merge.  Simple:  Allow multiple layers to be selected at a time.  These
would also be the layers that are active, i.e. allows objects to be
modified etc.  Much better than adding a third toggle for each layer.

> I think this would force me to resurrect my attempts to add a Layer menu
> and bring more of this functiality to the surface.  A Layer menu would
> provide an ideal place to put "Merge Layers" and even more layer
> functionality and also make it easier to assign keybindings to the Layer
> funcationality without needing to do something crazy like hide away the
> features in a context menu of a dialog.

If you mean a layer menu among the main menus, how would you select the
layers to merge, then?  A pop-up window?  I like the actions to be as
close to the objects as possible, here for instance in the layer window.

> There are other potential ways of approaching the general problem of
> moving things around more easily like maybe enabling drag and drop from
> the Diagram Tree, especially if the Diagram Tree represented Layers and
> groups as branches of the tree (and I wanted an excuse to mention how
> Adobe Photoshop has 'layer groups' which makes the Layers dialog look a
> lot more like a tree view of the document).  Plenty of food for thought.

The diagram tree could *definitely* do with an update, showing layers and
groups and subgroups as nodes in the tree.  Any takers?

-Lars