Re: Dia questions, problems...HELP!

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 arvevans earthlink net wrote:

> Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 08:34:09 -0600 (GMT-06:00)
> From: arvevans earthlink net
> To: dia-list gnome org
> Subject: Dia questions, problems...HELP!
>
> Dia developer group

If you can set your email program to wrap text at 80 characters it would
make your mail easier to read.

> Recent attempts to use Dia for electronics schematic drawing have led to
> some questions, some problems, and possibly some suggestions for future
> enhancements.  I am runing SUSE Linux 9.0 on a 733 MHz CPU with 256 M
> memory, 1024 X 768 screen under KDE (not Gnome).
>
>   1)  When I enter text using the text object element, the result is
> text that is so small that it cannot be read.  I have tried several ways
> to enlarge this text but nothing seems to work.  What am I missing?  If
> there is a secret to using text entry then that information probably
> should be documented in the help section.

there have been various problems with the text in the past, not sure what
this might be.

>   2)  The line size for graphics needs to be pre-settable in the user
> preferences section.  Without this it is necessary to double-click on
> each object as I add it and set the line size down to zero.  On
> mid-sized schematics this is problematic as there may be over 1000
> objects involved.

see the black and white overlapping palettes in the toolbox? see the
vertical lines beside them?  double click on those lines to get a dialog
where you can set the default line width

I was intially going to suggest that you double click on the line icon in
the toolbox to set the line properties but that doesn't work.
Rather than providing an error message (empty dialog, whatever) it might
be a good idea if we pop up the line width dialog instead (or something.
I'll give it some thought and file a Request for Enhancment)

>   4)  The pre-defined object-set for "circuit" drawings are marginally
> adequate.  I need objects for FET, LED, Varicap, etc., etc.  This raises
> the question of "how does one generate and add more objects to existing
> libraries?  I am willing to attempt this myself if someone can point me
> in the right direction.  My past experience includes a little
> C-language, some TCL, and a bit of Pascal so although my skills are a
> little out-of-date it might be possible for me to do something useful.

Shapes are in SVG format, programmed objects are in C.
Dia can be scripted using python.

>   5)  In making up my own temporary objects for missing pre-defined
> graphics, it is easier to construct these elements on-screen in larger
> size than will be used in the final drawing.  However, when the
> individual lines for these 'made-up' items are grouped the size then
> cannot be adjusted.  Dia needs to support adjusting the size of grouped
> objects.

Yup.  Dia needs developers willing to help out.

>
>   6)  From the keyboard I am unable to perform CUT, COPY, and PASTE
> using "CTRL-X, CTRL-C and CTRL-V".  If this were added to the hot-key
> functions for editing it would make things much more efficient.

They should work, perhaps you are using an ancient version of Dia?
(you dont seem to have mentioned what version of Dia you are running).

> In general, I like the layout and methods used in Dia.  It seems to have
> potential to be the graphics editor of choice for electronics hobby and
> Ham Radio enthusiasts in the area of schematic generation.

> The only negative areas are the limited help pages and the items I have
> mentioned above.

Help improving it would be very much appreciated.

> The system is intuitive enough that the abreviated help pages would not
> be a problem if the little hinderances I mentioned were resolved.
>
> Thank you for your consideration and assistance,

If you are not using the recently released Dia 0.94 pre 1 you might give
it a try and help us shake out any bugs.

Hope that helps.

- Alan