Rotating a layout.

[Chris]

Hello David, and everyone.

I hit a snag this morning (or is it a MS-type "feature"?) when I realised that to update my website I needed to rotate the entire layout to fit in with my design sheets. Having Selected All, and a track near the centre of the layout, the track plan rotated with no problems. However, all surfaces (platforms, service facilities, etc.) stayed exactly where they were. In the event, this is not a disaster as they needed redrawing anyway but it doesn't help. Question is, though, did I miss something or is that this how the application works? (Is there a quicker way to delete a surface than deleting it point by point?)

I also had to redo all the text which lead me to another glitch. Having entered the text and reduced the size twice, I decided to try a further reduction to see what it looked like. However, when I increased the size to take me back I got a sequence of larger fonts. Of course, I could have used Ctrl-Z (which does work) but didn't think of that at the time.

BTW, thank you for separating heights on slopes from heights on planes (or is my memory letting me down?), though it took me about 20 minutes to get the slope exactly right!

With best wishes to all,
Chris.

[David]

You did not do anything wrong: rotating, copy/paste, and other actions only work on track, not on other elements such as surfaces and text.
Originally, these simple drawing features were added just to outline the table, or other things in the train room. But of course: people started to use it for everything, which is a good thing!
So, we are currently working to improve the drawing capabilities, and to give these elements the same capabilities as track parts.

It's always good if things develop along the lines that our customers indicate.

Please have a bit of patience though. It might take a bit of time.

David.

[Chris]

Thanks for your prompt response, David. I appreciate whatever you are able to do and don't expect miracles!

[David]

In the meantime, copy/paste works for everything from version 3.5.0 of AnyRail. It's possible to select any object on the screen and move/rotate it.

David.

[Chris]

Thanks David. You guys are the tops.

It is also good to feel that one is part of the 'development team'. :o)

[Chris]

Hi David.

Talking about rotating things...

I was trying to rotate a ruler through 180 degrees so that its text faced the right way (inwards) and it totally disappeared. Fortunately I had changed the style so managed to spot it right off the bottom of the layout. I don't know what others think but I would suggest that any rotation should be around the centre point of the object(s) being rotated.

Apropos my earlier comments regarding position of the plan in the window. Maybe the default position should be centred in the window rather than top left???

Best wishes,
Chris.

PS. You asked me for more details on a problem I was having. I have looked a couple of times for the message. Will have another try tonight.

[David]

Normally, a single object revolves around its centre (except text, revolving around its start).
However, if you've selected multiple items, the lot revolves around the element where you pressed the right mouse button. The rest moves around it in a (big) circle.

So, if you want to rotate your selection around its centre, you should right click an element in the centre.

When testing the multiple element case, this seemed to make more sense than revolving around the centre of the selection.

Hope this helps!

David.

P.S. About the positioning of the working area on screen: we're looking at a few alternatives, but most of them seem confusing so far...

[Chris]

Hi David. Thanks for your response.

It was only the ruler that gave the problem in that respect. However, I reloaded AnyRail after I mailed yesterday and the problem cleared itself and it rotated fine. Weird!

But, one little bug I found was that when one has a vertical Marklin Z 660mm rail and uses Adjust Flex to change its length it goes back to the horizontal position. Not normally a problem but last night I was working right up at the right hand edge of my drawing and I nearly lost it off the screen.

BTW, with a dense rail plan, I have found on several occasions that a new rail so exactly overlays an existing  bit of track that one cannot see it and has to Ctrl-Z and try again, which usually works. On my old application, instead of clicking the icon for a piece of track to place it on the plan, one dragged it into the required position in the normal windows fashion; just one movement instead of two (drag instead of click, find, drag). However, others may not agree that that is a good idea and it may be difficult to implement.

Is there any progress with saving libraries with the track plan (I have to scrill down now to get to A scale) and remembering window size? (I use full screen all the time.)

Still, for all my gripes, I think the program is an excellent design tool.

With my best wishes to you and the team,
Chris.

[David]

We might indeed add some more checks to make sure that track stays on screen, and that new track is shown more clearly.
About your other suggestions: we're currently trying to migrate to another underlying 'framework', where those functions might be easier to implement.

Another thing that keeps us a bit from adding too much functionality to the current interface is that we're also doing some prototyping with the user interface to resemble Office 2007: loosing all the menu's, and introducing the Ribbon. (Don't know if you've experienced that already).

And finally: don't hesitate to give us feedback on anything. Although we do not follow each and every suggestion, your input is never ignored!

David.

[Chris]

Thanks David.

I have no idea what Office 2007 looks like. I have Office 2000 at home and Word drives me up the wall. They used to say at work that if they ever heard me swear they knew I was working in Word. Excel is good though at the level at which I use it (simple).

All the best,
Chris.

[santerdam]

David, sometimes while working on large plans, I also have noticed that new placed pieces are hard to find or even overlaying excisting rails. Could highlighting in a specific color till you pick te piece be a solution ?

In general, I really hope you don't change too much in the user-interface. Like Chis said, 'the other application' has dragging new pieces from the library. For some, that's a nice interface. For me it was reason not to buy the other program - I bought AnyRails because of the comprehensive user-interface. The same for the newer gadgets from Office 2007 - maybe nice, but I bought AnyRail and not MS Office.

Just my 2 cents.

Sander

[David]

We have added 'dragging' pieces from the library onto the layout after all! You can just drag the piece immediately into position.

But please know that the old way of working is still available as well.

When clicking on a piece in the library, the part should show up on top, and in the left upper quarter of the screen.

Hope this helps!

David.

[francis1954]

hello

i made a track plan but I want to rotate it by 90 degrees
is it possible and how ?
thxs
Francis

[David]

You can select all (CTRL-A), then click 'Rotate' on the SELECTION tab, and click -90 (clockwise) or 90 (counterclockwise). You wil have to make sure nothing's glued or locked, and afterwards you probably need to drag the whole selection into place.

[francis1954]

I omitted to thank you for your reply
Sorry !!

And thanks ! very clear !

Did you see my newest question ?