Even more flex track suggestions

[David K Smith]

Apologies if this has been discussed before...

It would be most useful (at least to me) if the connection between two pieces of flex track could be manipulated. As it stands right now, when two lengths of flex track are joined, the joint locks. It would be great if one could click that joint and shift it around (perhaps using ctrl-click or shift-click so that it cannot be moved "accidentally").

Furthermore, it would be even more useful if the angle of the joint could be adjusted by clicking and dragging one of the flex control points associated with the joint.

As it stands now, one must disconnect the joint, edit one end, and reconnect. This is a lot of clicking just to shift a joint a little, or to adjust its angle.

One other suggestion while on the topic of flex... any way of locking the length of the flex? Right now the length remains variable, which is fine for most situations, but sometimes it would be useful to keep the length fixed.

Thanks in advance for any consideration.

[Jeff]

This is in no way a fix, but you can ease the workload a little by this method:

1) disconnect the two tracks at the joint

2) Set the one that doesn't need editing aside a very short distance

3) Make your first try at the new position or size of the other track piece.

Now, if that didn't work out, immediately press ctrl-z, which will undo the edit and the first piece of track will go back to that point a small distance away where you had dropped it. Then make your change in the second track and try again.

Like I said, it isn't a big deal, but it does speed situations where you do multiple edits to get a piece of track just right.

[David K Smith]

That's what I do now. It's not "awful" the way it is by any means, but it's just a "fussy" process to move a flex joint. It would be so nice to have a single click-and-drag solution. Not a deal-breaker by any means; I really like AnyRail quite a lot. I simply perceive some subtle touches that could make it a little more powerful.

[Jeff]

Oh, ok. I wasn't sure you'd figured that out. On the other hand, it's been mentioned numerous times before and, unfortunately, hasn't changed. Flex track, like everything else, is in the form of vector graphics 'artifacts' or objects and I guess we can assume that manipulating two at the same time is not an easy thing.

p.s. I'd love to see it happen, as you would

[David K Smith]

I guess I'm spoiled by vector drawing programs, which I've been using practically since they first started appearing for personal computers. When I see the joint between two sections of flex, I automatically think in terms of a node on a spline, and I just want to click and drag the thing...

[Jeff]

Yes, but that would require combining the two objects into one before doing anything. Then you'd have to split it back into two objects if you wanted to remove one piece. I can see this getting complicated... Then throw in warnings about too-sharp curves and trying to extend the flex beyond its actual length and you have a real headache.

[David K Smith]

Well, David is obviously the one who can speak authoritatively here, but as a software developer myself, I'm sensitive to the issues. Yes, there are two distinct objects being manipulated, but they share an endpoint in common. So, while the user moves the joint around, two objects are being updated with one piece of information--the coordinates of their shared endpoint. I honestly don't see this as a Herculean coding challenge.

[David]

It's not that complicated in terms of coding. I think there are two possible actions:

1. Rotate the connection. This can be achieved by shift-dragging the inner control point of a flex. Much like it works when the flex is not connected.

2. Shift the connection. Possibly by shift-dragging the connection.

Is that what you had in mind as well?

David.

[David K Smith]

Yes, exactly. Shift-drag the connection to move the location of the connection point of two flex pieces; shift-drag a control point to change the angle of the connection. That would be seriously slick.

[Jeff]

I can get behind that. Ctrl-drag or shift-drag to move ANY connection or control point, even if there's 20 pieces around the one you want to adjust.

[David K Smith]

I would see it as only applicable to connection points between lengths of flex track (regardless of what the flex tracks are connected to at the other end). Moving a connection between two pieces of rigid track (or between rigid and flex) makes no sense.

[Jeff]

Let's just take that as a given, keeping in mind the registered subject of this thread

[David K Smith]

Let's just take that as a given, keeping in mind the registered subject of this thread

Sorry about that! When you wrote "Ctrl-drag or shift-drag to move ANY connection" I drew the wrong conclusion.

[Jeff]

It was meant to denote that the new movement control should apply to end-points between flex track pieces as well as interior control points. Obviously, end-points that connect to sectional track have to remain fixed.