[WIN] I'd like to know what you guys think of this

Download 68k (this is the new url. please do not try to download from links to this file in later posts.)
You will need the ".NET Framework" update from Windows Update to run the application.

My first application for release. It's not perfect, but it is functional.

Essentially, it's an application that allows you to place systems for Nova by clicking. You can edit the properties of those systems, define hyperlinks and a few other options.

When you're done, you can save to a text file that EVNEW can open for further editing.

One major limitation is a lack of an open command. Honestly, I haven't figured out how to load data from the files back into the structure array.

So you fellow windows users, I would appreciate it if you would take a look and give me some feed back as to whether you like it or not, any changes you think should be made, suggestions. If you know Visual Basic .NET, or just want to, please look over the code itself. Most of the files can be opened with notepad. I'm just learning the language and any hints or help (especially with opening files) would be appreciated.

(edit)
Tasklist:

  • Maximize Map Area: Done

  • Zooming: Done

  • Panning: Done

  • Opening Files: Opens EVNEW text without destroying any other resources in the file.

  • Displaying Complex maps: Done

  • Undo/Redo: Semi-Functional.

  • Revert to Saved: Non-functional.

(/edit)

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 29 March 2005 - 02:48 AM

are u sure the link is correct? i have .net framework and your application isn't working...

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My parents died in Roswell incident.

Sorry 'bout that. Link should work now.

(edit: Did you mean the link was broke, or the dl worked, but the exe in the zip won't run?)

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:27 AM

i like it. great work!
it would be better if you could include hyperspace route mapping though. because that would be EXCELLENT.

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My parents died in Roswell incident.

(This message has been edited by dorrus (edited 07-23-2004).)

Already did it. Just Select a system from the list, and set one of the hyperlinks fields to another system. Then right click on the map area to update.
http://evula.org/art...artographer.jpg

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:27 AM

you are a hero.

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My parents died in Roswell incident.

Posted Image

Next week I'll ask my Visual Basic proffessor about opening the text files and see if I can add that functionality.

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:28 AM

Wow, not bad at all... Certainly not MC or EVONE, but it is definitely a start.

~ SP

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Fear the SpacePirate,
He made a (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")plug-in search page(/url)...
And he'll board your ship!
-mrxak
*** (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/")InfernoStudios(/url) was last updated 06 June, 2004. ***

SpacePirate said:

**Wow, not bad at all... Certainly not MC or EVONE, but it is definitely a start.

~ SP

**

Not yet. They've got a couple years head start.

(removing duplicate sig, fixing quote)

This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:30 AM

i was fooling around with it for a while now, and i realized that it's missing a few important features.
Undo/Redo - for ANY kind of editing programs, this is a must. try to add this.
Load - i would hate to restart everything because of this missing feature.
flexible screen - while the multiplier feature is really helpful, it's quite hard to plot out the systems accurately. perhaps zoom in/out feature or scroll bars for the main interface might help out a lot.
other than that, i definately love this program. keep it up!

BTW, how is the multiplier factor calculated?

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My parents died in Roswell incident.

Ooh, I've been wanting something like this for some time - I never know just where a system is going to go when I place it with the X and Y coordinates in EVNEW. Now I just need to install the .NET framework... hmm

Any chance of a program to place stellar objects within systems?

Quote

Originally posted by dorrus:
Load - i would hate to restart everything because of this missing feature.

Quote

Originally posted by Artanis:
One major limitation is a lack of an open command. Honestly, I haven't figured out how to load data from the files back into the structure array.

:rolleyes:

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The programmer's code of entomology: there's always another bug.
There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who have friends.
Windows users: stop asking for plugins. (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW/")Make one yourself.(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")Sephil Saga Website(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")Add-ons Search Engine(/url)

(This message has been edited by orcaloverbri9 (edited 07-23-2004).)

dorrus said:

**i was fooling around with it for a while now, and i realized that it's missing a few important features.
Undo/Redo - for ANY kind of editing programs, this is a must. try to add this.
Load - i would hate to restart everything because of this missing feature.
flexible screen - while the multiplier feature is really helpful, it's quite hard to plot out the systems accurately. perhaps zoom in/out feature or scroll bars for the main interface might help out a lot.
other than that, i definately love this program. keep it up!

BTW, how is the multiplier factor calculated?

**

undo/redo will be difficult. Undo-Redo like the professional programs is beyond me right now. Until I figure out opening files, I could copy the array I'm storing the data to and allow a kind of revert option, but that would be lost if the program closes. Once opening files is figured out, I can do automatic back-ups (ie: before changing the actual array, I write it out to a new file.) That'll generate a text file everytime you select a different system from the list.

The multiplier is a straight multiplication to both X and Y coordinates when you save. It'll accept any value, but I would not recommend zero.

I'll look into scroll bars and zooming. At most it should be simple math right before drawing the map to move or scale distances.

Also I'll se what I can do about allowing you to maximize the window and have the map area increase in size as well.

Belthazar said:

**Ooh, I've been wanting something like this for some time - I never know just where a system is going to go when I place it with the X and Y coordinates in EVNEW. Now I just need to install the .NET framework... hmm

Any chance of a program to place stellar objects within systems?
**

I found the .NET Framework on Windows Update shortly before getting Visual Studio 2003, but you can find it here too. 23698 KB

If you don't want the graphics, it can recycle most of the code from this one. It would look like editing the radar. Only with a bigger view.
It'll be a bit low on my list of things to do. Right now getting this one fully functional is near the top (right under school and work.)

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:32 AM

dorrus said:

Load - i would hate to restart everything because of this missing feature.

Artanis said:

One major limitation is a lack of an open command. Honestly, I haven't figured out how to load data from the files back into the structure array.

orcaloverbri9 said:

** <IMG SRC="http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/webboard/rolleyes.gif" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="15">**

I can hear the professor now: "We just did menus and you want to know how to open a text file and load it into an array?!"

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:33 AM

Download 68k
Panning and Zooming have been added.
Any size map area. Just resize the window.

At high zoom values, your systems will snap to the nearest integer.

No saving or undo yet.

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:34 AM

Artanis, usually "undo" does not stay after the program closes. If you want to make it simple, don't allow undo after they close the resource.

The easiest way to do an undo is to have a multi-dimensional array. The size of the second dimension will be the maximum number of undo's you allow. I'd keep it to 5 or so, for simplicity's sake.

The first (element 0) element will be the current state of the resource. As they make changes, copy from back to front in the array (copy the values from element 4 into element 5, 3 into 4, 2 into 3, 1 into 2, and 0 into 1, and then update element 0 with the users changes). To undo, just go the other way, 1 into 0, 2 into 1, and so on.

If you want to have a redo, it gets a bit more complicated, and would probably involve using two multi-dimensional arrays. Of course, these are just a fairly simple way of doing things, you could easily get as simple or complex as you'd like.

Keep up the good work!
~ SP

------------------
Fear the SpacePirate,
He made a (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")plug-in search page(/url)...
And he'll board your ship!
-mrxak
*** (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/")InfernoStudios(/url) was last updated 06 June, 2004. ***

I feel stupid.
I completely forgot about multidimensional arrays.

That would work. I won't be working on this till next weekend, but I will be watching this topic.

Well, except for the hyperlinks not staying on the systems when you zoom in & out Posted Image . I'll get to that earlier, they're not supposed to do that.

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:35 AM

As for a solution to the saving problem, you could save in your own format, like .nmf (Nova Map File) or something like that, and then have it export (duplicate all code and/or whatever from the Save). Then, you could save it in your own format, which could be easily read and parsed by the program.

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The programmer's code of entomology: there's always another bug.
There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who have friends.
Windows users: stop asking for plugins. (url="http://"http://www.aznt.com/EVN/EVNEW/")Make one yourself.(/url)
(url="http://"http://www.cwssoftware.com")Sephil Saga Website(/url) | (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/infernostudios/search.html")Add-ons Search Engine(/url)

Am I correct in understanding that this is written in an interpreted language? That is the one thing that I have always wished was more supported/ more respected on the Mac platform was interpreted languages. Like Hypercard was totally awesome (and now that I think back it would of been reasonably easy to make something similar to this in HyperTalk if the proper XCMD's could be written?) but no 'serious' mac user would even partially consider using anything written for Hypercard, while over in PCsylvania people write in BASIC and other little interpreted languages all the time and noone seems to either notice or care.

Good to see someone working on making the dev world for Nova people easier (even if it's on the other side of the fence).

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Drinking causes hangovers.
(url="http://"http://www.freewebs.com/rmx256/index.htm")Kemet T.C. Website(/url)

I'm not sure what you mean by interpreted language.

Something like TI-83+ Basic? A program in that is just a list of commands that is interpreted at runtime. I'm not sure Visual Basic is like that.

Visual Basic .NET is event driven, similar to Actionscript in Flash, except that you see all the code in one place. If that even matters. The C++ class I took in high school never got past DOS programs, so I don't know what the source for form-based ones looks like.

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This post has been edited by Artanis : 12 September 2004 - 12:35 AM