tool descriptions

If you are inspired to do some work, post your idea on the forum,
or create an issue if it is code related https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues

Hadn't thought of 'issues' but seems a good way to start getting into it anyway, so that's what I'm gonna do -thanks

Apologies for delay in getting on with the work requested.
I am also upgrading my joinery workshop in preparation for alterations to my house in the early spring, which is governed by the weather, and lumber deliveries, none of which have proved helpful with the LibreCAD work.
Regards,
Cy

Hi,

I'd like to contribute to the tool descriptions.  It might be slow going over the summer, but once the cold weather returns I'll have more availability.  I've submitted a request for access to the WIKI...


Cheers,
Gary S

Gary,

your Wiki account request is approved, you can start authoring now.

Many thanks in advance for your efforts.

Armin

Hello Gary,

Good to see you on board.

If you tell me which portion of the job you would like to tackle, I will work on another section so that we do not duplicate the work.

Is there just the two of us?

Cy

Hello Cy,

I've populated the wiki page with the tools as they appear in the Tools menu (v 2.2.0-alpha).  I've been working from the top down, but was thinking I'd take a run at Dimension or Modify next.  Having said that, we are heading into summer and I'll be taking advantage of the warm weather while I can, so I'll be working (very?) sporadically.

I've been bouncing in and out while I've been figuring out a style / format and writing the documentation, but will largely write off-line and then copy and paste when it is complete.  Perhaps, as a suggestion, if one of us is actively working on a particular section, especially if doing so off-line, we could add a comment to the section to the effect of "WiP, GS, 27-May".

Or, to be a little more succinct, I'm good with anything you want to tackle - just let me know because I agree - avoiding duplicating the work is a good thing.

If you want to discuss formatting, style or anything else, let me know. I think you can email me from my wiki profile too (?)

As far as I know it is just the two of us at this time, but that can change, eh...


Cheers,
Gary S

Hello again Gary,

Well, I think that this (just the two of us) is the best Librecad is going to get for a long time.

Yes, spasmodic is a good description for my input also, as I am not a young guy and my workload is quite heavy, however with you being now on the scene, I feel a lot more positive.

I am guessing that you are further ahead of this project, having "figuring out" the issues you mentioned and I have no delusions of power or status, so taking instruction from yourself is good for me.

I have worked on many Cad systems and a few 3d. The method most used by me, is Keyboard shortcuts and I used Auto-cad for the most part. How about you?

Look forward to getting going,

Cy

Hello Cy,

I've been around a while too - I started in college with a pencil, T-square, triangles, my ever present eraser shield, etc.  Since then I've used I variety of CAD packages; poked around AutoCAD on DOS (v9 or 10 as I recall) and Windows, have used Generic CAD, Numera/Corel/VisualCAD and tried out a few others for personal use.

My approach to create the documentation is to use the specific tool and then document what the steps and/or prompts are, or what the dialogue boxes require to create the entity (e.g Circle -> Centre, Radius is "Draw a circle by assigning ['placing', 'picking'?] a centre point and defining the radius.").  Basically documenting 'just the facts' that describes the specific tool and avoiding anything that turns it into a 'how-to' or a manual.  Feel free to copy, modify and paste from what I've done so far.  [The wiki does have a "discussion" page, so it might be useful to document the approach there for future reference.]

However, I won't say I have it figured out, but since Ravas originally posted the request and I've seen that he has been on the wiki page since I've posted some documentation - I''m guessing he's okay with it (Ravas - any comments on what has been posted thus far?)


Cheers,
Gary S

I added the "related" section simply to make sure you are aware of those pages.

My original idea was:
if all that is added is a basic description of what the tool can be used for,
and the formatting is simple and consistent,
then a script could be written to integrate the descriptions into the program
via http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qaction.html#whatsThis-prop

I'm barely involved with this project currently, and won't be writing that script;
therefore, you can proceed as you prefer.

Thanks Ravas.  

Given the intended use, the approach that I've started should work for the most part.  The full-colon makes a usable delimiter, and any formating and extraneous text can be can be easily stripped as required.  Having the tool descriptions outside of the intended purpose can have a little more details if necessary, but I'll limit it (e.g. the bullet points I've added).

Cy, Let's stay with the format I've used:
   "Tool Name": "Simple description.", where
      - "Tool Name" is as it appears on the menu (there are some exceptions in what I've put on the wiki as there is inconsistence in the menus).
      - a full-colon delimiter (:)
      - a one (or two if necessary) line description would be best.

Gary S

Hello Gary,

"Been around a while too" sounds like a good starting point for the future of Librecad.

There has clearly been a lot of work done already on this project, and I feel (perhaps wrongly) that some things may change to accomodate the world of Cad users around us, with this in mind, perhaps a rough-up version should first be constructed to get the ideas out, and then formulate them later with any required add-ons, is this going to complicate the job?

I like your approach, which I can see as the 'definitive method', however, there is going to be a bit of a learning curve for me to use the wiki. I will look at it this morning Sunday 28th May and get back to you asap. Thank you for your help and guidance.

In wiki, can we see what has been done and what is the next chunk to do? I like the idea of a discussion page in the wiki and would think that, that would be the best way of discussing things together. Will Ravas also be able to join in? I have not made any arrangements to join wiki, will I have to do that?  

For the sake of consistent grammar, am I guessing correctly that you and Ravas are both in the US? For your information, I worked for all of my working life in Architecture in the UK but now live in Ireland.

Kind regards,
Cy

Hello Gary and Ravas,

Could you give a a web address to get me to where you are working and the discussion page? I did not realise that it was such a large site.

Cy

Hi again,

Found way into wiki, via Librecad Help, not sure that I understand its use yet, but I will stick with it.

Regards

Cy

Given what Ravas stated earlier, I've tweaked the format for the documentation to make it easier going forward to align the tools with the descriptions the way that Ravas intended.

   "Menu Item" ["Objectname"]: "Simple description.", where
      - "Menu Item" is as it appears on the menu (there are some exceptions in what I've put on the wiki as there is inconsistence in the menus).
     - "Objectname" is the name of the object that is called.
      - a full-colon delimiter (:)
      - a one (or two if necessary) line description would be best.

I'll update everything with the "Objectname"...


Edit: Changed ( ) around "Objectname" to [ ].

Thanks Gary,

Just looking at it again, and that does make sense.

I need to take a run at this using this criteria and see how it works for me.

Cy

Hello Ravas,

Is posting my stuff on the  https://github.com/LibreCAD/LibreCAD/issues, the same as preparing to use wiki?

Cy

Hello Armin,

Where do I find the information you refer to,

Regards

Cy

Hey Cy,

the link you referenced in your reply to ravas is the GitHub issue tracker, which is intend to report and track bugs and coding issues.

For discussions about the wiki and its content each site has a discussion tab.
Thus you're working on the site http://wiki.librecad.org/index.php/Tools (Page tab)
and discuss issues on the 'Discussion tab' http://wiki.librecad.org/index.php/Talk:Tools.


The discussion site is identically edited as the wiki site, by selecting 'Edit' on the right side of the tab bar.

A link to Editing Help is found at the bottom, right beside the Save/Preview buttons.

Public editing is prohibited because of spamming issues, thus you have to be logged in to edit pages.
Do you already have a wiki account?
If not, registration is moderated, you have to register and will be informed when your request is accepted.

Regards and thanks for contributing

Armin

Thank you very much for that, my progress in the world of Linux is not as fast as I would like it to be, but I am making headway, thanks to good people like yourself. The learning curve is big.

Kind regards,

Cy