[instaviz-users] Instaviz 1.3 bug report

[Glen Low]

John

On 01/06/2009, at 3:16 PM, John Purnell wrote:

> Hi Glen,
>
> Recently purchased Instaviz and have found the following bug which  
> can be reproduced with these steps:
>
> 1. A default style is set for a node (say a square).
>
> 2. An attempt to create another square node is made but the sketch  
> is recognised as a rectangle so the default style for a rectangle is  
> correctly applied to the node.
>
> 3. A successful attempt to draw a square over the incorrect  
> rectangle is made, however the square style is not applied but the  
> existing rectangle style is retained and the square default style is  
> changed to match that of the rectangle.
>
> Should be:
>
> A node should change style based on its shape and should not inherit  
> the style of a previous shape.
>
> Hope this makes sense to you.

Yes, I see what you mean. I'll have to distinguish between editing a  
style and changing the shape, and make changing a shape equivalent to  
creating a new shape i.e. apply the style and not save the style.

My sense is that your approach is right, but I've cc'ed the users  
group to see if anyone agrees/disagrees. There are really 3  
alternatives available:

1.	Changing to a shape saves the final style as the default style.  
(Current approach in 1.3.)
2.	Changing to a shape applies the last-saved default style for that  
shape. (Proposed approach.)
3.	Changing to a shape neither saves nor applies the default style.

3. is probably the least surprising but 2. is the most helpful when  
you've sketched something wrong.
>
>
> BTW: how do I consistently draw a diamond? My attempts usually get  
> recognised as rectangles.
>


Take a look at http://trac.pixelglow.com/instaviz/wiki/HowToRun

To draw a diamond, try to make the opposite sides parallel, all edges  
roughly the same length and thinner or flatter than a square. Think of  
a square that's been squashed through one of its diagonals.

I'll probably revisit the diamond recognition algorithm in 2.0. In the  
beta test I used a method that was sensitive to orientation of the  
diamond. I then changed it so that it would recognize a diamond in any  
orientation but some beta testers thought it changed for the worse. So  
I'll look into fixing it for 2.0.




Cheers, Glen Low


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