Project VesselBuilder for Orbiter

[Donamy]

Well that hurt. I went through a long animation process, and realized that the first animation belonged to a different sequence. So I tried to delete it and it crashed the program and nothing saved. :compbash:

 

[fred18]

Well that hurt. I went through a long animation process, and realized that the first animation belonged to a different sequence. So I tried to delete it and it crashed the program and nothing saved. :compbash:

Oh boy, too bad!!! I will check for ctds in this situation, but my recommendation is to save often while developing! Just hit ctrl + s or the orbiter save scenario button to save the scenario and the cfg will be saved/backed up

 

[4throck]

I'm manually making copies of the VB config files and that helps against data loss.

Yet since VB was not designed for hand editing, bad copyright / paste may give you a CTD.

 

[fred18]

I'm manually making copies of the VB config files and that helps against data loss.

Yet since VB was not designed for hand editing, bad copyright / paste may give you a CTD.

Why the backup txt file is not enough? I am asking just to understand. It contains all the cfgs in the vessel's history and it is updated each time the vessel is saved, so when you save it or when you close the sim

 

[Donamy]

It was my own fault. It happened before. I should have closed the box first. Then deleted it from the .cfg file, by hand.

 

[4throck]

Why the backup txt file is not enough?

The backup works but I might need to revert to a specific older configuration. It's impossible to know which one just going by a revision number.
So it's easier to make specific copies of the .cfg as I go.

Since there's no save in VB, it's more secure to enter vectors directly on the config, and then run VB to see the result.
The other option would be to manually close VB and save a scenario each time I input a value...
Also editing this way is much faster (can copy 3 values at once, rather than 3 copies), and speeds up thrusters and animations.

Not complaining, for me it works fine like this!

 

[Donamy]

A little OT. Can genericvehicle have fenders attached to the wheels, that turn, but don't spin ?

 

[4throck]

I think you can animate the fenders like the Delta Glider's aerodynamic surfaces.

 

[jedidia]

The backup works but I might need to revert to a specific older configuration. It's impossible to know which one just going by a revision number.

Sounds like that would be easily fixable by allowing to enter a commit message.

 

[Face]

Sounds like that would be easily fixable by allowing to enter a commit message.

Would it not make more sense to use one of the version control systems to track the progress of the project?

Things like Git or Mercurial are sufficiently light-weight to use them even for a bunch of files.

 

[jedidia]

Would it not make more sense to use one of the version control systems to track the progress of the project?

It would, but I wouldn't want to hoist it on poor ford to integrate that too... :lol:

 

[Face]

It would, but I wouldn't want to hoist it on poor ford to integrate that too... :lol:

Why the heck should he integrate it? We are talking about files, aren't we? IMHO doing what a VCS could do much better is a serious case of reinventing the wheel, and the proposal of adding commit messages and possibilities to retrieve older versions sure sounds like so.

If anything, he could add a textbox holding a VCS CLI command and a button executing it, e.g. 'git commit -a -m "VB commit ${msg}" ', with ${msg} being replaced with the content of a textbox (or dialog) that pops up on every button click.

 

[jedidia]

Why the heck should he integrate it?

Because I suspect many people that will be using vessel builder wouldn't know how to use one, and because having to go and commit manually every time you save would probably be too inconvenient for many that do. So to really make the best of that feature, some form of UI integration seems unavoidable.
Since he apparently already does versioned save files by himself, giving the user the ability to make them more easily identifiable seems like the least-effort route to go. "commit message" probably was a bit of a strong term. I guess a "comment" would be more appropriate terminology.

 

[4throck]

VB is fine as is. No need for a versioning system! Yes, a comment on the backs would help, but the retrieval process would still be manual.
So copy & rename of the config file is easy and fast (right mouse button ). Creating a ZIP also works perfectly for me.

 

[fred18]

TBH I don't plan to change the backup procedure.

Each vessel has automatically a XX__Backup.txt file associated with it. Each time the dialog is open in the sim a backup of the current cfg file is appended in the txt file, each backup is marked with BEGIN and the date and time of the saving and concluded with END so easy identifiable.

Any automatic tag would be redundant since there is already time and date, and any manual tag would require the user to be prompted for it each time the dialog is open or the scn is saved, so it would be very cumbersome.

The txt file can be opened and the last backup marked with a line like "THISISMYWONDERFULBACKUPTHATIDONTWANTTOFORGET" and it would be easy to find again. If a user wants to create automatically a working backup of the current cfg it is enought to reopen the sim and the dialog.

Then every one is free to modify txt and cfg file as they like, but from VB point of view I don't feel the need to modify this procedure further.

A little OT. Can genericvehicle have fenders attached to the wheels, that turn, but don't spin ?

Quite honestly I can't remember but i'd say nope... maybe if you define them as a steering wheel instead of the steering wheel?

 

[Face]

Then every one is free to modify txt and cfg file as they like, but from VB point of view I don't feel the need to modify this procedure further.

Indeed. If anybody wants to do more versioning, he/she should use the appropriate tool. Today, these tools are easy to use and don't need servers or somesuch, and in addition they can be used in parallel to whatever development system you have.

 

[Donamy]

Could you change the light switch (cntrl+L) to ALt+L. It conflicts with GeneralVehicle.

 

[fred18]

Could you change the light switch (cntrl+L) to ALt+L. It conflicts with GeneralVehicle.

Why does it conflict? I think they both have ctrl +L for lights but in which situation it creates issues?

 

[Donamy]

When using a VB vessel attached to GV wheels, yoou may not want the kind of lights that GV uses, to be on. You can't make them for cockpit only.

 

[fred18]

When using a VB vessel attached to GV wheels, yoou may not want the kind of lights that GV uses, to be on. You can't make them for cockpit only.

ah because the "listen_from" option gets all the key pressed on VB and tansfers it to GV!