ExtendedAlibreTool v0.3 Released

[NateLiquidGravity]

Need feedback please!
ExtendedAlibreTool v0.3 Released See Post Here: http://www.alibre.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=79263#p79263
https://www.alibreforum.com/forum/topic?/79263/

I wanted to let everyone know that while updates to my programs have been lacking I am still working on them. Updating many of my programs and adding some very cool new features and programs to the lineup as well. All will be revealed in due time however I wanted to wet your appetites a little. 8)

For those of us that work with parts with relatively small details.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Here is a little update on the progress and also a request for your thoughts.

Currently I have modified the Missing Designs dialog and simply made it larger.

The Standard View Creation dialog has been made larger and I also moved some things around.

Are there any suggestions for other dialogs that need to be made larger have things moved around? Are there any comments or suggestions for the one shown? Even if you have nothing to suggest please let me know if you like it or hate it.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

:x Lots of views but no comments. Should I even continue working on it? :|

 

[ASP]

Re: The Future of My Programs

I think ... I would like it , this looks very usefull
(i hate the standard dialog)

 

[albie0803]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Yes please, a larger view window is great!!

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Thanks, I was beginning to wonder if the forum was just viewed by bots or something. :lol:

Are there any other Dialogs that require similar slight modifications? Or perhaps even a button or two?

For the Assembly Constraints dialog I was thinking I could add a button to flip the direction (+ or -), add a button to zero it out, and also have it keep Preview checked all the time.

I am also thinking of rolling many of my programs all into one utility - probably with an on/off check box for each function.

 

[Ralf]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Nate,

Your larger "Preview window" will be greatly appreciated, that's for sure.

 

[WoodWorks]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Looks great! How about your drop down layer selection for v12.1?

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Thanks! Yes the drop down layer functionality is planned to be included.

I'm not sure if I'll keep the combination nagware/registerware/donationware model I used in the past or what I will do yet. It didn't seem to have much effect anyways so I may just drop the nag screen and the registration part of it and just ask for a donation in the About page. A donation goes helps to support the code and the website. However I don't want to charge directly for it because it wouldn't be possible without the excellent work of many people in the AutoHotkey community. It also may not be possible for all the users.

Anyways back to topic; I am planning to have most of the functionality of most of my released scripts and even some new ones all together in a user selectable way. This will make the code longer for me but will eliminate keeping tangent projects up dated. It should also reduce the total memory use and make it easier for the user. I also don't like so many things in my task tray bar. As discussed in another thread I am working on having the required and displayed text in a separate translatable file. This will all take time though and I'm hoping that it works out better.

 

[memiles]

Re: The Future of My Programs

I definitely like what I see Nate.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Hey everyone, I still working on combining my programs. Just wanted to show off a little functionality I found and plan to add to Alibre. Spell checking!

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

BetterAlibreTool v0.1 Released: http://forums.liquidgravity.us/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1236

 

[jhiker]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Sorry Nate but it didn't install properly for me.
It did sit there in the tray but didn't appear to have any effect on Alibre.
Using XP and alibre 2011

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Hmm, did you get a msg about a spell library error when loading it? It appears that I forgot to include the required files for the spelling tool. I'll rebuild and re-upload tonight.

 

[jhiker]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Yeah - there was an error message - it was hidden behind the install progress bar and I didn't get chance to read it properly. Will try again later once you've had chance to take a look.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

This should now be fixed. Please re-download and re-"install" the program. I think you guys should like the newest features - spell check & larger view creation dialogs. Please let me know what systems they work on and any problems you experience. Also anything you would like to see included.

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Anybody have any questions, comments or suggestions on it?

 

[bemfarmer]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Thank you Nate. (Edit: I do see some notes on your website)
I would suggest a brief readme file, covering:
How to install the program. First unzip, then run/click on the "Better Alibre Tool" green icon.
This creates a little green icon in windows 7 "show hidden icons" ["task tray"] which shows an About screen and a Settings screen.
(Note: to re-install, had to re-boot to delete older version(?))

That is as far as I got. Do not see any menu changes in Alibre.
Does the program work invisibly in the background?
How does the program interact with Alibre? How do I know it is working? (Only would notice change in certain situations?)
Win 7 / 64 bit
AD Expert 2011.0.0.59 / 64 bit
The 3 global mouse settings do not seem to do anything. :?:
(Only tried it out for a limited time.)

 

[jhiker]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Well, for me the view creation dialogues were just the same (small)

 

[NateLiquidGravity]

Re: The Future of My Programs

Thanks for the feedback.

It does indeed need much more info. I plan to have a different settings dialog in the next version with a description and a picture for each setting.

As for the install:
This is a portable program and will install and run in whatever location you place it. That is it. There are no registry entries or hidden files or anything in any System or Program Files folders. All self contained where you extract it. It will auto-load after install.

To run it: It runs from the same exe used to install. It will then load into the task tray. Functions can be enabled by selecting what you want active in the settings - which are accessed by manually editing the ini file or right click on task tray icon and select settings.

To uninstall:
Simply right click the icon and choose Exit. Then you can delete the exe and all files it created. It must be exited for Windows to allow you to delete it.