derlando / betterblocks Goto Github PK

We keep a coherent list of all functions mentioned in https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/v6-making-a-better-block-manager/20480 and add some discussion of what to use, what to discard

• We need an option to list blocks (or exclude) that are not made of other blocks. We need to know what parts to make or purchase before we even think about assembling them. In other words, which blocks are root blocks, and which ones are only assemblies of those blocks? We have “Top Level,” but we need to also know the “Bottom Level” blocks.
• The Block Manager should be a dockable side-panel or non-UI locking floating sheet.
• Part counts should visible in the default view. We can’t do find things such as find zero-count unused blocks, or high-count objects worth simplifying, -or “what can be done to simplify this?”
• It would be useful to be able to choose the sort columns in the block manager. We could find everything from one vender, or find high part counts, or unused blocks.
• The block manager should be be able to copy blocks with a new name for modifications. Adding duplicate meta data can be time consuming to place in the new block. This feature would be useful if the user make a part from the same raw stock, such as I-beam steel. This is handy for things like bolt or framing sections of different length. An option to cut and paste a single-blocks meta-data would also work for this purpose, but would probably be harder to program.
• Part previews are handy, but would be recognize if they were ghosted. There are other modes available by right clicking, but not ghosted.
• Part previews should be a larger.
• It would be beneficial to have part previews that have the handle point color coded
• We should also have previews whenever we are given the option of overwriting another block/parts, to avoid mistakes when replacing/overwriting blocks.
• It would be handy to be able to a volume calculation on several blocks, for checking the final weight. Using blocks costs us some read-only functionality that would be useful to preserve.
• It would be handy to be able to fetch the block metadata with only a mouse click or two. Quickly tell me about this block without finding it in the Block Manager. In other words, when we get the properties of an object [F3] on Windows, I would like to be no more than a single click away from the information I added to the block, such as the notes, link, etc… Another way of saying it, is I want a quick Properties or Get-Info on a block, without looking it up in the Block Manager. "Hey, where did you find that part? I don’t know right-click on it, and read where to order the darn thing."
• For large projects, it would be handy if each block could have an associated imposter, a simplified representation of a the block definition. The imposters could be toggled on/off globally, or by selection and marking, such as we do with visibility and locking.
• It would be useful to have in the block manager table, a date field that automatically stores the last time a block was modified. This would help with versioning.
• A few user fields–even if they were limited to a set length would be a powerful addition to a block definition/block manager. For instance, a user could find out whom is working on what.
• Replace Block/Select Block/Definition should open with the presently selected block open, because we will likely be selecting a block named similar to the one we will be replacing. Of course it should still? error if we try to replace something with an exact duplicate
• It would be good if when a block is selected the block name should show in the command line, instead of “Block Instance.” We select a lamp, we could see the name we gave it, such as “Instance: Desklamp Guzzini-Sorella.”