[FR] Labeling dimensions ?

[Billiam]

I'm not sure if this is possible with the opencascade kernel, and/or through replicad directly, but it would be really helpful for me to be able to display a visual label of a dimension, likely a line between two arbitrary points (but not necessarily an edge) with a text label.

My use case is creating configurable replicad projects, where there can be many param controls. It would be helpful to have an always-visible representation of that labeled parameter.

I'm envisioning a box generator with a line between two separators in the box with a label showing 'sectionWidth' for example.

On some projects, I've created a diagram for these and shared it with the project, but it would be great to see these in space (since the 2d diagram can be ambiguous) and have them live with the project itself.

Example:

[sgenoud]

Ok, I like the idea, I have played a bit (just in the UI for now) and I think it can work:

That said, I am not sure how I want to expose it for the model designer and for the end user. I will play a bit more.

[sgenoud]

There are some primitives that are not exposed - I should have a look at how to do it nicely! Thanks!

[sgenoud]

You can now have a Vertex instance instead of a [number, number, number]. You can create one with makeVertex([1, 2, 3]). It exposes the same transformation method than any shape. If you want to retrieve the tuple you can make vertex.asTuple().

I added a new position, side-end that is the other type of side (i.e. I was not sure what should be trailing or leading).

An example with both

[Billiam]

Ahh, that works perfectly! 🎉

[Billiam]

@sgenoud Are you happy with the labels implementation/api as it stands now? I'm wondering if it's safe(ish) to start using it. 😃

[sgenoud]

I still need to document it, but yes - let's consider it safe(ish)!

[BarbourSmith]

Yeah, this is so cool!

[sgenoud]

I think that leva has been great as a quick way to expose parameters, but with the addition of the labels, I am wondering if I should invest some time in a purpose built model sharing environment (with the possibility to more more intricate input forms, and different labels toggles).

As it is now there are way to hack around and built some of the functionality. Would you see a lot of value in something more polished just for sharing?

[Billiam]

Would you see a lot of value in something more polished just for sharing?

I find the current sharing setup pretty polished honestly, since there's a dedicated "share" view, and the leva parameters do most of what I need.

What kind of polish were you thinking of?

[sgenoud]

The fact that leva is kind of a hack that you need to bridge with. For instance it would be amazing to be able to tie a label with a param and show / hide it from the "leva" interface.

Also have something more dedicated to build interfaces and have the configuration part of the model be more proeminant.

Extend a bit what you can do, perhaps accept a SVG that you can then access as a Drawing.

I tend to like having separate tools for well defined purpose (unix-philosophy like) - and the workbench as it is feels a bit like it starts to try to do too much.

[Billiam]

Not to derail the discussion further, but I've been playing with leva a little on the SVG front (using replicad-decorate):

svg project in studio

with a simple/closed svg: vase-svgrepo-com

[sgenoud]

i really like how you leverage what is available (i.e. hack around the limitation) to build with replicad!