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Component thumbnails


Alan Cooper

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Tech, please could the following information be added to the manual as it took me a while to work out how to get component thumbnails to display at optimum view [Windows] :

 

The thumbnail view produced for the component relates directly to the shape of the modelling window and amount by which your new component fills that window. To adjust the thumbnail, edit the component via the component manager palette. Adjust the view, crucially the window shape and how the component fills the window, the display options, save and close the component file. From another modelling file [which may remain open the whole time, let's call it drawing 1], view the result of the component thumbnail. If parts do not show properly, edit the component again and use your arrow keys to scroll to view the component in an altered position in the window, save, close and you will be able to immediately see the updated result in the component thumbnails palette for drawing 1 and have opportunity from there to edit component again if required. Tip: Best use keyboard shortcuts to get rid of unwanted grid and axis quickly.

 

 

post-242-0-81777500-1423903170_thumb.jpg

post-242-0-92401400-1423903171_thumb.jpg

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Dennis, yes. I wouldn't want the wire/shaded to be a global choice. A toggle switch would be good. I struggle to get enough definition in the thumbnails sometimes, or sometimes there is too much, plus antialiasing.

Regarding the fit window suggestion, I actually like the way it is now, or at least to maintain some manual adjustment because it gives opportunity for some preferential adjustment. It would be horrible if we have no control to exclude a part of a component from view, or if it clipped some off or wasted potential space. Sometimes we just want to see a small area of a component in the thumbnail which differentiates from a similar component which would be indistinguishable if both were full size. I would actually like the option to be able to display a user prepared icon instead in some cases.

There have been improvements with component palette in V8 though and they are much appreciated, especially list view.

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Guess I was liking automatic sizing in fmz v6 symbols. Component always filled the thumbnail.

Nice to have color shaded in v8.

Alan never realized thumbnail could enlarge to a detail part of component as my work flow I make a lot of user components within each component individual fmz project and at times left with a lot of wasted space around component if project is saved at that view.

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Hi Alan and Dennis,

 

Yes, whatever widow size, whatever display mode, and whatever view is active when the Component is saved will determine the preview icon for that Component.

 

Does this information give you what you want with regards to creating these preview icons?

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The options are already good, but further choices would be a bonus, like for example as an idea, the opportunity to show an image [which would be browsed for] instead in case an entirely different image would be more helpful to recognise what the component is or relates to. An idea for V9 perhaps.

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yes please give us choices. one good thing would be the already requested 'fit to window' option. another neat one whould be to have an automatically scaled backdrop (a simple squared mosaic pattern consisting of two gray scales would be ok) to get a comparative size impression of any component at a glance.

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