[L2Ork-dev] Purr Data straight patch chords option and disabling grid background

[Jonathan Wilkes]

On Wed, Dec 23, 2020 at 3:20 PM Lorenzo Sutton <lorenzofsutton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Jonathan,
>
> On 23/12/2020 18:53, Jonathan Wilkes wrote:
> > On Wed, Dec 23, 2020 at 4:05 AM Lorenzo Sutton <lorenzofsutton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> [...]
>
> >
> > It's not possible in CSS to switch between a curve command and a
> > straight line command for an svg path. So it cannot be easily changed
> > as part of a style sheet.
> >
> > It would be possible to add a flag to the cord drawing function that
> > draws the path as a straight line. It's not that difficult, but it
> > would need a startup flag and a checkbox added to the GUI preferences.
>
> I understand. Hoping not to trigger any 'strong feelings' (I guess the
> curvy chords are one of the main features of Purr Data vs. vanilla...) I
> think an option to have (all) chords straight would still be nice for
> those cases where the 'vanilla patching aesthetics' are desirable :)

Actually, I could just hard-code straight lines to any GUI preset with
"vanilla" in its name:

https://git.purrdata.net/jwilkes/purr-data/-/merge_requests/603

It's a bit hacky because it won't redraw curved connections if you change
the GUI preset with open patches.

You're welcome to checkout that branch above and let me know if that works for
you. If so we can figure out how to redraw the lines for existing patches and
merge it in.

>
> Ideally this would be somehow also saved in the patch, but not sure how
> much complexity that would add.

Hard-coding with "vanilla"-substring'd GUI presets solves that issue.

>
> >
> >>
> >> Also, running on 2.15.2 (Arch AUR package), I seem to have different GUI
> >> options compared to what is written in the Purr Data Intro page [1]. In
> >> fact instead of 'grid background in edit mode' I have a 'snap to grid
> >> (experimental)' option. My goal would be to be able to _disable_ grid
> >> visualisation even in edit mode (maybe still keeping the snapping).
> >
> > When "snap to grid" is unchecked, I would prefer not to show a grid in
> > editmode. But we need to show *something* to make it look different
> > than runmode-- just reusing the grid at a lower opacity was a
> > quick-and-dirty solution. Let me know if you have any suggestions on
> > how to visually distinguish edit-mode.
> >
> > When "snap to grid" is checked, I don't see a good reason to hide the
> > grid. If there's a less distracting way to display a background grid,
> > let me know and I'll try it out.
>
> Well a scenario might me 'live coding' or similar situations where the
> editing process is also part of the 'visuals', or simply a tutorial or
> explanation where the grid might be a bit too distracting... Maybe have
> an option to set the colours of the grid in both modes so that one could
> set it to the same colour of the background effectively making it invisible?

Unfortunately I had to use a background SVG for the grid pattern, and changing
styles on it is non-trivial.

I'd much rather spend time on one of the following:

* figure out the intersection between "useful grid" and "unobtrusive
editmode background" (lower opacity?)

* add a different, less obtrusive background pattern for editmode when
"snap to grid" is left unchecked

If you have any input on either of those, I'm happy to experiment.

-Jonathan

>
> Lorenzo.
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