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The parts list feature is almost done in the Linkage program. Parts List The parts list is a view of the mechanism where each link is shown in a “horizontal” position in a vertical list with all of the other links. This has been a challenging feature to…
Continue readingA user contacted me with a mechanism that was not simulating properly. It became clear right when I saw it what was wrong; a link must have two sliding connectors on the same path to just slide. Links that have a single sliding connector can rotate around some…
Continue readingThere were a few bugs in recent versions of the Linkage program. there was an uninitialized variable related to a hidden feature that I’m working on, and a count problem when moving gears. Wow, it’s getting to be a complicated beast. Anyhow, the sample mechanism in the picture…
Continue readingI have finally replaced the old Linkage installer with the new 3.1 version. There is no more Beta testing. Download Linkage 3.x here. New features and fixes are… Motion path export. Slide path dotted lines now drawn inside of link “hull”. Fixed simulation problem with links that are…
Continue readingI will make this Beta into the official version as soon as I do a little more testing of my own. In this version, I disabled the parts list feature that I was working on. I fixed a bug in the sprocket/pulley sizing that was using unscaled/unadjusted sizes…
Continue readingNo one has asked me about the grid yet. I suppose that most people that use the Linkage program don’t really notice it or, since they can’t set it, don’t notice that it’s really weird. I am going to add a grid view option. People will certainly notice…
Continue readingGet the new Beta here: http://www.rectorsquid.com/temp/linkage.msi I’m almost ready to release a new production version of the Linkage program. This latest beta version fixes a locked link problem where connectors could still be moved during a JOIN operation. Now a JOIN operation will move connectors that are not…
Continue readingIn some blog posts, and in a few emails to colleagues and customers, I have mentioned the term “architecture.” I’m not sure if most non-programmers understand the issues surrounding software architecture. But I sure do. The Linkage program is familiar to people who read my blog (all 10…
Continue readingImage of Proposed Drawing Idea I want to be able to draw links in the Linkage program that look about like this (above). But I’m not sure what type of algorithm to design to do it. My plan is to create a semicircle at each and and a…
Continue readingI have an interesting programming problem. It has to do with the overall size, or area, of a mechanism. The dimension lines are draw so that the distance between them is always the same on the screen regardless of the zoom level. This is also true for videos,…
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