I’m getting more requests for features in the Linkage program than ever before. I am now using Axosoft issue tracking software to keep track of bugs and feature requests. Here’s the current list that I generated from user emails and from my memory of things that I want. There is no priority to these yet, and some I probably won’t ever do:
Draw curved slider path line instead of straight line in hull
Add spin controls for quickly incrementing selected digits in a numeric field
Show two-connector link length in the link properties dialog box
Show a list of connectors in the link properties dialog box
Show selected item information/properties in the status bar
Add tooltip popup when hovering over elements
Let arrow keys work in interactive and manual simulations
Add a free text element with multiple text lines
Add support for an image element to display images behind the mechanism
Add an arc drawing element, as well as other drawing elements
Improve font selection by allowing more than two sizes
Provide more interesting connector visualizations
Don’t restore layer selections from the document during load and during undo operations
Allow the length of a link to be set if it has two connectors
Allow elements to be grouped so that they all move (in edit mode) when one is moved
Move fastened elements when the link that they are fastened to is moved
Add setting to oscillate rotating inputs
Add cams and cam followers
Add rotating connectors to moving links
Multi-thread the rendering for video
Add a key-press to temporarily activate snapping when dragging elements
Add constraints so that links can’t be altered, or can only be scaled and rotated
Allow percentage value as a length change value
Allow zoom and pan during simulation
Allow line type selection for links
Chain doesn’t move but looks like it should
Add Random Movement Simulation
Add Rotating Actuators (Servos)
Change Selection Code to Use Link Hull
Display angles between links
User request for position relative to crank angle?
Some are just ideas, some are bugs, and some are big changes to what the program delivers to users. It will be interesting to see if I can get any of these done while still working two programming jobs :)
Dave
Great software, I’d love to see a motion module , where you could plot graphs with displacements, velocities and accelerations.