Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Deleting a Shape through the Console Interface.

In the short time that we've had our eCraft machines we've been able to cover a LOT of topics.  All of these articles, up to now, have been limited to things we can do through the console of the machine.

In one more day, we will be able to turn our attention to the eCraftShop Pro software.  But, I don't want to go there without covering one more very important console topic.  And, that is the subject of DELETING a shape.

Most of the actions that we do from the console are pretty straightforward and relatively intuitive.  But, if there is a function that defies all logic, it is that of deleting an unwanted shape from the cutting queue.  It sounds simple enough, "Set Multicut to Zero."  Yep!  That'll do it alright!  IF you can find out how to make it go to zero!!!

Here is a video that demonstrates this er... unique... and uh... original process.



Easy, eh? 

But, you have to ask yourself this question, "Why can't I select a multicut of zero ANY TIME?"

Beats me?  But, hey... like I said... we didn't design it, we just have to find a way to use it.  And, we did.  And, it works.  Isn't that what really counts?

Now... on to a new month with our eCrafts and on to the software!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Tom, Sara from Craftwell here..

The reason you couldn't delete the square is because you hadn't actually selected it yet. You'll notice that when you are trying to change the multi to 0 for the square, your total (top box) still says 1. Once you hit enter, your total changed to 2, which means the shape had been selected. You can then go back and delete it by changing the multi to 0. Not sure if this makes it any easier, but hopefully it gives an explanation as to why you couldn't do it the first time :)

Tom Meeks said...

Yes, that does explain the logic from a programmer's point of view. But, had they simply let one select zero at any time, it would still have been easier from a user's point fo view.

The fact that we can SEE the second image and make changes to the Multicut and Size makes it appear that we HAVE selected it.

But, ultimately, in any console type of interface where the buttons have multiple uses, these kinds of decisions are inevitable. So, then it just becomes a matter of adapting to what is rather than what we think it should be.

That, of course, didn't stop me from having a bit of fun criticizing it! That's why we blog! LOL!

Thanks, though, for the explanation. That is helpful. :)