Bezier curves

[Jim Hurley]

>
>Message: 7
>Date: Sat, 8 May 2004 19:46:06 -0700 (PDT)
>From: Alejandro Tejada <capellan2000 at yahoo.com>
>Subject: Re: Bezier curves
>To: use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
>Message-ID: <20040509024606.16542.qmail at web40512.mail.yahoo.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
>Jim Hurley wrote:
>
>>  A single bezier line--two end
>>  points only--is about 50 K!
>>  A bezier line with 10 segments is 500 K.
>
>That's exactly what i suspect!
>
>Could you implement the bezier code as a backscript?
>
>In this way, every object could refer to this
>backscript code, not their own
>script of many lines.
>
>>  As a work-around, to reduce the size, I have added a
>
>>  button to the bezier plug-in which converts any
>>  bezier curve to a simple line graphic.
>>  It takes each of the bezier line groups and
>>  concatenates their graphic points to form a single
>>  graphic line and deletes all the controls and their
>>  scripts.
>
>This is great!!!
>
>Could you store all the locations of startpoint
>endpoint, first control point and second control point
>within a custom property of the polygon graphics?
>
>In this way you could restore these points if the user
>needs to edit the line as a bezier graphic.
>
>SVG, PDF and Adobe Ilustrator file formats have
>defined these characteristics of their vector
>graphics.
>
>What could be better?
>
>SVG, PDF or Adobe Ilustrator
>notation format for this custom property?

Al,

A lot of the file-size problems were resolved when I remembered Chipp 
Walter's revAltCleanStack utility.

I had worked on my bezier stack, off and on, for a couple of weeks. 
Chipp points out that, as you work on a stack, there is an 
accumulation of IDE information stored in a custom RR property called 
cREVGeneral .

Clearing that info reduced my original stack from 636 K to 184 K, a 
savings of 71% !!!!!!!

This clearing is taken care of by RR when one builds a stand alone. 
(I had thought it was also done with each save, but, apparently, not 
so.) But if one is building a utility, or a personal stack for use 
within the  RR IDE, one is unaware of this buildup. I think it would 
be worthwhile for RR to re-introduce the "compact stack" menu item 
from HC, but this time use it to clear  cREVGeneral.  (I have added 
Chipp's utility to my plug-in folder.)

Clearing cREVGeneral has reduced the compact version of my bezier 
plug-in to 28 K.

I think your suggestion of using a back script is surely the right 
way to go. One might store all the scripts used in common in the 
first  bezier group, and then pass the owner of the various controls 
to these back scripts as a parameter.

As I have said before, the thing I miss most from SuperCard was the 
ability to cut and paste graphics generated in Super Card into Free 
Hand (or Illustrator.) I think RR is working on this.

(snip)

>
>
>Look for yourself in this file:
>
>http://www.geocities.com/capellan2000/Graphic_Tools_v01beta.zip

I couldn't get this stack to work for me. I kept getting error 
messages--object not found. Maybe it is a Meta Card thing. Or, more 
likely, the way I am using it.

Pity. This is an intriguing stack!!!

Jim