Suggestion: Shift Paths as an available output option

Hi everyone!

I find myself constantly using the Shift Paths component, I actually use it as much as Flatten Tree, Graft, or Simplify, which as you know are available as output options for components as well as as components. Since I use it so much I would like to sugest for the development of GH2 the possibility of including Shift Paths as another output option included by default in al components, just like Flatten Tree, Graft, Reverse List or Simplify. I understand Shift Paths has two inputs instead of only one, the second one besides the data tree being the number of paths/branches to offset, I am imagining this Shift Path output option as the default Shift Paths components, that is, with a default value for the offset of one, (because that is how I use it 99% of the time. For other values the regular component should be used as usual.

I would like to know the opinion of other users, do you guys think this would be a nice improvement to your regular workflow? Would you like to have this available as another output option?

Thanks!

Nacho

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joseph Oster on June 16, 2017 at 2:13pm

Wouldn't it be better to use a default of zero? Then it has no effect until you set a non-zero value.

Permalink Reply by Ignacio Bevilacqua on June 16, 2017 at 3:17pm

Well, by default it would not be active just like the other output options which must be manually chosen. If you choose it though, it's because you want it to have an effect. These output options can only be activated or deactivated, at least how the software is designed right now, and because none of the actual output options need any further input in order to work correctly. As I said the regular component would still be available as usual for more in detail needs.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Oster on June 16, 2017 at 3:32pm

'Shift Paths' is different because it needs an 'Offset' parameter (the default is now negative one, not +one). By using zero as the default, you don't need a separate enable/disable toggle since offset=0 has no effect on the list. Otherwise, two parameters would be needed to do the same thing: On/Off and Offset.

Permalink Reply by Ignacio Bevilacqua on June 17, 2017 at 4:05am

Ok, so you mean you would rather have it be activated by default and just change de offset value. that mighth be an interesting option too. What I meant is that as the software is right now these output options can only be activated or deactivated, there is no option to feed them an input, so in order to develop this option as you are sugesting the programers would have to come around this problem by creating some kind of way to feed an integer to this output option(I don't have a clue how hard this can be) whereas the way I had sugested the shift paths output option would not need an input and would simply work with the default -1 (my bad on the previous posts) which as I said is how I need it to be 99% of the time, also in this way no typing would be needed to access this function, just a right click to enter output options and a left click to select shift paths would do the trick, as usual for other output options. This would be comfortable, it would help to manage and transform data more easily and speed up the workflow a bit.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Oster on June 17, 2017 at 6:46am

There are many examples of more extensive interaction than on/off in the right-click dropdown, such as 'Loft O (Options)' input or "Set Integer" (Data, Domain, etc.). I'm suggesting that with a default of zero, this 'Shift Paths' feature would be disabled and by changing the default it becomes enabled.

But you could make the same argument for 'Shift List' too, eh? The trouble with interactive options is that their settings are not necessarily obvious by glancing at the code. And worse, components like 'Image Sampler' REQUIRE interactive use of their settings and cannot be configured programmatically.

Permalink Reply by Ignacio Bevilacqua on June 18, 2017 at 2:34am

You are right, there actually are many examples. It would be great to have this work the way you sugest if some options (0,-1,-2) where available in the sub menu you acces when right clicking, I'm only thinking on speeding up the workflow, some way to set this options without typing, so not something like the set integer option for the offset by default, allthough that would be nice to have also.

Permalink Reply by Andrew Heumann on June 22, 2017 at 2:47am

I agree with this suggestion - a "shift -1" right-click modifier makes a ton of sense. I use "-1" about 10x more than any other shift offset. It's literally the functional opposite of graft, so it makes sense to have both options. A more complex modifier with variable options (shift w/ offset) would be nice too, but maybe not necessary.

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