Xtreme 4 - another update

[jclements]

Alignment enhancements .... thank you, thank you, thank you.

Clipview, and now alignment, queue off of the BACK-MOST object. I always found this awkward v.s. using the front most (usually the easiest to select and is awkward especially for ClipView where you'd like to draw a shape over top of a view then clip to it).

Any reasons why the FRONT-MOST object couldn't be used instead?

Not sure how other xara users feel about it.

Regards, John

P.S. to Tim Hines, this has been requested before and that is my preference as well, but I've a feeling that would require a whole new block of code which would act as an "observer" (running in the background) in order to determine what objects are selected and when those objects are selected and that might be very difficult to integrate with the existing overall code and possibly cause a performance hit. I am guessing the new functionality is able to use the stacking and layer order which has been in Xara since day one.

[amoore]

Any reasons why the FRONT-MOST object couldn't be used instead?

Not sure how other xara users feel about it.

Sorry, John. Front-most would not work for me at all. Sometimes the shape I need to align to may be in the middle of the stack, as it were, but Back-most is far more likely.

Allison

[jclements]

For you Allison, I'm willing to let you have your way :}

[amoore]

Oh, thank you, John. That is so generous of you.

[timhines]

P.S. to Tim Hines, this has been requested before and that is my preference as well, but I've a feeling that would require a whole new block of code which would act as an "observer"

I would have thought it just needs a single flag to keep a track of the ID of the last selected object.

[PhilM]

It's better to make the align operation use the state of the document that the user can see and manipulate directly rather than use a hidden state which would have to be remembered both by the program and by the user in perfect synchronisation.

This is a general principle in Xtreme's UI design and is one of the reasons that Xtreme is easier to use than other programs.

Phil

[timhines]

The last item selected is user controlled and I wouldn't consider hidden. The first item selected would also do. Visio uses that, although I prefer the Corel style last item selected as you can do all the selections first before picking the key object. Doing it first means that sometimes you end up having to restart the selection. Another choice would be to let the user pick from the screen after the dialog is opened, but I think that is awkward.

The trouble with using the "back" object, is that you have to push the item to the back first (which may well hide it), and then do the align. Whatever method is used, the user should be able to select the key object irrespective of its z-order - or colour, size, shape or anything else ...

The currently typically difficult alignment is trying to centre large objects on small objects, e.g. a ring around a circle. A workaround is to clone the small object, shift-stretch it to keep it centred and make it overlarge, put the other objects within its bounds then centre to selection and delete the dummy object.

[timhines]

Ah, I see what you mean. Now I come to look at it, CorelDraw 11 (which is the latest I have) doesn't differentiate between the last selected and other selected items, which is not quite so bad with last selected as you tend to remember that, but is indeed a hidden property. I'm not sure if later versions do.

However, Visio uses different coloured markers around the items (green for the first selected, cyan for the others).

Xara puts a single little black square top left on selected items, so I would suggest that the last selected item have a coloured little square instead to indicate that it is the key item.

[jnerf]

Hey Guys why did you only enable multi-core support for the pro version
of Xara 4, and not Xtreme 4, this doesn't seem fair,
I own all the Xara Versions, but I bought the Pro Version 3.2 i believe late in 2007
as loyal as most Xara Fans have been up till now,
I would think you could offer a patch for Xtreme 4.0
to offer multi-core support.

[steve.ledger]

Did you not upgrade from 3.2 Pro to 4 Pro @ $49??