open GDL board

[Frank Beister]

Not yet another GDL platform, but a platform for GDL developers for public domain GDL-objects:

openGDL.org is online!

According to sourceforge.net this becomes a platform for distributed developing of objects. It provides free download and usage of objects, but with the conditon to resend the modifications made in this object to the author and the community.

All authors, who want to share an object, gets a page for each, where he can manage and merge all enhancements users have added to this object. There will be listed all information about the object, a wishlist, a bugtracking list and a list of preversions and derivates split of this object.

Complementary there are some pages for helping in math, programming and GDL-realted stuff. Additions, Tutorials, Essays in any language are welcome. There will be a contest for efficient and smart programming too, called '3kB-quickie' and 'compact quad'. There are no prices yet, but no competitors too. 😉

This is a private initiative with no commercial interrests. Because there is no sponsor behind it (than me), the page (still) uses a static web-hosting. This means all changes have to be inserted and uploaded manual. This needs a bit the help of the authors to offer their objects an descriptions in a predefined format (form).

Last not least: The page is in German, meaningless there is a button for english in the cornor. If someone wants to assist in translation, feel free to contact me. Because you can deep link to the site its also possible to keep a decided page in English. The site can become multilingual.

This is a test if there are enough authors out there, who collect their old and new objects they programmed for own or public usage, add a little time into preparation for the web and publish it.
A nice example how this spirit can lead to better objects is the tentmaker, written in 2002 by Frank Chin. It is now bugfixed, 3D-hotspot added and in a vertical version avilable at Tentmaker (english)

Send your objects, Frank Beister

[Anonymous]

Frank,
I just visited the site and I needed to tell you
the home page is beautiful.
Very calm, clean, and elegant.
Thank you,
Peter Devlin

[Anonymous]

Hello Frank,

Congratulations for your initiative and for the site.

To add a contribution, i have modified the tentmaker2004.gsm object.
Tentmaker_1.gsm to avoid confusion.
Some corrections for height, graphical hotspots for sides,
and new user interface. Take it as an exercise,
and feel free to modify what you want, because i am not
sure of my vocabulary.

[Anonymous]

Great job, Frank!
Thank you!
I hope this will become a favourite place for all of us!

[Anonymous]

Hi Frank,
I looked "Open GDL Board" site today and was astonished, that since MAR-2005 there was nothing new. What are you thinking about that? Is there a problem in another web-site where GDL programmers/AC users can share objects with each others(for example www.objectsonline.com)?
It's just very interesting to know what the people from archi-talk forum are doing? I mean, i know that many users can write and write very helpfull programms, but I don't know what they than do with those? Are they sell objects, or just do not want to share free of charge?


Ich werde auf Ihre Antwort warten, um dann weiter zu diskutieren.
Gruß

[Frank Beister]

Hello Sohrab,
yes, there's not a lot of new on openGDL board. I have had a hard first half of the year with less time for 'gambling around'. I try to put all new stuff people are sending to me or I think my objects are worse for publishing as fast as possible to the page. But its very less coming in and that from a handful of people. One reason is for shure the language. There might not be a lot of programmers in DE or not a lot, who want to share.
Over that I had a name conflict with my main page and have now moved to another office name. So openGDL, which was a part of this hosting, will move too in the next months to a new provider. I will have access to a dynamic dot net structure. Maybe then will come the time to make it easier accessable for users itself.
Regards Frank
P.S. If you have some more questions, which are not so interesting for the whole community, you can mail me privately.

[Anonymous]

.net is good idea Frank,

Before you open new "Open GDL Board" I want to ask you:
1) to do new site more functional for use(arrangment, menu structure, colors, background, etc).
2) All GDL objects must be shown on site not only as "file names" to download, but also with preview images.
3) Possibility to check first all files for download, filter them (to check out) and than download. As additional function can be also possibility to download all out checked objects as one .zip file.
4) The objects must be organized in folders (for example like tree on www.objectsonlie.com or like www.theobjectsshop.com). Must be EASY as possible. Folder hierarchy can be the same as AC9 default or something near.
5) It will also great if near each object you set comments string, where the Authors will write the link to forum's address, where that appropriate object discusses.

P.S.:
Actually I'm working on some objects that will be very helpfull for many AC users. Some objects are to complex and I need help in developing of those. The reason is to have very useful and flexible tools in AC they have connection with external Applications like Excell and Access.

[Anonymous]

F. wrote:
One reason is for shure the language. There might not be a lot of programmers in DE or not a lot, who want to share.

The problems exist for French too…
Not a lot of free ArchiCAD GDL programmers…

There is a big —and very useful…— work to translate the interface of the objects in each language and a big challenge there for an international sharing.
It exist everywhere on the a net a big quantity of interesting ArchiCAD objects but also in a lot of different languages English, German, Italian, French, Hungarian, Pole, Portuguese, Dutch, Swede, Finn, Czech and others…

This works is not easy because of the knowledge —for each language…— of the very technical terms and local practices of construction, even inside the same language —French, Belgians, Swiss and Canadian don't always use the same word for the same thing—

[gerd]

of course, it is a lot of work to make an object with different languages inside ore several separate files. for objects from manufacturers or objects you have to pay for this is absolutely needed.

but in my opinion the "opengdl" site is more for sharing different methods for gdl code or for some math tipps and not intended to be a big download base.
so I think, elements in different languages are welcome, no need to translate everything or to make a multilingual version. the open source idea gives everyone the possibility to translate and publish there again.

I think, there are not many people who make gdl just for fun and own usage without commercial interest. many things are a lot of work and not every one wants to share. and some objects are based upon code from archicad library, so its not easy to be sure, if publishing of this (mixed) code may cause trouble. and most objects created for own use are not with nice interface or good structured code...
but I hope the site will grow; don't spent too much time for webdesign; for my opinion its ok; better add some more links (for example to some of the math websites you use) and tipps.

best regards, g

[Paul King]

Great initiative Frank!

Maybe, apart from the language barrier, there is a fear in many GDL authors that their coding or interface would not be elegant enough for public view? Especially if they have limited time to tidy everything up

Perhaps it would be good to emphasise that ANY useful object can be submitted even in a pretty raw state?
Perhaps less polished examples could be deliberately included at the start to "seed" the process - to encourage others to pick them up, develop them further & resubmit as "version 2" etc?

Cheers

Paul King