Viewer Modification for higher precision.

Hello all,

Due to the length of this process I have created a text document and put it up on pastebin. So inorder to use this you must refer to the following web address.

http://pastebin.ca/1521589?srch=Shey+MOD

If performed correctly you should have a few extra decimal places to work with in the build options menu, and can now say goodbye to a prim nudger. Also can have a better tool in the fight against prim drift. Happy building all!

Thanks in advance for trying this out, and for any feedback that you may return.

Cheers,
Shaleen Swansen

Thanks, Shaleen. This should be quite helpful.

I'll give it a try, and report back.

The function to clamp the numbers to the desired precision works by multiplying by 10 for every decimal place, and breaks larger numbers if the precision is too high (unable to see the correct size of megaprims and stuff) :/

The maximum that SL allows for in the edit menu is actually 7 digits.

I added some time ago a picture in this thread (post #2) of the edit menu totally hacked, with more or less everything changed.

/8/5d/288976/1.html

With regards to your link, very good, I was always reluctant to add the necessary info just in case some noob got hold it and made a complete mess and couldn't access SL anymore.

It might also be useful to add that not only can you increase the amount of digits displayed but you can also change the size of how they are displayed and most useful of all for builders is changing the increments.

Also, as has been asked before in other threads for example changing the transparency to 100% or the hollow size to 100 cannot be altered via the edit menu, this is preset regardless of changing the maximum or minimum in the Floater_tools file.

I have not played around lately but there was a problem/bug in the last few viewers whereas building at certain points/heights on the sim caused one of the co-ords to be displayed as a minus. Manually correcting this caused the prim or linkset to disappear into infinity never to be found again if on the X or Y co-ord. On the Z-co-ord it was normally somewhere high in the sky or below ground so caution is advised if this bug is still present.

The Greenlife viewer provides increased precision out of the box, see the last picture on this page:

http://modularsystems.sl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=17

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Emerald viewer is a builders viewer. It uses 5 place accuracy in the Object tab. Plus there are more types of prims.

I reviewed it here: http://nalates.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/greenlife-emerald-viewer-review/#more-282

I wonder why they did not change it to allow 100m prims like in Open Life...

cause the limit is a server limit and not a client one simply

No... I don't think so. Weren't mega prims made when a viewer release allowed prims to be dimensioned over 10m. We still use mega-prims and the servers don't choke.

For speed and storage space programmers tend to try and use integers. Often saving a value as an integer and converting it to a real/float in use. So, total digits is usually the limit of precision in those cases. I would guess a short was used. I suspect all the conversion happens on the client side.

I read something about the limits in a thread about the Emerald viewer.

There are indeed server-side (arbitrary) limitations on prim size. You are partially correct in that mega-prims were created at a point when someone side-stepped the client-side limitations and the servers were not yet validating the prim sizes, but megaprims exist now only by the explicit consent of Linden Lab, and only those that already exist. You cannot make new megaprims, and must stick to the predefined megaprim sizes that already exist.

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Thanks Takuan. That is clear.

Obviously the server can handle the large prims. Otherwise we could not use them or save them.

That LL checks on server side to prevent the creation of more mega-prims makes sense. Why, makes less sense. Prolly a money thing...

What does LL gain from the current situation regarding money ? If they wanted to avoid reduction of primcount per build why do they support existing megaprims ... and why do they support oblong sculpties and their ability to create "multiple objects out of one prim...

Maybe there is a technical reason for that ? I have heard about strange effects when megaprims cross sim borders for instance...

Gaia, you may be right and you make a good point.

By allowing existing mega-prims they would see some to loss of income. Most builders that are experienced will use mega-prims. However by having the Edit Dialog and server disallow large prims they do effectively block new and many intermediate builders, which I think are the majority. It is likely unfair for me to attribute their motive as cash induced. But, it seems to be the apparent motive.

The mega-prims do create other effects. Selecting them or camera selecting them often results in unpredictable results. Cameras cannot be maneuvered inside many.

I have never tried to place a mega-prim across sim boundaries. I'll take it you are correct that it can cause problems. But if it were a significant problem, they would have removed mega-prims from the database. They did a pass once, but mega-prim use is increasing.

All the problems that I have actually seen do not seem like that big a problem to fix. I also see not being able to navigate a camera inside a mega-prim from outside as a good thing. Several builders use the trick to improve puzzles and add a touch of privacy.

All in all I don't see any real problems from large prims. OpenLife is using them. It will be interesting to see what Blue Mars has done with prim size limits. I'm still waiting on my developers approval.

Thanks for bringing this up. I was searching for this recently.
Unable to find the info, I went ahead and used an extra digit in the edit box anyway, like, putting a third number into the box and hitting enter into the "Cut" area. (On a hollow/cut box mega prim.) Up-close you can see it still it works, cutting the prim a tiny bit but the extra number does not show. So to do the next one, have to remember or guess which number I used.


This is the same with any prim. You can't cam inside the bounding box, and alt-camming on a cut edge/tapered face throws the camera awkwardly, so it's not mega specific. As far as I can tell, megas cause nil problems, even over boundaries.

On my OpenSim sandbox I have many 100x100x100 sculpty "Islands" extending into the voids surrounding my sims. They have been there for many months. No issues what-so-ever.

I want MAX-SIZE increased to, at least, 64meters.
Oh but of course, the only problem then will be that land sales will decrease which makes the "Money" angle a very valid point.
And btw, I use megas at every opportunity now.