Line Animation Object

Overview

Use a line animation object to draw lines with arrows for example create noticeable directions to points of interest.

Create a line animation object

In the Objects tab, double-click on the line animation icon or click it and draw where you want it on the edit area.

Settings

Right-click the list object and select Edit to bring up the Edit list animation window.

Line edit area

In the area to the right, you may ctrl+left click to add a line point.

General tab

New

Create a new line animation.

Open

Open a saved line animation file.

Save

Save the current line animation to file. The file extension for line animations is .diselineanim.

Scale

Set the width and height of the line edit area (see above)

Line width

Set the drawn width of the line.

Arrowhead

Check to add an arrow to the start of the line.

Arrowtail

Check to add an arrow to the end of the line.

Arrowhead size

Increase/decrease the size of the arrow.

Render lines

Check to draw lines in the line animation.

Scale line widths

Specifies whether the line width should scale with the size of the object. If unchecked, the line will have a constant size.

Preview animation

Check to animate the line with its properties.

Motion tab

Do not animate, draw lines instantly

Skip the animation altogether and display the entire line immediately.

Animation speed

Fixed speed

The animation should move with a fixed number of pixels per second.

Fixed animation time

The movement should take a fixed time to complete.

Relative to object time

The speed to complete the movement should take a proportion of the total time of the object.

Speed calculation method

This relates to how the object should operate when there are several line branches.

Shortest branch

Each level (see figure above) gets drawn at the same time. The shortest line on each level will determine the level's speed. Longer lines on the same level will speed up.

Average speed

Each level gets drawn at the same time. The medium line length on each level will determine the level's speed. Longer lines will speed up, shorter lines will slow down.

Longest branch

Each level gets drawn at the same time. The longest line on each level will determine the level's speed. Shorter lines on the same level will slow down.

Fixed speed

Lines are drawn with the same speed. Shorter lines will be finished before longer lines.

Adjusted

Lines will adjust their speeds so that all branches in the line animation finish at the same time.

Data tab

Connect Data

Read the line coordinates from an data connected text file.

Connected to external text file

Allow you to toggle the data connection on/off.

Data is

Line source

The text should be interpreted as line source

XY coordinates

The text should be interpreted as coordinates of the form X,Y.

Advanced tab

Line source

Line source is a sequence of text commands that constitute a description on how to draw the line animation.

MOVETO X,Y

Move the cursor to the specified coordinate without drawing.

LINETO X,Y

Move the cursor to the specified coordinate while drawing a line.

SPLIT

Start a new line branch from this position.

ENDSPLIT

End the line branch (that was started with the previous split)

IF <variable> EXISTS

Will check if the specified variable is declared and if so, execute the clause until the next ENDIF. This allows you to setup context- or position-based directions.

ENDIF

Ends the if clause.

Click the Compile button to check for errors.

Example

Here is an example explanation of how to find the DISE HQ in Karlstad, Sweden, going from the central station.