Basic Pattern Maker [ Windows & Linux ]

[John Hyslop]

Hi all
It's been a while since I've posted so hopefully you'll all like this one
I was working on this very simple pattern maker and PeteVick asked me if I was interested in sharing the code because my compiler was limited to Windows only Apps and he uses Lazarus [ Pascal ] that can compile to both systems... so I said yes and I have to say I'm very pleased with the end results.
After Pete ported my code across he added quite a few more enhancements.. "plus we've enjoyed a bit of banter in the process..."
So just letting you all know this was very much a joint effort..
I would also like to thank JJ who did some testing and feedback on the original.. and Husky who has picked up on so many errors and bugs in the past couple of months... Many Thanks
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BPM for now is Limited to Points & Angles 0,45,90,135,180,225,270 & 315
Here are some App screenshots...

BPM - Example - Seamless - Pattern.png (196.91 KiB) Viewed 95120 times

BPM - Mountains.png (38.05 KiB) Viewed 95120 times

BPM - Custom-Dash-Dot.png (41.31 KiB) Viewed 95120 times

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And here are some patterns made with BPM..

BPM - Example Patterns-02.png (8.29 KiB) Viewed 95120 times

BPM - Example Patterns.png (17.32 KiB) Viewed 95120 times

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And this is it in action...

BPM - Demo.gif (1.55 MiB) Viewed 95120 times

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New Version Uploaded Look Further Down
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Previous Version v1.1.0 was downloaded:-
Basic Pattern Maker Install – Windows.zip
Downloaded 51 times
Basic Pattern Maker Install – Linux x32.zip
Downloaded 32 times
Basic Pattern Maker Install – Linux x64.zip
Downloaded 34 times

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Happy Hatching
Cheers
John Hyslop & Pete Vickerstaff

[CVH]

BPM for now is Limited to Points & Angles 0,45,90,135,180,225,270 & 315

Keeping the chances of QCAD lagging low.
And it would stretch far beyond normal usage.
The general advice remains to keep the hatching origin close.

Is it restricted to squared tiles, tiling orthogonal in X/Y?

Regards,
CVH

[John Hyslop]

Hi CVH

Yes it is also restricted to square tiles orthogonal in X and Y.
We've kept this a very simple pattern maker, but even with these limitations , some very nice patterns can be created with this..
That's why Pete and I decide to call it "Basic Pattern Maker"

Happy Hatching

Cheers
John

[John Hyslop]

Hello everyone, it’s been a while since I last posted…
The Lazarus Wizard PeteVick has been busy adding some nice features to our app.
They are:-
Save Sketch / Open Sketch and Edit Sketch
“for usage see information/help button in app”

I’m also including some sample sketch files for you all to play around with..
You can easily create file associations with these in Linux & Windows by right clicking or double clicking the bpmlc file and selecting open with “Basic Pattern Maker” don’t forget to set this to defaults “always open with”.

Please uninstall previous versions, in particular Linux users as these are now deb packages and the previous installers were not … they are not maintained by DEBIAN they are self maintained by Pete and myself.
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BPM-v1.3.3.gif (2.96 MiB) Viewed 93024 times

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Linux users please uninstall previous version as these are now deb packages
browse to home/username/Basic Pattern Maker/Basic Pattern Maker Uninstall
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New Version Look Down / Fixed "App split between the two monitors"
with dual monitor setup.
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Happy Hatching
Cheers
John Hyslop & Pete Vickerstaff

[lphilpot]

Question - On my Windows 11 two-monitor computer it always starts in the dead middle, split between the two monitors. Is there a way to make it remember its last position or specify display geometry?

Thanks.

[John Hyslop]

Hi Len
We initially had some trouble with window positioning the preview window was going off the screen and there was no way to grab the tool bar to drag it into position.
I have a two monitor set-up but I run Linux Mint and don't have this problem, we'll have a look at this as there are settings for the positioning.. I'll try running my windows VM on two screens to see what happens, it could also be a Windows 11 thing BPM hasn't been tested on 11..

Meanwhile you could Google this "MultiMonitorTool"

Thanks for the feedback..

Cheers
John
PS I've not tested MultiMonitorTool but it's free and has a 4/5 star review.. Hopefully it gets you out of trouble for now..

[lphilpot]

I'll take a look but the initial positioning thing isn't a problem, more just a curiosity.

Thanks.

[John Hyslop]

Hi All

Thanks Len for picking this up...
There was a problem with dual monitor setups, the App would open split between the two monitors..
New V1.3.4 Updates below.. there is no need to update if you're a single monitor user..
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Linux users please uninstall old version 1.1.0 "if you have it installed" as these are now deb packages browse to home/username/Basic Pattern Maker/Basic Pattern Maker Uninstall
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To uninstall deb versions type this in the terminal:-
sudo apt remove basic-pattern-maker
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NEW Version Uploaded Look Further On
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BPM - V1.3.4-Setup-Windows.zip
Was Downloaded 145 times
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BPM - V1.3.4-Setup-Linux32bit.zip
Was Downloaded 131 times
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BPM - V1.3.4-Setup-Linux64bit.zip
Was Downloaded 135 times
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Cheers
John & Pete
Happy Hatching

[333onlyhalfevil]

Hello. Cool basic pattern maker program you guys have made.

Not sure if you/others know or not but autocad has a really good third party plugin that can output .pat files based on cad drawing input. Assuming you either have access to autocad or are willing to work with the free trial version, you could potentially use that to help you improve your basic pattern maker. I believe that the autocad one I'm referring to allows circles, arcs, etc. The idea I'm suggesting would be to use it to, say, input one simple circle, arc, etc., and then analyze the .pat file output to see how they're converting a cad circle entity to .pat format and then use that information to upgrade your own basic pattern maker. Just my 2 cents / food for thought. You can find information on the pattern maker I'm talking about by following these links:

https://www.mladengradev.com/en/create- ... n-autocad/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEZDJc7gNeY&t=1128s

[John Hyslop]

OK I know you’re all just itching to try something different with our “Basic Pattern Maker”
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Well how about this then, Herringbone patterns “limited to ratios with lengths being dividable by the widths”.
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Basic Pattern Maker has a grid limit of 50 so the largest ratio will be 1:25 “the grid needs to always be at least double the ratio”.
Most “not all” commercial paving bricks and boards have common ratios, the reason being is they are easier to work with and they line up with walls in rooms and patios perfectly where uneven ratios don’t.
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BPM-Blank.png (188.71 KiB) Viewed 89702 times

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HerringBone-Examples.png (95.43 KiB) Viewed 89710 times

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And before anyone says anything... sure you can do it at 90deg instead of 45.. but it's a lot easier doing at 45deg if you stick with the rules above
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HerringBone-90deg.png (18.14 KiB) Viewed 89710 times

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Happy Hatching
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Cheers
John & Pete

[John Hyslop]

Hi All
Here's another hatch pattern that can be made with out "Basic Pattern Maker"
For all you "Chevron" fans out there

Happy Hatching
John & Pete..
PS Use different size even number grids for longer or shorter boards
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BPM-Chevron.png (73.28 KiB) Viewed 89370 times

[John Hyslop]

Hi All

Well PeteVick has been very busy updating our Basic Pattern Maker.

The main additions are as follows:-
There's a new zoom function with buttons + mouse scroll to zoom.
A "New Sketch" button has been added.
Grid Limit has been increased to 100x100.
Plus lots more "see the information and help for more details".
Note:- When zooming the grid lines may look pixelated and uneven,this is because
the grid lines are raster based, it has no affect on the saved sketch or pattern,
they will still look nice and neat.
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BPM-1.4.0.gif (2.37 MiB) Viewed 85477 times

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To uninstall previous deb versions type this in the terminal:-
sudo apt remove basic-pattern-maker

Information,ReloadPatterns script and 76 sample BPM-Sketches are included in the zip files.
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BPM - V1.4.0 - Setup-Windows.zip
Was Downloaded 848 times

BPM - V1.4.0 - Linux 64bit Deb.zip
Was Downloaded 773 times

BPM - V1.4.0 - Linux 32bit Deb.zip
Was Downloaded 682 times

NEW VERSION AVAILABLE


The AppImage is experimental and may not run on some flavours of Linux but most I've tested on have been fine.
BPM - V1.4.0 - Linux 64bit AppImage.zip
Was Downloaded 733 times
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Cheers
John & Pete
Happy Hatching

[John Hyslop]

Hi All

There's not many 32bit AppImages around these days but Pete and I were discussing whether to release one or not..
So for all of you that don't have the luxury of 64bit systems or are simply happy with your 32bit system here's a build
for you, it has everything included as the above posts eg. Documentation,samples,etc.
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If this gets much attention we'll add this to all the next uploads/releases.
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BPM - V1.4.0 - Linux i386 AppImage.zip
Was Downloaded 705 times

NEW VERSION AVAILABLE
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Happy Hatching
John Hyslop & PeteVick

[John Hyslop]

Hi All

Was just playing around today with this very basic pattern , it's a good example of the use of lines and points in BPM..
Here's a copy of the sketch file [ *.bpmlc ]

bpm-cross-02.bpmlc.zip

(1.1 KiB) Downloaded 2157 times

bpm-cross-02.png (143.22 KiB) Viewed 78788 times

Happy Hatching
Cheers
John & Pete

[John Hyslop]

Hi All

Here's another sketch file for "Basic Pattern Maker" interlocking squares.

bpm-linked-sqrs-02.zip

(813 Bytes) Downloaded 1874 times

bmp-linked-sqrs-02.png (55.85 KiB) Viewed 75445 times

Happy Hatching
John & PeteVick