feature request: no binary

[crgreen]

It would be great if one of the options when recording a script is "Include Startup Features Binary Data" (yes/no).
So that we can have much smaller script files if we want. So far I have ended up deleting that (<StartupFeatures>) section for my experiments. That binary data bogs down my editors a bit. If I were one of my older machines I think I'd be pulling my hair out.

Thanks!

[Someonesane]

I was having an issue with NotePad bogging down while viewing my scripts (which are of the recorded type, so they're huge). As such, I did a brief search on google for some text editors, and found a great free source program called Notepad++. The files open immediately, and you can have more then one file opened (within a tab-like setup, think Firefox), and it organizes and spaces the code, too. I've found it very helpful. Here's the link to download it: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v5.9.2.html

[MattRage]

If you are recording a script the binary data can be really important. Without it, the script may not look the same when it's reloaded and played. For example, if I record a script on watercolor paper with a 50% sized watercolor brush with specific parameters, the script needs to record the binary data of the paper as well as the data block that defines the brush I used. If I don't record those, on playback the paper would be whatever the user happened to have loaded by default, and the brush would paint with whatever settings were applied to it by that user, not the ones I had when I recorded my script.

There are some potential improvements that could be made to data allocation to prevent unnecessary binary storage, but when recording a script you will always have some data stored there.

If you are writing a script from scratch that won't be a problem unless you manually paste a binary data block in there.

When recording there are two specific things that might help reduce the binary block size:

1. Select a small paper texture: If your painting doesn't rely on a specific canvas type, select a simple paper texture.

2. Select a small sticker sheet: If you're not relying on specific sticker sheets, go to the Sticker Spray and select one of the Art Brush type presets or Stamp type brush heads. The smaller the sticker sheet, the less data that tool will store when the application state is stored.

[crgreen]

I was having an issue with NotePad bogging down while viewing my scripts (which are of the recorded type, so they're huge). As such, I did a brief search on google for some text editors, and found a great free source program called Notepad++.

Thanks for the tip, but I've got my source editors already firmly in place. jEdit (jedit.org) is one of my favorites, and cross-platform, and free. Besides, I do most of my work on a Mac (on which jEdit wins all the speed tests I've thrown at it, apart from launch time since it's a Java app, but I say that ain't no thing). I'd be curious to know what you think of jEdit on Windows (which I can only test via virtualization). So if you'd like to do a quick download of jEdit and see how it performs and report back, that would be very cool.

[crgreen]

If you are recording a script the binary data can be really important. Without it, the script may not look the same when it's reloaded and played. For example, if I record a script on watercolor paper with a 50% sized watercolor brush with specific parameters, the script needs to record the binary data of the paper as well as the data block that defines the brush I used. If I don't record those, on playback the paper would be whatever the user happened to have loaded by default, and the brush would paint with whatever settings were applied to it by that user, not the ones I had when I recorded my script.

There are some potential improvements that could be made to data allocation to prevent unnecessary binary storage, but when recording a script you will always have some data stored there.

If you are writing a script from scratch that won't be a problem unless you manually paste a binary data block in there.

When recording there are two specific things that might help reduce the binary block size:

1. Select a small paper texture: If your painting doesn't rely on a specific canvas type, select a simple paper texture.

2. Select a small sticker sheet: If you're not relying on specific sticker sheets, go to the Sticker Spray and select one of the Art Brush type presets or Stamp type brush heads. The smaller the sticker sheet, the less data that tool will store when the application state is stored.

Great tips there to keep in mind. Thanks.
As far as your first point, it is well taken, but I'd have to argue that a user should have the choice. If I like to record stuff and hack it together, I'd rather be able to turn such a thing off if I want to so I can work quickly. For some projects, I may care very little about those aspects you mentioned, although having a good warning about it would be smart.
An example of what I'm talking about might be that I'd like to record complex actions with various brushes, but I'd like to be able to see what all of that looked like with various brushes, settings, scales, textures, etc. So I would love to just have all that stuff recorded, then run the script on various paintings, backgrounds, etc. Having the various aspects of an original art saved out would be important, but, of course, those aspects should be saved in the art document anyway. Hope I'm making sense.

Thanks again for the reply, and the terrific software.