Right now, attaching outputs of certain data types to inputs of similar data types give you an automatic conversion, sometimes supplying a contextual menu with a few options. I like this a lot, but there are a bunch of intuitive ones that don't seemt to exist. Here is my list of "missing" available conversions in Vuo, some more farfetched than others, with details as necessary:
- Text to 2/3/4D Point
- Real to Color (range of 0 to 1 converts to a color, from black to white, as in QC, with other possible options for R, G, B, RG, etc., or alpha)
- Color to Real (reverse of above)
- Text to Layer/Image (automatically generated text layer)
- Image to Color (average color in image)
- Layer/Image to Scene Object (similar to a QC sprite)
...And there are some list conversions that are unavailable where the non-list version is available: * 2/3D Points to 4D Points * 4D Points to 2/3D Points and Reals * Booleans to Integers and Reals * Images/Integers/Layers/Reals/SceneObjects/Texts to Booleans * Integers to 2/3/4D Points * Reals to 4D Points * Texts to Integers * 2/3/4D Points/Booleans/Colors/Images/Integers/Layers/SceneObjects to Texts
This is becoming an ongoing source of frustration for me, particularly the real lack of automatic list conversions. I don't recall the context, but I was recently wanting to convert a list of Integers to Texts and, because the conversion doesn't exist, I had to convert it to a list of Reals first.
Also, it seems to me that if one can convert something to text (in the way that a 2D Point converts to text, not how an image does), one ought to be able to convert it back after.
I didn't test other combinations, like Text to Math Expression List (though I do remember having trouble with this some time ago), but I guess my request is, generally speaking, to take down some of the existing limitations around conversion availability, especially in cases where the conversion is available only if the data is not stored in a list.
Comments
Here is my list of "missing"
Sure, most of those sound like they would be useful.
This one seems limited to me, since it would always output a text layer with the same center, font, and color. How do you envision using it?
Currently available in the Parabox nodes.
We'd like to remedy that with Iteration: Turn most nodes into iterators by allowing single-value ports to accept lists.
Trying to keep things organized, I've split that into a separate feature request: Nodes to convert from Text to most other types.
Text to Layer/Image
Fair enough. I think it would be most useful while a composition is still in development. It would give one more option for keeping track of a value without needing a console window, or even the Vuo Editor in view. I see it as a way to just get some text onto the screen without any fuss; just plug text into a layer input, and off you go.
What do you think, Jaymie?
@Philip, OK, I see how that
Philip, OK, I see how that could be helpful for debugging.
Opened for voting.