[If there happens to be such a function already and I'm just completely blind, I would appreciate a hint where to look for it. 😛 ]
I've dealt with some larger MOCs recently (with part counts between 1k and 3k), and experienced two server-related save problems (Error Code 500, twice). Though saving later or again solved the problem, I'm a bit nervous when it comes to models I've worked on for hours because the model itself is saved virtually without me being able to save a copy of it locally (except exporting it to Blender, which is a one-way save method though), so if there happens to be a server-related problem and the model file gets lost, hours of hours of work would be lost (just saying 'SheepIt').
So, I was wondering whether a sort of backup export function would be possible, where MB exports the location/rotation/color/grouping of each part as a column that can be (re)imported into MB in case something goes wrong (or, just as a backup). Something like this, which could be stacked in a .txt files without creating larger files that would fill up the export/import:
Part; Color; Position; Rotation; Grouping
3010.json; 1; 0.000 1.200 3.400; 0.000 90.000 -180.000; [no group]
That could also work for primitive filesharing, by the way.
Your model is already saved locally periodically (every minute) in your browser local storage for the purpose of the auto recover tool.
In the future, I will redesign this function to make it much more robust and I hope to provide a local export system as well. Exporting the file is not the issue. It is reimporting it which is. As for every user input it has to be thoroughly checked to ensure that the file is valid and doesn't contain any nice hidden present inside 😃
@Scrubs
Alright, nice to hear that.
Just asking, does the LDraw importer have a verifying system integrated too? Because if so, the same one could be (theoretically) used for a MB backup system, for LDraw files are basically exactly what I'm suggesting (columns of numbers referring to color, position, rotation and part models).
You would be surprised what people try to do 😉
It is not the only issue. Another example is the format version. I always add and tweak stuff. It would mean that I have to maintain converters. The output format would be slightly different from the one I store as some values shall not be exposed. Nothing impossible but it means more code to maintain.
@Scrubs
Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting that there are people out there that would steal or compromise MB data if functions like a backup-exporter or SubD-addon would exist (same goes for part stealing and hence introduction of the export cap). I'm not naive, but it really saddens me that practical features have to be held back because there is a minority of people that would use them to harm the very core of those features itself. 😦
Anyways, thanks for thinking about it, and - as always - thanks for spending your valuable time on Mecabricks. Not that my opinion is worth anything, but I appreciate it very much. 👍
No worries. It will all come together at some stage. Thank you for your input and messages.
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