File -> Open

Involved development of the OpenMW construction set.
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Zini
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Joined: 06 Aug 2011, 15:16

File -> Open

Post by Zini »

The current file -> open functionality in the editor prototype needs to be completely replaced. We need to select several files and these files must be in specific locations. The default open dialogue will just not do the job.

This is a task that could be done in parallel to the editor development Eli is currently doing. We have some Qt developers that are more or less inactive right now. Maybe one of them is willing to take this task? (*cough* pvdk *nudge* *cough*).

Here is my draft for this feature, open to discussions:

1. When the user starts the editor, it should not jump straight into the editing window. Instead it should present a small window with some buttons (maybe graphical) to the user:

1a. Create new plugin
1b. Edit existing plugin
1c. View existing plugin/master files

2. The "create new plugin" button would drop the user into a new dialogue, which lets him enter a name and a list of master/plugin files to base this plugin on.

We should investigate if we can re-use the UI from the launcher. We definitely should allow the user to select a profile instead of manually putting togather a list of master and plugin files.

Plugins can only be created in the directory specified by data-local (because that is the only place we know OpenMW is looking at, that the user can write to). It must also be checked if there is a plugin with that name already.

We also need a new menu item in the file menu of the editing window "New Plugin". This should also drop the user into the plugin creation dialogue. Once finished a new editing window must be opened; the old document should not be replaced (multi-document capacity).

3. The "Edit existing plugin" button should drop the user into a similar dialogue. The only difference is that the user is not prompted to enter a new plugin name and should instead select a valid plugin for editing.

Note that you can only edit plugins that are at the bottom of the plugin dependency tree, i.e. if plugin B depends on plugin A and you load both A and B, A can not be the plugin you are editing. Also, you can only edit plugins that are located within the data-local path.

For this feature we also need a menu item in the file menu (open?).

4. The "View existing plugins" button should do the same as the "Edit existing plugin" button, but without the selection of a plugin for editing. This will be useful when the user just wants to look at some ESX files.

And again, a menu item in the file menu is needed (view?).


Some of the described functionality is not yet available (i.e. loading multiple files). In this case the implementor can just pop up a message window to inform the user that the requested feature is not implemented yet.
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pvdk
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Joined: 12 Aug 2011, 16:34

Re: File -> Open

Post by pvdk »

I'm currently rewriting the internal data model I use on the Data Files page. I intend to make it re-usable to a certain extent for the editor (i.e. make it a component).

I'm happy to take this task because it's pretty much an extension of what I'm already working on.

Now I'm not completely sure about your UI suggestions, but I see what it needs to do. Let me make some mockups so we can think about the usability of the design.
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Zini
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Joined: 06 Aug 2011, 15:16

Re: File -> Open

Post by Zini »

I'm currently rewriting the internal data model I use on the Data Files page. I intend to make it re-usable to a certain extent for the editor (i.e. make it a component).
Absolutely. But I would also add the plugin/master selection UI to this component. Some of it, at least. Can you please add an issue for this task to the tracker?
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Zini
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Joined: 06 Aug 2011, 15:16

Re: File -> Open

Post by Zini »

Any progress on this? I would like to see what you can come up with.
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pvdk
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Re: File -> Open

Post by pvdk »

Yeah had some trouble with my development box, it won't find my root partition after upgrade. Will fix it this week and continue work on the data model.
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Zini
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Joined: 06 Aug 2011, 15:16

Re: File -> Open

Post by Zini »

*nudge* *nudge* Any progress?
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pvdk
Posts: 528
Joined: 12 Aug 2011, 16:34

Re: File -> Open

Post by pvdk »

Got my box running again today, some other stuff came up, sorry. Expect some progress next week.
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