Is there a need for a skin editor? (2 Viewers)

[FredP42]

No xml schema does not work... main issue is that the node 'control' has different children depending upon the value of 'type'. XML schema does not offer support for that.

Yes, now I'm remembering facing this problem. Personally I think it is always better to have a schema since it provides you a way to validate your XML.

 

[NoBugS]

me too. that's something I would change for sure for MP2.
so instead of having <control><type>label</type>....... I would have <label>......
that way it's easy to create a schema for it. Would make it way easier to create an editor

 

[Bleazle]

I'll butt in here and make a couple of quick comments about the Editor itself

I've only had time to skim through the comments so once again I hope I'm not repeating something that's already been covered....

Would it be possible to add the option of "locking" a control after selecting it in the hierarchy list? What I'm thinking of is something similar to Photoshop where you can deselect "auto-select layer". I think we need this because at the moment if I select a control in the hierarchy list (an image for example) which is "under" an overlay or any other control when I go to move or resize it etc the "layer" which is foremost is selected I know I can change it's position and size in the properties panel but it's great to be able to quickly drag/drop and resize...

I'm looking forward to the "save" button I've read your comments about "undo/redo" being hard to incorporate but it's a deal breaker with something like this so good luck with working it out.

Keep up the good work!

 

[NoBugS]

Good news: I think I have Undo/Redo working pretty well......
Lets work on the save-button

 

[NoBugS]

Ok folks, just added Alpha 4 to the first post. Happy testing.... Waiting for feedback!!!

 

[catavolt]

for the new version! Will test it asap!

 

[DieBagger]

I'm playing around with the current alpha to create a mockup and here's a few things that I noticed and could be fixed/added relatively easy:

• If you add a control and save the file, no <type> is stored -> will be treated as dummycontrol on the reload
• Don't use background.png as standard image becaus its quite large
• Reload the "Media" Directory when assigning an image to a control -> otherwise I have to restart the app everytime I copy a new image to the "media" folder
• Visual Feedback on "Save" -> Grey out "Save Screen..." when no changes have been made / after save
• Load previous project on startup
• "New file" -> allow to create a new xml file from within the editor

And while I'm at it, a few suggestions that will probably require more time to implement

• Instant Search -> Messagebox at top of "Explorer" so I can find my control fast and don't have to scroll down the list
• Context Menu "Remove/Rename/Copy/Cut/Open/Open Folder in File Manager/..." at "Explorer" or "Hierarchy" control

And I just noted that you have already included an xml editor... (although read only) -> impressive


again NoBugS

edit: ah, and could you add support for "GUITumbnailControl"?

 

[Pascal]

Found the alpha4 version, looks better every time!

Would it be possible to have the properties below the hierarchy? It is easy to have them both open, but above each other will leave some more preview space available.

Or even drag and drop like the visual studio environment?

thanks

Pascal

 

[NoBugS]

Would work... I just limited it for some internal code reasons. But I will try to give you DnD for these windows....
So stay tuned for Alpha 5.. Or maybe already Beta? Mh, good question when to switch form Alpha to Beta

 

[Dadeo]

Finally got around to testing again, on Alpha 4. It's really coming along! Have you implemented the properties.xml yet? I still get a message in the lower left saying "properties.xml not found" although the file is there in the folder with the skin editor.

Perhaps the editor already handles some of the following, but it is not evident to me:

How do you access 'layered' controls/elements? For example:

1. Hidden/sliding Menus - which only display when the user presses a key as defined by a navigation control on the facade (e.g. onleft>2)
2. Several layouts defined in one xml - e.g. Artist/Album/Genre Views (mymusicgenres.xml ), Main/Details View (movingpictures.xml) or Series/Season/Episode Views (TVSeries.xml)
3. Different facades (i.e. List, Small Icons, Large Icons, Big Icons List, Filmstrip) - often controls vary based on the visibility conditions defined for each facade. For example a textscrollup type control for Plot may be defined differently for each facade within the same xml.

Lftearme already raised this issue (re conditional visibility) in a previous post. My preferred solution would be like Bleazle suggested - to enable layers with a checkbox to overlay whichever layer you wish to view. For example, if I check/select Filmstrip Layer, I would see all the controls with 'facadeview.filmstrip' in a visibility control. Or in TV Series, if I select Episode Layer, I would see all the controls with Control.IsVisible(1239). If I check all visibility boxes I can compare elements in the different views and even copy and paste them between layers!

As it is currently, how do I select elements that are 'behind' other elements? You can see what I mean in the attached screenshot, which is mymusicgenres.xml from the default Blue3 Skin. I am unable to even select many of those elements.

Here's a few more suggestions:

1. Show the skin resolution on the top bar (you can grab that from the top of references.xml)
2. For the top and side rulers it would be nice to be able to see what positions they refer to. Or even just a 0 at top 576 at bottom (if 720x576) and a couple intermediary references like at 25%, 50% and 75% of height (e.g. 144, 288, 432)
3. Drop Down boxes ( as I previously suggested, but with more detail )
   • Navigation tags - when you select the box to enter an ID for onleft/onright/onup/ondown, display a list of all Control IDs used in the current window (xml). This is the same idea as what you have done for selecting Hover images in BasicHome.
   • Hyperlinks - I don't see hyperlinks listed as a property yet, but when you add it, when I select the box to enter a hyperlink I would like a list of all the current Window IDs that can be used
   • Control Types - these are currently greyed out, so you cannot change the control type of an element. However, what I would like is to select the box for a control type and have a drop down box/list of all the control types that are supported for that control in that window, if possible. At least, I would like a list of all types.

I think what you have done is already fantastic, so if you can't do all or any of the above, the editor is still very useful. The most important for me is to have some way to access or view 'layered' elements.

BTW +1 For Pascal's suggestion for drag and drop of hierarchy and properties, and even the skinning window.

Thanks for all the great work on this. I will keep testing and giving more feedback!