Editor: Custom Properties node in the Project Explorer, and import/export commands

[ivan-mogilko]

1. Add a Custom Properties node into the project explorer, clicking on which opens schema editor. This will make it faster to access the schema editor, because right now one has to go to some object, open its Custom Properties editor, and press "edit schema" button there.
2. Implement "export schema" / "import schema" that write schema into a standalone xml file and read it back from such file.

In regards to the schema file: the schema should be written exactly how it's written into the Game.agf, with a header having format version in it (equals the current project version).

[ericoporto]

Does the schema editor still opens in a dialog or should it be in a pane - like the other things?

[ivan-mogilko]

I would just open it as a modal dialog for now, that's a simple action and does not require new panes.
If a schema would be on a pane, then we'll have to also deal with synchronizing issues.

[ericoporto]

Do we need to add a CustomPropertyAppliesToAny or redo the enum as flags, to be able to open a generic schema editor?

[ivan-mogilko]

Do we need to add a CustomPropertyAppliesToAny or redo the enum as flags, to be able to open a generic schema editor?

I don't understand why that is necessary? Schema editor is always generic, it edits a single global schema.

Are you confusing this with CustomPropertiesEditor perhaps?

[ericoporto]

Yeah, I am, sorry. I am trying to understand why the last line of this function exists

ags/Editor/AGS.Editor/GUI/CustomPropertiesEditor.cs

Lines 28 to 34 in 9793ded

	private void btnEditSchema_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
	{
	CustomPropertySchemaEditor schemaEditor = new CustomPropertySchemaEditor(_schema);
	schemaEditor.ShowDialog();
	schemaEditor.Dispose();
	propertyGrid.SelectedObject = new CustomPropertyBag(_schema, _properties, _showPropertiesThatApplyTo);
	}

I guess this is some way to refresh the property grid after the schema has been edited?

AAHH, crap, it's the property grid inside the custom property editor for that type. I got it.

[ericoporto]

Does import adds or replaces custom properties? If a custom property to be imported matches the name of an already existing one, should it get a “1” appended at the end of it or should it replace only in this case?

The idea of exporting is to always export all custom properties? Just trying to get a better understanding of how import and export should work. The specific issue of schema is if something is deleted you lose the values that you wrote in each object individually.

[ivan-mogilko]

Initially the assumed use case is to copy schema from one game to another, as a "template", but as I think more about your question, perhaps it may make sense to have a schema prepared for a certain module too. In which case such imported schema must not override other things.

OTOH I do not think that's useful to have properties with modified names (like added numbers), because the name is the most important part of the custom property, and having their names changed will defeat their purpose in most times.

Therefore, I suppose, there can be 2 (or 2.5) import modes, and user makes a choice between them when importing:

• overwrite all schema with an imported one
• append imported schema, adding new properties; and for the properties that have matching names:
  • skip existing
  • replace existing

Note that "replacing" means overriding type and description, as these are only things that a property definition has after its name.

About the export; initially I assumed full export. Of course ideally it would be nice to let users select properties which have to be exported, if that's not too much work. I suppose that in such case there could be a dialog with a check-list of custom properties, and user may check out those that it does not want to export.

Then program makes a new temporary custom properties schema with a copy of selected property definitions, and serializes that instead of the one in game.