Contradictory labels in UI. Naming of boolean properties sometimes positive, sometimes negative. #67403

New Issue

Nicolas Antille · 2019-07-21T20:55:15+02:00

Nicolas Antille commented

2019-07-21 20:55:15 +02:00

System Information
Operating system: Any
Graphics card: Any

Blender Version
Broken:
Blender 2.80.74 aka rc2

Short description of error
Inconsistency in naming leads to contradictory info.

Exact steps for others to reproduce the error

Open Blender
Select an object on the scene (add one if you have nothing...)
Go to Object properties panel
Scroll down to Visibility
Hover "Show in Renders"
A pop-up info label reads "Globally disable in renders", so now you're not sure what happens if you check the box
Check the box
Open the Info Editor, the last line will read "bpy.context.object.hide_render = True"

So now we have three different nomenclatures for the same thing. Two that are contradictory within the UI and one that is the opposite naming of what's in the UI.

Instead of having properties named "show_name" and some others "hide_viewport", all such boolean properties could be named "show_function" or "enable_function" so that you don't have to negate the negation as in hide_viewport = False

Since Blender 2.8 is a breaking release, it is the time when you can implement coherent naming. After that, it's going to be much more difficult.

Of course that's by far not a priority since it doesn't break Blender.

**System Information** Operating system: Any Graphics card: Any **Blender Version** Broken: Blender 2.80.74 aka rc2 **Short description of error** Inconsistency in naming leads to contradictory info. **Exact steps for others to reproduce the error** - Open Blender - Select an object on the scene (add one if you have nothing...) - Go to Object properties panel - Scroll down to Visibility - Hover "Show in Renders" - A pop-up info label reads "Globally disable in renders", so now you're not sure what happens if you check the box - Check the box - Open the Info Editor, the last line will read "bpy.context.object.hide_render = True" So now we have three different nomenclatures for the same thing. Two that are contradictory within the UI and one that is the opposite naming of what's in the UI. Instead of having properties named "show_name" and some others "hide_viewport", all such boolean properties could be named "show_function" or "enable_function" so that you don't have to negate the negation as in hide_viewport = False Since Blender 2.8 is a breaking release, it is the time when you can implement coherent naming. After that, it's going to be much more difficult. Of course that's by far not a priority since it doesn't break Blender.

Nicolas Antille commented

2019-07-21 20:55:15 +02:00

Added subscriber: @nantille

Jacques Lucke commented

2019-08-07 14:08:09 +02:00

Added subscribers: @WilliamReynish, @JacquesLucke

Jacques Lucke commented

2019-08-07 14:08:09 +02:00

The RNA name is not that important here, but I see the issue with the description saying the opposite than what the checkbox does.
This is because the code for that property is col.prop(ob, "hide_render", text="Show in Renders", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True). See the invert_checkbox in the end. However, the tooltip is not inverted.

Confirming as low priority. Maybe @WilliamReynish has an opinion on this, but this issue is just not that important....

The RNA name is not that important here, but I see the issue with the description saying the opposite than what the checkbox does. This is because the code for that property is `col.prop(ob, "hide_render", text="Show in Renders", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True)`. See the `invert_checkbox` in the end. However, the tooltip is not inverted. Confirming as low priority. Maybe @WilliamReynish has an opinion on this, but this issue is just not that important....

William Reynish commented

2019-08-07 14:43:02 +02:00

We should try and never use double negatives.

Therefore we should not have negative booleans such as 'Dont do X'

We should try and never use double negatives. Therefore we should **not** have negative booleans such as 'Dont do X'

Nicolas Antille commented

2019-08-07 15:02:49 +02:00

@WilliamReynish Exactly my point. I will let you lobby from within so that developers keep that mind. ;)
"hide_render" and "hide_viewport" are 2.8 properties so even as we speak, core devs are not aligned on this usability view. The next stage is probably "unhide_render" followed by "dont_unhide_render". Joking.

I wouldn't have talked about this if I didn't see some effort in UI/UX for 2.8. Keep up the good work on Blender!

@WilliamReynish Exactly my point. I will let you lobby from within so that developers keep that mind. ;) "hide_render" and "hide_viewport" are 2.8 properties so even as we speak, core devs are not aligned on this usability view. The next stage is probably "unhide_render" followed by "dont_unhide_render". Joking. I wouldn't have talked about this if I didn't see some effort in UI/UX for 2.8. Keep up the good work on Blender!

William Reynish commented

2019-08-07 15:05:48 +02:00

What you see here, is that the UI layer has inverted the checkbox so it isn't a double negative, which is good.

But in the code it's confusing because it's essentially a tripple-negative.

What you see here, is that the UI layer has inverted the checkbox so it isn't a double negative, which is good. But in the code it's confusing because it's essentially a tripple-negative.

Julian Eisel commented

2020-02-05 12:52:32 +01:00

Added subscriber: @JulianEisel

Julian Eisel commented

2020-02-05 12:52:32 +01:00

This is a bit of an awkward situation. We can't just change the RNA definition, because that would be an API breaking change. I'd expect that many add-ons and scripts use these properties. One thing we could do is making the tooltip text more general, so that it doesn't describe a specific enabled/disabled state. But I personally find it hard to come up with a good description that follows our usual tooltip language, am open for proposals though :)

Another thing we can do is wrapping the RNA properties with (runtime-only?) properties. E.g. we can do this in Python: P1242: Possible fix for #67403

diff --git a/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py b/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py
index bb020084b03..17e4c67a671 100644
--- a/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py
+++ b/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from bl_ui.properties_animviz import (
 )
 import bpy
 from bpy.types import Panel, Menu
+from bpy.props import BoolProperty
 from rna_prop_ui import PropertyPanel
 
 
@@ -371,6 +372,27 @@ class OBJECT_PT_motion_paths_display(MotionPathButtonsPanel_display, Panel):
 
         self.draw_settings(context, avs, mpath)
 
+bpy.types.Object.is_visible_viewport = BoolProperty(
+    name="Show in Viewports",
+    description="Enable object to be visible in the viewport",
+    set=lambda object, value: setattr(object, "hide_viewport", not value),
+    get=lambda object: not object.hide_viewport,
+    options={'SKIP_SAVE'},
+    )
+bpy.types.Object.is_visible_render = BoolProperty(
+    name="Show in Renders",
+    description="Enable object to be visible in a render",
+    set=lambda object, value: setattr(object, "hide_render", not value),
+    get=lambda object: not object.hide_render,
+    options={'SKIP_SAVE'},
+    )
+bpy.types.Object.is_selectable = BoolProperty(
+    name="Selectable",
+    description="Enable object to be considered on selection operations",
+    set=lambda object, value: setattr(object, "hide_select", not value),
+    get=lambda object: not object.hide_select,
+    options={'SKIP_SAVE'},
+    )
 
 class OBJECT_PT_visibility(ObjectButtonsPanel, Panel):
     bl_label = "Visibility"
@@ -390,11 +412,11 @@ class OBJECT_PT_visibility(ObjectButtonsPanel, Panel):
         ob = context.object
 
         col = flow.column()
-        col.prop(ob, "hide_viewport", text="Show in Viewports", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True)
+        col.prop(ob, "is_visible_viewport", toggle=False)
         col = flow.column()
-        col.prop(ob, "hide_render", text="Show in Renders", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True)
+        col.prop(ob, "is_visible_render", toggle=False)
         col = flow.column()
-        col.prop(ob, "hide_select", text="Selectable", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True)
+        col.prop(ob, "is_selectable", toggle=False)
 
 
 class OBJECT_PT_custom_props(ObjectButtonsPanel, PropertyPanel, Panel):

(The properties shouldn't use the is_ prefix, ignore that.)

This is a bit of an awkward situation. We can't just change the RNA definition, because that would be an API breaking change. I'd expect that many add-ons and scripts use these properties. One thing we could do is making the tooltip text more general, so that it doesn't describe a specific enabled/disabled state. But I personally find it hard to come up with a good description that follows our usual tooltip language, am open for proposals though :) Another thing we can do is wrapping the RNA properties with (runtime-only?) properties. E.g. we can do this in Python: [P1242: Possible fix for #67403](https://archive.blender.org/developer/P1242.txt) ``` diff --git a/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py b/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py index bb020084b03..17e4c67a671 100644 --- a/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py +++ b/release/scripts/startup/bl_ui/properties_object.py @@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from bl_ui.properties_animviz import ( ) import bpy from bpy.types import Panel, Menu +from bpy.props import BoolProperty from rna_prop_ui import PropertyPanel @@ -371,6 +372,27 @@ class OBJECT_PT_motion_paths_display(MotionPathButtonsPanel_display, Panel): self.draw_settings(context, avs, mpath) +bpy.types.Object.is_visible_viewport = BoolProperty( + name="Show in Viewports", + description="Enable object to be visible in the viewport", + set=lambda object, value: setattr(object, "hide_viewport", not value), + get=lambda object: not object.hide_viewport, + options={'SKIP_SAVE'}, + ) +bpy.types.Object.is_visible_render = BoolProperty( + name="Show in Renders", + description="Enable object to be visible in a render", + set=lambda object, value: setattr(object, "hide_render", not value), + get=lambda object: not object.hide_render, + options={'SKIP_SAVE'}, + ) +bpy.types.Object.is_selectable = BoolProperty( + name="Selectable", + description="Enable object to be considered on selection operations", + set=lambda object, value: setattr(object, "hide_select", not value), + get=lambda object: not object.hide_select, + options={'SKIP_SAVE'}, + ) class OBJECT_PT_visibility(ObjectButtonsPanel, Panel): bl_label = "Visibility" @@ -390,11 +412,11 @@ class OBJECT_PT_visibility(ObjectButtonsPanel, Panel): ob = context.object col = flow.column() - col.prop(ob, "hide_viewport", text="Show in Viewports", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True) + col.prop(ob, "is_visible_viewport", toggle=False) col = flow.column() - col.prop(ob, "hide_render", text="Show in Renders", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True) + col.prop(ob, "is_visible_render", toggle=False) col = flow.column() - col.prop(ob, "hide_select", text="Selectable", toggle=False, invert_checkbox=True) + col.prop(ob, "is_selectable", toggle=False) class OBJECT_PT_custom_props(ObjectButtonsPanel, PropertyPanel, Panel): ``` (The properties shouldn't use the `is_` prefix, ignore that.)

Ryan Inch commented

2020-11-17 08:57:11 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Imaginer

Philipp Oeser removed the

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Contradictory labels in UI. Naming of boolean properties sometimes positive, sometimes negative. #67403