UI Code Quality: Move interface files to folders? #98518

New Issue

Julian Eisel · 2022-05-31T12:57:57+02:00

Julian Eisel commented

2022-05-31 12:57:57 +02:00

The list of files in interface/ is getting quite long. This makes it harder to scan the list visually. File should also be named and structured in a way, that just by briefly looking at a list of files and directories, it's clear what kind of elements and logic the code deals with. This is a quality for high level readability. Long lists of files make this harder. At the same time we should encourage splitting files into more manageable, more coherent files.
With directories you also have a more isolated environment for internal data and functions. E.g. interface_handlers.c could be split into multiple files with a common header inside a handlers/ directory.

Proposal

I'd propose the following file/directory structure to start with:

interface/
  eyedroppers/
    interface_eyedropper.c
    interface_eyedropper_colorband.c
    interface_eyedropper_color.c
    interface_eyedropper_datablock.c
    interface_eyedropper_depth.c
    interface_eyedropper_driver.c
    interface_eyedropper_gpencil_color.c
    interface_eyedropper_intern.h
  regions/
    interface_region_color_picker.cc
    interface_region_hud.cc
    interface_region_menu_pie.cc
    interface_region_menu_popup.cc
    interface_region_popover.cc
    interface_region_popup.cc
    interface_regions.cc
    interface_region_search.cc
    interface_regions_intern.h
    interface_region_tooltip.c
  templates/
    interface_template_asset_view.cc
    interface_template_attribute_search.cc
    interface_template_list.cc
    interface_templates.c
    interface_template_search_menu.cc
    interface_template_search_operator.c
  views/
    grid_view.cc /* future */
    interface_view.cc
    table_view.cc /* future */
    tree_view.cc
  view2d/
    view2d.cc
    view2d_draw.cc
    view2d_edge_pan.cc
    view2d_gizmo_navigate.cc
    view2d_ops.cc
  CMakeLists.txt
  interface_align.c
  interface_anim.c
  interface_button_group.c
  interface.cc
  interface_context_menu.c
  interface_context_path.cc
  interface_draw.c
  interface_dropboxes.cc
  interface_handlers.c
  interface_icons.c
  interface_icons_event.c
  interface_intern.h
  interface_layout.c
  interface_ops.c
  interface_panel.c
  interface_query.cc
  interface_style.cc
  interface_undo.c
  interface_utils.cc
  interface_widgets.c
  resources.c

The list of files in `interface/` is getting quite long. This makes it harder to scan the list visually. File should also be named and structured in a way, that just by briefly looking at a list of files and directories, it's clear what kind of elements and logic the code deals with. This is a quality for high level readability. Long lists of files make this harder. At the same time we should encourage splitting files into more manageable, more coherent files. With directories you also have a more isolated environment for internal data and functions. E.g. `interface_handlers.c` could be split into multiple files with a common header inside a `handlers/` directory. ## Proposal I'd propose the following file/directory structure to start with: ```lines=15 interface/ eyedroppers/ interface_eyedropper.c interface_eyedropper_colorband.c interface_eyedropper_color.c interface_eyedropper_datablock.c interface_eyedropper_depth.c interface_eyedropper_driver.c interface_eyedropper_gpencil_color.c interface_eyedropper_intern.h regions/ interface_region_color_picker.cc interface_region_hud.cc interface_region_menu_pie.cc interface_region_menu_popup.cc interface_region_popover.cc interface_region_popup.cc interface_regions.cc interface_region_search.cc interface_regions_intern.h interface_region_tooltip.c templates/ interface_template_asset_view.cc interface_template_attribute_search.cc interface_template_list.cc interface_templates.c interface_template_search_menu.cc interface_template_search_operator.c views/ grid_view.cc /* future */ interface_view.cc table_view.cc /* future */ tree_view.cc view2d/ view2d.cc view2d_draw.cc view2d_edge_pan.cc view2d_gizmo_navigate.cc view2d_ops.cc CMakeLists.txt interface_align.c interface_anim.c interface_button_group.c interface.cc interface_context_menu.c interface_context_path.cc interface_draw.c interface_dropboxes.cc interface_handlers.c interface_icons.c interface_icons_event.c interface_intern.h interface_layout.c interface_ops.c interface_panel.c interface_query.cc interface_style.cc interface_undo.c interface_utils.cc interface_widgets.c resources.c ```

Julian Eisel commented

2022-05-31 12:57:57 +02:00

Added subscriber: @JulianEisel

Campbell Barton commented

2022-05-31 13:08:06 +02:00

Added subscriber: @ideasman42

Campbell Barton commented

2022-05-31 13:08:06 +02:00

This proposal seems fine, although personally I don't find the number of files a problem at the moment.

We could split out regions, eyedroppers & templates and leave it at that, it avoids having so many files in interface/, I don't feel so strongly about splitting out the other files.

Side-note, we could split up interface_templates.c much further (it's over 6.5k lines currently - defining separate templates that make sense to be in their own files).

This proposal seems fine, although personally I don't find the number of files a problem at the moment. We could split out `regions`, `eyedroppers` & `templates` and leave it at that, it avoids having so many files in `interface/`, I don't feel so strongly about splitting out the other files. Side-note, we could split up `interface_templates.c` much further (it's over 6.5k lines currently - defining separate templates that make sense to be in their own files).

Hans Goudey commented

2022-05-31 13:12:47 +02:00

Added subscriber: @HooglyBoogly

Hans Goudey commented

2022-05-31 13:12:47 +02:00

I like the proposal, I think smaller files are almost always helpful, as long as the abstractions used to divide them up aren't totally wrong.

I think we could remove the redundant words from the file names then though. For example, I'd propose changing templates/interface_template_search_menu.cc to templates/search_menu.cc. Though that could be considered separately too!

I like the proposal, I think smaller files are almost always helpful, as long as the abstractions used to divide them up aren't totally wrong. I think we could remove the redundant words from the file names then though. For example, I'd propose changing `templates/interface_template_search_menu.cc` to `templates/search_menu.cc`. Though that could be considered separately too!

Alexey Adamitsky commented

2022-06-01 09:03:00 +02:00

Added subscriber: @AlexeyAdamitsky

Dominik Fill commented

2022-06-01 14:34:06 +02:00

Added subscriber: @dominikfill

Julian Eisel commented

2022-07-19 20:02:19 +02:00

Added the views/ and eyedroppers/ directories now. I don't want to change everything at once, no idea how Git handles merging/rebasing when files are renamed. There might be patches that need some manual work to update them now, so I'm going slow on it.

In #98518#1367076, @HooglyBoogly wrote:
I think we could remove the redundant words from the file names then though. For example, I'd propose changing templates/interface_template_search_menu.cc to templates/search_menu.cc. Though that could be considered separately too!

I stripped away the (IMO overly verbose) interface_ prefix from all files but interface_eyedroppers.c and interface_views.c, because they deal exactly with integrating eyedroppers/views into the interface on a general level.

One point for keeping some redundancy: For opening files by name in IDEs it can be useful, there may be a bunch of color.c's, but probably only one eyedropper_color.c. I guess in most IDEs you can type eyedroppers/color.c instead, and even use fuzzy search, but it's less obvious. Esp for newer devs. For views we have some redundancy as well, and I don't think it's an issue: views/grid_view.cc, views/tree_view.cc, etc.

We can still figure out the exact naming convention of course, now we have a first iteration :)

Added the `views/` and `eyedroppers/` directories now. I don't want to change everything at once, no idea how Git handles merging/rebasing when files are renamed. There might be patches that need some manual work to update them now, so I'm going slow on it. > In #98518#1367076, @HooglyBoogly wrote: > I think we could remove the redundant words from the file names then though. For example, I'd propose changing `templates/interface_template_search_menu.cc` to `templates/search_menu.cc`. Though that could be considered separately too! I stripped away the (IMO overly verbose) `interface_` prefix from all files but `interface_eyedroppers.c` and `interface_views.c`, because they deal exactly with integrating eyedroppers/views into the interface on a general level. One point for keeping some redundancy: For opening files by name in IDEs it can be useful, there may be a bunch of `color.c`'s, but probably only one `eyedropper_color.c`. I guess in most IDEs you can type `eyedroppers/color.c` instead, and even use fuzzy search, but it's less obvious. Esp for newer devs. For views we have some redundancy as well, and I don't think it's an issue: `views/grid_view.cc`, `views/tree_view.cc`, etc. We can still figure out the exact naming convention of course, now we have a first iteration :)

Philipp Oeser removed the

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UI Code Quality: Move interface files to folders? #98518

Proposal