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Old 01-20-2007, 05:52 PM   #12
shillingworth
A Predatory Creeper
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Server: Bertoxxulous
Posts: 251
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Getting stumped and confusing myself with how to store the entire UI while it's in the program. The problem i'm running into is replicating their ability to cross reference each other. Here are the solutions i'm thinking of:

Read in every Texture, then every Animation, and finally every Template, store these separate from the windows insides their own structure. Then proceed to read in the windows in the order they appear in EQUI.Xml.

This method creates a problem with saving them. I would have to set it to save 1 file that contains all the custom Textures, Animations, and Templates in their own file (see my UI Temporal Distortion Filter for an example of what I mean, specifically EQUI_TDF.Xml). This inhibits the ability of UI coders to insert their personal style into the UI, but also solves a few null reference problems that cause UIs to not load in game.

The other solution is was thinking of starts out the same, then when it comes to saving instead of saving them in a separate file, it would look for where at in the UI the elements are used, if they are use only in 1 files, it'd insert them into just that file, if they are used in multiples, it'd insert them into a separate file. Basically a more complex version of the first solution. This gives it's own problem of UI loadtimes inside EQ, and possibly visual lag.

If anyone has any bright idea's to file structure and structure of the Xml inside them, please let me know, this has me banging my head against the wall trying to figure out how to preserve developer style while still idiot-proofing the developer studio.
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