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  #1  
Unread 03-27-2012, 04:18 AM
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All-in-one Plugin Icon Window

I've had this idea floating around in my brain for some time now but I just can't seem to find enough time to learn Lua to the point where I could give it a shot...

It really annoys me that when I'm arranging a UI and adding plugins, all of the plugin icons (when they're minimized) tend to be all over the place. There is no set standard for where the icons first appear, some plugins don't have any at all, a few occasionally don't want to stay where they belong, and when they are finally set, they just don't appear to be neat and orderly. Some are different sizes even. I'm an altoholic, a completionist, and a perfectionist (and hard as hell to live with I guess) and each one of my characters uses a set of plugins ranging from as few as 5 or 6 to as many as 10 to 12, and I'm always trying out new ones and old ones to see if they add anything to the game.

To make a long story short (well, I guess that's too late ) I was thinking of trying to make a Plugin's-Icon Panel Plugin (PPP, P-Cubed, PIPP? ) that would hold every loaded plugin's icon and have a few extra generic, selectable ones for those plugins that don't have an icon. To take it a step further, the panel would detect a loaded plugin and automatically place it's icon within the panel (an options menu would include an ignore option for any plugin that you would want to keep somewhere else - like keeping the MoorMap icons near the ingame radar), but if that's not possible, at least manually adding them would be a huge step in the right direction (and once added, the icon would 'stick' to that panel unless unloaded, manually removed, or ignored in the options). Ideally, the panel would be resizable, be able to be minimized to it's own icon, be skinable?, &/or be able to be added to a quickslot and then closed/hidden completely, and finally, each icon would have a small text field or a right-click menu to open a text box where a short description and command options could be displayed.

Would this be feasable? And if so, would any of you talented programmers consider putting it together? (I know most of you have nothing better to do so this would keep you busy at least. )
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  #2  
Unread 03-31-2012, 12:16 PM
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Hmmm. I assume since no one has replied in 5 days that either this isn't feasible, it's just too difficult, or it's a dumb idea. Now I just have to figure out which.
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  #3  
Unread 03-31-2012, 02:11 PM
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I would file it under not particularly feasible.
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  #4  
Unread 04-01-2012, 05:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by D.H1cks
I would file it under not particularly feasible.
Is there a reason or just too complicated?
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Unread 04-01-2012, 11:00 AM
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It would require all plugin authors to agree a standard way of defining their plugins buttons. And we are a contrary lot!
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  #6  
Unread 04-01-2012, 12:19 PM
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Some of the issues I see:

How plugin icons are implemented. For my Travel plugin, my icon is actually a simple window, which I believe can no longer be a child of another window.

It would not really be a problem to change it to a normal button, but would require some coding to check the state of the icon manager (PiPP) plugin. If the icon manager is not running, then load the normal icon, if it is, load the managed icon. It would also require code to switch from normal to managed if the icon manager plugin starts after the plugin is loaded.

I believe all plugins that would use the icon manager will need to be in the same apartment as the icon manager. Not really a big deal but some plugins do run in their own apartments.

But the biggest issue is really creating icons for plugins that don't have them already. It would really require you to write the code for each plugin to create an icon. This would be a big job since we don't follow any conventions for naming functions or anything.

Overall, it could be possible, but would definitely require the cooperation of plugin authors to meet some specific requirements. The automatic addition of icons for plugins that don't support it would be impractical.

Don't get me wrong, I think its a nice idea, but seems like it would be a lot of work when it might turn out very few authors would support it.
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  #7  
Unread 04-02-2012, 04:50 AM
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Ah well. Thanks for the feedback guys. Guess this one will be filed in basket 13 (the one on the floor beside the desk).
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  #8  
Unread 04-02-2012, 06:49 PM
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A simliar idea like yours had already someone the Addon Fubar had a plugin interface where addons coud write a plugin that their addon can post
text and icons in the bar.

This addon got replaced by a lib libDatabroker that standitzted this.
Thous this all addon can use this to post information in an addon that
supports displaying information via libDatabroker.


Discription of libDatabroker:
LibDataBroker is a small WoW addon library designed to provide an MVC interface for use in various addons. LDB's primary goal is to "detach" plugins for TitanPanel and FuBar from the display addon. Plugins can provide data into a simple table, and display addons can receive callbacks to refresh their display of this data. LDB also provides a place for addons to register "quicklaunch" functions, removing the need for authors to embed many large libraries to create minimap buttons. Users who do not wish to be "plagued" by these buttons simply do not install an addon to render them.

Due to it's simple generic design, LDB can be used for any design where you wish to have an addon notified of changes to a table.

links:
Fubar
libDatabroker at curse
libDatabroker at github
BTW: lotro needs a lib like ace a standart lib.
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